During a communion service at a village church, the teenage son of a vicar brutally attacks his father with an axe. The horrified congregation watch the son escape and during a frantic police search rumours arise that the boy was involved in devil worship. Professor Matt Hunter, an atheist ex-minister and expert on religion, is brought in to advise, yet he quickly suspects the church attack may have a far more complex cause. Meanwhile, a ten-year-old boy called Ever grows up in a small Christian cult. The group believe they are the only true humans left and that the world is filled with demons called Hollows, but they’re working on a bizarre ritual that will bring peace and paradise to the world. Soon, the worlds of Matt and Ever will collide in one awful, terrifying night where Matt is thrown into the frightening and murderous world of religious mania.
So good to see Matt Hunter again! This is such a good series and Severed is a genuinely frightening addition to it. Very dark, moody and stormy, but with moments of mirth on occasion. Some sequences are truly horrifying, perhaps a little too much so for me, but Severed is such an engrossing and well-written mystery, complete with religious madness as well as horror. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.
The continuing storyline through all the Matt Hunter books is compelling and vexing to readers like me who are ready to "go there." Vexing because it remains elusive. The main story of Severed is heavier and troubling. I found myself skipping some of the cult chapters because I just really didn't want to be a party to their cloying sickness.
I have no idea why I haven’t come across this author before, but I will be making a point to do so in future.
Matt Hunter is a one-time man of God, who now likes to dabble in atheism instead. Now he spends his time dissecting his own feelings of faith and his knowledge of theology. He is also the go-to man for all things macabre and faintly godly or devilish in any way, which is how he ends up in the middle of an unusual attempted murder in an old church.
A teenage boy attacks the local vicar during a service all whilst mumbling a strange language. At the same time the reader is introduced to a young boy called Ever, who lives in a seemingly idyllic, albeit odd, small community of very religious people. His family. The question is what is their connection to the events in the church?
I think one of the most interesting aspects of Severed is the way the author unfurls the complexity of cult mentality. How is easy it is to be sucked into a theoretical concept, which to the objective outsider may seem completely absurd. I mean how many people, including really intelligent people I might add, do you think would fall for a money making oppressive religion based on the failed sci-fi stories of an ego-maniacal author who envisioned himself as a leader of the ‘enlightened’ members of the human race. Oh wait, yeh, my bad. Loads of people already have and are paying through the nose for the privilege.
A cult environment is bit like creating the perfect growth habitat for delusional thought fungi. They absorb the vulnerable, the rejected and the lost of our society, whilst the sharks at the top feed on their insecurities, fears and traumas.
This eclectic mixture of theology, faith, thriller and horror makes for a spectacular read. It bandies around the concepts of Christianity, religion, cults and atheism in a way that engages the reader in the narrative like a literary novel, despite the fact it is an action-packed horror read.
When you’ve read this book take a moment to read the author’s note of acknowledgement – emotional and honest words on the thought process behind the story. In a way it says so much more about the story, the author and society, perhaps more than a mere read may.
What a chilling nightmare of a book. Those Hollows. Lurking in the shadows. Shivering as a type. Yet the real horrors are those that corrupt vulnerable people’s’ minds and twist them to darkness. Nicely played Rev P
Full disclosure, this is the third book in the Professor Matt Hunter series. I hadn’t read the others, and while I am sure that there were moments in this book that pointed at previous events, it took nothing away from my enjoyment of this novel. It worked incredibly well as a standalone – and has only left me wanting to go back and find out what the hell they were referring to! Anyway, Ready?
When I finished this book the first thing I had to do was take a deep breath. I’m not sure I had been regulating my breathing correctly, and needed to calm my heartbeat. You see, this, was an unexpected thrill ride that I would gladly hop on again. The book starts with a bang (or a splat perhaps) and continues at rapid pace with high tension. It’s not all action though as there is a healthy mix of (geek) humour – normally delivered through our protagonist Matt, who I thought was wonderfully written, if slighlty flawed (see below). The cast of characters here are brilliantly worked – and while I wasn’t rooting for the bad guys – I loved how messed up they were. Matt’s family were very interesting, and I loved the dynamic between husband and wife. If I had to point out a negative (the aforementioned flaw) it would be that during the book Matt makes negative remarks about liquorice. As you will know from yesterday’s review of Red Snow I LOVE liquorice… I almost had to put the book down…. only for a minute though.
Aside from this (for shame) I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It definitely deserves your attention if you are a fan of the macabre. This one is perfect for fans of John Connolly, I should know, I love the Charlie Parker books. I highly recommend that you pick it up, and get stuck in.
