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Hammers on Bone

Cassandra Khaw

Ages 16+

Readers rate it 3.8 (62 on Hardcover)

68 pages · Released Oct 11, 2016

Content report card

Hammers on Bone parent’s guide: what’s inside

Medium confidence

LGBTQ+ themes

What it offers

Educational value

A note for parents

This is a dark, adult-oriented horror novella centered on themes of child abuse, demonic entities, and moral ambiguity. While the plot involves protecting a child from an abusive stepfather, the execution is grim and unsettling rather than hopeful. The protagonist is a morally compromised ancient being wrestling with an alien infection, and the tone is consistently noir and menacing. This is solidly adult horror and unsuitable for younger readers despite the young client character.

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From the publisher

Cassandra Khaw bursts onto the scene with Hammers on Bone, a hard-boiled horror show that Charles Stross calls "possibly the most promising horror debut of 2016." A finalist for the British Fantasy award and the Locus Award for Best Novella! John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely... Cassandra Khaw bursts onto the scene with Hammers on Bone, a hard-boiled horror show that Charles Stross calls "possibly the most promising horror debut of 2016." A finalist for the British Fantasy award and the Locus Award for Best Novella! John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely client. He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable. He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth. As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Shelved under

  • Fiction
  • Unloveable Characters
  • Plot driven
  • Weak Character Development
  • Diverse Characters
  • Not Diverse Characters
  • Character driven
  • Strong Character Development
  • Loveable Characters
  • dark
  • mysterious
  • Adventurous

Books in the Persons Non Grata series

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ISBN 9780765392701 · Tordotcom

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