Title: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick
Yancey
Published:
October 12, 2010 by Simon & Schuster
Source:
Library
Format: Audio
book
Challenge(s): Support Local Library, ABC Challenge
Grade rate: A+
NOTE: This book falls in the genre of horror, I would
recommend it to an older reader
While Dr. Warthrop is attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, his former fiancĂ©e asks him to rescue her husband, who has been captured by a Wendigo—a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh. Although Dr. Warthrop considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and performs the rescue—and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, and whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius and madness.
My Review
I’m sure that it doesn’t matter how hard I try I can
never do this series justice. The Monstrumologist is a masterpiece
and it was hard to imagine that Mr. Yancey would be able to match it, but
indeed he did.
The Curse of the Wendigo starts very soon after the end
of The Monstrumologist with brave Will Henry as our narrator and
protagonist.
The book can be divided in two parts: first, the
expedition to the Canadian forest in search for Dr. John Chandler, and second,
the trip to New York City for the monstrumologist’s annual convention. Both parts have their up and downs and we get
introduced to many new characters and a new and perfectly horrid “monster”. We learn in this book about Dr. Warthrop’s
ex-fiancé and one of the reasons why he behaves the way he does (coupled with a
very un-loving childhood). We also meet
many of Warthrop’s colleagues in the search for the “Wendigo”.
One of the most fascinating things about this series is
not only its mesmerizing story line and plot, but the brilliant writing by Mr.
Yancey. He makes images and pictures come to life just
by stringing words together. He makes a forest
comes to life and be another living character, he describes monsters and the monstrosities
they commit in a way that had me cringing in disgust and despair. Take the following paragraph for example:
“There is no future
in it, Will Henry,” he said pensively. “The future belongs to science. The fate
of our species will be determined by the likes of Edison and Tesla, not
Wordsworth or Whitman. The poets will lie upon the shores of Babylon and weep,
poisoned by the fruit that grows from the ground where the Muses’ corpses rot.
The poets’ voices will be drowned out by the gears of progress. I foresee the
day when all sentiment is reduced to a chemical equation in our brains—hope,
faith, even love—their exact locations pinned down and mapped out, so we may
point to it and say, ‘Here, in this region of our cerebral cortex, lies the
soul.’”
Needless to say, I cannot wait to read The Isle of
Blood, the third installment in the series. This series is not for the faint of heart,
but it is so, so good. If you like
horror movies (which I do not) give The Monstrumologist a try.
About the cover: The cover is a lot less scary than The Monstrumologist’s
was, and still there is a scary face in the background, kind of sneaking on
you. We can also see the forest and the
red symbolizing death and blood.
ooh..i missed the first book in this series..and now you have me wanting to read them both..awesome review!
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