Scan barcode
looloo59's review against another edition
4.0
What is with trilogies? I seem to always like the first book the most...and that holds true for the Henry Thompson books by Huston as well. I found my enthusiasm waning a bit ...but this is still a great read from a great author!!
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
4.0
As Spike says, the author takes perfectly reasonable people and beats them up.
Poor Hank. Through three books, he's been running from the law, the Russians and others. He just keeps getting into awful situations that.
The books are fast paced - I listened to the first two and am reading this one. It's a fun writing method - the author hops forward in time and Henry's in trouble again, then he backs up and takes you through what leads up to the trouble.
Poor Hank. Through three books, he's been running from the law, the Russians and others. He just keeps getting into awful situations that.
The books are fast paced - I listened to the first two and am reading this one. It's a fun writing method - the author hops forward in time and Henry's in trouble again, then he backs up and takes you through what leads up to the trouble.
sharptoe's review against another edition
4.0
Awesome trilogy. It's hard to not root for the bad guy.
timgibbons's review against another edition
5.0
I'm an unabashed Huston fanboy ... but that aside, Dangerous Man was an incredible read.
I've cited the first two books in the Hank Thompson trilogy as excellent examples of pure modern noir -- a story in which an innocent is sucked in over his head, in which a mostly good guy has to deal with the consequences of being mixed up with utterly bad people.
Wrapping up such a tale in a satisfactory manner is difficult: I don't want a downer ending just to fit the mood, but there would be something unsatisfactory about a story like this ending with pure happiness. Huston aces it, though, leavening the darkness of the story with just enough humanity. Everything bad that happens to Thompson (and there's a lot of it) happens because it must; the few good things the protagonist experiences likewise flow from the story.
The books I like best are ones that I finish and say 'I want to read this again.' In this case, finishing the book made me want to go back and re-read the entire series.
I've cited the first two books in the Hank Thompson trilogy as excellent examples of pure modern noir -- a story in which an innocent is sucked in over his head, in which a mostly good guy has to deal with the consequences of being mixed up with utterly bad people.
Wrapping up such a tale in a satisfactory manner is difficult: I don't want a downer ending just to fit the mood, but there would be something unsatisfactory about a story like this ending with pure happiness. Huston aces it, though, leavening the darkness of the story with just enough humanity. Everything bad that happens to Thompson (and there's a lot of it) happens because it must; the few good things the protagonist experiences likewise flow from the story.
The books I like best are ones that I finish and say 'I want to read this again.' In this case, finishing the book made me want to go back and re-read the entire series.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
A great end to a great series. Huston's Hank Thompson trilogy does a masterful job of telling a tragic story in ways that are alternately hilarious, frightening and sad. He is a master at making one feel grounded in what's going on despite the situation the characters are in. My only complaint is that the serious had to end!
verkisto's review against another edition
3.0
This book, the third in the Hank Thompson trilogy, brings the entire, brutal story to rest. What started out as a error in judgment (agreeing to catsit a neighbor’s pet) led to a string of murders, a life on the lam, and an eventual job with the Russian mafia. Now, in the final volume, Charlie Huston brings Hank full circle, and tries to make him a sympathetic character all over again.
It isn’t an easy thing to do. What drove Hank in the previous two books was a desperation to survive, and a desire to protect his parents. Now, all that’s left for him is to protect his parents. He’s a hit man, the muscle, the guy that you don’t want to show up at your door to collect on a debt. Think Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction and you might have an idea of what he’s like. But only a little.
See, Hank’s been having a hard time dealing with his new life, and he’s developed a dependency to painkillers. He’s becoming more and more lackadaisical in his approach to his assignments, and now he’s having to prove himself with one last job. If he’s successful, then he can rest knowing that his parents will be safe. If he messes up … well, he’s working for the Russian mafia. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the outcome would be bad.
Charlie Huston writes some gritty, disturbing fiction. It’s about as coarse as it gets, and makes standard noir fiction look like Mary Poppins. This is some dark, heavy, serious fiction, and it’s not for the queasy. A Dangerous Man isn’t quite as brutal as the book’s predecessors (Caught Stealing and Six Bad Things), but it follows in the same vein, and depicts some very graphic scenes. Huston doesn’t flinch when he portrays the world of a mafia hit man, even if he is as low and depressed as Hank Thompson.
The story is compelling and interesting, even if it is dark. Huston has a knack for dialogue and pacing, and doesn’t hold back when he’s writing the action scenes. The story never seems forced, and even when Hank isn’t the most sympathetic of characters, Huston still manages to make him likeable. Sort of. It’s a fine balance, and I think he does it well.
