The Man Who Settled The Score is the second book in a series by Andrew Hood.
The first book is The Man who Corrupted Heaven, which I seriously loved. So, I was beyond excited to read The Man Who Settled the Score.
Although following on from the first book this could be read as a stand alone – but in my opinion you will get more from it if you read them in order. Why wouldn’t you, when both books are seriously awesome?!
After the passing of Isaac, John is even more connected and protective of Susan. That is why he can’t turn her down when she hands him a list of names and addresses of the people from their past that she wants John to eliminate.
The strong bond between Isaac, John and Susan comes from their shared tortured childhood. They grew up in an orphanage where every moment was spent in fear. The list is made up of the names of those Susan remembers from the orphanage. Those that caused not only hers, but many of the other childrens’ physical, mental, and emotional abuse.
For her to feel some release she needs to know that all of the abusers are gone from this earth, and that they get to feel just a little of the fear and pain they caused others before they die.
John sets out to work his way through the list, but finds that often things don’t quite go to plan. He finds that at times he can easily kill, but there is another side to him that wants to protect those that are innocent.
He learns that as messed up as he feels he is, and even though wounded he can have a good and happy life.
The book is written from John’s perspective as he sits in the confessional and confesses the wrongs in his life to the listening priest. He talks about each murder in detail. He talks about what he did and how he felt.
I am 100% addicted to these characters, and really enjoy Andrew Hood’s writing. I find his books to be ones I hate to put down, as I long to know what happens next.
If you are triggered by abuse towards children or violence, then these are not the books for you. That being said I do not look at either of these books as being dark and depressing. Rather as testaments to peoples strength and ability to find that they can still love, and form strong attachments to people, even when they have been let down constantly by adults that are supposed to have cared for them.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading The Man Who Settled The Score by Andrew Hood. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
Im a Mum of 3 beautiful girls.
An avid reader that loves to travel but lacks the funds to venture far and wide constantly. A perfumeaholic with an addiction to beauty and skincare.
If not found with my head in a book or on a plane I can be found spending hours upon hour in Doctors and Hospital waiting rooms as part of my job as a Carer
When I got this book and the opening paragraph read that the reader may find some parts to be gruesome, he wasn’t wrong.
I found the way it was written quite interesting, from a different perspective, and that sometimes became challenging but it all made sense in the end.
I did have to put this down numerous times and make myself pick it up due to the scenes created. As a reader who imagines the scenes in detail, it was a bit confronting at times, but I persevered, and I am glad I did.
I am looking forward to hearing the story of the third character in this series, Susan.
Hi Katrina,
Thank you so much for reading my book. I’m so glad that you stuck with it till the end. I know how challenging some of those bits may have been but I promise book 3 will be much easier for you to enjoy.
Andrew
The Man Who Settled the Scrore is the sequel to The Man Who Corrupted Heaven and wow, what a sequel it is!
This time we follow John Hannebery and the book is written as a confession.
It was intense to say the least. I found at times I did need to put it down and take a breath, it is confronting and disturbing but we are warned at the start. In saying that, John is loveable and his unexpected vulnerability makes up for the gruesome, hard to read parts of his journey.
I loved this book just as much as the first. I can’t wait to read the third book about Susan.
Thank you for such a fantastic read.
5/5 stars.
Hi Alison
Thank you for this lovely review and taking the time to read my second book. I am so glad that you liked it and I promise book 3 will be an easier and more enjoyable read to finish off the series.
Warmest regards
Andrew
The Man Who Settled the Score by Australian author Andrew Hood is the second book in The Man Who Corrupted Heaven trilogy. It is a true thriller from start to finish but be warned, this book may not be for everyone, it contains child abuse themes and murder which could be unnerving for some.
John Hannebery was given a task by Susan Mitchell; they became friends when he met his brother Isaac and later Susan who became Isaacs partner. Their meeting place was not of a happy beginning but the bond they forged to survive was unbreakable. Growing up in an Orphanage you became part of the system but the system they were in was unforgiving.
Now Susan wants revenge and gives John a list of nine names, he never thought he would engage in assassination-related activities but with just the two of them left he owes this much to her and all the innocent children that were hurt and victimised. One by one the paedophiles will be hunted and killed.
The book is packed with intense action, and you will undoubtedly be drawn in from the very first page. The crime scenes will send chills down readers’ spine, they are described in vivid detail, but this added to the story, allowing the reader to see the hate and anger burning inside of John to fulfill Susan’s wish.
The Man Who Settled the Score is a ride that left me hungering for more. John Hannebery is one of those protagonists that make you fall in love with the story. The author has done an incredible job of creating an environment where you cannot help but be absorbed in the story. I was transported into the plot and experiencing everything with John. He is such a real, complicated yet relatable character; with conflict inside him and genuinely broken.
This is the first book I am reading from Andrew Hood, and while it is the second entry in a series, it reads well as a standalone story. It is emotionally intense, fast-paced, and will make your heart race. It is incredibly entertaining, and I loved every moment of it.
I highly recommend for fans of suspenseful thriller novels but if anything, this book will raise the reader’s awareness of people who have suffered from child abuse.
Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Shawline Publishing Australia for the opportunity to read and review.
