HELL ON CHURCH STREET by Jake Hinkson

GRADE: A

If there wasn't suffering, men would feel no need to believe in God. The sick part is, if there is a God, he must have planned it that way.

I'd never heard of Jake Hinkson before but a friend on Goodreads recommended this book to me, showering it with praise. He has an identical taste in noir as I do and so I knew I had to read it! And now, after staying up in the wee hours of the morning to finish it, I have to agree with everyone else that's had the pleasure of reading it. It's irreverent, violent, depraved, gritty, manipulative, filthy, potentially offensive, and irresistible...everything that a proper, self-respecting noir fan looks for in a novel!

A drifter decides to rob the wrong fat man late one night and ends up bearing witness to the fat man's terrible story about what happened years ago when he was skinny and moved to Church Street in Little Rock, Arkansas to work as a youth minister, where he began to have eyes for the head priest's underage daughter.

In that instant, her face seemed to absorb all my sins. It was like looking in a mirror for the first time and discovering you're a monster.

What follows is noir of the pitch-black sort, which at times is just dripping with suspense and keeps you riveted. It's really impressive for a debut novel. The extended scene in the hospital was so tense I felt drained after reading it! But the novel is so much more than just suspense. In less than 200 pages, amidst all the craziness, Hinkson also manages a scathing exposé on the hypocrisy of organized religion. So if you're offended by stuff like this, maybe you should stay away. But if you're a thriller fan, a noir fan, or simply curious about what good pulp fiction really is, check out this little monster! I'll be reading more by Jake Hinkson soon!

"I'm going to have to hurt you. And since I'm not a sadist, I'll be angry with you for making me hurt you. That's just more weight for the soul to carry. So I'll torture you with the cold fury of a man who's been forced into it. Do you understand me?"