Book Review: The Monstrumologist

Looking to reward myself for having, so far, a great 2020, I browsed the shelves at the local used book store hoping something would leap out at me. And boy, did something ever: The Monstrumologist.

Normally, I’m not taken in by a book’s cover. I hate 99.9 percent of all the book covers I’ve ever seen, save for those funky mid-70s psychedelic sci fi paperbacks I cut my literary teeth on. But this cover intrigued me: early 17th and 18th century anatomical drawings buried under oppressive coloration and blood splatters. What wasn’t to love?

I instantly bought and then read it over the course of the next week. And even before I finished it I motored back to that store and purchased up the other three books in the series.

Now I know little of the author Rick Yancey, and I’m keeping it that way. I also know little of the Monstrumologist series, and ditto. I am so enjoying this ride that I do not want any outside influences to tilt or totter it one way or another.

So, what’s a “monstrumologist” and what did I think of the book?

A monstrumologist is one who studies, and subsequently deals with, monsters.

Yay!

The monstrumologist in question is one Doctor Pellinore Warthrop, a bachelor renaissance man flourishing in the late 19th century. 1890, to be specific, I think. The story is told through the eyes of young orphan Will Henry, who is the good doctor’s apprentice. During the course of the 400-page novel, we shadow the duo through a handful of set pieces and interactions with other colorful characters.

The featured monster has historical weight to it, and one that seems to have been forgotten by our culture: headless anthropoids with razor sharp hooks for hands, a gaping toothy maw where a man’s stomach normally sits, and merciless unthinking shark eyes at each shoulder. I nearly read of such creatures four years ago when I perused (but did not finish) the Histories of Herodotus, written in 440 BC. Other ancient travelogues and histories mention them, mostly as inhabitants of the African coast.

All I really do know of the series is that they’re aimed at the “young adult” market, whatever that is, and after reading it, I would not want the two young adults who live with me (ages fifteen and eleven) reading it. It is violent. It is gory. If it was filmed, it would be one of those NC-17 deals until the studio cut a handful of seconds of blood here and there. It was much more gory that I first expected, extremely gory, Walking Dead gory.

Which, if I may add with a touch of guilt, I kinda liked. I haven’t read such grossness in decades, probably since my late-80s early-90s Clive Barker phase. But this was of a different caliber of gore – clinical gore, which somehow is so much worse.

There were passing references to true historical characters in the story, which I also enjoyed. Mason and Slidell, the two men taken off the Trent during the Civil War which nearly sparked a war with England, were somewhat maligned as being, possibly, dealbrokers to bring these headless monstrosities to American shores. And a passing veiled reference to Jack the Ripper – which I caught pages and pages before the characters in the story! – was very nicely done and set up potential conflict in other books downseries.

My only beef was that I felt it was a little two wordy. Though there was lots and lots of action, there seemed to be lots and lots of unnecessary exposition, too. But this is a minor complaint. A lot of the exposition and the dialogue went into fleshing out the relationship between the doctor – who in the eye of my mind is a persnickety twerp a la Bertrand Russell – and young Will Henry. The orphan in over his head, hurting from the horrifying loss of his parents, seeking love, affection, and affirmation from a man simply incapable of giving it – or is he? I will continue reading the series to see how their relationship grows, as each character does grow over the course of the novel.

Grade: solid A.

In the next book, which I hope to get to in the spring, the doctor and Will Henry travel into the woods to investigate the entity known as the wendigo …