If you like your crime fiction hard, dark, and nasty, then it wouldn’t hurt you to check out the Hank Thompson trilogy. Just don’t start here, or else it will spoil the set up for the other two books. This book ends the story with the most logical conclusion, but you’ll probably still be surprised with how the author pulls it all together.
It isn’t an easy thing to do. What drove Hank in the previous two books was a desperation to survive, and a desire to protect his parents. Now, all that’s left for him is to protect his parents. He’s a hit man, the muscle, the guy that you don’t want to show up at your door to collect on a debt. Think Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction and you might have an idea of what he’s like. But only a little.
See, Hank’s been having a hard time dealing with his new life, and he’s developed a dependency to painkillers. He’s becoming more and more lackadaisical in his approach to his assignments, and now he’s having to prove himself with one last job. If he’s successful, then he can rest knowing that his parents will be safe. If he messes up … well, he’s working for the Russian mafia. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the outcome would be bad.
Charlie Huston writes some gritty, disturbing fiction. It’s about as coarse as it gets, and makes standard noir fiction look like Mary Poppins. This is some dark, heavy, serious fiction, and it’s not for the queasy. A Dangerous Man isn’t quite as brutal as the book’s predecessors (Caught Stealing and Six Bad Things), but it follows in the same vein, and depicts some very graphic scenes. Huston doesn’t flinch when he portrays the world of a mafia hit man, even if he is as low and depressed as Hank Thompson.
The story is compelling and interesting, even if it is dark. Huston has a knack for dialogue and pacing, and doesn’t hold back when he’s writing the action scenes. The story never seems forced, and even when Hank isn’t the most sympathetic of characters, Huston still manages to make him likeable. Sort of. It’s a fine balance, and I think he does it well.
If you like your crime fiction hard, dark, and nasty, then it wouldn’t hurt you to check out the Hank Thompson trilogy. Just don’t start here, or else it will spoil the set up for the other two books. This book ends the story with the most logical conclusion, but you’ll probably still be surprised with how the author pulls it all together.
deehaichess's review against another edition
4.0
This was the first Charlie Huston I actually read. I know - 3rd book last, but it was the only one I could find at the time and I wasn't waiting. I didn't regret it. There was something both incredibly classic and at the same time amazingly refreshing about Huston's writing. I sped through the book in 24 hours lying on the back seat of our hire car as we drove across the south west and as soon as it was over I wanted to read it again.
tuftymctavish's review against another edition
4.0
The final part in the trilogy, it's been rather enjoyable to see the story progress and evolve. The 'hero' of the tale is in a vastly different place to where he started, and in some respects in a rather sad position. As the reviewer on the back of the book puts it, "If there is such a thing as compassionate noir, Charlie has found it." I tend to agree - there are a few scenes in the book I re-read, rather struck by the predicament. And of course the fight scenes are brutally described, which serve to show just how far down the dark path Hank has reached.
I read this book very quickly after the second and was saddened to reach the end. I like how the twists and turns of the book can still surprise; just when you realise you'd forgotten about something, there it is.
I read this book very quickly after the second and was saddened to reach the end. I like how the twists and turns of the book can still surprise; just when you realise you'd forgotten about something, there it is.
adunten's review against another edition
4.0
Have you ever read a trilogy in reverse? I have. I picked this up having no idea it was the third book in a trilogy. This is what can happen when you have a list of free books on your Kindle in alphabetical order, you know literally nothing about them but title and author, and you simply start at the top of the list. I didn't realize it was a trilogy until I started reading Six Bad Things, which I initially thought was either a sequel or a stand-alone Huston story. I only gradually realized Six Bad Things had come before and was effectively a prequel to the book I'd just finished.
However, the topsy-turvy reading order worked out surprisingly well - so well that I recommend you try it if you're feeling adventurous. As you can see if you read the blurb, Henry is presented here as a fairly complete character with a somewhat mysterious backstory, and the story is self-contained enough that you'll experience the gaps as delightfully oblique references to Henry's backstory rather than enormous blanks in your understanding of what's going on and why. It was actually great fun to read the story, then a prequel and then another prequel that unfold Henry's story in reverse and explain how he came to be... A Dangerous Man.
However, the topsy-turvy reading order worked out surprisingly well - so well that I recommend you try it if you're feeling adventurous. As you can see if you read the blurb, Henry is presented here as a fairly complete character with a somewhat mysterious backstory, and the story is self-contained enough that you'll experience the gaps as delightfully oblique references to Henry's backstory rather than enormous blanks in your understanding of what's going on and why. It was actually great fun to read the story, then a prequel and then another prequel that unfold Henry's story in reverse and explain how he came to be... A Dangerous Man.