I've been a fan of Aidan Thorn's writing ever since I saw a story of his in an anthology from Byker Books. I've been following his work since then. What I like about When the Music's Over is that it is unashamedly British. I've seen so many English author's trying to replicate the high quality U.S. noir fiction they've obviously read and love. The author knows his roots and it comes across better because of it.
Another thing I like about this novella is that we get to see a large part of it from the perspective of the hit man that has been hired to take out our hero. The killer is a well-drawn character who acts tough and talks tough but has some very human failings. He's confronted with his own mortality in the form of an illness and he finds that this is changing his perspective on things and hampering his ability to do his job. Given his failing health will he be able to close the hit and take his pay out? This is question I asked myself a lot as I read this story.
The story flow smoothly and the imagery the author created was effective and compelling. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining short read that was told from a refreshing perspective.
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