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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Interesting take on Lovecraft's world
A solid detective story with some Lovecraftian weirdness mixed in. Much more accessible than the original work but just as engaging and readable. Just enough oddness a d twist at the end to have it feel like it fits in the genre.
A solid detective story with some Lovecraftian weirdness mixed in. Much more accessible than the original work but just as engaging and readable. Just enough oddness a d twist at the end to have it feel like it fits in the genre.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Too slow and ambiguous for me, with a muddled-feeling, inconclusive ending. It's a shame, because I adored the Johannes Cabal series, but this one is just too meandering and lacks the sharp, sardonic wit and focused storylines of its predecessor. The characters were not well-developed, it took too long to get to the paranormal doings, and when it did get there they were just kind of vaguely fumbled through. Might appeal to fans of Lovecraft, but I haven't read much of him, so if there was much worth Lovecraft-fangirling over it went right over my head. Finishing this one felt like work.
"For every Moriarty, there's an army of guys who use Velcro shoes because laces are too challenging."
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A more modern, and gritty, take on a Lovecraftian mythos story that combines a gumshoe procedural style with a Lovecraftian mystery. This is both good and bad, it provides a good thrust to the narrative, though it wasn't always particularly well threaded through, and works for the modern spin. Does lean slightly into strange choices like the middle-aged PI and a young bookstore worker having a pseudo-relationship. Good overall.
Daniel Carter is an ex-NYPD detective whose last case took a bizarre and horrific turn. Carter and his partner tracked down "The Child-Catcher," a disturbed man who would kidnap young boys to perform experiments in perception on them, looking for something he called “the Twist.” When Carter and his partner catch him, the Child-Catcher has decided to commit suicide by cop and then says something to Carter’s partner that leads the partner to put a gun in his mouth and pull the trigger.
After this macabre turn of events, Carter becomes a private investigator. One day, a sprightly attorney shows up in Carter’s office and announces that Carter is the sole heir to a man Carter has never met. When Carter goes to Providence to see the building he has inherited, he finds out that it is a bookshop run by the man’s niece, Emily Lovecraft. Things get stranger when another serial killer is on the loose – one whose crimes defy the laws of physics (a man drowns in a university parking lot; another man rapidly gains weight until he explodes).
Howard did a good slow build of the horror/mystery and the creepiness was deliciously evocative. Carter and Lovecraft are appealing leads and make a perfect investigative pair. This is the kind of book that makes me want to read all the other author's works. It was good and I really want more books in the series.
After this macabre turn of events, Carter becomes a private investigator. One day, a sprightly attorney shows up in Carter’s office and announces that Carter is the sole heir to a man Carter has never met. When Carter goes to Providence to see the building he has inherited, he finds out that it is a bookshop run by the man’s niece, Emily Lovecraft. Things get stranger when another serial killer is on the loose – one whose crimes defy the laws of physics (a man drowns in a university parking lot; another man rapidly gains weight until he explodes).
Howard did a good slow build of the horror/mystery and the creepiness was deliciously evocative. Carter and Lovecraft are appealing leads and make a perfect investigative pair. This is the kind of book that makes me want to read all the other author's works. It was good and I really want more books in the series.
Wasn't to sure about this book when I started. I was lost but it all came together at the end. A pandora box retelling and I'd absolutely would recommend this book.
As an avid dis-liker of most things Lovecraftian, this was a surprise. Nothing great and a little forced and flat, but a solid member of the private investigator-mystery-thriller-Cthulhu genre. That IS a genre, right?