The Unredeemed by Luke Walker

In the ultimate battle between evil and evil…only one can win.

Four hundred years ago, Benjamin Harwood butchered whoever he saw fit to kill, knowing that sacrificing his murder victims to a demon would keep him safe from eternal punishment.

But now, their agreement has been torn in half and the demon is coming for Harwood’s soul, coming to set him to burn.  

Preparing for war, Harwood gathers the worst of the worst, the monsters and murderers he calls friends.

With this group of damned killers, Harwood must return to the crimes of his past and seek help from his most recent prey: a teenage girl whose family he destroyed, a girl with more reason to loathe him than anyone in his life or death.

Only then he can try for a redemption that may be impossible or face a universe of suffering.  

But Harwood doesn’t know there is a hole in the floor of the world. And something much worse than the dead is down there…

Last year I read Ascent by Luke Walker and really enjoyed his Dante-esque tale of terror in a hellish, trans-dimensional office block. Recently a copy of his latest novel, The Unredeemed appeared in my in-box. I found myself powerless to refuse. Evil versus evil in a fight to the bitter end? Count me in.

Make no mistake, Benjamin Harwood is a nasty piece of work. He may appear distinguished, well-mannered and softly spoken, but he is a cold-hearted killer. Harwood likes to make his victims suffer. He won’t deny he is a monster, in fact he is pretty unrepentant about it. When he was alive, Harwood killed because he could, because it made him feel powerful. As a spirit, it is the collateral damage that he causes that does the most damage. A whispered suggestion here, a vivid bloody nightmare there. As you follow his after-life, you sense the desperation that surrounds what is left of the man. He has literally spent centuries attempting to remain under Hell’s radar, delighting only in the tiny hauntings that cause the living misery. Finally, his past catches up with him and he has only two choices left; accept his fate or fight back.

The other killers Harwood gathers around him are just as bad. A word of warning at this point, some of the crimes this group are responsible for are particularly unpleasant and it is likely these may act as a trigger for some readers. The Unredeemed gets pretty damned dark. Turns out killers and criminals who have outwitted Hell are just as bad as you expect them to be. I know that when it comes to horror, there is an intensely personal line about how far is too far. From my perspective, Walker’s writing hints at some truly dark deeds but I don’t think he ever oversteps the mark.

The antithesis of Benjamin Harwood is Hayley, a teenage girl who is drawn into his plans. She is an innocent who Harwood first meets while he is looking for a new victim to torment.  Watching how their relationship unfolds is fascinating. The evolution of Hayley’s character as she moves from being a victim to a survivor was one of my favourite things about the novel.

It struck me pretty quickly that no-one is ever going to be able to empathise with Harwood, but in hindsight I suspect that may be kind of the point. Time has twisted this malevolent spirit so much he is happy to betray even those he calls friends. He is utterly self-absorbed and will gladly throw anyone under the metaphorical bus if it will save him from eternal damnation. There is nothing heroic or likeable about this protagonist. This does however give the author the opportunity to explore some interesting themes.

The ultimate resolution of The Unredeemed is an intriguing one. It certainly made me ponder the nature of atonement and redemption. I think when I started reading I was expecting something gorier and less thought-provoking. Don’t get me wrong, there is some shocking violence, but there is more going on than that. I think that trying to understand the nature of evil can often be viewed as contentious subject. Part of us is so horrified by acts that killers are capable of we don’t want to understand what could control their actions. Perhaps fiction is the only way can try to explore these unnatural drives. Novels like The Unredeemed won’t be for everyone, what fiction is, but I am sure there are plenty of horror fans out there that will be interested. Evil is the flip side of good. I’m not sure you can truly understand one without understanding the other. If you enjoy your horror dark and properly evil, then look no further, The Unredeemed is the book for you.

My recommendation for the musical accompaniment to this book is the soundtrack to Insidious Chapter 2. The soundtrack by Joseph Bishara is both suitably nerve jangling and sinister.

The Unredeemed is published by Hellbound Books and is available now.