Al is a member of The Cardinal’s mob of gangsters and has always carried out his job without question. But that’s all set to change when he is told to investigate a gruesome murder that means his loyalty will be tested to the limit and he finds himself dealing with a deadly assassin. Now Al has to prove himself — will he be up to the challenge? Thrilling, chilling and a great read.

4 stars out of 5.

The Sun newspaper, UK, Friday, March 26th, 2010.

‘Crime with a difference’ would perhaps be an appropriate genre classification for D.B. Shan’s second adult novel, Hell’s Horizon. What begins as a fairly standard (albeit noirish) whodunnit soon evolves into a strange beast of a book, suspended somewhere between crime, horror and fantasy. Like its predecessor, Procession of the Dead, it drops only subtle hints at first of its own supernatural undercurrents, preferring to focus on sketching the bleak and bloodstained setting on which the action thrives. When the magic does hit, it can seem a little incongruous, but it certainly transforms this witches’ brew into something intriguingly unique. The prequel is a must-read before attempting this latest instalment; anybody unfamiliar with the mechanics of Ayuamarcans will probably be left scratching their head and wanting their money back.

Shan’s writing is as brutal as it is atmospheric. He offers little relief from the violence of his story, focusing as usual on the decay of his protagonist. The scene with the Fursts – a particularly memorable moment – is delivered so swiftly that it takes several pages to fully sink in, at which point the reader cannot help but feel slightly sick. Bleak though it may be, it is an undeniably skilful blow. I certainly found myself glancing behind my chair a few times while reading at night; I’ll give Shan credit for that.

Nevertheless, like its predecessor, this book does suffer somewhat from being difficult to endure. Nobody will guess all of Shan’s plot twists, and that may be partly because his plot is wildly unpredictable – but it will also be partly because his readers are too benumbed to make any reasonable attempts. This instalment falls a step short of Procession in the engrossing, page-turning department, and the slower-paced moments leave plenty of time for noticing that the prose is not the best in the world. To make matters worse, Shan has arguably overstepped the mark when it comes to his most intriguing characters – The Cardinal and Paucar Wami – neatly shattering the reverent atmospheres that previously made them such powerful narrative lures.

At the very least, Hell’s Horizon is an exceptionally plotted whodunnit. The twists and turns are breathtakingly complex. But how to become desensitised to the violence without becoming desensitised to the whole lot? That’s a question for a hardier reader than myself.

http://samuelsreadingchair.blogspot.com/2009/09/hells-horizon-db-shan.html

Book 2 in The City Trilogy, a gritty urban fantasy series for adults by the author  also known as Darren Shan. Based in an unnamed city run by the enigmatic, all-powerful Cardinal, Hell’s Horizon is at heart a noirish murder mystery furnished with shady, near-mythic underworld characters. Animated by links to the City’s ancient Incan ancestors and filled with Shan’s trademark supernatural horror. The legion of fans of Darren Shan’s teenage horror won’t be disappointed. I also highly recommend the first book in The City Trilogy - The Procession of the Dead

http://newsletters.booktopia.com.au/em/message/email/view.php?id=485543&u=21850

Last year Harper Collins blessed me with an advance edition of “Procession of the Dead”, the first in “The City” series, which ended up being one of my fave books of 08. I eagerly picked up the sequel when it came out this last week.
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The summary of this book is going to be very hard to understand if you haven’t read the first book. You can read my review of Procession of the Dead for a fuller understanding of the story without any spoilers. This second book starts off with completely different characters within The Cardinal’s Troops, his own personal police/security force. The plot runs parallel with the first novel with very few crossover’s until the end.
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IT’S HARD NOT TO HAVE PRECONCEIVED IDEAS about the books one is asked to review. Sometimes the imminent arrival of that month’s offering fills you with eager anticipation, whereas on other occasions you mutter a half-hearted “okay” when asked to run the rule over a particular title.
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The sequel to Ayuamarca is also set in an alternate dimension where elements of the Incan civilization emigrated to escape the invaders from Europe. In their own pocket universe, they have created a unique culture dominated by the priesthood, which is often indistinguishable from the government. The protagonist is a young member of the city guard who is reassigned to help with a murder investigation, only to discover that the victim is his girlfriend, and that the solution will involve secrets of the inner circles of his society.
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An utterly fascinating and dark sequel to the equally compelling Ayuamarca, in which Darren O’Shaughnessy demonstrates the same quirky, imaginative style which made his first book in the sequence so special. Bizarre mysteries involving the dead, ghostly Incan forefathers and near0mythical assassins make this a truly compelling machine.

reviewed in Starlog, June 2000.

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL RELEASE OF HELL’S HORIZON.

This novel follows Ayuamarca, Book One in the author’s ‘The City’ sequence [reviewed by John Newsinger in Vector 207]. I haven’t read the preceding volume but assume from the series’ subtitle that the nameless city in which Hell’s Horizon is set forms the connecting strand.
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