Spellbound

NAMELESS: The Hellbound Anthology by David McCaffrey

This was a difficult book to review for me, as it is part of a series and not a standalone book which makes it harder to evaluate properly but I’ll do my best. In fact, the book ends mid-scene – which I was not aware of when I read it. As I can’t evaluate the book as part of an entire story arc, I will have to concentrate on the writing and the themes/ideas and characters in this one.

Nameless is the kind of very explicitly violent thriller that I don’t usually read and is almost more in the horror genre than crime/thriller category. This is just my personal taste and I even baulk at certain aspects of the horror/thrillers greatest writer, Thomas Harris. The story revolves around a dangerous murder cult that has a grudge against certain individuals in society and exists to rid society of them in the most violent way possible. It reminded me a lot of the Kevin Bacon TV series The Following, as the fanatical followers of a single person drive their followers on to commit violent murders for an obscure philosophical point that only the insane could possibly buy into.

There is a technology in the book which – though based on a real technology - doesn’t exist in real life (yet) which adds a sci-fi element to the story but it’s not really trying to be a realistic thriller, despite the police procedural elements, but is more of a violent and gruesome adventure romp (the writing is very cinematic and it feels like it would make an exciting film) with an academic and philosophical bent. It’s also very well researched without the information overpowering the story: if you want to learn about cults there is a lot of information here and it’s a lot less dry than a textbook. It’s also a refreshing change from the lone serial killer story – which I love – but it’s a nice change nonetheless.

The writing is very polished and full of popular culture references, esp. movies, which gives it a very contemporary feel at odds with the classic quotes that preface each new chapter. This gives the book a multi-layered feel and few thrillers are crammed with so much information and cultural references as Nameless which makes it one of the most cerebral thrillers I’ve read since Thomas Harris and it’s an interesting very modern style of thriller writing.

Overall, though it’s not my usual taste in thrillers, Nameless won me over in the end with the sheer quality of the writing, the breakneck pace of the plot, the breathless cultural references and the unusually interesting intellectual elements of the story.

4/5