What do you think?
Rate this book
Local Gods
We’ll call him Pete Collins. It’s the name he’s using for now and is as good as any.
Pete’s in the killing business. For the right price he’s your man, the one who’ll satisfy a grievance, punish a wrongdoer, deliver vengeance or spite with maximum prejudice, make your problems disappear…
Things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes a job goes bad and you have to get out, lie low, disappear for a bit, someplace quiet.
Someplace like Little Baddington, a beautiful hamlet, nestled deep in the rural Cotswolds. The perfect place to hold up for a while. A place to take in good clean country air, relax, unwind and reflect, a place steeped in the traditions of the old country.
Not all traditions are pleasant.
The good folk of Little Baddington have a few secrets of their own, and Pete Collins is about to find out how this little hamlet has remained untouched by the outside world, the type of bargain it’s struck for that privilege and with whom.
He’s going to find out what a Local God can do….
From the author of The Long View and In Winters Garden, comes another gut-wrenching journey into darkness, where nothing and no-one is quite as they seem. A fusion of folk horror and underworld retribution that will leave you breathless..
Pete’s in the killing business. For the right price he’s your man, the one who’ll satisfy a grievance, punish a wrongdoer, deliver vengeance or spite with maximum prejudice, make your problems disappear…
Things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes a job goes bad and you have to get out, lie low, disappear for a bit, someplace quiet.
Someplace like Little Baddington, a beautiful hamlet, nestled deep in the rural Cotswolds. The perfect place to hold up for a while. A place to take in good clean country air, relax, unwind and reflect, a place steeped in the traditions of the old country.
Not all traditions are pleasant.
The good folk of Little Baddington have a few secrets of their own, and Pete Collins is about to find out how this little hamlet has remained untouched by the outside world, the type of bargain it’s struck for that privilege and with whom.
He’s going to find out what a Local God can do….
From the author of The Long View and In Winters Garden, comes another gut-wrenching journey into darkness, where nothing and no-one is quite as they seem. A fusion of folk horror and underworld retribution that will leave you breathless..
216 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 3, 2025
He Who Walks in the Furrows...
All Praise Be
LOCAL GODS
by Mark Hurst
4 1/2 stars. Hit man Pete Collins (not his real name) was sent to kill sleazy high court Judge Archibald Hunter...
But...
Pete got personal performing the job when he should have kept the hit professional...
It was a lapse in judgment Pete regretted. Patience is the key to success on his job. Patience and professionalism...
So...
His contact and handler, Dave, sent him to a tiny village in the Cotswolds to lie low for a while and stay out of sight...
It was with a heavy heart...
Pete took a train from London to a small hamlet called Little Baddington...
Dave had arranged for him to stay there in a rented cottage for six weeks...
Pete was spooked at no streetlamps...
His instincts said something was wrong...
By the light of the harvest moon...
Pete read a sign: Little Baddington, forever restful in the furrows. He had arrived...
At the crossroads...
Pete saw an enormous church, too large for such a small village, and surrounded by a walled graveyard...
On the village green...
Pete saw a maypole amid squat cottages. His destination for tonight was a pub called The Yew Tree, just past the cottages...
Soon, he would meet up with...
He who walks in the furrows...
This was a very atmospheric story with an anti-hero that I found myself cheering on. There are really no likable characters in this story, which was part crime noir and an equal part supernatural. I loved the ending.
Recommended!
All Praise Be
LOCAL GODS
by Mark Hurst
4 1/2 stars. Hit man Pete Collins (not his real name) was sent to kill sleazy high court Judge Archibald Hunter...
But...
Pete got personal performing the job when he should have kept the hit professional...
It was a lapse in judgment Pete regretted. Patience is the key to success on his job. Patience and professionalism...
So...
His contact and handler, Dave, sent him to a tiny village in the Cotswolds to lie low for a while and stay out of sight...
It was with a heavy heart...
Pete took a train from London to a small hamlet called Little Baddington...
Dave had arranged for him to stay there in a rented cottage for six weeks...
Pete was spooked at no streetlamps...
His instincts said something was wrong...
By the light of the harvest moon...
Pete read a sign: Little Baddington, forever restful in the furrows. He had arrived...
At the crossroads...
Pete saw an enormous church, too large for such a small village, and surrounded by a walled graveyard...
On the village green...
Pete saw a maypole amid squat cottages. His destination for tonight was a pub called The Yew Tree, just past the cottages...
