Customer Reviews

Damnable (Jake Hatcher)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

U.S. special ops agent Jake Hatcher has a talent for harsh interrogation techniques. Unfortunately for him, plying his trade lands him in military prison on charges of torture. The novel begins when he is sprung from jail to attend the funeral of a brother he never knew, a brother involved in a shadowy conspiracy involving a sex cult, murdered prostitutes and an apocalypse-hungry billionaire.

Motivated by a desperate attempt to find out the truth about his family, as well as a believable desire to protect human life, Schwaeble's protagonist puts his unusual skills into action against foes natural and supernatural alike. Combining the use of interrogation as a psychological weapon with a realistic portrayal of combat martial arts, the story delivers a fresh approach to all forms of conflict, leaving the reader to reap the benefits. And while we do get accounts of Hatcher's uses of some forms of torture while in the Middle East, it comes across as too simplistic to consider him `Cheneyesque'; for Jake Hatcher's character is the epitome of one who backs up talking the talk with walking the walk (kicking the kick, punching the punch, and then some). Indeed, his epithet, which makes the book's title, offers a precise descriptor of a hero who must do what is unpopular in order to save others.

Thus follows the book's kinetic ride through an urban landscape fraught with ingenious demon-assisted murder scenes and posh catacombs full of beautifully mutated sex kittens. Schwaeble's descriptions are lush without slowing the pace, and his factual renderings of police and military procedures intriguing and accurate. Those readers who commonly find themselves put-off by increasingly lackluster horror and thriller tropes will love the uninhibited explicitness of the sex and violence. And yet, such scenes are so strategically placed and well written that they cannot be considered gratuitous by the true meaning of the word.

Thus I recommend DAMNABLE not just for its grand sense of action and adventure, but because it causes the reader to question assumptions at every turn. It's one thing when a book sends you to the dictionary to look up esoteric words. It's another when you find yourself looking up and questioning the concept of `innocence'.

If I had to name any flaws in this novel it would only be in areas where I wanted more--perhaps to see Schwaeble's cosmos superimposed on more of New York City than just midtown and the edges of Long Island. Also, when exploring theological concepts with stakes as high as eternal damnation, I wanted the same kind of detailed questioning of assumptions as had been applied to human conflict. In other words, it seemed a little odd that a text that does an excellent job of exploring the morality of torture as a means to a just end, doesn't go very far in exploring whether or not torture as an eternal punishment is equally just. Only the villain questions the justness of Hell, and his criticisms are rarely refuted or mused upon. It would be interesting to see a psy-ops man of Hatcher's caliber attempt to answer the same questions. Well, it's never a bad thing to leave a reader wanting more of a main character. Perhaps he'll enter this territory and more in a welcome second installment.

Wow! "Extreme horror" doesn't even begin to describe the gory action in this book. Definitely a book you do NOT want to read late at night when you are alone -- unless you enjoy getting up to lock the doors every 10 minutes! Very believable storyline and plenty of twists and turns all help make the book impossible to put down. Definitely recommended reading...especially at a third the price of the junk being put out by bigger named authors who have gotten lazy with their writing. Two thumbs up!

I gave it Five Stars, and it earned every one of them. This is an awesome thriller-chiller. I don't know what book the guys knocking it read, but it sure wasn't this one. A whole chapter cutting out a woman's heart? Uh, try one page, of an 18 page chapter. And that was a tense scene where the villain was introduced, one where the tension keeps building throughout. And I don't know how someone could find support for thinking the writer is "working out therapy issues" because of "problems with everything." The only character who has a problem with G-d is the villain; the protagonist is at best a skeptic. And the reason all the women are incredibly beautiful is because they're almost all some sort of demon/human hybrids who are are physically perfect. And, as someone else noted in their review, torture is a theme explored in some depth throughout. The ethics of interrogation tactics are probed without any, or hardly any, preaching, one way or the other, and the reader is provided an interesting comparison to the idea of eternal torment, as well as an interesting comparison between the protagonist and the antagonist.

Overall, this is a brilliant example of hard-boiled horror. I would say it is certain to please both adrenaline junkies and horror fans, especially those who want tight prose, vivid descriptions, and rich insight into military and police viewpoints. I highly recommend it.

Damnable, the surprising debut novel by Hank Schwaeble, is well written, intricately crafted, highly imaginative, and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful. It features a likeable and sympathetic hero, a diabolical villain, and a cast of supporting characters that enhances the fast-paced plot. It's a quick, enjoyable read.

But the book has a big problem in its sexual content, which is so overdone and explicit that the narrative seems more like erotica than thriller in spots. This unfortunately detracts significantly from the otherwise highly engaging story.

The plot centers on Jake Hatcher, a wrongly imprisoned ex-military man. When he receives word that his brother has died--a brother he didn't even know he had--he is temporarily released to assist his grieving mother with funeral arrangements. The trouble starts when he begins investigating the circumstances of his mysterious brother's death. As Hatcher uncovers a series of increasingly confusing and disturbing clues, all signs seem to indicate that something very sinister is unfolding. Soon Hatcher comes face to face with true evil, and when he does, all bets are off as to whether he has what it takes to prevail.

