Horror Books
Must read 🏆
A tour de force of blazingly funny, bloody noir mayhem wrapped in magical supernatural goodness.
Synopsis
Welcome to the gritty underbelly of 1970s New Æthelstan.
As Harvey stares down at his partner Aurélien, surrounded in a pool of blood with a gaping hole in his chest from where something ripped his heart out, he knows exactly what to do.
Get the hell out of town.
Right now.
That is, until they abduct Maia, the one person on this god forsaken mudball Harvey actually gives a shit about. Harvey may not know what the Dickens is going on, but he does know that if he can’t save Maia and the antichrist before Christmas day, all hell’s going to break loose.
Quite literally…
I’ll start by saying the obvious; I loved this novel. After reading several heavy, emotionally charged, serious horror books, this one comes along as a funny, deranged, and absolutely entertaining read.
The main character is, well, a demon of sorts who has taken control of a human body and, along with his two partners, is a private investigator. In true noir style, he’s pretty much a “don’t give a flying flip” about anything kinda guy. A lone wolf. A rebel who prefers cracking skulls over diplomacy. His moral compass isn’t even close to true north. Yet you can’t help but love him anyway! A true anti-hero.
After he takes a job which, of course, goes horribly awry, he and a cast of other strange characters will be thrust into a twisty turny mystery involving a cannibal cult, a powerful witch, werewolves, and an ancient creature hunting him down. And while that might sound like a lot going on, it’s not. The author expertly weaves these various elements at different points and each one feels natural in this world.
As each situation ultimately degrades into complete chaos and horrific deaths, the humor keeps the reader laughing despite the circumstances. It’s just an incredibly fun, mysterious, bloody romp that entertains without filler.
The story is set in the 1970s which is perfect for the kind of vibes this book gives. It’s fast paced narrative, short sharp chapters, and crisp, often hilarious, dialogue makes reading a joy. I finished this book in a day despite it’s full novel length because the story drew me into this world and refused to let go.
It’s like maybe Raymond Chandler on shrooms. You can’t believe what you’re reading but it’s so easy to suspend your disbelief because you’re firmly invested in the characters and story.
If you’re a fan of horror/ comedy or horror like noir narratives, you’ll want to pre-order this book ASAP. I very highly recommend it.
Reviewed by
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Independent Book Review
(Contains Spoilers)
We Are All Monsters
By A.J.S. Imms
Genre: Horror / Sci-fi & Fantasy / Humor
Reviewed by Gabriella Harrison
A seemingly straightforward case for a cynical investigator turns sinister in this voicey horror novel.
It’s December 1977, and Harvey is working as a private
investigator in a rain-soaked New Æthelstan. Partnered with
a suave French ex-special forces operative, Harvey is a cynical, hard-drinking, chain-smoking thug with a mysterious past, working out of a rundown office with Maia, a receptionist with a gambling debt and a sharp attitude.
When a wealthy client offers a job that seems simple enough—retrieve his
granddaughter from her unsuitable father—he grabs it. But his partner is already unreachable. Later, he finds his partner in the apartment where the father should’ve been and the case quickly becomes sinister.
While trying to make sense of this turn of events, he’s also being hunted by a
determined sidthe goddess (Ælfflæd) and discovers that a familiar church faction is somehow involved in the mystery. On top of that, so is a satanic criminal organization (the Sintra Diaboli). Making the case even more complicated is the fact that the girl
he’s trying to retrieve is no ordinary child, as he earlier believed.
Author A.J.S. Imms has a gift for blending absurd comedy with genuine horror. A scene where Harvey interrogates a thug while brandishing a two-foot wooden phallus stolen from the professor’s apartment is genuinely hilarious. However, this humor is
balanced with darker scenes, such as the revelation of AurĂ©lien’s mutilated corpse.
This tonal juggling mostly works. There are times, though, when the humor
occasionally undercuts tension that should have been allowed to breathe. When
Ælfflæd finally appears in the flesh, her constant singing in Elizabethan English is unsettling at first but soon becomes grating over extended dialogue.
Harvey is an unreliable narrator who often lies to himself about his motivations and even withholds information from the reader while avoiding introspection, and yet, it works to great effect.
Blending Norse, Celtic, Arthurian, and Christian elements is indeed an ambitious mythological mashup. The problem is that this mythology is often explained through exposition dumps rather than organic discovery. This makes certain scenes that should be absorbing lean more toward a lecture.
The multiple plot threads are juggled effectively, from his partner’s murder and the identity of his killer to the search for the not-so-ordinary girl and Harvey’s centuries long vendetta against Ælfflæd. Then of course, there’s the conspiracy between the church and the Sintra Diaboli and more. Even the backstory interlude, spanning a few chapters to explain Harvey’s origin, is action-packed and revelatory, preventing it from becoming an interruption or dragging.
The middle section seems to suffer a bit from a repetitive “investigate —> get
attacked —> escape” pattern that becomes predictable. This affects its structure. The treatment of the female characters can also be a bit frustrating. From Maia to Jaculus, a witch who initially seems like a fascinating femme fatale with her own agenda, their stories can be cut short or lack agency when it requires it.
The profane, self-deprecating, and still genuinely funny narration carries the slower passages. While injecting a distinctly Antipodean sensibility, Imms nails the hard boiled detective cadence. His asides to the reader (“Let me just say…”, “In case you were wondering…”) creates an intimate, confessional tone. And the novel’s refusal to take itself too seriously, even amid decapitations and ritual sacrifice, gives it a unique energy.
Entertaining and inventive, We Are All Monsters will appeal to readers who want their noir detective stories spiked with high fantasy and genuine laughs.