Strange Beasts
Ratings5
Average rating4.2
'A whip-smart, lusciously atmospheric adventure' Frances White 'Fantastic and fresh' Wesley Chu 'Inventive, engaging, and terrific fun' H.G. Parry In Belle Epoque Paris, a monster is murdering powerful men. Stopping it may be a woman's job. When the Gendarmes ask the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena for help, they don't expect them to send Samantha Harker. She's a researcher, more used to papercuts than knife fights. Sam is also the daughter of Dracula's killer and can see into the minds of monsters. It's a perilous power, one that could help her crack this case ─ or have her thrown into an asylum. Dr Helena Moriarty is Sam's reluctant partner, the Society's finest agent who has forged a formidable path in her notorious father's shadow. Professor Moriarty is in hiding, but he still makes his presence known: Hel's partners have a way of dying in mysterious circumstances. From Paris' glittering opera house to its darkest catacombs, the investigation pits Sam and Hel against magic, monsters, and men. And beneath their tenuous partnership, something else is growing . . . But is trusting Hel the key to solving the murders? Or is Sam just another pawn in a Moriarty game? With characters drawn from the worlds of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Strange Beasts is a twisty puzzle box of a historical fantasy ─ perfect for fans of Freya Marske, C.M. Waggoner, and Gail Carriger.
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Summary
Sam Harker is an American researcher for the British Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. But a new case has arisen in Paris that's made her determined to prove her mettle as a field agent. Only they've assigned her a partner - Hel Moriarty, daughter of the infamous criminal. And Hel's last three partners died almost as soon as they were assigned.
Review
In the end, I may not have been the right target for this book. It's a pastiche of all sorts of things, bringing together Dracula, werewolves, Van Helsing, Moriarty, Dickens, monster hunters, Paris, etc. I quickly found that it stretched my suspension of disbelief past the breaking point.
The characters as well strained credulity. The protagonist is attracted to men, to women, to no one – not because the character is working it out for herself, or because it's signposted as part of her nature, but because it allows for nifty plot twists. That seems to apply across other elements as well. The thing is that they're twists, but they're not in the least unexpected. We know what the twist will be because we can see what the author thinks will be fun.
For some readers, I'd bet that it is fun. For me, the cramming in of every 1800s notion and well-worn trope possible was too much – far too much. And I found the plot points too quick, too easy, too much like too much wish fulfillment, too pointedly Anglo- and Francophilic.
All that said, the prose is generally good (though rocky and in need of polish at the start), the pace is smooth, the lore sufficiently credible and consistent. There's some animal testing that goes on that was both unnecessary and cruel.
This book isn't advertised as part of a series, but I've marked it as one because it seems so clear that one is intended.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
