The Thief Taker by C.S. Quinn (My Goodreads Review)

The Thief Taker by C.S. Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book way more than I was expecting too. I'm always lured by historical thrillers. Especially if it is set in Britain's past. This story was most unusual. It is about a Thief-Taker who must take on a task way out of his normal perimeters of work. He must investigate a serial murderer stalking plague-ridden London of 1665 during the Restoration era of King Charles II.

The story is unashamedly farfetched, but that is what makes it. There are all sorts of boundaries that the writer presents. Like checkpoints in various districts of London. Outside of London, in the countryside, there are groups of vigilante patrols hell-bent on killing refugees fleeing the plague. This is to contain it.

The author makes a wonderful and diabolical way of showing the dying plague-ridden victims. They are contained in districts. They look like something from the walking dead. Like zombies, except in need of help and desperate to beseech anyone for spiritual or any other type of charity. Obviously, uninfected Londoners are desperate to be out of their way. It gets rather claustrophobic at times as one pictures these wretched and diseased people crawling and staggering towards you. This is a crime/historical/horror story. In parts, it is rather gory. We have a serial killer dressed as a plague doctor. A Thief Taker who is well out of his league trying to hunt the killer. He is also well out of his league with the gorgeous well to do lady who has hired him.

I can't help thinking this would make a grand modern Hammer House Horror production as a movie. I suppose it is classified as a historical crime story. However, I would class it as Horror too.

My only nitpick is one. The beginning was great. The first third of the story was engrossing. The middle third of the story petered down a bit. I thought it was going to lose its way. But then in the final third the whole tale bounced back with a second wind. A very good read and a rather unusual and compelling story.

View all my reviews

The Vampyre by John Polidori (My Goodreads Review)

John Polidori, Author of The Vampyre by Richard Garnett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lord Ruthven arrives in London. It is around the period of 1810 - perhaps a few years either side. He is gracious and debonair. He has a compelling aspect about him that high society ladies are drawn to. Many are willing to risk their reputations. Lord Ruthven ignores most and selects odd ones that he finds enticing.

He makes friends with Aubrey. He is a wealthy young gentleman and an orphan. Together Lord Ruthven and Aubrey travel to Italy. What ensues are serious of consequences that lead the two men to separate. Aubrey finds Lord Ruthven’s conduct questionable. The young gentleman travels to Greece. Here he meets an innkeeper’s daughter who tells him folk tales of vampires and areas that local people dare not go. More dreadful events happen and then Lord Ruthven appears again.

Everything leads to more intrigue and further paranormal conundrums as Aubrey leaves his late friend Lord Ruthven back in Greece. The victim of bandits in an attempted robbery. He is made the guardian of his younger sister’s wellbeing. He is also oath-bound not to speak of Lord Ruthven’s death for one year and one day. Then a more diabolical circumstance manifests. Aubrey is at a loss and suffers huge mental torment. An even bigger supernatural event is before him.

The story is good but it is almost constant narration. Well written but tedious even though it is short. I think much of the story could have been presented via dialogue. It would have made the novella longer and more exciting. The overall plot was good, but I can't help feeling that a tremendous opportunity was lost to make this a bigger and more classical novel than it is. Perhaps if John Polidori had lived longer, the story would have been revised with dialogue to create a better feel. After all, his friend Mary Shelly was able to improve Frankenstein. This group of people in Lord Byron's friendship wrote the stories participating in a horror story competition.

View all my reviews