{"id":20063,"date":"2025-09-22T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=20063"},"modified":"2025-09-21T23:04:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T03:04:29","slug":"review-hank-flynn-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-hank-flynn-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Hank Flynn: The Return by Candace Nola"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright \" src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/I\/71ujWhny79L._SL1499_.jpg\" alt=\"cover of Hank Flynn: The Return\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Hank-Flynn-Return-Candace-Nola\/dp\/B0FGWD5FS5\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AG0MNZVIJ4AZ&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.x6vfRDhJwvrKn_7rYbLmyA.IM9g2YDDVkaUPbkBbSWO2PIUzEhSs6YWpH8gBlB0JFY&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=Hank+Flynn%3A+The+Return+by+Candace+Nola&amp;qid=1757284256&amp;sprefix=hank+flynn+the+return+by+candace+nola%2Caps%2C327&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hank Flynn: The Return<\/a><\/em> by Candace Nola<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Uncomfortably Dark (July 2025)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.writerelizabethbroadbent.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elizabeth Broadbent<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m generally not a fan of Western horror, though it\u2019s an interesting subgenre. I\u2019m revising that idea after Candace Nola\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn: The Return<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Haven\u2019t read the original <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? Don\u2019t stress. I hadn\u2019t either. In <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn: The Return<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Nola pulls off an incredibly difficult trick: a sequel with familiar characters and storylines that can still be read solo (though it will spoil the first <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so reader beware).\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn: The Return <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stars the eponymous main character, a brooding loner on a mission from the Christian God. The Father (as Hank calls Him) has commissioned this sword-toting long arm of the law to battle demons who are determined to sink mankind into darkness. That\u2019s traumatic enough, but Hank\u2019s also toting a metric ton of trauma \u2014 crushing loneliness, persistent isolation, and bottomless grief over the death of the only woman he\u2019s dared to love. When a small Midwestern town finds a local family brutally murdered, God calls Hank to assure the demons responsible don\u2019t escape. Hank is His justice. And he\u2019s determined to do his Father\u2019s will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aided by the local sheriff, his young deputy, and occasionally the Archangel Michael, Hank tracks the demon responsible. But it can leap bodies, and if he wants to stop Hell from harvesting more souls, Hank will have to battle it one-on-one. As the sleepy little town becomes a celestial battleground, Hank and Sheriff Townsend must rally its citizens to fight. They have beloved local hostelier, Judy, on their side. But even Hank doesn\u2019t know if they\u2019ll manage to stand against evil.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn: The Return<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Nola gives readers an immensely compelling main character and a well-developed supporting cast. An implacable instrument of God\u2019s will, but also a flawed, complicated man, Hank is brooding but determined; while the early-1900s Midwestern town and its citizens feel comfortably familiar, they\u2019re no less rich for it. We know these people. We know their wants, their needs, their dreams. Against this comforting, almost nostalgic backdrop, Nola sets the unfamiliar and the frightening. That contrast makes the novel hit even harder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boy, does it hit \u2014 and the action keep coming. Nola is a master of quick-paced plot, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn: The Return <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rockets through action faster than Hank can draw his swords. Charging out of the gate with a brutal murder scene, the book reads lighting-quick. Some of that momentum stems from Nola\u2019s emphasis on well-paced action itself; satisfying demon battles abound (but never become trite). And like Hank himself, this short novel doesn\u2019t waste words. That\u2019s not to say <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hank Flynn: The Return <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lacks for the lovely prose we\u2019ve come to expect from Candace Nola \u2014 much of the novel is breathtakingly pretty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beware. Longtime readers know that Nola wraps trauma, tragedy, and brutal atrocity in beauty\u2014she\u2019s won Splatterpunk Awards for a reason. Hank himself could break your heart, and Nola gives us richly detailed, lovingly composed action scenes; some brutal murders; and gut wrenching sadness.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Hank Flynn: The Return <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reads fast and lingers long. Hold on for a gut-punch climax that knocked me breathless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fans of demon possession, Western tropes (even if Hank\u2019s armed with swords instead of guns), and horror that hurts will devour this quick bite of a book. Hank Flynn is one of the most memorable characters in contemporary horror, and I\u2019m glad I caught up with him. Another triumph of a book that proves once again why Nola has become a fixture of the indie horror scene. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hank Flynn: The Return by Candace Nola Uncomfortably Dark (July 2025) Reviewed by\u00a0Elizabeth Broadbent I\u2019m generally not a fan of Western horror, though it\u2019s an interesting subgenre. I\u2019m revising that idea after Candace Nola\u2019s Hank Flynn: The Return. Haven\u2019t read the original Hank Flynn? Don\u2019t stress. I hadn\u2019t either. In Hank Flynn: The Return, Nola &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-hank-flynn-return\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: Hank Flynn: The Return by Candace Nola&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[3476,3165,3475,79],"class_list":["post-20063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-candace-nola","tag-elizabeth-broadbent","tag-hank-flynn-the-return","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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