There's a lot to like about this book. The writing is good. The hero is sympathetic and realistic and displays an appealing combination of street-honed toughness and cerebral dexterity. Schwaeble does an admirable job of building the suspense and tension from the first pages right to the climactic conclusion. The story contains a nice blend of mystery, fantasy, and dark thriller characteristics. But the positives are seriously marred by the overdone sexuality and crass language. The depiction of evil in the book is stark and graphic as well.

The title is derived from Jake Hatcher's description of himself when he reveals why he was imprisoned: after a politically sensitive operation, someone in his special-forces unit had to take the fall, and he was chosen--the damnable one.

In the end, the book's positives don't outweigh its negatives. Hopefully, with his next book, Schwaeble will focus more on the aspects of his writing that almost make this book really good and less on the explicitness and vulgarity that overshadow it.

To say that creative direction was taken from Lee Child's Reacher series would be an understatement! So, at least the guys name is Hatcher instead of "Reacher".
At first I thought that this would be a good spin-off of the Lee Child books, but I was wrong. The writing is not up to par, and the character is just too derivative. I hope that the author takes his talent in a more original direction, because there IS talent here.
I would recommend this author as a $2 read on Kindle. Otherwise, pass this one up.

I picked this book up at a Borders going out of business sale, I saw it stacked in the Vampire section and since I read the back cover and thought it had a great concept I picked up this book and Diabolical expecting to have two great books to add to my horror collection. The beginning scene with Garrett was very engaging and only made me even more excited to continue on with the story, then we cut to Jake Hatcher, a man doing time for something he didn't do. I won't spoil anything and I admit I did not get that far in the book before I put it down with no desire to pick it up again. I loved the gore, the writing was straight forward (which I liked) but Jake never captured my interest, I thought the detective aspects of the story was dull, the villians Valentine and Sherman were uninteresting, and going almost half way into the book I kept thinking "Where are the freaking Vampires or Vampire like creatures" So far I am given this dull Valentine character, Sherman, and some caged creature who eat hearts.

Then I come to Amazon.com to see if I can find more information about the novel when I read another description about these Carnate women and a plan to end Heaven's reign. I knew then I would not pick this book back up. If I had read this on the book's back cover I never would have purchased it as I'm not into religious themed books horror or otherwise. The Carnates don't sound that interesting anyway. The only times I found the novel interesting were the tidbits of information about Garrett, I keep thinking of how the novel would've turned out if it was about him and how he got involved instead of Jake and his momma issues. But oh well. Time to pick up another book, I will be selling Damnable and Diabolical.

Schwaeble has been one of the "up and coming" authors in the supernatural genre that insiders talk about for a little while--winning Stoker awards for short stories and anthologies. Now with his first novel, "Damnable", he can't be up and coming any more. He's arrived in fine style. "Damnable" is a tightly written page-turner with a distinct voice that blends supernatural horror, classic noire ambience and a bit of Vince Flynn action/adventure. Schwaeble writes like a seasoned pro, creating an imperfect but sympathetic protagonist fighting his personal demons as well as real ones. The dialogue is authentic and the pacing is perfect as the several threads of the story come togeher for a memorable conclusion. It's an impressive first novel and I'm looking forward to the next.

Here's a full-bore genre that mixes noir, thriller, and horror aplenty. Hatcher, the wise-cracking hero, is a rough-edged die-hard equal to the gauntlet he's been tasked, yet human enough to remain believable. The fisticuffs are keenly depicted, as are various characters and settings. The narrative flows fast and vivid as a graphic novel -- opening with a Hopperian scene (like a nightmare out of "Night Hawks"), to dizzying flashes a la "Sin City," right down to a dark Inferno haunted by devilish beasts and a side tour through a Boschian "Garden of Delights." The plot pulls you headlong, like running after your hat in a high wind. Obviously I enjoyed this story, found it supple and wry to the very last line.
While some may wince at the main character's Cheneyequse views and ready violence, given the context I'd give the writer and his character a break. How else would you deal with zombies and demons? Besides, unlike with Mr. Cheney, a writer is nowise responsible for national policy, but simply for telling a story. And in "Damnable" Hank Schwaeble has told a damn good one.

This novel had a lot of potential. It was certainly original and had a wonderfully interesting plotline. But the author sure didn't write it for women readers. There were erections in every chapter for every reason. The book was infused with unnecessary eroticism and rape scenes that did nothing to improve or better the characters or unfolding of the story. Again, a cool story with twists and turns, a hint pulpy, but too much gratuitous eroticism for this female reader.

This book started off well and I found both the protagonist and antagonist very interesting. As the story unfolds there are many twists, however they seemed to lack much impact after a while because there are almost too many. The action and pace are good, but seem almost cliche. Over time the story focuses on action more and more and leaves characterization behind. Another bad sign is that I found myself re-reading passages over and over due to details that are a bit confusing to picture.

Overall this is a decent read and a fast-paced story. There are choppy parts in the book and it seemed to lack "something" to really grab the reader.