A review by bmacenlightened
Sins of the Father by J.G. Faherty

4.0

Henry Gilman's had a bad go of it, mostly thanks to his father whose crimes shook the community of Innsmouth. He's just trying to get by when he ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a plot involving the undead and a monstrous creature floating beneath the city. And, when the chips are down is he going to follow in the madness of his fathers footsteps? Will he atone for his father's sins or will he carry along the "family business".

That conflict waxes and wanes throughout the story, with it sometimes being a foregone conclusion but at others perhaps not as much. The character of Henry is flawed and human and even as he is motivated by things less than pristine there is still empathy that can be felt for his character.

Beyond Henry, the other characters are also well done, and their reactions as evens transpire are realistic. The story starts in a hurry with action right off the bat and for the most part keeps up a frenetic pace charging between set pieces and keeping the tension high. As a Lovecraft-inspired novel it was good to see that it managed to balance the existential horror at the heart of Lovecraft with the more visceral first person horror in the moment.

In the end it was very entertaining and a pretty fast action packed read that I certainly enjoyed. Definitely recommended.