THE EVIL THAT MEN DO (Necessary Evil - Shaun Hutson)

Member Name: stuleg

Product:	Necessary Evil - Shaun Hutson
Date:	15/03/06 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good flowing story

Disadvantages: For die hard Hutson fans only

“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.”

For a hardened gang of criminals like Matthew Franklin and his mates the armed robbery posed few risks. The gang of five were to hit the securicor van on the motorway as it delivered wages to the local barracks, some half a million pounds was estimated to be in the back which made it the biggest job of their lives and the job on which they could retire on.

Everything was planned to meticulous detail with every possible scenario talked through and dealt with, but just occasionally strange and shocking scenarios can occur. As the men set about the job and opened the doors of the van they were greeted not with the site of numerous wage packets but a grizzly and gruesome vista. Realising they had stumbled upon something far beyond their reasoning they flee the scene, shocked and horrified by what they have seen.

“Nothing baffles the schemes of evil people so much as the calm composure of great souls."

Sadly for the five they have unwittingly stumbled upon a secret experiment by the government and the department of defence. And while fleeing the scene two of them are shot by an unseen foe, matters get worse as the remaining three are tracked across London and repeatedly shot at just to make sure that they can never reveal what they saw in the back of the securicor van. As their numbers get depleted and their families are also targeted by the seemingly unstoppable hunters Matthew Franklin decides that if he has any chance of surviving this episode he has to face his pursuers head on. With nothing left to lose Franklin will do anything to face and destroy the killers of his friends, and as the hunted becomes the hunter a shocking and thrilling finale is played out in the tunnels of the London underground with death and mayhem aplenty.

“He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner.”

Necessary Evil is yet another fine book from the pen of Shaun Hutson but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as his other recent work. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a darn fine book with some excellent and clever twists and some good story telling but I didn’t really warm to the lead character – Matthew Franklin – and
therefore found myself not particularly caring about his destiny within the story,
the ending is also a little far fetched when Franklin goes after his pursuers.
Maybe I’m being a little too critical because I read it straight after reading Huston’s Hybrid which was a staggering book, whatever the reason though I still count Hutson amongst my favourite authors and always look forward to his latest books hitting the shelves. He still manages to get the despair and hurt of his characters across perfectly on the printed page and manages to keep a story flowing well.

“Malice is pleasure derived from another's evil which brings no advantage to oneself.”

Three stars out of five then from me, with the recommendation that this is a book for diehard fans of Hutson rather than those sampling his work for the first time.


www.shaunhutson.com
ISBN:- 0316725935
Published by Time Warner
470 Pages Hardback
£11.89 at Amazon.co.uk

Summary: A book for diehard fans of Hutson rather than those sampling his work for the first time