Compulsion

Shaun Hutson

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

A gang of teenage youngsters is running riot on the streets. Responsible for a number of burglaries and car thefts, the police are at their wits' end trying to put a stop to the gang's activities. Terror and hatred have become part of everyday life for local residents and, just when it seems things cannot get any worse, the gang targets Shelby House - an old people's home.

Supervisor Veronica Porter, her two staff and the nine elderly residents become the gang's most vulnerable victims yet as the thugs conduct a hate campaign against them, sending abusive mail, daubing graffitl on walls and shattering windows. The intimidation escalates until Veronica's own father is dragged into the scene of terror when, disturbing some of the gang members burgling his house he is put into a coma.

But enough is enough. The senior citizens of Shelby House decide to take the law into their own hands and fight back...

Web Site - http://www.shaunhutson.com

Review by Victim (011202) Rating (9/10)

Review by Victim
Rating 9/10
A tale of terror in a satellite town, where the kids are out of control, and no one can do anything about it. Or can they?

Basically the tale is about fear, what it can do to people, and the reactions to it. I have decided that either I have lived to long in the country or I am getting old, because I could associate with this, although not through first hand experience. I did live in a city for a while, partly in a rough area, and always near to one The plot is not complex; in fact it is brutal in its simplicity. The characters are brilliantly crafted, and the imagery is vivid. The tension builds throughout, until the breaking point.

As is usual with the work of Mr. Hutson, you try not to get involved with any of the characters, because just as you get a bond with them, they die, usually in a fairly gruesome way. This is always a problem, because the first thing that happens is that you do form a bond, within a few short sentences, you know some details that draw you to them, then SPLAT! Onto the next character...

This doesn't start off as grossly as some, although there are some nasty occurrences, but what would you expect from this man. Even the sick twisted evil 'Baddies' have some things with which you can identify, the 'Goodies' have their flaws - they are human. The characterisation is awesome, and the story flows like a well-oiled, fast paced machine.

I have always enjoyed reading the works of Shaun Hutson, and this has got to be very high in my personal ranking of them.

There is no 'Supernatural' element, just plain and simple human nature.

Highlight - The comment about a poster of a manufactured band! - Find it yourself...
Victim (1st December 2002)