Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
Reviewed by: Dave Gibbons, Library Volunteer
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal
Suggested Age: Adults
What is the book about?: From her London clinic, Dr. Greta Helsing treats the maladies and illness the supernatural world encounters. From depression in ghouls to banshees with throat strain, she has seen it all. When called in to help critically injured Varney the Vampyre, star of Victorian penny dreadfuls, her desire to help exposes her to a murderous cult of monks terrorizing London through a series of “rosary killings.” Suspecting that this is more than your run-of-the-mill serial killer, Dr. Helsing will enlist a diverse ensemble to save the community. Unraveling the mystery of these murders is no small feat. And when the crazed cultists are revealed to have larger, more monstrous plans Greta and her crew will have to break into museums, enlist a tribe of subterranean ghouls and even make a deal with the devil to take them down.
My Review: Vampire stories are one of two sub-genres of horror that have made me increasingly jaded (the other being zombie stories) because they have become overplayed and have resulted in a glut of sloppy novels, thus when I learned that cast features a few vampire characters I was wary. Fortunately, rather then relying on tired archetypes, Vivian Shaw chose to highlight the diversity of the undead. While one vampire is brooding and mopey and one is rich and beautiful, there are also old and sick ones as well. This story treats it’s characters, both supernatural and mundane, as people; painting a world of individuals who are both sympathetic, dynamic and very “human.” While there is a romantic subplot, it is not the focus of the story or even the main character, rather the focus is on the different types of relationships that the characters have with each other. The moments that stood out were the small ones, such as Greta is caring for her various patients, doing little things to show how each person was worthy of care. Contrasted against a villainous cult of monks whose unwavering “moral” compass caused the killing of several innocent Londoners.
This is one of those rare books that is incredibly complex despite having a relatively simple plot line. Choosing to focus on the minutia that would realistically go on in a supernatural world rather than glossing it over in favor of swooning drama, the author presents the supernatural world with an intricacy that is breathtaking. More than once I found myself looking up details she used to describe a functional “underworld” only to find that real world aspects that I didn’t even know existed (for example mercury arc rectifier bulbs are indeed very creepy). In a lesser author’s hands this amount of detail could get overwhelming and cause the story to fall apart but in this instance it just leads to monumental worldbuilding.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Supernatural, Technical, Human
Give This a Try if You Like… Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Hellboy by Mike Mignolia, and Nightbreed by Clive Barker
Rating: 4/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.