Wow!! This was not what I was expecting at all! Having read up on the Author, I am sorry to say that I was expecting this to be less than it was, and it is a very rare thing for me to form such a thought prior to reading.
Why? My brain just seemed to automatically assume that being a Reverend would result in a particular type of story, and I am sure everyone has some of these thoughts at various points in their life, but for myself I try very hard not to let such preconceptions effect me, and the Blurb is certainly intriguing!
So I dived in. And WOW! Following the diving metaphor, I couldn’t believe how Deep and clear the water!! Imagine dropping into a pool that goes for miles, but you can see everything with perfect clarity, and that is what this book feels like.
The details are rich and well done, creepy and very very eerie at times, and yet you need to keep reading because you need to see how deep the pool gets, or in the Story’s case, where this tale will take you.
The situations are plausible, and thoroughly entertaining, thought perhaps don’t make the mistake I did of starting this late in the evening!! I struggled to make myself put this down, then struggled even harder to sleep.
The tale woven creates a cult, the details rich and wonderfully descriptive, showing the shocking clarity just how easy it can be to fall into such a thing, and how all encompassing they can be.
Although this was my first endeavour into this Authors work, it absolutely will not be my last! I am well and truly in awe at that talent of this Author, both for the cleverly crafted plot line, and the variety of believable situations within it.
If you enjoy something that will make you twitch at sounds, whilst unable to stop turning the pages, then you need to read this!
I very much enjoyed this - an intriguing crime with a hint of the supernatural, and a look at cult's/ alternative viewpoints that was quite interesting. Not an easy read but a good one. I only wish i'd discovered Matt hunter from book 1 - but that's in the process of being remedied as i downloaded that one this morning. For those that like their crime novels with a little dark supernatural edge this is smart and well written and I heartily recommend it. 4* from me
To be honest, this is nowhere near as good as the previous 2 books featuring Matt Hunter. There is no mystery to this one, and I found the cult sections so boring that I soon found myself skipping those chapters altogether - with no detriment to the plot. I'm hoping that with book 4 Laws is back to the standard set by earlier works.
Fast-paced thriller with some nice theological twisting, but quite a lot if grisly nastiness. It also commits the sin of the ‘less than’ for ‘fewer’ and moves a church that is actually in Chesterfield to Sheffield. Editors, where are you?
3rd Instalment in the Mat Hunter series, writer Peter Laws really hits his stride in this dark twisted Horror, Crime, Thriller.
Energetically paced with lashings of gore, dollops of theological dispute and the monsters that are human, it is nigh impossible to put this book down.
Ex Priest and consumate Aethiest Matt Hunter is called in to consult on a possible Satanic bloody axe attack in the local church. From then on its a rollercoaster ride which doesnt end particularly well for anyone.
If your fascinated with insight to religious cults, love a good crime and don't mind a drizzle of blood...You will LOVE this book. So easy to read with Peter's/Matt's geeky sense of humor punching through the darkness.
I give this book 4 paws down and a vigorous tail wag...
This author is fascinating. He has a very unique perspective on life, religion, faith and society as a whole. It all shows in his books. He has a podcast where he takes horror movies/horror culture and looks at them from a religious and theological point of view. Check out his website https://www.peterlaws.co.uk/, it’s really interesting. In his books, his main character is University Professor Matt Hunter. A man who has lost his faith in religion due to an extremely sad and devastating experience. Because of this he see’s the world differently. So he is able to help and assist the local police with some pretty creepy murder cases that have religious undertones. He is able to see things other people miss, or they look at things from a religious point of view, when he is able to look at these murders from an intellectual and religious history point of view without bringing emotional religion and faith into it. He helps with the religious symbolism of these murders. Each book (3) is a different and very unique case. There are great twists and turns in each book, there are also some excellent characters and backstories. In each book you learn more about Matt, his wife Wren, and daughters Lucy and Amelia as they move along the storyline. This is really a very nice, sweet family that really goes thru hell and back, but they are stronger, braver, more supportive and more loving to each other. Each book is a unique who done it, murder mystery. They are all excellent reads, you’ll lose sleep reading them because you can’t wait to see what is around the next corner. I think for conciseness the books should be read in order, Purged, Unleashed, and Severed.
A teenage boy attacks his father (the vicar) with an axe during Communion. Academic Matt Hunter is asked to advise the police as they suspect a satanic element to the attack, but he is puzzled by certain inconsistencies. A young boy called Ever grows up in a strange religious community, convinced that demons are hidden in human bodies. As the members of the cult come into contact with Hunter and his investigation, a stormy night of violence is about to threaten the safety of all of them.
