Morning Everyone! Welcome back to my review segment, ‘To read….or not’.
My
review today features the debut work of author Lloyd Shepherd, “The English Monster”.
I’m sad to say that I am more than a little disappointed in this one.
I had such high hopes for it, especially as the blurb promises an interesting read with a gothic, slight horror edge to it. Instead the book, to me, was boring, and after such a start as well.
I’m
not one to describe a book as boring, but it really is the one word to describe “The English Monster”. Don’t misunderstand me, I gave this book a good shot, read through a number of chapters, willing it to get better, but it just didn’t.
I’m also aware that I have not long read another historical fiction novel, “Blood & Sugar” and I may have been unconscientiously comparing the two without
meaning to, but nevertheless, I don’t feel as though “The English Monster” delivered on it’s promises.
I understand that the book is meant to tell
the story of real life crimes, ‘The Ratcliffe Highway Murders of 1811’ and this had begun to be told in the chapters I had read, but truth be told, the blurb of the book promises to be something else, something much more gothic than it actually
is.
Sadly, I will be awarding “The English Monster” a 1 book score. I may try again with the book, try and stick through it to see if I can see what the reviews
plastered all over the cover are going on about, I may not.
As with all of the reviews I post, this is purely my sole opinion and nothing more. If you choose the read the
book, you may see something in it that I have not, in which case, please let me know and I’ll give the book another go.
Take care, stay safe and Keep Reading!