Soon, he would meet up with...
He who walks in the furrows...
This was a very atmospheric story with an anti-hero that I found myself cheering on. There are really no likable characters in this story, which was part crime noir and an equal part supernatural. I loved the ending.
Recommended!
July 27, 2025
Local Gods is an excellent horror story that starts at full throttle before settling into a slow burn. This one definitely kept me on my toes!
As a fan of folk horror, I really enjoyed this tale. The author has done a sterling job.
Recommended!
As a fan of folk horror, I really enjoyed this tale. The author has done a sterling job.
Recommended!
May 25, 2026
Pete puts ASS in assassin.
Pete kills folks for a living. I wonder if that's the advice his career guidance counsellor told him when he was at school? Poor Pete. He kind of overdoes it with one of his targets and displeases his boss. Boss angry. Boss sends Pete to tiny UK hamlet to hide until his faux pas is forgotten. Cept this hick town is where naughty assassins get a cap popped into their own ass.
I got all the way to 55% and nothing much happened. Maybe I missed something? Could be my wheel was spinning but my hamster was asleep. Nope, I checked. Nothing happened. Scene building I guess. Then, all of a sudden, shitloads happens. All the way to the last word. Goooood ending, author.
Pete kills folks for a living. I wonder if that's the advice his career guidance counsellor told him when he was at school? Poor Pete. He kind of overdoes it with one of his targets and displeases his boss. Boss angry. Boss sends Pete to tiny UK hamlet to hide until his faux pas is forgotten. Cept this hick town is where naughty assassins get a cap popped into their own ass.
I got all the way to 55% and nothing much happened. Maybe I missed something? Could be my wheel was spinning but my hamster was asleep. Nope, I checked. Nothing happened. Scene building I guess. Then, all of a sudden, shitloads happens. All the way to the last word. Goooood ending, author.
August 14, 2024
This first twenty percent of this book zipped by. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, but then it slowed down and never really got back to that pacing again. Just glimpses of it. The thing is, I still really enjoyed it. I think it's Mark's ability to write gorgeous settings whilst not digging in too deep. I think it's how he keeps things clean and precise, you know? It's truly a pleasure to read.
Nothing is predictable, there is no linear path. Even when certain things were unveiled, the little twists kept coming. Maybe more of a tightening of sorts. Anyway... I'm glad I read this one. Great ending, too.
A solid 4 stars.
Nothing is predictable, there is no linear path. Even when certain things were unveiled, the little twists kept coming. Maybe more of a tightening of sorts. Anyway... I'm glad I read this one. Great ending, too.
A solid 4 stars.
August 5, 2024
Local Gods is a dark and terrifying little gem that I looked forward to getting back to each time I had to put it down. London assassin Pete Collins allows personal vengeance to enter into his paid work, which does not please the faceless men he serves. On the advice of his handler, he drives into deepest Gloucestershire, out in the sticks, to avoid any heat that might come his way.
After a strangely cool reception on the night of his arrival (with the exception of new pub landlord Craig, who has made the mistake of trying to inject Little Baddington with the culture of Hampstead), Pete becomes increasingly unsettled by every experience in the village, and every local with whom he comes into contact. And it's only going to get worse. Suffice to say that Pete the contract killer soon starts to feel like the 'goodie'.
I love a story that surprises me all the way through, with developments I can't predict at all, and this was one such. It's not a particularly long book, I imagine about 65 or 70K words (though I might be wrong, as the words do tend to whizz by when you're eagerly turning the pages!). It's beautifully edited, with never a superfluous sentence, just the right amount of detail and atmosphere, with characters that pop into life as soon as they appear. And the ending ... so, so good. Really wish I hadn't finished it, though!
As is probably obvious, I highly recommend this novel. If you're not the sort of person who spooks too easily...
After a strangely cool reception on the night of his arrival (with the exception of new pub landlord Craig, who has made the mistake of trying to inject Little Baddington with the culture of Hampstead), Pete becomes increasingly unsettled by every experience in the village, and every local with whom he comes into contact. And it's only going to get worse. Suffice to say that Pete the contract killer soon starts to feel like the 'goodie'.
I love a story that surprises me all the way through, with developments I can't predict at all, and this was one such. It's not a particularly long book, I imagine about 65 or 70K words (though I might be wrong, as the words do tend to whizz by when you're eagerly turning the pages!). It's beautifully edited, with never a superfluous sentence, just the right amount of detail and atmosphere, with characters that pop into life as soon as they appear. And the ending ... so, so good. Really wish I hadn't finished it, though!