Hi Melissa
I really appreciate you taking the time to read my book. And wow what a tough book to start on, but I am so glad you got through it and were able to enjoy it in the end. If you like books that keep you thinking my first book might be good next however if you’re looking for something a little lighter, then feel free to go straight on to 3.
Thanks again
Andrew
The Man Who Settled The Score by Andrew Hood ( Shawline Publishing Group) is a raw and confronting book, and definitely not one for the faint hearted. It is the standalone sequel to The Man Who Corrupted Heaven.
The story centers around the graphic confession of a killer… the why, the where, the how and especially the who… providing insight into his dark, uneasy motivation.
The main character John Hannebery has a list, and the list has given him a singular purpose in his sad, conflicted life. It is a list of paedophiles – those who hurt him, his best friends Ivan and Susan and other innocent children in the orphanage where they grew up. John is determined to hunt down and eliminate them all. But in exacting his revenge for the horrors he and the other children endured, be warned the violence and gruesome physical imagery is extreme.
This is a well written but stark and painful book to read, which tackles some truly awful subjects.
Hi Lyn
Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I know there was some dark themes in the story, but this book was my way of trying to make sense of all of it. I hope you are not to disturb Wyatt, and you might consider reading my other two books which are not quite as confronting, but still give a great story arc.
Thanks again
Andrew
The Man Who Settled the Score by Andrew Hood was strangely an enjoyable read on an avoided topic. There are some clever twists that keep you engaged and reading to find out the conclusion.
John Hannebery grew up in an Orphanage, as did his brother Isaac and his best friend Susan.
Susan presents John with a hit list of 9 names. John knows he must eliminate the 9 men who had hurt the three of them, plus so many more innocent children.
So John sets out to settle the score.
The book is quite confronting and graphic,in both the descriptions of the abuse they suffered as children,and in the way John carries out his eliminations.
The story is cleverly narrated by John as he gives his confession to a priest.
Without the blunt harshness the story would not have had the same impact on the reader.
I enjoyed it as a stand alone story, and am now reading the first book The Man Who Corrupted Heaven.
Thankyou Shawline Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this unusual and confronting story.
Hi Anne
Thank you for reading my book and leaving this incredible review. I especially loved your comment “ Without the blunt harshness the story would not have had the same impact on the reader”. I agree completely. This was my way of trying to make sense of such a difficult topic.
Thanks again
Andrew
The Man Who Settled the Score was a very difficult read. I love the first book, The Man Who Corrupted Heaven so much that I chose to read this second book. It was tough, raw, graphic and confrontational and left me quite unsettled after each chapter. So much so, that unfortunately I am unable to continue to read it to the end, after many attempts of reading a chapter and having a break. I know it’s a good book and well written but just not for me.
Hi Denise
Thank you so much for attempting to read my book. I know it was a tough topic and many have struggled with it. If you chose to try book 3 I promise it will be much more enjoyable. No violence or difficult subjects in that one.
Thanks for trying with this one
Andrew
Terrific and thank you for your advice on Book 3. I’ll definitely get a copy to read.
‘The Man Who Settled the Score’ follows the story of John, a character we first saw in ‘The Man Who Corrupted Heaven’. While it’s a good idea to have read the other book to understand John’s background and his relationship with his adopted brother Isaac, you can read this book and follow the story without having read the first one.
John is a very interesting and troubled character. He is following a ‘hitlist’ given to him by his friend Susan, to ‘settle the Score’ with 9 abusers that terrorised them as children living in the same orphanage.
Some of the themes in this book are quite confronting – there’s murder, child abuse, addiction, rape and violence. These themes have to be interwoven into the story to understand the complexity of John and the burdens he carries from his childhood.
I actually liked this book better than ‘Corrupted Heaven’, the development of this character and his dialogue, told as a confession to a priest, made for pretty compelling reading
A great book and the author is to commended for tackling this tricky topic but making the story worthwhile.
The Man Who Settled The Score by Andrew Hood.
The Author has a warning at the beginning of the book that it won’t be for everyone and is violent and confronting.
This is correct. It is violent, confronting, graphic and delves into into abuse, murder and mayhem. It all ties in and becomes a riveting read. A total unexpected twist and soon as I read this, it all made sense.
I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy crime, mystery and alternative topics. Thank you to the Author, Beauty and Lace and Shawline Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this.
I thoroughly enjoyed all three of ANDREWS books and recommend them all . In some ways they are very different but are all great reads .
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Shawline Publishing Group for the chance to read and review The Man Who Settled the Score by Andrew Hood. I was excited to read this as I’d just finished reading Andrew Hood’s first novel, The Man Who Corrupted Heaven, and I loved it.
The Man Who Settled the Score is one of those reads that has moments when your jaw will definitely hit the ground, and moments when you will need to pause for a minute or two, as your mind attempts to wrap itself around some of the vivid murder scenes and raw detail of what paedophiles are capable of doing to innocent children.
The reader is taken on a truly gut-wrenching journey, as John, embarks on a mission to kill. John becomes the hit man, when best friend Susan, hands him a list with 9 names on it. Names of people that abused them, plus many more children, as they were growing up in an orphanage.
Be warned, if you find the topic of child abuse, a trigger, then read this with caution. I found the rawness of the story was one of the reasons I loved this book so much. 5 stars. I cannot wait to read more from this awesome Australian Author.