Hutton 11 - I AM MULTITUDES - Out Now
Added at 09:55 on 21 September 2023
There is both a sense of excitement, and a sense of an ending today in the world of publishing, with the release of the final book in the DS Hutton series, I AM MULTITUDES. As Professor Malcolm Connery of the Glasgow Institute of Special Things observed, "We will never see a series like this again, even if we all live for another thousand years. Which is unlikely, as everyone will be dead as a result of human stupidity by the end of the decade."
We exist in the world of digital crime fiction series, where eleven novels might not actually be so many. Not when there are now multitudinous writers churning out four, five or six novels a year, and series can quickly grow to gargantuan numbers. However, Hutton has always been character rather than story-led, which creates more of a longevity issue. If every novel was a perfectly crafted crime tale, where Hutton was an onlooker who eventually identified the killer, before moving on to the next episode of fictional slaughter, then a longer series might be more viable.
However, I don't really do perfectly crafted crime novels, and so the books are much more concerned with the ridiculous comings and goings of Hutton’s private life, coupled with him regularly ending up in a hospital bed with some new massive, near-death injury.
So, it felt like, even within the series’ own ludicrous framework, that it was getting a bit ridiculous to have our hero constantly falling in love and regularly nearly dying. The team here at Long Midnight Publishing made the executive decision it was time to wind up the series, and so here we are. Going out with a bang.
The murders are many, and ridiculously grotesque. And there’s more sex than usual, much of it utterly preposterous. And by that, I mean the women who sleep with Hutton would, in real life, be very unlikely to sleep with him in these situations, not that they have sex in absurd positions or by using strange implements that would not normally feature in an erotic adventure. It’s a last hurrah, and Hutton will get to enjoy it. Or some of it, at any rate.
So, it’s a wrap for DS Hutton. And here's the blurb:
The epic conclusion...
DS Hutton is back for one final time, in the nail-bitingly, terrifying climax to the series.
There is a vigilante in town, and accused criminals are being put to the sword. Were they just being chained to a floor and their stomachs split asunder, their deaths would be horrific enough. But before they are allowed to die, starving animals are unleashed upon them to grotesquely finish the job.
And what of Tom Hutton in amongst the carnage? Retirement is at hand, as a long, inglorious career nears an end. Replaced as a detective, consigned to while away his final few days doing paperwork in an unloved corner of the station, he forages through the remnants of his life, like a world-weary romantic poet staring bleakly into the vacuous abyss of his own existence.
However, this is DS Hutton, his name is on the tin, and he will not be left to wallow in the pre-retirement doldrums for long. An old nemesis is at hand, and soon enough the vigilante murders and Hutton’s life of ennui will come crashing into conflict.
There will be drunkeness.
There will be ridiculous amounts of sex.
And there will be blood!
Click on the links to share in the magic.
Comments
- Dec - 16:00 on 18 October 2023
- I'm gutted. Second only to Barney in my list of favourite characters.
Surely there's an opportunity for an adventure for our intrepid heroes in Canada.
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Thank you!
Well, you never know... I'll see how I adapt to a post-Hutton universe. I may not like it much myself... Douglas