THE HANGING CLUB by Tony Parsons

THE HANGING CLUB
A Max Wolfe Novel 
Book Three
by
Tony Parsons

 

OVERVIEW  (from Night Owl Reviews) 
 Number: 9781250052711

• Release: November 1, 2016
• Author: Tony Parsons
• Availability: Print-Book
• Genre: Suspense
• Tags: * Susp: Action / Thriller
• Publisher: Minotaur Books

A band of vigilante executioners roam the hot summer nights, abducting evil men who they judge unworthy of living and hanging them by the neck until dead. Sentenced to death is the gang member who abused dozens of vulnerable girls, the wealthy drunk driver who mowed down a child, the drug addict who put a pensioner in a coma and the hate preacher calling for the murder of British troops. But do these rogue hangmen crave true justice—or just blood? As the bodies pile up and violence explodes all over the sweltering city, DC Max Wolfe—dog lover, single parent, defender of the weak—embarks on his most dangerous investigation yet, hunting a righteous gang of vigilante killers who many believe to be heroes. The search will take Max from squalid backstreets, where religious fanaticism breeds, to mansions in mourning and all the way to the secret rooms of power where decisions are weighed about life and death. But before The Hanging Club is confronted, Max Wolfe must learn some painful truths about the fragile line between good and evil, innocence and guilt, justice and retribution. And discover that the lust for revenge starts very close to home.

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AUTHOR

TONY PARSONS is an award-winning journalist and the international bestselling author of more than ten novels, including Man and Boy, winner of the Book of the Year prize, One for My Baby, and Man and Wife, among others. He lives in London.

 
MY THOUGHTS

SENTENCED TO DEATH

BUT NOT BY THE LEGAL SYSTEM!

The setting as a hot summer night.  You as the reader can feel the heat and the stillness of the air.  This is the perfect time for a group of killers out on a vigilante revenge against their idea of evil, dark, unworthy of living men.  They hunt them down and watch as they are hung by the neck until the life is gone from them. Justice served?  They then live stream these murders on the internet.  Is this a warning or just pure bragging?   The author writes this book so vividly that you feel, you smell, you see everything that is happening.  Those hunted had done terrible evil things that justice should have been served on, but vigilante justice? The courts had come down lightly on these evil men so the most of the citizens were on the side of the vigilante group, a mere group of four, The Hanging Club. The justice system wasn't doing their job so someone had to do it, right?  But to be honest, isn't that why we're reading this.   The author puts you on the edge, waiting for these evil men to be found and hung.  Those men that abuse, the drunks that kill with a killing machine, drug addicts who kill by passing on the drugs that sometimes are taken in overdose quantities.  Even a preacher that was spreading hate.  The author has us questioning the actual motive for killing these evil men.  Is it justice or just the craving desire of killing?  Enters the good guy, Max Wolfe.  He is a Detective Constable and with his team he's hunting for The Hanging Club members. The author not only gives us Max's police life but intertwines his personal life with it.  The author allows the reader to really get to know Max.   The city is out of control.  Bodies continue to pile up and the terrible heat makes the city an unbearable place to live in.  Max is determined even though it takes him into the deep, dark,  sewers of evil.  The author even opens the door of the secret room where decisions about life and death are made.  This makes the reader want to enter that door and see exactly what goes on in that room of evil and death. The author has you wondering if this type of justice really exists.   Perhaps it does.  I haven't read any of the other books yet, but I started out wanting to love this hero, Max, but as I read, I started to wonder how much back bone and self esteem he had.  He was a complex character.   The author didn't give us a Max that was always strong, not afraid to stick up for himself.  He gave us a Max that knew things had to be brought to real justice but he had his flaws like everyone.  Max was a real human being, not a lawman who was a bully, who got justice his way, much like The Hanging Club.  This book was well written and I think it would make a good movie.  Whenever you end a book wanting more, to me it's a good book.   Revenge can be sweet but revenge can be followed with revenge.   The author gave us real people, not sugar coated brave heroes that somehow don't relate to the normal everyday person.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and Night Owl Reviews and voluntarily decided to review it.

I would give this book 4 STARS. 

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