Night Shoot

That’s me done with David Sodergren manic horror frolics for the time being; we've had a fun buddy-read ride through his five most popular books as rated here on Goodreads.

Night Shoot was my fourth favorite, or second least favorite, depending on your glass half full/empty perspective.

My personal recommends are: Maggie’s Grave, The Haar, and The Forgotten Island in that order.

Night Shoot starts off slowly and there’s a lot of unnecessary brainless banter between the characters and not enough sordid Scottish smut and local colloquialisms that usually make his books so pleasingly immature, plus some wooden and irritating characters, rather lame and cheesy sexism, and not enough laugh-out-loud moments, which is strange considering this is supposed to be b-movie schlock literature and nothing serious.

The three pieces of internal artwork deserve a mention, though, and I wish more authors would make such an effort.

Thankfully, when the action gets going, the gore ramps up really nicely as the dusty storytelling cobwebs are cast aside and the walls change from pretty pastels to a darker shade of pale. But that’s the thing, it’s a bit of a plod and then no respite, which feels rather one-dimensional.

There’s something lacking in terms of scope, unlike his first novel and the superior The Forgotten Island for its multiple layers of infiltration and retreat while it applies the brakes before pummeling back on the accelerator again, Night Shoot borrows the same ideas, diving back in for another foray at the baddies, but here feels barebones and rather bereft of storytelling ideas.

I'm a big fan of David Sodergren because he connects to my British past and upbringing, prints what you think but don't dare utter, and makes you laugh and squeal like a naughty piggy puppy at times, but there’s not much of that delight and revelation in Night Shoot.

The LGBT element is good, though, and the kick-ass female lead characters are worth getting into, plus the odd naughty and below the belt quip:

Night Shoot is an irreverent book that feels rather safe and short on ideas compared to some of his later and better works, but out of respect, I've bought a sixth David Sodergren novel - Dead Girl Blues - which I will read at a later date, hidden in a closet with a good chuckle and a few shivers.