Luther: The Calling

Upside, Neil Cross has written some fantastic recent books. Downside, LUTHER THE CALLING has a connection with a TV series which I've never seen. So interesting to see if a fabulous author has written a fabulous book, regardless of whatever's been going on over on the small screen. Especially as, I believe, this has been a reverse adaptation with the TV series coming before the book.

The most important thing about any of this author's books is that, particularly as he has such a name as a scriptwriter, there's nothing filmic or screen treatment about the books. These are fully fleshed out stories, with strong characters, really good plots and whilst there's nothing staid about the books, there's nothing obviously "treatment" about them show more either. This factor is a particular relief for this reader who has ploughed through way too many film scripts loosely disguised as novels over the years to be at all comfortable.

What is particularly worthwhile about this book is the character of DCI John Luther, a moody, difficult, man with a volatile personality and absolute tunnel vision when it comes to getting the bad guy. Rules are broken, lines aren't just crossed - they are obliterated and bridges go up in smoke as Luther strides through the world that Cross builds in LUTHER. Despite the moodiness, despite the intensity of this character, Cross is also able to pull off a fantastic storytelling style. Crisp, pointed yet descriptive, Luther and the world he occupies come vividly to life.

So in a poor attempt to take a leaf from the author's own book: LUTHER's a fantastic character. LUTHER THE CALLING is brutal, in your face, fabulous. show less

The ease with which Cross conjures the image and voice of John Luther is nothing short of awe-inspiring. I've read a lot of very high quality tie-in products to movies and TV shows where, as here, the creator is personally the author of the spin-off product as well. Usually, when they're done well, if I read a line of dialogue conscious of the character's voice and mannerisms in my head, I can hear and see the character in my mind's eye, as though played by the on-screen actor.

With "The Calling", I never had to try. John Luther was voiced and played by Idris Elba for me when reading this, in every line, every move, every thought. To say this adds to the experience is an understatement ... but the book really doesn't need nor rely on show more this. The plotting is exciting -- albeit horrific in typical Luther fashion -- and impressingly able to shed lights on the backstory immediately preceding the first series of the TV show. Somehow, it does this without undermining the weight of its own narrative, and I'd be very surprised if people uninitiated to the TV series would not also find this crime thriller very enjoyable.

The writing is sparse and efficient, conveying more vivid behaviours and character insights in clipped, short phrases than most authors manage in a half-page of florid descriptions. A particular strength here is Cross' ability to have the reader learn not only about the character speaking, but also the character listening, in nearly any given scene.

If you like the TV series at all, you positively must read this book. And if you haven't watched the TV series, this book takes place before it, so if a tortured but brilliant London detective chasing a horrible murderer for 340ish pages sound at all appealing, there's no reason not to jump in right here. show less

Hard-boiled. That's what they used to call this sort of thing. I guess they still do. In any event, this is hard-boiled, even brutal, detective fiction. Sparse, hard-hitting prose. Gritty, realistic characters and settings. Bad, bad, bad guys. Basically decent, but driven cops that sometimes cross the line in order to get the bad guys and protect the innocent. Classic hard-boiled.

DCI (that's Detective Chief Inspector - this is a British novel, through and through) John Luther first came to life as a television character for the BBC. This novel, written by the show's creator and writer, is a prequel to the series, showing that the detective was just as driven, just as brilliant, before those episodes. It also shows a man tormented to the show more point that he cannot sleep and he can no longer connect with his wife. He is a driven man. Driven to use his powers of deduction and insight to find a serial killer. A killer that is stealing children for purposes that are beyond the imaginings of even DCI Luther. From page one you know he will not let up until he tracks down the fiend. Until the last page you do not know if he will succeed or destroy himself trying. Or perhaps both.

This is top-flight writing. As I said above, the prose is sparse and hard hitting and will keep you turning pages. Not a book for the squeamish. It's written in the present tense, which adds to the immediacy and probably reflects its origins in television. Highly recommended for those that can take it.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review. show less

I don't know how many of you watch (*sniff* ...watched) Luther, but if you haven't watched it yet, you are really missing out.

Let me be honest, one of the best things about Luther, for me, is Alice.




She's so unrepentantly insane! She's done horrible things, things I wouldn't forgive any other character, things I do NOT forgive her! ...And yet I can't help but... like her? Yes, let's go with "like" and not explore how sexy murderous ladies leave me confused.


I killed my parents for the lols.

But there is no Alice in Luther: The Calling. It's a prequel. I thought I'd hate it, I thought I'd just plod through it with a jewellers loupe, searching for a hint of Alice. Alas, there was no Alice

BUT IT WAS AMAZING

I can't give much away when it show more comes to the plot because it would all be spoilers for the tv series, but let us just say Luther is trying his best to save a newborn baby from the hands of a pedophile. And things... get steadily worse. By worse I mean the situation, not the writing, plot, or general amazingness of the book.

