English language
Published Jan. 6, 2013 by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Co..
After a shootout claims the life of his partner in a condemned tenement building on Pearl Street, Detective John Tallow unwittingly stumbles across an apartment stacked high with guns. When examined, each weapon leads to a different, previously unsolved murder. Someone has been killing people for twenty years or more and storing the weapons together for some inexplicable purpose.
Confronted with the sudden emergence of hundreds of unsolved homicides, Tallow soon discovers that he’s walked into a veritable deal with the devil. An unholy bargain that has made possible the rise of some of Manhattan’s most prominent captains of industry. A hunter who performs his deadly acts as a sacrifice to the old gods of Manhattan, who may, quite simply, be the most prolific murderer in New York City’s history.
Warren Ellis’s body of work has been championed by Wired for its “merciless action” and “incorruptible bravery,” and steadily amassed …
After a shootout claims the life of his partner in a condemned tenement building on Pearl Street, Detective John Tallow unwittingly stumbles across an apartment stacked high with guns. When examined, each weapon leads to a different, previously unsolved murder. Someone has been killing people for twenty years or more and storing the weapons together for some inexplicable purpose.
Confronted with the sudden emergence of hundreds of unsolved homicides, Tallow soon discovers that he’s walked into a veritable deal with the devil. An unholy bargain that has made possible the rise of some of Manhattan’s most prominent captains of industry. A hunter who performs his deadly acts as a sacrifice to the old gods of Manhattan, who may, quite simply, be the most prolific murderer in New York City’s history.
Warren Ellis’s body of work has been championed by Wired for its “merciless action” and “incorruptible bravery,” and steadily amassed legions of diehard fans. His newest novel builds on his accomplishments like never before, announcing Ellis as one of today’s most daring thriller writers. This is twenty-first century suspense writ large. This is Gun Machine.
Nice little police story, funny bits here and there, nothing special overall, a nice page turner.
An unusual, zippy detective story written with a light touch. Ordinarily, it would be enough for me to give it four stars. But this is Warren Ellis we're talking about. I'm not reading it for a "light touch". I want something with his fingerprints all over it. Good, but not as good as I'd hoped it would be.
A completely addictive police procedural and probably my favorite thing Ellis has done in years.
fun easy read. lacks the emotional power of early works like "scars". also, every character talks like a Warren Ellis hero. some people need to be the straight man. the plot is good, it just consists of Warren Ellis as a detective working with Warren Ellis to track a killer who is Warren Ellis.
I really loved this book. It's a police procedural (which is a genre I don't usually enjoy), but laced with the kind of intricate thought, dark wit, and insanity that you can always expect from Warren Ellis.
There are some unforgettable characters here, particularly the two CSU techs who steal every scene where they appear.
My only complaint is that it wraps up a little too quick and neat. The pacing feels like it speeds up too much in the last few chapters that when it ended I felt a little lost, not from not understanding the details, but from expecting a bit more. It's still satisfying, but odd.
I do take issue with how quickly the hunter returns to a lucid and self-aware state t the final conversation with Tallow. It seems unlikely that a severe mental disorder would respond that quickly to treatment, especially after 20 years. I …
I really loved this book. It's a police procedural (which is a genre I don't usually enjoy), but laced with the kind of intricate thought, dark wit, and insanity that you can always expect from Warren Ellis.
There are some unforgettable characters here, particularly the two CSU techs who steal every scene where they appear.
My only complaint is that it wraps up a little too quick and neat. The pacing feels like it speeds up too much in the last few chapters that when it ended I felt a little lost, not from not understanding the details, but from expecting a bit more. It's still satisfying, but odd.
I do take issue with how quickly the hunter returns to a lucid and self-aware state t the final conversation with Tallow. It seems unlikely that a severe mental disorder would respond that quickly to treatment, especially after 20 years. I could be wrong, but it just felt less than plausible.
Other than those two complaints, it's an enjoyable read that had me glued to the book all the way through, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
