Customer Reviews

Killing Mum

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A true modern master of noir and crime fiction, Allan Guthrie packs a wallop with his gut punch of a novella, a sweet little package from Crime Express called KILLING MUM. Carlos is a man who arranges killings. For a fee, of course. A letter arrives addressed 'Charlie', a name only his wife and mother use for him. The letter contains the down payment and instructions for a job. But there's a hitch... The intended target is none other than Carlos' mother.

And it all goes downhill from there. Guthrie is able to amp up the suspense right from the get go and it just never let up throughput the 96 page run, and yeah, thank the maker it isn't a novel length story because, damn, it'll nearly wear you out as it is. Any longer, you might just need an ambulance.

The plot moves swift, and we, for the most part, learn about the characters via dialogue and action. It's a tight and tense story and, without fail, one you won't soon forget.

This book was a totally different change of pace after some of the "predictable" ones I've been reading recently. Disturbing, but a great read and will keep you thinking.

Small, but perfectly formed, that's Al Guthrie for you.This is one of the splendid series of novellas published by Five Leaves. In KILLING MUM Carlos Morales does odd jobs for people. Several of those odd jobs involve offing people. When Carlos receives a padded envelope one day it's a good news, bad news sort of affair. The good news is that a mystery client will pay him £20,000 to kill Valerie Anderson. The bad news is that Valerie Anderson is his mother. Oh, and there's more bad news. He suspects the woman he loves of being the one who wants his mother dead. Dark, warped and funny, and with a surprising number of twists and turns for such a short book. I read it in one sitting, alternately giggling and gasping. Strangely enough I had a whole train carriage to myself by the end of it. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

Liked:

The story line here was just incredible.

I can't write too much as I don't want to give spoilers.

I will say that the character development is very good for the main character. I enjoy the way this author draws you into a story, forcing you to turn just one more page to find out what happens next.

Disliked:

Again, hard to tell without spoilers, so I will just say that the author used a particular type of formatting that kind of gave away the 'twist' way too early.

Overall:

A terrific, fast read

Length: Novella

Rating: R for violence, language, and sexual references

Carlos ("Charlie" only to his wife and mother) officially operates a tanning salon. But his real business is arranging hits, and when he receives a note addressed to "Charlie" with a sizeable cash down payment attached, he's startled to see that the target is his own mother. While not exactly a candidate for mother of the year, she has no enemies that he can think of. After some anxiety, including pondering how much someone knows about his secret operation, Carlos, with his wife Maggie, devise a plan to expose who he thinks ordered the hit. The execution (no pun intended....okay, somewhat intended) of this plan and how it evolves, devolves, and disintegrates is masterfully portrayed. A sequence in which Carlos argues with a joyrider [a carjacker, in the U.S.] who orders him out of his vehicle is a wonderful bit of business. And then there is Jordan, a boy assassin who can kill but not drive, and whose dialogue is both creepy and intriguing. As the night moves on--naturally, the plan takes place at night--events occur that surprise both Carlos and us, including revelations that, like a box in a box, pose even more questions.

Killing Mum is beautifully imagined and written; author Guthrie is absolutely in control at all times. It is suspenseful, darkly comic, noirish in plot, character, and language("the darkness smacking him in the face") and of course, is bleakly atmospheric. The dialogue, which carries much of the story, reminded me of Donald E. Westlake: tight, believable, a terrific ear. The characters are not described in detail and yet we feel we know everything about them...or everything we need to know.

Killing Mum is very visual; it reads almost like a play. I can imagine it as an entry in a crime anthology series on televison, if such programs still existed (regrettably that kind of quality tv is long gone). As a short novel, it's brilliantly done. Read it and be glad.

Short Story so a short review. Dark witty tale set in a slightly surreal Edinburgh. Hitmen, tanning salons, wee neds with guns and body bags its Tarantino with salt an sauce and at 74p less than a bag of chips

This concise novella is set in Edinburgh and basically involves four characters. In the central role is Carlos Morales, a successful arranger of contract killings. His assignment is to set up the murder of his own Mother.

I wouldn't like to add any more detail of the plot in this review as it would end up spoiling other readers enjoyment but I can say it certainly has a twist in the tale!

I read it in one sitting over almost a couple of hours and found it an interesting and absorbing read.

I am not usually a fan of short stories and this is marketed as a novella. Personally, I might be tempted to describe it rather more as a novelette - somewhat longer than a short story but only borderline towards a novella.
It is available to download at a very reasonable price.

As already mentioned, it was a particularly interesting read and suited my requirements as I had a small window of time that I could spare to lose myself in a story. 'Killing Mum' fulfilled my expectations and has definitely encouraged me to look for more of this author's work. This is the first story by author Allan Guthrie I have tried and I found it well written with good character development.

I will look forward to reading more of Allan Guthrie's work as I feel he has tremendous potential and may become one of my 'must read' authors.
I have just downloaded Bye Bye Baby which I'm sure will be equalling as engaging.

This is a great idea and the writing is good. Sharp dialog. Reminds me of something by Lawrence Block. Lots of interesting twists and turns in the plot for a short novella. The thing that makes it only good instead of very good is that the characterization isn't quite complete enough to carry off the surprise ending. But an entertaining read and very much worth the $.99 paid for the ebook.

You have to keep mum about Killing Mum because, as other reviewers have noted, it's hard to say too much without spoilers. It's about a for-hire hit-man who is given a lot of money to kill his own mother. He's both cool about it and curious. He's prepared to do it but would like to know who wants him to do it. Is it his wife, is it even the mother?

Guthrie's writing is strong on dialogue, which many writers find hard to do convincingly. Some writers talk tough but their characters just end up sounding manufactured. Elmore Leonard is a master of great, natural dialogue, and while Guthrie's characters are a world away from Leonard's, they have that same tough-sounding realism. I liked what one reviewer said about Blood Simple - that's a really good comparison. Like the Coen Brothers' movie, it's gritty noir yet also occasionally comic. And the characters are totally real.

By the way, one reviewer referred to problems with the Kindle version but I've read the Kindle version and didn't see any problems at all. Or maybe I was just too engrossed in the story!

KILLING MUM is a short, sharp shocker.TRUE BRIT GRIT!



The novella is as tight as a very tight thing and is a spin off from Guthrie's cracking novel SAVAGE NIGHT. It's the story of a man who is paid to kill his own mother.



Like SAVAGE NIGHT, KILLING MUM takes a violently absurd and tragically comic situation and gives it a couple of dark and bitter twists.



It's like having BLOOD SIMPLE transported to modern day Scotland and is a rush of a read.



Five BLOODY stars.