A review by dan_tee
Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

We follow gumshoe detective John Persons as he discovers the lovecraftian horrors infecting the stepdad of a young London bot. Oh, and that boy asked him to kill his stepdad. 

A solid novella. It's pretty short, but certainly sets a clear detective-noir tone from the off. The hard-boiled, pulpy vernacular is juxtaposed by a fairly modern London, which creates an interesting separation between our point of view and the facts of London town proper. 

There are a few gross descriptions, some good lovecraftian creatures and vibes, and a fun couple of twists too. 

So, a fun short read overall. Nothing new and spectacular, but fans of the genre will breeze through this in a couple of hours and have a fun time. I think I'll look at the next in the series, and I may try one of the authors stand-alone longer stories.