As is probably obvious, I highly recommend this novel. If you're not the sort of person who spooks too easily...
June 9, 2024
What a sickening read in all the best ways, Mark's writing is always guaranteed to be able to make you feel sick, in the greatest way possible. Hurst's ability to create an incredible setting whilst developing a slow burn to understand the history and develop the characters entirely my favourite every time I read one of his books. Instead of getting straight into the action, it's built up slowly and naturally which I adore.
We follow the journey of Pete, a killer, who has been sent to a small village to lay low after one of his killings went wrong, but what he finds there is unsettling...
I beg you to eat something before you read this, the level of detail and the shocking folk horror that engulfs you will make you heave at every page.
I did not expect the twists here and I'm ALL HERE FOR IT.
Fantastic once again Mark, I'm so proud of you.
We follow the journey of Pete, a killer, who has been sent to a small village to lay low after one of his killings went wrong, but what he finds there is unsettling...
I beg you to eat something before you read this, the level of detail and the shocking folk horror that engulfs you will make you heave at every page.
I did not expect the twists here and I'm ALL HERE FOR IT.
Fantastic once again Mark, I'm so proud of you.
February 12, 2026
Stone nasty from jump all the way through, pulp as pulp can be. A little short for a creeping-dread folk horror, not enough time or enough not openly sinister interactions with the villagers. Pete has a fine-tuned danger sense but a guileless fresh-faced 19 year old Provo missionary would have smelled something fishy in Little Baddington. The command structure in LB needs some help, too: too much power concentrated in one person, no staff or chain of command. Cults of personality are no replacement for competent lieutenants.
Could stand another copy-edit pass, more typographical errors than I'm sure Hurst would prefer. In one place a character "steals" himself for something unpleasant and then on the following page another one "steels" herself for the same experience.
Could stand another copy-edit pass, more typographical errors than I'm sure Hurst would prefer. In one place a character "steals" himself for something unpleasant and then on the following page another one "steels" herself for the same experience.
June 21, 2024
A shorter, sharper tale from Hurst that never once pulls its punches. The horror elements are genuinely scary with one death being particularly gnarly. I’d highly recommend anything Mark Hurst has written but this is a great starting point for newbies.
It’s safe to say I’m well and truly a fan now.
It’s safe to say I’m well and truly a fan now.
September 2, 2025
Love the prose, the metaphors and similes were a lot of fun. It started off strong, but the plot seemed quite rushed and cliché. The hitman angle quickly became irrelevant, which was disappointing.
December 5, 2025
In Bruges meets The Wicker Man with a dark literary tone.
Hurst did a great job withworldbuilding and voice. This is the first book I've read by Mark Hurst, but I plan to read more.
Hurst did a great job withworldbuilding and voice. This is the first book I've read by Mark Hurst, but I plan to read more.
December 20, 2025
wow probs one of my favourite books read the year. read it in one day totally dragged me in. deserves to be a film or mini series at least. ffao wicker man etc. awesome 🐐
September 16, 2026
fun and good read
This was a short and fun read. Can’t say it’s an original take but it was well done and I enjoyed it
This was a short and fun read. Can’t say it’s an original take but it was well done and I enjoyed it
October 8, 2024
This book was excellent, the perfect blend of messed up and descent into madness. I really enjoyed the ride from what was already a crazy character and situation into and even wilder one.
The prose was tight and fast paced, the creepy factor was dialed up quick and it was clear things were going to go down by the end and I was all in for it. That ending was also perfect!
The only real criticisms I have were firstly the really messed up first chapter, I was unsure if I had gotten into a very different kind of story but I’m glad I stuck through it. Thinking about it I can see why it was written the way it was, but it was definitely a questionable opening without later context. And the second being the head hopping narrative at the end. It was a bit jarring when the switches happened without a clean break. But otherwise it was a great and horrifying read!
The prose was tight and fast paced, the creepy factor was dialed up quick and it was clear things were going to go down by the end and I was all in for it. That ending was also perfect!
The only real criticisms I have were firstly the really messed up first chapter, I was unsure if I had gotten into a very different kind of story but I’m glad I stuck through it. Thinking about it I can see why it was written the way it was, but it was definitely a questionable opening without later context. And the second being the head hopping narrative at the end. It was a bit jarring when the switches happened without a clean break. But otherwise it was a great and horrifying read!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews