One of the things I love about blogging is that, sometimes, something a bit bonkers lands in your inbox. I read the blurb for this one and knew I wanted toread it. I replied to the email and forgot all about it until a copy (a real paper one) arrived at my house. That's another thing I love about blogging - coming back fresh to something that caught my eye a while back. And that's what happened here. Huge thanks to Zoe O'Farrell at Zooloo's Book Tours for inviting me and to the author and Palamedes PR for my review copy.
The Blurb
A misanthropic horror comedy for people who think humanity had it coming
Sam Hain is a San Francisco P.I. with a permanently raised eyebrow and moronic homicidal parents he hasn’t seen in 18 years — not since they tried to cast him in a DIY snuff film.
Mike is a demon — or, as he prefers, a diabolical entity — with his own ideas about how best to punish the human race.
When an anonymous letter arrives, along with $500 in cash, asking Sam to investigate a murder in a small town, he’s curious enough to get in the car. That, plus he has nothing better to do.
The victim? A man found dead inside a tumble dryer.
The clue? The name MIKE, written in blood above the body.
The twist? The letter was postmarked before the murder happened.
Soon, Sam’s navigating a town full of eccentrics: an elderly laundromat owner who speaks fluent profanity, a death metal teen with conservative parents, a bigoted religious fundamentalist, and a hedonistic teacher on Sam's wavelength who doesn’t believe in small talk. Meanwhile, the local sheriff — experiencing his first murder case in decades — follows Sam around like a kid at Disneyland.
And Mike? Mike is powerful. Mike has plans. And he really, really hates stupid people. In that regard, he and Sam have something in common.
Twisted, sardonic and wildly inappropriate, Sam Hain is a critically acclaimed murder mystery wrapped in a demonic satire — and it absolutely does not want to be your friend.
My Review
The Author
Hamid Amirani was born in Iran and came to London not long after. He studied Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Before turning to fiction, Amirani worked across a wide range of media and creative roles – from proofreading and freelance blogging for an American camera bag company, to interviewing director Michael Bay for a print feature. His horror-comedy spec script earned a Recommend from Script Pipeline, the screenwriting platform set up by Donnie Darko producer Sean McKittrick.
In the late 1990s, Amirani was a guest on The James Whale Radio Show after a series of calls as his alter ego GanjaMan led to a studio invitation.
He began writing his debut novel, Sam Hain, during lockdown, which helped stave off cabin fever. A genre-blending satire, it marks his first full-length work of fiction.
As the blurb is so fulsome there's nothing else I need to add here in that regard. As I mentioned in the intro, as soon as I read the details I knew this was a book I wanted to read. Actually, I'd've liked to have known a little less about Mike going in. But I knew within the first couple of pages that I was going to enjoy it. Which was good as it's quite a hefty tome.
Sam is a great character. Intrigued by the note he received he heads to the town where the crime happened. The town is almost a character itself with its quaint wee places like the 'Let Me Be Your BB' bed and breakfast. Actually all the characters are good. Most of them are pretty eccentric too! Nancy made me laugh. I mean she's awful, but she's uniformly awful. To everyone, regardless of who they are, and that made me chuckle. The central three characters - Sam, Sheriff Jockton and Agent Morton all play off each other really well and I enjoyed the interplay between them. Polly and Leo are really well described, possibly too well! 😂 You'll know exactly what I mean if you read the book. But my favourite character was Mike, demon - sorry, diabolical entity - extraordinaire! Or maybe they're all like that, I don't know any so couldn't say. I think the author has had a lot of fun writing Mike because that's certainly how it comes across.
This isn't a book for everybody, and it's certainly not for the faint hearted. Yes, it's a comedy - I chuckled a few times (loved the description of the Red Hex bar) and smiled a lot - but it's also a horror. And whilst the violence and aftermath are presented in a comical way, some of it is pretty gross. Particularly if Mike has had a hand in it! But I really enjoyed it and was glad of the chance to read it.
The Author
Hamid Amirani was born in Iran and came to London not long after. He studied Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Before turning to fiction, Amirani worked across a wide range of media and creative roles – from proofreading and freelance blogging for an American camera bag company, to interviewing director Michael Bay for a print feature. His horror-comedy spec script earned a Recommend from Script Pipeline, the screenwriting platform set up by Donnie Darko producer Sean McKittrick.
In the late 1990s, Amirani was a guest on The James Whale Radio Show after a series of calls as his alter ego GanjaMan led to a studio invitation.
He began writing his debut novel, Sam Hain, during lockdown, which helped stave off cabin fever. A genre-blending satire, it marks his first full-length work of fiction.
