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nemesisnoir's review against another edition
5.0
Another expert view of the human condition. Not as graphic as "Crooked Little Vein," but with a message just as haunting. A good read for those who can stomach the violence long enough to see the writing on the wall.
bookfairy99's review against another edition
3.0
There were so many things to like about this book: the writing style, the pacing, the dark humor, the fascinating amount of gun detail. I could go on and on. But unfortunately, about half-way through, I started to see less of those things and focus more on the stuff that started out as a minor irritation and blew up into an insurmountable problem. Namely: all the coincidence and the massive amount of contrivance. Because, oh, boy, was this story contrived. Everything about the way the plot came together was based on coincidence, luck, or a hunch that the main character had no business having. Sure, the hunches were correct, but they had been planted there by the author. As those instances became more frequent and the WTF moments more apparent, I started to care less and less. And by the end of it, I was glad to be done - not because I was delighted with how the book ended, but because I was more than ready to move on to something else.
sumayyah_t's review against another edition
3.0
NYPD Detective John Tallow and his partner, Jim Rosato, answer a call about a naked man waving a shotgun in an apartment building. The call ends in tragedy, but opens up a can of worms. Tallow stumbled upon an apartment filled with guns. As the guns are processed, it is discovered that each of these firearms has been used to kill someone. The Hunter, as he is termed throughout the book, has a dangerous purpose, one that Tallow, with the help of crime scene techs Scarly and Bat, realizes goes back 20 years and is intended to continue for several years more. Dark, morbid, and somewhat disturbing, this book gleefully details the lengths humans go through to hurt each other and fulfill their ambitions, however misguided.
daveydundo's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really fun read. While somewhat predictable, it still had some very creepy moments and lots of entertainment.
colophonphile's review against another edition
I enjoyed the heck out of this. It's less intentionally funny than Ellis' previous novel, in which the violent tendencies of the American West were played for Grand-Guignol absurdity. This book is plenty funny, but it's more the humor that comes out of drama, out of intense situations. The intense situation here is a serial killer whose stash of guns is found in an apartment in Manhattan. Why those guns are as old and varied as they are, and why they are displayed in the room as they are, becomes the mystery to be solved by Tallow, a detective who knows he's been set up to fail. The book is incredibly violent at times, especially when it simply rattles off various crimes taking place around town as they're reported over the police radio. Tallow gets two sidekicks in the form of low-level crime scene unit employees. Together they unravel a messed up political conspiracy.
kmk182's review against another edition
2.0
A big disappointment. So much filler leading up to an underwhelming quick ending.
adamvolle's review against another edition
2.0
A standard police procedural accented by standard Ellis elements, which would be fine if it weren't marred by coincidences, cliches, and a main character I'm not even convinced Ellis finds interesting.
kaleovens's review against another edition
3.0
Warren Ellis loves beautiful metaphors, weird history, smoking, violence and weirdos who threaten each other.
I like reading those things, so I liked this. But it's a minor work. It has the sharp deja-vu feeling of a two-parter episode of CSI.
'Weird psycho with plan versus tired over-educated cop' as a trope has very little juice left in it. Ellis successfully squeezes a little more out of it, but I'm a bit disappointed he even tried.
Ellis's comic work was characterized by it's ambition. But his prose writing so far has been pretty timid.
Mr. Ellis: please write another book, and take some more chances. Bigger scale and characters who want things other than a nap and a smoke.
I like reading those things, so I liked this. But it's a minor work. It has the sharp deja-vu feeling of a two-parter episode of CSI.
'Weird psycho with plan versus tired over-educated cop' as a trope has very little juice left in it. Ellis successfully squeezes a little more out of it, but I'm a bit disappointed he even tried.
Ellis's comic work was characterized by it's ambition. But his prose writing so far has been pretty timid.
Mr. Ellis: please write another book, and take some more chances. Bigger scale and characters who want things other than a nap and a smoke.
haversam's review against another edition
4.0
This book was like a really good cover song. You know the lyrics but the tempo or harmony might be changed to give you a better appreciation for the song. Kind of like Pearl Jam's cover of Last Kiss. The original sounded to me to be happy for a song about losing your sweetheart.
You know the loner detective, the crazy CSUs, the tough police Lt., and the conspiracy. The way that Ellis weaves his story, the language that he uses and his sense of how a crime drama should play out was fascinating to read.
I enjoyed it. It came off as a guilty pleasure kind of enjoyability but nevertheless I really enjoyed reading it.
You know the loner detective, the crazy CSUs, the tough police Lt., and the conspiracy. The way that Ellis weaves his story, the language that he uses and his sense of how a crime drama should play out was fascinating to read.
I enjoyed it. It came off as a guilty pleasure kind of enjoyability but nevertheless I really enjoyed reading it.