House of Corruption brings a new twist to it though.
 |
| Yeah, there are Werewolves in there. Cover art is by Aaron Sims check out his stuff. Its even more awesome than the cover art. |
Set as it is from 1886 onward the world that Erik Tavares creates in House of Corruption is one reminiscent of those Gothic horror classics like Dracula and Frankenstein. Its a world where technology and science are new and so full of promise providing a stark contrast to the strong religious beliefs and dark superstitions that continue from earlier times.
Against this setting Artemius Savoy is a professor and secular member of the Catholic church who studies the paranormal. Laughed at by other academics for his fascination with physical manifestations of the supernatural like vampires and werewolves at a time when Seances and the spirit world are all the rage and appropriate for academics to discuss he is an expert almost without peer - having had a loved one turn into a Vampire and almost claim his life.
The story opens with Savoy attempting to slay a beast that has been terrorizing a monastery in Portugal, slaughtering livestock and avoiding snares and traps laid for it. A monster that is a horrific beast and yet cunning as a man - a Werewolf.
The character of Savoy left me thinking of none other than Van Helsing himself, the archetypical vampire slaying doctor, but with a bit more humanity.
 |
| No, not this Van Helsing. The old fuddy duddy one. |
 |
| Thats more like it. Classic Van Helsing. Sorry Hugh Jackman your Van Helsing was cool too. |
The Werewolf of course is no simple beast, but the other main character of the book.
A young man named Reynard LaCroix who is cursed by his bloodline to turn into a werewolf. Until, as we learn later, the silver and wolfs bane laced bullet that Savoy shoots him with keeps him from turning into the beast.
Savoy shoots him, then tries to save him and fight the curse. That's is where he differs from the classic Van Helsing who would have just offed Reynard not tried to save him and risk him reverting to a monster in the future.
Reynard is a family oriented man who returns to Louisiana, America once the curse is (at least temporarily) under control to renew and expand his dead fathers business and look after his young sister Lasha LaCroix. The one person in the world you get the feeling he cares for more than anything.
Lasha, who loves her brother dearly, has seen the beast and is terrified of it (possibly because her parents are now dead...) but doesn't know that it was / is her brother .
Of course then a stranger arrives leaving a note for Reynard with his sister letting him know that they know about his "condition". This occurs at around the same time that Savoy arrives in town because of a series of gruesome murders that could be attributed to a Werewolf occur...
Not long after the note is received Lasha is kidnapped instigating a journey which sees Reynard and his compansions chase her abductors almost across the world encountering horrors along the way - and especially at the end of the journey.
Reynard is not overly like-able but as a major character is really interesting in terms of his constant battle with the beast within, the guilt over things he has done when he lost control in the past and his fears of what he is capable of in the future.
The other characters in the book are all very three dimensional and most are equally as interesting, including
Mahonrie Grant who is wanted for murder of his wife Emily and has been on the run for some time but falls in with Savoy and Reynard after being arrested for the grisly murders that occur in Louisiana (which he witnesses).
Kiria Carlovec, a young girl who has been sent to find Reynard because her father also suffers from an affliction. Kiria is innocent, and provides balance to Reynard who is clearly not innocent most of the time, but there is something dark about her as well.
It was particularly refreshing to come across a very different form of Vampire in this book as one of the majoor characters - one much more terrible than the usual blood sucking sort. The Penanggalan.
 |
| A Penanggalan. Definitely not sparkly and not a Vampire you want to meet. |
A Penanggalan is an alternative form of Vampire myth that's based in Malaysia and surrounding countries. Basically its a woman who has died and come back as a head and organs that float about and feed on people, stealing the bodies of its victims so that it can blend in...
Its a pretty horrible myth and if I had my choice I would really really prefer not to have my head eaten off and internal organs consumed so that some Penanggalan can puppet the rest of me around. Yuk.
Awesome as a creature in a horror book though - especially as it could be almost anyone once its shelled them out.
House of Corruption is well written - I picked it up to run over in preparation for this post and have managed to get to Chapter 7 in one day and will likely finish it for the second time in a day or so - and enjoyable. The setting and characters are believable (yes, even the Vampires and Werewolves) and well fleshed out and I cant remember any inconsistencies in either the character or setting.
As a horror tale the book is effective. Throughout I was left with a sense of dread. The writer has done this well not only through description and a general buildup but also because you spend the whole book worried if Reynard will lose control as well as about what will become of his sister.
Definitely a book worth picking up. A great horror book really that is clearly inspired by the classics - and was self published on Amazon which makes it even cooler.
There is a blog and website for Erik here. There is not much to it and House of Corruption seems to be the only horror book he has written at this point - but hopefully there will be another like it.
No comments:
Post a Comment