Butchers Nails

Written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and voiced by Seán Barrett, Butchers Nails is a new and original Audio Drama set within the time of the Horus Heresy and focused on Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters legion - uber-violent, unpredictable and somewhat unhinged (he eventually went on to become a Daemon Prince of Khorne).

The Heresy event provides the perfect opportunity for Horus's "lunatic attack dog" to indulge himself in his favourite pastime of brutal warfare and the slaughter of his brother marines. Working alongside the Word Bearers Legion, the World Eaters are given a secretive mission and set on a course that will take them right to the very heart of the Imperium. This plan is waylaid somewhat by Angron's insistence on destroying just about everything within their path causing conflict with fellow Primarch Lorgar and drawing the attention of a deadly xenos species.

I love the idea of these original audio drama's, they are very much like a novella or short story, are generally very fast paced and can be listened to in about an hour. Butchers Nails has a brilliant script by Dembski-Bowden on fine form and the atmosphere of the recording is brilliant with enough difference voices and sound effects to really bring the story to life.

Essentially Butchers Nails is about a diminutive and bloodthirsty super-human with a pretty powerful supporting cast, an uncomplicated plot and plenty of action. The author's dramatic, confident and stylish prose shines through, he's fast becoming one of my favourite authors and here he shows his range as far as creating a dramatic script rather than a novel.

Butchers Nails is another great story from the increasingly excellent collection from the Black Library, leading the way with a dynamic new format that other publishers would do well to try, recommended.