This was a new author and series to me and I wasn't sure I would like it - I generally avoid anything with a horror or devil worship theme. However, I was hooked straightaway and couldn't put it down. The narrative was well paced, the atmosphere of the cult was chilling and very convincing, and the characters were interesting.
The one minor irritation was the trope of the stubborn police officer who refuses to heed the instincts of the expert witness, and therefore lets them all fall into danger. That wasn't entirely convincing (it never is) but at least there was some attempt to explain the motivations behind it. Once the plot began to accelerate, it was totally gripping and dramatic.
I'm pleased to have discovered an interesting new series and will now go back and explore the earlier books.
During a communion service at a village church, the teenage son of a vicar brutally attacks his father with an axe. The horrified congregation watch the son esape and during a frantic police search rumours arise that the boy was involved in devil worship. Professor Matt Hunter, an atheist ex-minister and expert on religion, is brought in to advise, yet he quickly suspects the church attack may have a far more complex cause.
Meanwhile, a ten-year-old boy called Ever grows up in a small Christian cult. The group believe they are the only true humans left and that the world is filled with demons called Hollows, but they're working on a bizarre ritual that will bring peace and paradise to the world. Soon, the worlds of Matt and Ever will collide in one awful, terrifying night where Matt is thrown into the frightening and murderous world of religious mania. I like the character of Matt Hunter and the love of horror and Hammer horror shines through. I just couldn't take to the chapters with the cult as much. When Matt is featured,so much better. Really interesting idea though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Really enjoying Peter Laws' Matt Hunter series. Matt Hunter is shaping up to be like a supernatural/occult/religious Joe Ledger/Jack Reacher/Repairman Jack kind of character, and these are novels which are honestly grappling with issues of faith and belief, but they aren't works of "Christian fiction."
I also - I THINK - am getting an idea where Matt Hunter's going, and there seems to be a larger arc behind these stories, which, of course, I love. Will expand my thoughts on Matt Hunter and Laws' nonfiction book THE FRIGHTENERS in an upcoming edition of my Cemetery Dance Online column, "Revelations."
I think a three might be a more honest rating, because for a thriller, there was practically no sense of urgency. At all. Here's the thing. Cults, it can be generally agreed, are scary. It's in their nature. This one, though... It was sad, yes, it was bizarre, but it wasn't scary. A few reasons: They only had a half-dozen members, including one child and one developmentally disabled young adult. They all suffered from a) horrible trauma in their pre-cult lives and b) the same intense delusion after. Their end game? Did it involve mass murder? Explosions? The forming of a new world order? Nope. They just wanted to kill a guy. One guy. The protagonist. Of course. They figured that by doing so, it would usher in a new age. Ok... So basically, only one person plus the cult members themselves (and the one tragic collateral victim) were ever in any danger, and, honestly, had our hero acted a little smarter, he wouldn't have been in any danger at all. The real villain of the piece? Reckless decision making and a lack of communication. I did find the anthropological bits interesting, and I love the overarching (but very minor) bunny demon subplot. I was re-listening to this series, but I accidentally got to this one before book 2, but it turns out, it didn't make much difference. They can more or less be read as stand-alones. My only other gripe is the same one I had with the first book in the series. There is no nuance in the presentation of both theists and atheists. The characters are caricatures, and it's frustrating.
Creepy and nasty and thrilling but a little too gory for my tastes. I preferred the previous books, Purged and Unleashed; I found this one (about a pretty rudimentary cult and full of unspeakable events and deeply disturbed people) a lot less palatable; despite the previous Matt Hunter novels being just as horrifying there was something really nasty about this. Sort of a suburban Deliverance for the 21 century, with an awful lot more blood and bloody mayhem.
I made it to CD 3 but had to give up. This story was awful, and jumped all over the place. I pity the poor actor who had to read this nonsense. I like a good gruesome murder but this was so badly put together that not one drop of mystery or tension was developed. Some creatures called 'the hollows' and a strange family afraid of them emerged at one point - wierd in the extreme. The connection was lost on me but no doubt it would have been explained if I had been able to continue. Say no more.
I enjoyed this book though some of the descriptions are not for the squeamish. My only slight quibble was that I found it hard to distinguish between all the characters living with Ever. However, I learned something about religion, and the plot was a good one His best Matt Hunter yet!
I only discovered the Matt Hunter series fairly recently, but have found the novels to be addictive reading and Severed does not disappoint. A exciting read that I really didn’t want to put down and read in two sittings.
Don't you just love it when you find a new writer you love . Peter Laws has a great sence of drama , timing and story in this collection of books . Love his work and can't wait to read more .