The Hanging Club

By: Tony Parsons

Narrated by: Colin Mace

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

A band of vigilante executioners roam London's hot summer nights, abducting evil men and hanging them. Sentenced to death is the gang member who abused vulnerable girls, the wealthy drunk driver who mowed down a child and the hate preacher calling for the murder of British troops.

As the bodies pile up and riots explode all over the sweltering city, DC Max Wolfe embarks on his most dangerous investigation yet: hunting a gang of killers whom many believe to be heroes....

©2016 Ian Fleming Publications Limited (P)2016 W F Howes Ltd

Critic Reviews

"This is brilliant stuff." (Peter James)

Parsons never disappoints.

Parsons style is lovely and lyrical, even when the action is gritty. And Colin Mace could recite the phone book and I'd be entertained. His transitions are seamless.

Dumb and dumber

Hard to believe a narrator could get through this nonsense without cracking up. This genre is flooded with trite moralistic soap operas. Where are the actual authors that construct realistic characters? Irrational, propagandist nonsense seems to qualify as popular literature these days and I am past my tolerance level.
How low can we go?

I really enjoy Tony Parsons

The story was a little grim, okay okay, a lot grim, but great style.

While one might say why save these people, another might say where do we draw the line on who should be saved.

I am not saying I have the answers, Parson's just makes it clear there are a lot of questions.

Great series!

I too thoroughly enjoyed the Killing Club, as well as book 2, and book 1. Yes, do listen to them in order. Author and narrator are the perfect match. Both excellent.
Scotty

Cannot understand why Parsons wrote this

This book is a compilation of hideous crimes that are (finally) being punished by vigilantes, their hangings shown on youtube and the police wringing their hands and crying for these vigilantes to be brought to justice. The world over is cheering for these vigilantes. For the perpetrators of these terrible crimes to be punished, as the British courts have certainly failed in that job. Slap on the wrist. Fear of looking racist. wtf?

Over and over the thrust of the story is how the police have been castrated with all the political correctness, never criticize a foreigner, even when one living on the dole and preaching hateful things about the British, in the streets to big crowds of muslims. When he is attacked, the British police actually send a group of policemen to protect him. What??

I just dunno. Tony Parsons is a powerful writer and he must have a reason to rub this in everyone's face. We have seen the world over that no citizen has been able to put a stop to this political correctness that's been crammed down everyone's throat to the point there are no laws for these people.

Not sure about this. I came away really disliking our hero, Max Wolfe, who I adored in the first two books. Even when he makes a stab at correcting a nasty hoodlum, he has to turn away and let his friend do it. Boo hoo. I can't believe British police are such wussies.

Colin Mace was brilliant, as always as the narrator.

Vigilantes in London

Tony Parson's writing has an ease in its reading/listening that makes you want to stay with this story until the very end; and then expect to turn over to the next chapter as if there is more. It'll need patience to wait for his next book.

Spend a credit!

Terrific author, believable characters, great narration- wish there was another Tony Parsons book, but I've listened to them all..

Good plot, well performed. Writing a bit clunky.<br />

Topical yarn about a group of vigilantes hanging criminals who got light sentences. The author has an annoying habit of repeating various bits of history and information three or four times: like subtitles for the hard of thinking. Some enjoyable arcana about London, but doesn't have the quirkiness of Bryant & May, nor the menace and surprise of Adrian Mckinty. You can figure out the location of the kill room a very long time before the detective in the story. Good enough but not great.

Great installment

Really enjoyed this installment of Max Wolf. I love the way he writes. Max has his little daughter full time and is taking care of her with help from the whole neighborhood.
He is a homicide policeman on a very difficult case.
This the third one I have listened to. - So worth a credit.

WAY TO SHORT

What did you love best about The Hanging Club?

I loved the way it made me think. Putting myself in situations and how I would feel and what would I do. The mother who was terminal so she got her revenge.

What other book might you compare The Hanging Club to and why?

If there is a book out there that you could compare with any 3 of Tony Parsons book I haven't read it yet.

Which character – as performed by Colin Mace – was your favorite?

Colin Mace has mastered every character in these three stories. Absolutely the best narrator going. So much so I have listened to other books because he is doing the talking. If there is an award for the best narrators he should win hands down. John in the Black Museum and Scout I look forward to his performance. But its so hard to choose.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Fasten your seat belts.

Any additional comments?

The story, the detail, the explanations. I can't wait till the next one.

