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Anne Brooke
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The Hit List: A romantic comedy about how NOT to kill your friends and family! Kindle Edition

by Anne Brooke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.7 out of 5 stars 65 ratings
Jamie's contented rural life is about to get turned upside down ...

Jamie Chadwick is straight. Determinedly straight. Or so he keeps telling himself. His small conference business is doing okay and, even though he looks after his ailing father, he loves living in the countryside and life is good. Sort of.

But the arrival of old college friend, David Fenchurch, who’s just come out on the distinctly camp side of camp, together with Lucy Reid, his father’s sexy new physiotherapist, sets Jamie on a path he’d never dreamed of taking.

On top of all that, the unexpected return of long-lost family friend, Robert Trevelyan, himself openly gay, means that Jamie can no longer ignore the past he’s kept hidden for six years.

When Robert and David get together, Jamie’s feelings begin to surface in surprising ways. Who, amongst the crowd of people set to blow his life apart, will make it onto his fantasy hit list? And in the midst of Jamie’s own emotional battlefield, how can he keep things together at all?

Perfect for lovers of quirky gay romance.

Reviews:

“The delightful prose, great narrator, and fast pace will keep you fully engaged in the book. The story feels effortless, a skill Brooke really excels at translating across the page, so be sure to pick this up. You’ll be glad you read it.” [Three Dollar Bill Reviews]

“Jamie is the most wonderful character. I love him to death. He can be mean and hurtful and generous and inarticulate and dreamy. I want to shake him when he’s being exasperating and hug him because he’s got sad, difficult times ahead. I wish books didn’t have to end. I’m putting Anne Brooke on my list of favorite authors.” [5 star Goodreads review]

“A touching book; in turns funny, true and heartbreaking. The measure of a book, for me, can be judged by the answer to one question. Can I walk down the street reading it? Is it so interesting that I can’t put it down when the train reaches the station, that I need to carry on reading it for the rest of the walk home? The answer with The Hit List is yes. Absolutely!” [5 star Goodreads review]
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  1. Print length
    418 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    March 26, 2015
  4. File size
    1.9 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00VARERLA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anne Brooke Books (March 26, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 26, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.9 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 418 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 151871627X
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 out of 5 stars 65 ratings

About the author

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Anne Brooke

Anne Brooke

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Anne Brooke writes fiction about prime-time women & how they live their lives. She's also a poet. She loves gardens, swimming and the theatre.

Her fiction has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize (for novels set in London) and the Royal Literary Fund Scheme.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
65 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Arlena
    4.0 out of 5 stars A good read!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2014
    Title: The Hit List
    Author: Anne Brooke
    Published: Amber Quill Press
    Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
    Rating: 4
    Review:

    "The Hit List" by Anne Brooke good contemporary read. You will find that this novel of the main character is trying to 'understand his sexual identity and also dealing with family crisis.' "The Hit List is a fast pace even though it is rather long. We find Jamie Chadwick is living a home taking care of his 'ill father' and also working from home. Things come to head when Jamie's friend from college announces he is gay. What all will come of this? Even though by the end of the book Jamie still hasn't told his ill father about his issues. Has Jamie really come 'out? And then we have David changing his mind about being gay. Wow, this was some read of change or was it? As I kept reading I saw that Jamie lacked 'social skills, not particularly handsome, desperately wanted to marry someone...then he writes 'The Hit List' which was people he wanted to kill. Now, why was this? I really didn't see "The Hit List" as a true romance. I felt like this was more of the 'comedy of life.' Now what does this mean? I got this from a quote: "The choices people make (or don’t make), the consequences thereof, and the inherent complications and confusions that come of relationships." To me that says it all. To get your thoughts you must pick up this read and see for yourself. It may start out somewhat slow but keep reading and you will see which way this author is leading the reader.