One thing I have to point out about Neil Cross: he writes women well (well, up until the last season with the Tinkerbell thing). Oh, there are a few haters on the internet, loathing Zoe and even Jenny(!) for being less than 20 feet away from Luther and in possession of a vagina. Admittedly, I don't get the hate, but Neil Cross made it even more impossible to dislike Zoe, impossible to dislike Mark! All of this while still rooting for Luther - let's be real, it helps that Luther is describe throughout as Idris Elba.


pictured above, triggering ovulation on unsuspecting females

But back to the book! It's like Neil Cross sat down and decided to ponder: "what makes human beings, collectively, as a species, act insanely protective?" And he came up with:

- Babies
- Children
- Abused dogs
- Kind grandpas

And then he spent the entire book, (and the series, let's be honest), using them to crush the readers' souls.
There were points in this book where I just threw it away from me because I couldn't stand it any longer. And then, when I stopped sobbing, I'd pick it up and voraciously kept reading it.

Now it's been over a year since I've read it and sometimes, I'll remember something from it and I'm just like, "Someone bash my head in with a shovel, I can't go on living after this book."

So, what I'm saying is: Go on. Read it.


DO IT show less

Fast-paced. Intense. You hit the ground running and don't really stop until it's all over.

The style of writing is very tight and immediate -- you can tell the person who wrote it is used to writing teleplays because all the sentences are very lean, full of concise details designed to give maximum information with minimum description. The last chapter in particular has an urgent intensity to it... things are happening and they're happening fast so hold on!

The spine of the story is that Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) John Luther is beginning to unravel around the edges, he's seen too much and he takes it all personally, to the point that he has been functioning in a kind of suspended something... rage... pain... anguish... for so long show more that he doesn't quite realize that it's all starting to leak out until long past the point where he can stop it. He's involved in a difficult case, everyone is counting on him to bring it all together even as they begin to realize that he's passing the point of keeping himself together.

As others have mentioned there is sexual content and extreme violence but I didn't find either to be particularly graphic or sensationalized beyond what was necessary to tell the story. There's a certain kind of nuance to the way the more violent parts of the story are told, you think it's being more explicit than it actually is as a result of that streamlined writing style (I really LOVED the style this book was written in).

I'm not familiar with the TV show. I have no previous knowledge of John Luther or the people in his world but I had no trouble following the story. A (very) minor quibble is that there are a few places where the UK slang and police shorthand were unfamiliar to me. I suspect it's as common to Brits as something like the term C.S.I. or APB is to most Americans and it was only momentarily distracting.

I enjoyed this novel. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has a taste for the police/detective/suspense genre. show less

Luther: The Calling by Neil Cross is a 2011 Simon & Schuster publication.

My DH and I watched every Luther episode ever made- all without the benefit of having read this book first. While I kept intending to read it- I never quite managed to work it into my schedule… until I noticed it was part of the KU program. I immediately borrowed it, super excited by the prospect of getting to read a ‘Luther’ story.

I will confess, though, that both my husband and I were occasionally put off by the show due to the very dark nature of the plotlines. It seems we’ve both mellowed just a bit over the years. So, though I was somewhat prepared for a dark, gritty crime thriller I was not ready for the descriptions of one of the most heinous sorts show more of crimes out there. I had to take a few breaks before I was able to complete the novel.

This book is basically the setup for the series- the case that nearly breaks the unorthodox John Luther. This meant that “Alice” had not come along just yet- and I was a bit disappointed she was not a part of this book. I always thought the series was better when she was a part of it.

That said, John Luther is a flawed, complicated character-an anti-hero type who flaunts the rules and manages to somehow come out of it with his job still intact. The book is well-written and executed and is unflinchingly realistic at times- from the graphic depictions of the crimes and the criminals- but also the corruption and vigilantism. I am disappointed to see that a planned follow-up has never materialized. I’d love to see more installments in the series, even though I found this one a bit hard to get through due to its graphic nature and subject matter.

Overall, I was glad I finally got around to reading this book. I wish I’d done so before watching the show, though, as I feel it would have given me a better understanding of John’s actions in that first season. Even if you have not seen the show- if you like dark, twisted, gritty crime thrillers this is one you might want to consider.

4 stars show less

This is a book about the paranoid fears of the urban individual. I imagine that it is a book and not, as previously, a television show, because it would be very difficult to get past the censors. Wonderfully gruesome but balanced with a patina of psychological determinism that provides comfort for demons. Beautifully structured and paced. A page-turner that fits cleverly as a prequel to series one of the television show. Reads like a screenplay in a good way. Impossible not to imagine Idris Elba as lead.