Published 4th February 2021 by Head of Zeus.
From the cover of the book:
A TERRIFYING BIRTHA young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains in her stomach. The chief surgeon delivers a living child with the face of an angel and the body of a tentacled monster. The doctors are unanimous that the baby must die.
AN ESCAPE FROM THE DARK
Engineer Gemma is plunged into darkness in a tunnel beneath London. Before she escapes, a strange green light illuminates a cluster of ghostly figures. Gemma is certain they were children.
A SUPERNATURAL THREAT
DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel, of Tooting Police, have investigated the occult before - but nothing as strange and horrible as what they must confront in the city sewers.
Down here in the dark, where the dead come back to life, witchcraft is the only force strong enough to save you...
*******************************
Graham Masterton is one of those authors that I have not come across before, so I was intrigued about what lay ahead for me in the pages of The Children God Forgot. In fact, this story contains one of those old fashioned, full-on horror books in the vein of James Herbert that I was so fond of as a teenager, so reading this one was a bit of a nostalgia trip for me.
This is the kind of horror that will appeal very much to lovers of the macabre, so if you prefer to get your horror kicks from tortured psychological suspense with a whisper of the supernatural, and find it hard to suspend your disbelief, then this is going to be too much of a blunt instrument for you.
Still with me? Then read on... Instead, Graham Masterton fills his tale with creepy monsters, both in the deformed fleshy sense and spectral ones from beyond the grave, that can do you real harm, and he lets them run riot. The sights, sounds and even smells that are minutely described in these pages are ones that come from your worst stomach-churning nightmares, and they will leave you wishing you never have to venture into the sewers below the streets of London - do not read alone at night!
The characters are very likeable, with some well-written strong women, and despite Masterton's occasional habit to dwell overly on the physical attributes of the female players and indulge in the odd racial stereotype, I found myself becoming quite fond of them and worrying about the dangers that lay ahead in the story - and their bloody trials and terrifying tribulations were many, dear reader.
Although part of a series, this works well as a stand-alone and I really enjoyed the way Masterton weaves his gory fun into a book that is essentially a police procedural cum mystery tale by bringing in a big dollop of the occult. There are some deliciously dark, well-crafted themes exploring witchcraft, demonology and possession which were used to great effect, with nice echoes of The Exorcist, IT, Rosemary's Baby and even, at times, Alien - and a disturbing take on the subject of abortion too.
As in all good horror novels, the scary ride terminates with a disquieting ending that will haunt you, and since it bodes well for a sequel full of more ghastly goings on it will be interesting to see what Graham Masterton has up his sleeve for DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel next.
The Children God Forgot is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, or via the links below:
About the author:
Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946, and at the age of 17 he joined his local newspaper as a junior reporter. He was appointed deputy editor of Mayfair at the age of 21, and at 24 he became executive editor of Penthouse. After leaving Penthouse, he wrote The Manitou, a horror novel that became his first bestseller and was adapted into a film starring Tony Curtis.
Graham spent twenty-five years as one of the world’s bestselling horror authors before he turned his talent to crime writing. Inspired by the five years in which he and his late wife lived in Cork, he created a series of novels featuring Katie Maguire, the first female superintendent in the Irish police force. The first book in the Katie Maguire series, White Bones, was published by Head of Zeus in 2012 and became a top-ten bestseller. Graham continues to write thrillers and horror novels alongside the Katie Maguire crime series, which has now sold over a million copies worldwide.
Find out more about Graham Masterton:
No comments:
Post a Comment