Dying for Hammer

Michael is a blot on the landscape of Karnstein: a foul, boorish bumpkin whose only concern is where his next pint is coming from. So when he decides to help a group of strangers find their missing friend, none of the locals care much whether he lives or dies. When he does both, however, the bloody certainties of the village start to unravel: and for Michael, questions arise as to whether his life might have more meaning than he - or anyone else - might believe. With a cast of much-loved British film actors and a plot that will be familiar to any fan of Hammer horror films, Steve Manthorps short novel is the crudest, goriest - and laugh-out-loud funniest - exploration of existential uncertainty you will read this year.