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The Death You Deserve: A Novel
The Death You Deserve: A Novel
The Death You Deserve: A Novel
Ebook264 pages3 hours

The Death You Deserve: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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For struggling author Billy Dye, ghost writing the memoirs of Manchester gangster Malcolm Priest seems like a great way to make a quick buck, but when Priest tires of the wry writer he hires a vicious hitman to take him out. When the assassin--named Rawhead--turns out to be a schoolfriend he hasn't seen in years, Billy's life is spared and the killer vows to protect him. As the tension mounts and the bodies pile up, Billy discovers that his friend is a terrifying psychopath who will stop at nothing to defend him. And when Rawhead takes an interest in Billy's career, no one--not even in the publishing world--is safe.

Violent, fast-paced and hilarious, the novel builds to a stunning climax that will jolt the most jaded suspense reader and leave them breathless.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 2, 2003
ISBN9781466831995
The Death You Deserve: A Novel
Author

David Bowker

David Bowker was born in Manchester and worked as a journalist. He is the author of The Death You Deserve, a Booksense 76 Mystery Pick, and I Love My Smith & Wesson, an Entertainment Weekly Must List selection.

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Rating: 3.3333333333333335 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a brutally funny novel about murder and revenge. It can be gory in parts but has a good twist at the end.Back Cover Blurb:Struggling author Billy Dye agrees to ghost the memoirs of Manchester gangster Malcolm Priest. But Priest soon wearies of Billy's big mouth and hires his best hitman to take the writer out. The assassin, Rawhead, turns out to be a schoolfriend Billy hasn't seen for twenty years, so he spares Billy's life and hides him away in an old dark house. After Priest learns that Billy is still alive, he lays a trap for Rawhead. As the violence escalates, Billy discovers that his old friend is a terrifying psychopath who will literally stop at nothing to protect him. And when Rawhead takes an interest in Billy's career, no one - not even in the publishing world - is safe.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a weird combination of a gangster novel and an old-fashioned English ghost story. And it works, but it doesn’t really start working until the appearance of a dour, frightening hitman named Raghead (which is another nickname for the Bogeyman, by the way). He is sent to whack the main character, a midlist horror writer who was commissioned to ghost-write the autobiography of the area’s most notorious mobster and instead pissed him off. But the writer and the hitman turn out to be childhood friends who bonded over M.R. James stories, so Raghead spares him and hides him in the spooky haunted house where he lives. That’s when the story starts getting very strange, and also much more interesting. But beware: this novel is also a rip-roaring horror tale, and therefore not intended for the squeamish.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    For Struggling Author Billy Dye, ghostwriting the memoirs of Manchester gangster Malcolm Priest seems like a great way to make a quick buck, but when Priest tires of the wiry writer he hires a vicious hit-man to take him out. When the assassin – named Rawhead- turn out to be a school friend he hasn’t seen in years, Billy’s like is spared and the killer vows to protect him. As tension mounts and the bodies pile up, Billy discovers that his friend is a terrifying psychopath who will stop at nothing to defend him. And when Rawhead takes an interest in Billy’s career, no one- not even in the publishing world- is safe. Violent, face-paced and hilarious, the novel builds to a stunning climax that will jolt even the most jaded suspense reader and leave them breathless.’ In the end, Billy decides to end it himself. After setting fire to the past literally and starting a normal life, Billy thinks it is done. But is it really? Rawhead returns? Maybe. A true British gangster book, with outlandish characters, almost Dick Tracy-ish, and extreme amounts of violence. It was nice to see a different setting and group of characters from the normal London set. Colorful dialogue and some funny zingers. The plot is fun for a read but rather thin and in some parts one can see through it easily.

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The Death You Deserve - David Bowker

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