Publication Date: October 4, 2014
In Cuffed: A gripping psychological & crime thriller by Marc Horn, the character Razors is that cop you want on the case, but not the one you want on your force. He’s brilliantly unpredictable but has a sense for the bad guy. Razors is getting a god complex in a literal sense and what if he’s right? What will that mean for all of us?
The author, Marc Horn, gave me a copy of this novel in exchange for my review.
Marc Horn scares me. His talent for writing beautifully brilliant characters that are truly disturbed is terrifying. Razors may be the best example of his work yet. Razors is a character in a responsible position with irresponsible motivations. His superiors are willing to turn a blind eye for results but only to an extent and their boy gets results but he’s getting increasingly unpredictable. Horn eases us into the character through Razors’s own narrative but also through the eyes of a terrified trainee. Razors is truth, justice and the English way and that way is brutal and, to the main character’s eyes, justice.
Razors approaches the “normal world” in much the same way as Irvine Welsh’s anti-hero, Mark Renton (“Trainspotting”). He’s good-looking and attractive to women. He knows he’s attractive to women as he often gets caught checking out their backsides as they’re looking back at him. He’s a creature of habit. He has a bubble bath routine that he doesn’t mind making a romantic partner wait to complete and if you cross him…the result isn’t even worth considering. Horn’s deep look for the reader into the man that is Razors is always a surprise. Just when you think he might take a left, he swings for the right and suddenly someone has steaming poo on their sofa. Razors is the man you’re happy to read but never want to meet. His redeeming quality is that he is butt-stuff insane … or is he? Razors tell us on page 98 that “The worst crimes occur in the mind.”
I have likened Horn’s writing style before to “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis. Cuffed: A gripping psychological & crime thriller is more down and dirty. I believe it could easily land in the psychological horror category. Razors may be on the side of the law, but he’s not averse to taking a life if he feels it’s in the path of justice. He’s a consummate anti-hero that is self-centered and not especially good with people in a way that helps him fall down a very twisted rabbit hole in his mind quite easily. If you think everyone is out to get you, aren’t they?
I have spent much time on the character of Razors and that’s because details of the story would very easily give away its trajectory. It’s a linear story wrapped up in a character profile that outlines for readers, who this person is, in keeping with its subject and the atmosphere in which he lives. I frequently read British fiction, watch British shows and even once watched an episode of “Geordie Shore” so that the dialogue feels very authentic. Razors is telling us the story in his own voice so there is regional banter but not anything savvy readers couldn’t work out rather easily in the context of the story. While I read Cuffed: A gripping psychological & crime thriller in a single sitting, I read it again while on a recent trip to revisit nuances that might have been missed. Marc Horn’s third novel is a deeply complex tale and one I imagine, it was difficult to construct in honoring its very erratic main character.
Cuffed: A gripping psychological & crime thriller uses vulgar language and violent situations. If you are unable to sit through a Guy Ritchie movie, you will not be able to read Cuffed: A gripping psychological & crime thriller. If you are a person who likes a look at the darker side of life and a man exploring his being on a definite path to a goal, pick this one up today. Razors is an interesting and unique character and while someone you’d never want to meet on the street, makes for a fascinating read.
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