The short version: if you are a Luther fan,
read this book.
For one thing I think it counts as canon. For another, it’s absolutely fucking brilliant.
The non-spoilery version:
This book is everything you could want in a Luther prequel.
Everything.
Any characters from the first series you thought weren’t fleshed out? Boom, here you go.
Wonder what happened pre-series to make Luther the way he is? You got it.
Thought the series wasn’t quite horrific enough? Yeah, that’s covered too. Reading this was the closest I’ve ever come to having to put a book down so I could go and throw up (I didn’t, but it was close). Fucking Neil Cross.
I’ve said before that I prefer Neil Cross’ TV writing to his books (this may be a minority opinion, idk), but this was just as good. At the end of the book, he acknowledges that usually it goes book series then TV series, but Luther did it the wrong way round, and I think that’s the best thing for it.
Basically, it made me wish I had books for other shows that were this good (I’m not counting actual book-adaptation series here, obviously). There were points reading it when I desperately wished that there were Spooks books like this.
There were many points reading it where I wished someone was reading it at the same time and pace as me so I could turn to them and just go OH MY GOD and WHAT THE HELL and THIS IS AMAZING (like it was an episode of the show, basically). I read most of it on the train, so I had to do all of that inside my own head. Had it been my own book I’d probably have been underlining bits with a highlighter pen. And occasionally writing YES, THIS, EXACTLY in the margins.
Talking about the characters without being spoilery is hard, but: they’re perfect. This shouldn’t be a surprise – they’re his characters – but somehow I didn’t expect them to be this good. If the characters are what got you into Luther, you will not be disappointed in this book.
The Calling should be counted as canon; it fits seamlessly into the series, and provides the kind of set up that most shows can only dream of. The detail and the texture and the feel of the whole thing is just right.
(as per the series, the horrible bits are horrendous, but as per the series, if you can get past them, it’s worth it)
Final thought: this was a review copy leant to me by tigertrapped, and I am going to buy myself a copy anyway (eventually – it is being released in hardback, *sigh*) so I can reread and lend it out to people: that’s how good it is.
ETA: Holy crap people, it's under £8 on Amazon!!!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LUTHER-Calling-Neil-Cross/dp/0857203363/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312465055&sr=1-3The spoilery version, not really a review if I’m honest:
http://hestia8.dreamwidth.org/10588.html?#cutid1