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King of the Ants

By: Charles Higson
Narrated by: Charles Higson
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Publisher's summary

It seemed straightforward enough. Sean had now consumed so much alcohol that everything seemed perfectly reasonable. He'd started planning the job already. The first problem was how to do it. Thirteen thousand pounds in an envelope seems a fair price for a man's life. Particularly if you don't know the man, he seems a nonentity and you quite fancy his wife. And there's no chance of being caught.

Sean is a drifter, working as a building labourer and waiting for something to happen. When Sean is offered easy money to tail someone and even more easy money to dispose of him, it's all more tempting than you might think. Except when you realise that you've been led up the garden path the whole way....

King of the Ants is dark, disturbing and violently comic. In the tradition of both Joe Orton and Iain Banks, Charlie Higson pinpoints the casual vagaries of evil and its attendant powers. Unnerving, horribly accurate and wickedly enjoyable, it remains Higson's finest book.

©2021 Charlie Higson (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK
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A great neo noir novel

I've seen the movie adaptation by Stewart Gordon and it's great, so I decided to check out the book. Honestly, I think the movie was a little better. As an adaptation I'd say the movie kept a good 85% of the book, the biggest change is the book is in London and the movie is in the US.

Aside from adaption, the book is really enjoyable, as for a very nihilistic take on noir tropes go. Most of the characters are morally dark gray at best, but it's written well enough that you're still invested in the story, mainly that the protagonist gets his way. I'd say it's similar to a Fargo story, between the movie and season one of the show, it's that kind of dark crime story with a pinch of humor.

The author did the narration, and he's fantastic, enough so that I'd say get the audiobook over print or ebook. He's a British man, obviously, so he has the voice for his story. He also has the vocal inflections between characters and some different accents, which makes him sound like a professional voice actor.

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