The Final Cut

Judge Dredd novels from Black Flame #6

by Matt Smith

Reclamation work on the remains of a plaza eradicated during the Apocalypse War reveals freshly mutilated bodies.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Matt Smith worked for publisher Pan Macmillan as a desk editor before becoming Assistant Editor on 2000 AD, Britain's award-winning weekly SF anthology title - a comic he had read religiously for the previous fifteen years. He has been editor of the galaxy's greatest comic since 2002, and lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in the Dredd omnibus from Abaddon Books

She was just a body, upon which pain was to be conveniently writ in big, bold and deep red marks.
And once that sharp steel had parted the flesh from her throat, that's all she'd become: a body. Her lifeless form was of no use to them anymore, and so her bloodied husk was untied and dragged away to join the five others in the back of the small, black speedster van parked outside.

Matthew Smith's The Final Cut was an excellent read for me, a brutal and bleak tale about Judges Dredd and undercover Wally Squad Tracer investigating about people being tortured to death by a criminal organization producing snuff pics and movies for rich sick people, after a reclamation work casually revealing an hidden mass grave of freshly mutilated bodies.

Eleven, twelve years ago, following his battle with the Sisters of Death, Dredd had undergone rejuve treatment to get him back up to strength, yet the man clearly couldn't go on forever. The presence of the clones suggested that the Council of Five knew it too, and were taking pre-emptive measures to groom his replacements. Even legends had a shelf life.

Just imagine something like Dredd 2012 flick starring Karl Urban meets Joel Schumacher's 8mm (1999) and Martin Scorsese's The Departed (2006) to get an idea about what is waiting for you among these bloody drenched pages.

"T-thank you so much," Indigo was mumbling. "I love you all..."
The cameraman suddenly took his video camera with both hands and cracked it open, retrieving a small blaster from the hollow interior. He pointed it at the actress.
Dredd's Lawgiver was clenched in his fist within seconds as he ran forward. "You!" he shouted, his voice straining to rise above the background noise. "Drop the gun! Now!"

To say nothing of some creepy and coincidental references to Snuff-Movie obscure, and disappointing for me, 2005 horror movie from classic Candyman (1992) director Bernard Rose, released by sheer coincidence in the same year of this book.

"Is this some kind of warning?"
"No, just some advice," Hendry says with an audible sigh. "You're a natural for this kind of work, Trager, and you get results. But remember you are a Judge. You have a code of honour to uphold and a duty to protect the citizens. I've never lost an undercover officer yet and I don't want to start with you."

At the time of publication author Matthew Smith was editor of British 2000 AD, the magazine publishing long running Judge Dredd comic strip since 5 March 1977, so he knows very well his job (the wreckers' assault inside Watts underpass scene reminded me a lot my early Judge Dredd youthful days reads and a short adventure scenario featuring them collected inside the amazing Judge Dredd: The Role-Playing Game boxed set based on WFRP 1st edition system and likewise released by Games Workshop in so far 1985... shame on me for giving away my owned copy of it years ago), delivering to the reader a thrilling page turning tale that kept me reading it to its end after nailing my attention with one of just most gory, shocking and disturbing, opening scenes I've read in my life, something out from extreme-horror genre rather than a sci-fi novel based on a comic-books franchise.

I have no need for luxury, for it plays no part in my life. I receive no salary from Justice Department, but it supplies me with everything I require to be a Judge, and being a Judge is all that I require. When I entered the Academy of Law, I willingly relinquished the chance of marrying or having a family, of ever being wealthy or travelling, of making my own choices. I traded it all in

And there are two very good storylines here too, interwining in the final exciting chapters, going parallel and hand-in-hand with action, blood, gore, and dark humour: one told in third person and starring Dredd's investigations, together with him surviving a couple of assassination attempts after snooping around influencial people with bonds to Justice Department involved in pitch black affairs, and another one narrated from Tracer's first person pov, about him infiltrating the criminal snuff movie producing ring and at last overstepping for good the boundaries of being an undercover Judge, risking his life and sanity for pushing himself too far.

Reading between Dredd's typically terse statements to the press, it looks like the victims were all tortured before being buried beneath a block development for some time. The story sets alarm bells ringing in my head that I know is more than just the zizz talking, and Dredd's vague comment at the end about following up "significant leads" makes me ponder. I tear the article out and stuff it in my pocket.

Add a wonderful depiction of Mega-City One and its iconic black humor dystopic craziness, and you have a real must-read here, for both people who never read the comics but wanna taste more after watching and enjoying the sadly flopped amazing movie starring Karl Urban, or long time 2000 AD comic-books fans in the mood of reading a brutal and horrific dark tale partly starring an old and tired 60 years old Joe Dredd in his twilight days, with an unforgettable ending perfectly nailing the character and his devotion to the Law.

"My brother... You'll die for that, drokker," he whines.
"Come on then, Mega-City cretin," Talón sneers. "Take your best shot."
Time for me to intervene, I think. I need Dansky alive. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," I say, levelling my snubnose at the pair of them.
"Trager?" Jonny glances at me quizzically.
"Justice Department," I reply. "You're under arrest."

Just best Judge Dredd novel I've read and it left me craving for much more.

He turned back to Dredd. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
"You're not and you know it," Dredd growled. "I don't have time to argue, but I will say this: you collapse when you're meant to be watching my back, you'll have me to answer to, understand?"
"You're all heart, Dredd," Trager said, striding past him.

Grud Damnit!

[Dave Tindall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good. It kept you guessing right to the end. I liked the way that it was told from Dredd's point of view in third person, and then from Trager's point of view in first person. Very clever and really worked well. I didn't know what was going to happen to Trager until the end which kept me guessing. Enjoyed this book.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good and gory!

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this surprisingly effectively well written. One of the better Dredd novels I've read. Some very nice clever touches.

[Mr Nicholas S. Coakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good but a little harder going than most dredd novels.

Very enjoyable but the subject matter is strong for a dredd novel. I did consider quitting once or twice, not because it wasn't good but because it had very strong content. Excellent characters though, and the wally squad judge in particular was excellent.

[Illumi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Violent and gory, this would make a perfect B action movie. The writing, the opening of the chapters, certain scenes all read like a screenplay rather than a novel, but not in a bad way. Dredd only plays a small role in v this book despite it being advertised as a dredd adventure and the actual protagonist is Tagert, an undercover Wally squad judge who develops to be quite an interesting character by the end. The story is predictable but does not shy away from violence. In fact, the novel opens up to with a gory scene of a woman being tortured, killed and dumped into a chemical pit. The story then goes on to find out the mystery behind the death of actors and the possible involvement of a movie production company. Racy enough for a fast read between heavy handed books, this book should be entertaining enough if you don't expect too much.