    The characters were all pretty well drawn like Jamie, his father, David, Robert, the vicar and his daughter, the village fete, to the nosy landlord, but all in all I found most of these characters were a very interesting group of people. This story gives off the presents of being so very 'true, heartbreaking and very sentimental.' So, if you don't mind gay issues and above all 'The Hit List' then I would recommend this touching read for you.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Sirius
    5.0 out of 5 stars Humorous and touching book
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Meet Jamie. Jamie works from home in the small town and takes care of his sick father. Jamie has a hit list of people he would like to kill, of course only as a way to release stress, or is it?

    Jamie is straight, really really straight, so straight that he has his eyes set on the vicar's daughter and then his father's physiotherapist. Jamie is straight when family friend whom he did not see for six years comes back. Is Jamie really straight?

    Despite the existence of the infamous hit list (and it changes all the time), this is probably the lightest novel I have read so far by Anne Brooke and I loved it.

    Jamie really does undergo a journey of self discovery throughout the book and the writer leads him through this journey with subtle humor and sympathy.

    His problems are very relatable, I really liked this character and was very pleased with how this book ended.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Alan Arthur Katz
    3.0 out of 5 stars Well-Written, But I Canot Recommend It
    Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I am a recent, but huge fan of Ms. Brooke. The last book of hers I read was "Maloney's Law" and it blew me away! She is an awesomely talented writer and I've got "A Dangerous Man" queued up as my next read.

    However, I wish I could be as enthusiastic about this book, "The Hit List". Somehow, I get the impression that Ms. Brooke moved out of her comfort zone on this one, and, in my opinion, she didn't fare well.

    This is a book about coming out (or not coming out) that takes place in rural England outside of Colchester. The protagonist, Jamie Chadwick, is a young man who's gone home to look after his ailing dad who, it appears, hates his son's guts, even to the point of declaring that he wishes Jamie's older brother, Mark, were there, so that things could be happy again, the way they were before Jamie was born. Personally, this nasty old fart would be at the top of my hit list, too.

    And then there is Robert, the gorgeous, successful businessman who shared a past with both Jamie and his brother (he was Mark's boss in a Web development company), now living in Japan and gone lo these last six years.

    Much of the book is about Jamie's problems with his thankless dad, the gossips that seem to populate all of his little village, and the two girlfriends he's not very good at juggling. One, Carina, is the young Vicar's daughter, the other, Lucy, is the too-hot-for-words physiotherapist who comes, several times a week, to care for Jamie's father.

    And then things get murky. His old friend, David, shows up, dressed like a queen and declaring that he's now totally gay. So what does Jamie do? Snub him and tell him off, of course.

    Which brings me to my problem with the book. Maybe it's just a different culture, and a British thing, but men moving back-and-forth from gay to straight, at will, is simply mind-boggling to me. Of course, it's not possible. Someone can be bisexual, of course, and just pick different-gendered partners at different points (or together), but that's not what this book is about - it's about the straight guy "going gay" and vice-versa. Sorry, but the whole thing is just lacking in any kind of credibility, whatsoever. It's just not how gay men are. Perhaps, if this were a fantasy, I'd be more forgiving but, despite the fact that some reviewers here have claimed "The Hit List" is both "light" and "full of humor", I suspect they weren't reading the same book I did. Either that, or my sense of humor is seriously deficient.

    I also found the lead character, Jamie, both annoying and, at times, despicable. He prepares a hit list of all those people who, in dying, would make his life much more bearable. It is his solace and, at least on two occasions, he actually makes fleeting and abortive attempts at following through. Perhaps others find it "humorous" or "charming" to see David throwing up violently after ingesting a concoction Jamie put together to harm his father, so sick that the others wanted to call an ambulance. I didn't.

    In his cowardice and insensitivity, Jamie manages to get both women - one of whom is left, crushed, when he walks away from her, and the other, though he sleeps with her passionately, senses something is off and secretly cheats with someone else - who was supposed to be gay, but isn't.

    And the only person Jamie ever really loved (although their relationship remains unconsummated) is Robert, who, when he kisses him (which Jamie is quite caught up by), ends up, more often than not, being punched in the gut or thrown to the floor. Ah, ain't love grand.

