Mister Creecher

September 12, 2011
Priestley’s literary mashup of Dickens and Shelley makes for an entertaining adventure tale and potential gateway into those writers’ works. Fifteen-year-old urchin and thief Billy is attacked as he loots a corpse he finds on a London street, and he’s surprised when the body roars to life and saves him. His ghastly new companion introduces himself as “Creecher,” and he and Billy form an uneasy partnership. In return for Creecher’s protection, Billy helps spy on the mysterious Victor Frankenstein and his friend Henry Clerval. As Billy learns more about Creecher and Frankenstein, he is not only horrified at the misuse of science, but also at their callousness, something that undermines what little faith in humanity he still possesses. Priestley (the Tales of Terror series) paints a bleak picture, starting his characters in already depressing circumstances before setting them down a path with little hope. The dreariness is offset by Priestley’s vivid writing, which melds its influences with strong action and horror scenes, and should intrigue readers about the future fate of the leads. Ages 12–up.

July 1, 2011

Looking younger than his 15 years but hardened by a life on the streets of 19th-century London, Billy accidentally befriends a monstrous man in this electrifying story set against the events of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Struggling to survive in Dickensian squalor, Billy—orphan, thief and former chimney sweep—has resorted to picking corpses' pockets. No one is as surprised as Billy when his newest target wakes and saves Billy from vicious attackers. The rescuer's frightful appearance masks an Austen-loving, French-speaking and vegetarian soul. Though perpetually repulsed by "Mister Creecher," Billy agrees to spy upon Victor Frankenstein in exchange for protection. Pursuing Frankenstein and the promise of a female companion for Creecher, the unlikely duo follows the doctor out of London and into the untamed countryside, where they encounter grave robbers, circus sideshow performers and love. Creecher is often a more sympathetic character than Billy, but both figures evolve appreciably during their journey. Priestly combines a coming-of-age story with the gloomy atmosphere, moral dilemmas and slow pacing of Shelly's classic and the grime and casual cruelty of Dickens' Oliver Twist. Observant readers may also notice allusions to monster movies and Romantic poets.

By turns brooding and ghoulish, this old-fashioned gothic horror story is one lively read. (author's note) (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2011

Gr 5-9-Billy, 15, is a street urchin and pickpocket in 19th-century London when he meets Mister Creecher. The huge and hideous-looking man saves him from the evil Fletcher and his henchmen, who are out to get Billy. Soon the teen likes the protection and added thieving and bargaining power that come from having the powerful and terrifying Creecher by his side, and in exchange he works as a detective for him by tailing Victor Frankenstein and his Swiss colleague around London. Eventually they follow the scientist to Oxford and then toward Scotland. As the friendship between Billy and Creecher grows, readers learn of Frankenstein's promise to create a mate for Creecher, and of the troubled past of both characters. Literary allusions referencing both Shelley's Frankenstein and Dickens's Oliver Twist will be lost on middle schoolers, who should be the target audience. While boys might seem like the obvious audience gauging from the cover art, it will be girls who buy in more to the exploration of matters of the heart and the dawning realization for Billy of why a female mate is so critical to the monster's happiness. This book may have trouble finding a wide readership, but for young diehard fans of Frankenstein's reanimated creature, it might be a good fit.-Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2011
Grades 6-9 Billy is used to surviving on his own. He stays clear of common thugs, pickpocketing tourists and distracted upper-class citizens, taking what he needs to survive. When he falls under the care and protection of a hulking giant of a man, Mr. Creecher, of Switzerland, he also finds himself in the mysterious fellow's employ, tailing two men, one of them named Frankenstein, who promised Mr. Creecher a bride. Billy finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime, complete with mistaken identity, true love, and, yes, monsters. Priestly's love of Shelley is evident. Here, he restores Shelley's original creaturenot a lurching, moaning monster but an eloquent, profoundly flawed beingimbuing him with the deep desire to be loved and accepted. That's not to say this is low on action: within the first chapter, the title character is already cracking skulls and not really asking for names. However, there's something truly touching about Priestly's exploration of the utterly human need for love and the lengths we will go to get it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)