Hammers on Bone - Cassandra Khaw

Hammers on Bone

By Cassandra Khaw

  • Release Date: 2016-10-11
  • Genre: Horror
Score: 4
4
From 42 Ratings

Description

Cassandra Khaw bursts onto the scene with Hammers on Bone, a hard-boiled horror show that Charles Stross calls "possibly the most promising horror debut of 2016." A finalist for the British Fantasy award and the Locus Award for Best Novella!

John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely client. He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable.

He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth.

As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Reviews

  • charming but no

    2
    By Sosa 35674689
    perhaps it’s just me, a stupid little american, but this was hard to read. really hard. great imagery, great concept, great story, but so so hard to read. like i had no idea what was going on, happening, or saying. it was hard to immerse myself.
  • Lovecraftian Noir Novella

    4
    By Prairie_Dog
    Cassandra Khaw crosses Cthulhu Mythos Horror and Hard Boiled Noir Detective to make a work that is both dark and exciting. Private Investigator John Persons is approached by an unusual client. A ten year old boy has sought him out to kill his stepfather. This man is coarse, manipulative, and abusive, a real monster. John can’t leave this child in danger, but he soon determines that there is far more evil here than he expected. This novella is surprisingly different! The two genres work well together to tell a gritty and disturbing tale. It appears to be the first in series of stories featuring the cases of John Persons known as “Persons Non Grata.”