Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Joe has permission to kill.

Over at the superb spy webzine, Permission To Kill, editor David Foster offers a fascinating insight into the sub-genres of the spy fiction field (books, movies and TV), and attempts to categorise where Joe Hunter sits into the wider scheme with a breakdown and investigation into Joe's latest adventure in Slash and Burn.

Reading the article made me question Joe myself, and to try to decide where/if I felt Joe resides in the world of spy-fic. I'm not going to give you my conclusions at this time, but would rather hear what your conclusions are. Do you agree with David, or do you have a singular take on Joe Hunter that you'd like to share?

Take a read of the article here http://permissiontokill.com/2010/04/slash-and-burn/ and you won't be disappointed. In fact, I'm sure you'll learn something and perhaps go back and question your own characters (if you're a writer) or those characters you love to read about. Then, as per normal, you can leave me your findings in the comments below.

Thanks to David for a superb article and review.

Matt

4 comments:

David said...

Thanks for the kind words.

Unknown said...

Good write up that, Matt n Dave.
Agreed, Hunter's no spy, but there are certainly distinctive parellels with The Equalizer.

SueH said...

A good and very thought-provoking review.

I have to agree, Hunter equates more with McCall than anyone else I can think of - almost 'forcing' justice to be served.

A little nugget I take away from Foster's review:
"The sound of gunfire is so loud in this book, that you almost need earplugs when you read it." - spot on!!

Author said...

McCall, Mac Bolan, Joe Dredd, Joshua Hedges, the man with no name...and yes, Jason Bourne, Saul and Drew (David Morrell characters) have all influenced Joe Hunter, so I guess the spy elements equal those of the rogue lone gunman in building him.