Good story undermined by poor research

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I have been a fan of Tony Parsons’ ‘Max Wolfe’ novels and downloaded this as soon as it was available. It is unfortunately the weakest. It’s pretty short and has distinct signs of padding - the purpose of various venues and organisations is repeatedly described and the full address of West End Central nick seems to be given every time it is mentioned. The book also seems to have been sponsored by Apple - there are repeated mentions of Apple computers (kit the Met police don’t actually use) and there is even a character called Wozniak - and Bar Italia in Soho, which is constantly raved about. This may be thought unnoticeable by the author but its about as attractive as being forced to watch ads while viewing catch-up TV. But the real annoyances for me are the repeated inaccurate descriptions of aspects of the criminal justice system in England & Wales. One could contend that the very premise of the book (and I will avoid spoilers) - that defendants are dealt with so leniently that a group of vigilantes is inspired to take punishments into their own hands - is flawed, given that sentences are now governed by guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council and lenient sentences can be appealed by the Attorney-General. But I accept that that ‘flaw’ is there for dramatic purposes. There are however other relentless errors which suggest a lack of research and don’t serve any purpose other that to emphasise the author’s lack of familiarity with the system. English law has no concept of ‘involuntary manslaughter’. iIs a wholly American concept AFAIK. The crime described at the start of the book would actually amount to murder and only seems to be described as manslaughter to avoid the mandatory life sentence. A defence lawyer can’t rely on self-defence as a point of mitigation after its been rejected as a defence. Young Offenders Institutions are for people aged 18-20 not for under 18s. There is no leave to appeal hearing before a Crown Court judge and the idea that a judge would address an appellant directly at such a hearing is utterly ridiculous. People being interviewed by the police do not have their blood pressure monitored and my mind boggles as to how this might be done in practice. Etc, etc. Does this matter? I think it does. First getting it right would not alter the story itself and, secondly, getting it so regularly wrong assumes an ignorant readership and an irritating unwillingness on the part of the author to do proper preparatory research.

What about Colin Mace’s performance did you like?

Pitch perfect.

Do you think The Hanging Club needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes. The series is generally good though this book was the weakest

Very poor - spoiler alert!

Very disappointing, will not read another of his.
Frustratingly bad police work didn't follow any of the obvious leads. Just waited for the next thing to happen to the main character.
Didn't believe in the relationship briefly formed, or the coincidence with his friend and the bailiff.
His daughter was always conveniently away when ever he needed to do something or got caught up in something and never mentioned his injuries.
Despite been targeted by the criminals he is given none of the protection offered to the other characters.
And Tony must be sponsored by BMW given how many times BMW X5 was mentioned, and how many DC's drive one of those anyway?

Very enjoyable

If you could sum up The Hanging Club in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, unmelodramatic, engaging

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hanging Club?

When the lead character goes into the back rooms of the Old Bailey

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Can't say without spoiling the story

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Bought this one because I really enjoyed the first one. I enjoyed the first one more just because it was really good to find a new (to me) author that could write well. I found the characters three dimensional & sympathetic & the author only fell for one of the usual cliches and I can't say what that is without spoiling it for other listeners.

The stereotypes club

Raised on a remote island without any connection to the outside world except for endless editions of The Daily Mail, this is Tony's brave attempt at writing a story about what he thinks the world must be like.

Fabulous Book

Looking forward to the others in the series. Loved his previous books but was unsure that he would be as good a good crime writer. How wrong I was.

Have gone through the Max Wolfe books in rapid succession

Murder mystery, crime etc are not genres I've ever read before but I loved these three books.

Colin Mace's narration is easy on the ear and fits in perfectly with the carrier - I've now downloaded another book based on him narrating it.

I'm looking forward to the next one and hope Mr Mace continues as the voice of Max Wolfe

Great stuff!

Any additional comments?

I loved every minute of this book. It was a great tale, well told. Never rambling, it romped along, making it difficult to put down. This is my first by this author. I now look forward to listening to/reading the previous two in the series.

Gripping !!!

Author was very brave to write about this subject. From start to finish. I couldn't put it down.

Brilliant!!

Colin Mace is fantastic narrator for Wolfe, tough cop with a soft side. Great story, with pace and characters you wanted to know more about, and all with the backdrop of the history and underbelly of London city. Each book gets better and I can't wait till the next!

Every bit as good as the previous one!!

Loved the story, characters and the narration, this is the 2nd max Wolfe book I've listened to and they're both well worth the listen - definitely recommend !!