    To be honest, I really, really disliked Jamie. Talk about a lack of empathy and/or sympathy for a character. At no point did he either make me smile or pull at my heartstrings. The only emotion I experienced through most of this book was annoyance. Every time Jamie picks up a phone to call someone, to tell him or her the truth, or to apologize, the words just won't come, and he can't (or won't) say a thing, and then hangs up, in frustration. I couldn't decide if Jamie was aphasic, autistic, or just a complete and total imbecile. I'm leaning toward the latter.

    The ending is just as wrong as most of the rest of the book. Jamie first decides he's "gay for you", only ever feeling attraction to Robert, otherwise straight (he certainly does get physically aroused by the very thought of women throughout the rest of the book), then decides he likes a hotel executive who helps him organize one of his conferences. A few weeks later, he's driving to gay bars and dancing and kissing all the men he can find. Whoops, I guess I'm gay, after all - completely ignoring all the hot sex he had with women for more than 200 pages.

    And we can't wrap this up without some commentary of the least-satisfying happily-ever-after I've ever read in a book about gay men. Robert and Jamie decide that Robert will come back from Japan to live closer to Jamie because, well... they love each other and want to be together. Except that they both agree they'll have to stay in the closet.... and work around that tiny, inconsequential limitation. Welcome to the 21st Century, in which true love between gay men means living in the closet?

    I love when Ms. Brooke writes one of her great action/thriller novels with characters that just happen to be gay. It is where she shines. But writing about gay men's relationships and the coming-out process? Not so much. What you have here is a view from the outside, and not a particularly accurate one.

    I gave this book three stars for the brilliant writing. But because of the content and the characters, I cannot, in all honesty, recommend it.
    20 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2015
    I truly loved this book! So nice to read a good story with some gay characters instead of a gay story with characters!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Angie
    3.0 out of 5 stars OKay
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This book was more of a coming out book which I thought was way too long. Jamie Chadwick has always thought he was straight. Jamie goes home to look after his ailing dad who hates him even declaring that he wish Jamie's older brother Mark were there I hated his father he was a mean old man. When family friend Robert Trevelyan returns who openly gay Jamie has to face the truth. I also didn't like how Jaime acted with his old college friend David Fenchurch. Jamie too me was a little annoying and when Robert and David get together he feels some type of way about it. The book was also confusing at times and with Jamie going back and fourth it was just too much for me. This was my first time reading this author this book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • feg
    2.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to read story.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I found this a difficult read. I just couldn't get into it.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • ceric7
    3.0 out of 5 stars Neither romantic nor erotic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    At the outset I have to say that I found this book intensely irritating and neither romantic nor erotic, but read on to the end.

    It was far too long .I guess most people would be reading it for the story of Jamie’s emotional/sexual relationships rather than the family sagas/slice of English country life angle. Both of these were quite interesting in their ways but the balance seemed to be all wrong, leading me to think that really there were two separate books here.

    While I did not find it difficult to hold onto the characters and the different strands of the plot, sometimes people seemed to disappear for no good reason and important parts of the story seemed submerged by detail which did not do much to further the plot.

    The main character, Jamie Chadwick was strangely elusive and I found it difficult to form a clear picture of him.He is about 25yo, a redhead, 5’.7” tall, fiery tempered.He is basically not very good at sexual/emotional relationships, not understanding what makes women or men or, importantly, himself, tick. He runs a successful business from home while caring for his elderly father.

    The novel tells of his relationships with his father and his brother, Mark, with Carina and Lucy,his girlfriends, with his friend, David and , most importantly, with Robert.

    In the end, most of the problems in these relationships are resolved one way or another, some more convincingly than others.
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  • Nicksy
    5.0 out of 5 stars recommended
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A thoughtful and well written book. Jamie is struggling with a career and an elderly parent, a situation that so many of us have to deal with, complicated by typical village life. The way he struggles with his feelings for all the various characters around him is quite delightful. At times I could have (metaphorically) strangled him, but always hoped he would sort himself out in the end.
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