City Life - October 1994
With
Blind Needle Hoyle takes the traditional thriller genre and adds a
new twist. Set in Cumbria, the story centres on Peter Holford, an ex-inmate
of a psychiatric institution who is on the trail of a man he believes has
murdered his wife. Whilst hitch-hiking, he is picked up and befriended by
Diane Locke, a sex hungry divorcee who shields him from the police, and ultimately
makes his search for truth valid. Holford's search leads deep into a ring
of drugs and corruption where he discovers the truth about himself and his
relationship with his wife's murderer.
Hoyle's writing is bleak and uncompromising, and the narrative is laced with
an undertone of madness which lurks just below Holford's character. Although
violent and dramatic, the book is not overwhelmed by these themes. Similarly,
the sex scenes are both clinical and brief, as social niceties are stripped
away to reveal the real motivations of the characters. This is a dark and
bizarre novel, which is a definite must for all who like a thriller with a
razor sharp edge.
Buy it from the Calder Publications website.