Review: The Ravenmocker by Peter Lancett & Teresa Schaeffer

The Ravenmocker by Peter Lancett & Teresa Schaeffer
Peter's Website Teresa's Twitter Page Amazon (UK) Amazon.com I was given a free copy by Peter Lancett in exchange for an honest review. Dimension Press (ebook), 2016
312 Pages

...DEATH IS BRANNAN ISSAC'S passion. That is why he's a Medical Examiner. His eccentricities are chalked up to his line of work but even so, most of the tenants in the run-down building where he lives are wary of him. Secretly, he is obsessed by skin rejuvenation products. Secretly, he has even been known to take a trophy home following an autopsy.

But Isaac is beyond eccentricity, as Sophia - the sickly teenage girl from his building who has a crush on him - is about to discover. When young children are abducted and the finger is pointed in his direction, Isaac cannot contain his shocking secret any longer...

PITTSBURGH IN MID-WINTER and as you can imagine, it's freezing. Ice is everywhere and low clouds of grey slate threaten snow - but it won't snow. It's too cold for snow. So cold that the very air seems crystalline and fragile, like the slightest movement through it might shatter it. So cold that fingers touching metal would stick and burn on contact. So cold that sound struggles to travel, making it unnaturally quiet for the early evening.

The Ravenmocker is a great, dark novel packed with suspense. I absolutely loved it.

I thought Issac was a brilliant character. He's creepy and disturbing as hell but somehow he's intriguing and sort of beguiling. He reminded me a lot of Hannibal Lector. Hannibal is clearly not right but he's fascinating nevertheless. Issac could be his twin brother. At times he comes across as a sympathetic character, helping the poor people in his building who can't afford medical care. Gradually, you learn more and more about him and your flesh starts to crawl. The book is incredibly well written. It took ages to read because I've had a busy schedule but when I was able to take some time out I struggled to pull myself away. This is the kind of book you can't put down, even as the horror mounts. Brilliant, dark and disturbing. The ending shocked me to my core. My flesh will crawl for a while.

I can't wait for the sequel.