Hatchet Man

by Samuel Brower

On a cool autumn morning of 1946, a man wakes up at the edge of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. The man wears nothing but a hospital gown and a swath of bandaging around his head. He has no memory of his past or his identity. The only things in his head are visions of a little boy's drawings of a hatchet-wielding superhero and a beautiful woman who may or may not be an angel. As the man nurses himself back to health, he begins to have compulsions to go out into the city and punish the criminal element he believes to be responsible for his predicament. In honor of the little boy, he takes up the mantle of the Hatchet Man and begins wreaking havoc on Cleveland's organized crime syndicate. As the battle wages, the man pieces together glimpses and clues about his past. He is soon sure that the key to discovering his identity is in defeating the mob and finding the angel woman. The Hatchet Man sets about achieving this goal but standing in his path are a brutal mob boss and his legions of mafia soldiers. With the odds stacked ever against him, the Hatchet Man leaps headlong into the fight. To win is to discover the secrets of his past, to lose is to die...

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2021

About the author

Bestselling author Samuel Brower crafts haunting, immersive tales that blur the line between horror, dark fantasy, and the supernatural. His breakout novel, Haint, became an Amazon bestseller in 2024, cementing his reputation as a must-read voice in modern horror fiction. To date, Brower has published ten gripping novels and dozens of chilling short stories, with his work featured in renowned magazines like Voices, Nine Tales, and Zero Flash. A professional member of both the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association, Brower brings a seasoned, masterful touch to every eerie world he creates.

Reviews

[Bill Philibin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5 Stars)

for so many reasons... I dislike "Virtual Voice". So I will just review the story without mentioning the narration.

This writer is very good, but I did not like this book as much as I did some of the other books. I just couldn't relate to the story or any of the characters. Yes, it is written about a time in the past and the accepted behavior and vernacular of those times would not be cromulent today and pegs my cringe-o-meter, but that isn't even why I didn't like the story.

I felt that it just wasn't very well thought out, seemed highly implausible, and I just never got invested in anything going on.

Don't get me wrong, I will continue to read books by this author, this one was just a miss for me.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book!

Another gripping and creative thriller from Samuel Brower who is the only person in Appalachia with a more creative mind than my mother!

[Lindsey Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samuel Brower does it again with this full throttle, action packed, can’t put it down first book of his antihero series. This particular book struck me full of emotions with such strong raw courage of the loyalty shown for a character who struggles with amnesia but an emerging urge wakes within him. There’s a very wonderful, strong female role that in my eyes does makes this a story of endless commitment that loves knows no boundaries. A little luck of the Irish helps too. I personally can’t wait for the next book in this series.