The Kult

Shaun Jeffrey

Average Rating 9/10 (2 Reviews)

People are predictable. That's what makes them easy to kill.

Acting out of misguided loyalty to his friends, police officer Prosper Snow is goaded into helping them perform a copycat killing, but when the real killer comes after him, it's not only his life on the line, but his family's too. Now if he goes to his colleagues for help, he risks being arrested for murder. If he doesn't, he risks being killed.

Author Website - www.shaunjeffrey.com

Review by Chrissi (310310) Rating (8/10)
Review by Nigel (310110) Rating (9/10)

Review by Chrissi
Rating 8/10
You know when you get a pleasant surprise? Something that you were really not expecting? Well, this is one of those things; Nigel said it was good, and so I started it and really enjoyed it.

This is a crime thriller, only the policeman at the centre of the investigation becomes involved in a copycat crime, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of a killer whose identity is not yet known. Unfortunately the killer takes umbrage and things take a rather gruesome twist.

I am not going to do a spoiler, but the twist is great and although, thinking about it later, I had been wracking my brain and thought that I had it sussed, right up until I found that I had not. It is well written and as Nigel says deserves to be advertised and marketed at the Karin Slaughter / Mark Billingham audience, for readers who have developed a taste for a more descriptive gorefest. To be fair, it is not hugely graphic, but it is amazing where the imagination can go given an oxy-acetylene welding set, or that might just be me.
Chrissi (31st March 2010)

Review by Nigel
Rating 9/10
The story starts with a serial killer, the Oracle, hunting his first victim and a gruesome start it is which rather sets the style for the book… not one for the faint hearted. Detective Chief Inspector Prosper Snow lands the case of finding the killer as the body count mounts and it is at this point we find out about the Kult.

The Kult was formed when a group of bullied school children - Prosper, Paris, Wolfe, Jerel and Ty - decided to band together and fight back; they pledged in blood that should one call for assistance they should all answer that call. Now reaching middle age the members haven't really been in contact over the years but one calls the Kult together again to undertake another act of revenge, only this time it is murder. Although some are reluctant the reason for revenge, along with a little blackmail, starts the ball rolling. As Prosper has access to the serial killer's MO they decide to make the murder look like the work of the Oracle. As you can probably guess the real killer is not too impressed and Prosper's world starts to unravel. But is everything as it seems?

Upon starting The Kult the first thing that sprang to mind was the book read like a Karin Slaughter story which is no bad thing. It is very well written with a good plot containing the obligatory twists and turns while the pace is unrelenting and will have you gripped until the end. The only minor criticism I have is that the solution to the Oracle's signature, left at the 'scenes', was not solved until very near the end of the book. In truth this would have been worked out by the investigating team much earlier as the explanation, when it is revealed, would have been one of the first things tried; however, it is a small point and does not detract from the overall enjoyment.

This book is as good as, and in some cases much better than, other successful mainstream crime thrillers out there and with the right publicity there is no reason it couldn't be in the top ten along with Karin Slaughter. Shaun Jeffrey has written a cracking good story that I really enjoyed reading and I highly recommend it to other crime thriller fans.
Nigel (31st January 2010)