The Monstrumologist

September 7, 2009
In this dark tale constructed as a journal by 12-year-old orphan Will Henry, Yancey (the Alfred Kropp series) presents the story of the boy's apprenticeship to an enigmatic 19th-century “monstrumologist,” Doctor Pellinore Warthrop. Purportedly found in 2007 amid the personal effects of the recently deceased Will (at age 131), the memoir opens as a corpse is delivered to Warthrop by a grave-robber one night in 1888. What appears to be a horrific desecration of the body foreshadows a plague of headless, man-eating anthropophagi. Will, left in the doctor's care since his parents' death, is drawn into the effort to save his town and find out how the creatures reached America, and both Will and Warthrop are forced to confront their own family histories and obsessions. Yancey's elegant depiction of an America plagued with monsters, human and otherwise, spares no grisly detail (in describing feeding anthropophagi: “The head is the most coveted prize. The first to reach her seizes it and wrenches it from her neck... a steaming geyser shoots into the air and paints crimson their teeming alabaster bodies”). Horror lovers will be rapt. Ages 14–up.

polyethylene - The Monstrumologist was an exemplary book with the perfect mix of Adventure, Horror, Science-fiction and even a touch of Historical Fiction. I was pleased with the fact that there was no Romance within this novel (a genre I despise). The suspension was exhilarating, and I kept flipping pages. The amount of detail painted a vivid picture in my mind and often made me reel in disgust or gape at the amount of dedication it must have taken to create a book with so many layers and sub-mysteries. I recommend not consuming any food or drink while reading this book, because it gets delightfully gory at some parts. Otherwise, I highly recommend that you pick up this book and start reading. It won't fail to impress! The preferred age range would be 13+ and it will appeal mostly to males (since little to no romance exists in this book). There is a touch of mature content, but nothing you can't handle. I loved this book (it is one of my favorites) and you will too. (Remember, it's part of a series!)