luther: the calling

luther: the calling
neil cross
suspense/thriller/mystery
touchstone
published 2012

Meet Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. He's a murder detective. A near-genius. He's brilliant; he's intense; he's instinctive. He's obsessional. He's dangerous. DCI John Luther has an extraordinary clearance rate. He commands outstanding loyalty from friends and colleagues. Nobody who ever stood at his side has a bad word to say about him. And yet there are rumours that DCI Luther is bad - not corrupt, not on the take, but tormented. Luther seethes with a hidden fury that at times he can barely control. Sometimes it sends him to the brink of madness, making him do things he shouldn't; things way beyond the limits of the law.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod

Seriously.

*breathe*

One day I was trolling around the interwebs looking at stuff about when my favorite BBC shows were coming back on and I discovered that there was a book written about Luther.  Now, if you have never seen the show I urge you to go out right now and watch it.  It streams on Netflix.  If you don't have a Netflix subscription get one and watch Luther.  You won't regret it.

I checked my library and lo & behold they actually had the book.  I figured I might as well.  After all, I read the Nikki Heat book 'written' by Richard Castle and that one sucked butt so this couldn't be any worse.  To my utter excitement I found out that the book is written by Neil Cross, creator & sole writer for the TV show.  Score!

And boy did I score.

Luther: The Calling takes place during the events just before the series begins.  It explains everything that has driven John Luther to become the person he now is on the show.  We get to find out exactly what happened just before the opening scene in the first episode of one of the best shows on TV.  And it's so good.

I bit all my nails and then some.  I was immersed and completely lost in this book.  It's suspense, it's a thriller and it's part horror.  It's frightening, grisly, depraved and utterly fantastic.  Neil Cross already speaks Luther.  He made Luther.  Going from television to paper is seamless AND IT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING!!!  If you have watched the show you will read through this book and have those 'holy shit' moments where everything begins to come together.  Things that happen in the second season of the show are given their first breaths of life on these pages.

It's magnificent.  The dust cover promises that this is the first book in a planned series.  I'm not sure if that's still the plan, but if it is I'm all in.  This was an amazing piece of work and I think I would have been blown away even if I'd never seen the show.  This is the first time that I can remember reading a book by an Edgar award winner and being in complete agreement.  Go forth and read this book and then watch the show.  Or watch the show and get the book.  It doesn't matter which way you decide to do it, just do it.