Genre: Crime, Horror
Publishing Info: Head of Zeus Ltd (2018)
Pages: 424
Back Cover Summary:
A RASH OF MURDERS
A young woman pours acid over her body. A loving husband kills his wife. A headteacher throws her pupils out of a window. Who or what has made ordinary Londoners commit such horrific acts?
A DEADLY VIRUS
DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting police are at a loss. With no obvious connection between the killings, they fear a virus.
THE INFECTION IS SPREADING
Something evil is stirring in the city. A supernatural force that infects its victims with a lust to murder. And Jerry and Jamila are powerless to stop it…
Part procedural crime, part graphic supernatural thriller, Ghost Virus has a premise which could have been fun to explore. Unfortunately, its uneven pacing and over-reliance on graphic imagery to shock means it never really lives up to its potential.
For several years, I was based in the borough of Wandsworth, a stone’s throw away from Tooting. The writer, to his credit, puts a lot of emphasis on local geography, such as adjacent roads being accurately named. It felt particularly immersive to me, reading this novel and picturing much of the outdoor sequences with ease. From someone walking near Streatham Common at night, to a couple walking past charity shops on Tooting High Street. I felt more engrossed in this book because of where it was set.
The writer keeps up the mystery by drip-feeding the audience clues about the true nature of the Ghost Virus. It puts the audience on the same level as the police who are trying to put the pieces together. There were maybe only a couple of points where I knew more than DC Pardoe and DS Patel. I also found the reason for the killings logical based on the events of the book. There are some moments that will stay with readers, for good or for bad. The cold open set the tone for the rest of the book with its effective brutality. The climax was on a much larger scale than I was expecting and strayed too far into the absurd. Overall, the book is heavy on the gore and horrific imagery from the start. This ultimately lessened the impact of subsequent crimes being committed as they became predictable.
I think my biggest issue with the book is that it would work better with a hundred pages less. After the cold open, the narrative unfortunately follows a very repetitive pattern. A person is infected, we follow them for a couple of chapters, and they commit unspeakable acts. (TW: this book contains very graphic violence and disturbing imagery). Whilst the police are investigating, it then cuts to another person who gets infected and then commits unspeakable acts. Five or six people get infected in the first two thirds of the book, but the pattern doesn’t change. There isn’t really a switch up until past the two-thirds mark, at which point the plot goes into overdrive. At least two of these sections should have been cut to make the rapid change in pace feel less sudden.
I have flip-flopped on how I feel about the central characters a few times after finishing the book. As at the time of writing, I think they are just okay. DC Jerry Pardoe is the main detective we follow. He’s a separated father who feels like he’s written as a cool character, but I didn’t find him that likeable. He also makes some edgy remarks against people of colour, including DS Jamila Patel. She is more a device to provide a different perspective than a character in her own right. The story isn’t about Pardoe either, aside from a couple of sequences when the threat gets close to home. in much the same way Poirot or the team on CSI are not central to the plots. However, for the first book in this series, I would have expected more character development. The writer also inexplicably pairs them together romantically by the story’s close, which I wasn’t really a fan of. They are not the worst lead characters for a supernatural crime novel, but I have come across better.
Ghost Virus has several good elements, notably its premise and how the supernatural blends with its crime fiction narrative. The pacing was uneven, particularly in its repetitive middle and frantic third acts. It also relied heavily on graphic imagery which became less effective as the book progressed. I would need to be intrigued by its premise to read another book in this series.
Star Rating: 3/5
+ A unique narrative that blends procedural crime drama with supernatural horror
+ Attention to detail when describing settings, transporting readers to South London
– Repetitive sections in the first two thirds of the narrative
– An over-reliance on shocking imagery for effect
Thank you for taking the time to read my review of Ghost Virus by Graham Masterton. Please find links below to the novel’s Amazon and Goodreads pages.
Ghost Virus (Patel & Pardoe, #1) by Graham Masterton | Goodreads
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