Drew and the rest of the authors set the bar high as hell (excuse the pun) for this anthology. Each story is insane, kicking off the collection when A little Bit Country and The Skid Row Slugger. Honestly, I fell in love with story number two and the character Jimmy; he's an easy guy to hate, in all honesty. A racist and controlling dick, I loved the pace of the story and Hooper's introduction in the first two instalments. It's weird, but no matter how disgusting Hoop is described, he has an element of charm to him. That's hard not to like, plus HELLO, he punishes arseholes; what's not to love. I think the fact that Jimmy shows no remorse after accidentally killing his partner's daughter makes you hate him more. After story one, where Fulch gets the perfect punishment, you can't wait to see what Hoop has up his sleeve. And Hoop doesn't disappoint in creating my favourite Death scene of the series. The anthology structure is perfect; every story weaves perfectly into the next. They even make references to one or more stories during the instalment. The authors did an incredible job working in each account to make one complete tale. Each twisted monster created by the authors in the Hoop collection did a fantastic job at making you hate the scumbag. Some characters I can say I've met, I know I've met a fat-hating Karen. Each punishment is just as messed up and gory as the next; many of these stick with you. I love how the collection touches on real-world issues, from religious corruption, college rapists to power corrupting the rich. I enjoyed how Hell has updated with the times and its own technology. It's not the usual approach that you expect, but it's a very creative approach that shows that earth has evolved and hell too, which means a different form of torture and techniques that change murder. There's an ongoing discussion that Hoop has with a guy called Phillips that was driving me crazy throughout the collection. I was like, who the hell is Philips?! l Of course, this gets answered in one of the stories; I won't spoil the fun and tell you which one, but it was a hell of a reveal.
My favourite scumbag has to be Amy from Scratching Post by Dani Brown; that girl is pure evil and a spoilt brat to boot. So I couldn't wait to see Hoop mess with her. Lil Snap was also a piece of human trash, though anyone who hurts animals deserves the fate he eventually gets. I also enjoyed the different styles that each author used whilst staying utterly faithful to the storyline. The Profile by Ryan Harding had me binge-watching Criminal Minds and played beautifully into the story collection with its unique story format. The structure, the atmosphere and the kill scenes are unique and addictive. If you want to find out who Hoop really is? I recommend you see this all through to the very end.