A unique and thrilling mashup of Lovecraft and pulp detective fiction
Reanimatrix
by Pete Rawlick
Nightshade Books
Mystery & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Pub Date: 4 October 2016
Review
Lovecraft and pulp detective fiction - both fun on their own, but infinitely better together. Reanimatrix is an enthralling read with just enough horror to send tingles down your spine. Don’t be put out if horror isn’t your genre - there isn’t a lot of gore. There are zombies of a sort, as the reanimated dead play a major role in this captivating pulp fantasy but the explanation for their existence/activities is well done.
The story is told in diary entries, alternating between the two leads, Robert Peaslee and Megan Halsey. Robert’s experiences with the living dead date back to WWI and the reanimated soldiers that changed the face of the war. He, like the other central characters comes from Arkham. After working as an agent after the war, he is now a police detective assigned the stranger cases. Megan Halsey met Robert once soon after the war. Years later, he is called upon to solve her murder, but is she really dead?
Reanimatrix is a story of mad science and the occult, strange beings, and reanimated dead with a distinct agenda. It is a mystery and a love story. One of the aspects of the novel I admired greatly was the skillful integration of characters from classic fiction including Dr. Jekyll, Professor Higgins, and many others. Many authors try to do this, but rarely have I seen it so successfully and meaningfully done. I also thought the integration of Lovecraftian lore to be well done.
Reanimatrix is a unique and thrilling mashup of Lovecraft and pulp detective fiction, perfect for fantasy lovers and adventurous mystery readers. I look forward to reading more titles by Pete Rawlick.
5/5
I received a copy of Reanimatrix from Nightshade Books in exchange for an honest review.
—Crittermom
Description
An obsessed detective on the trail on a murdered young woman finds more than he bargained for in this tale of hard-boiled cosmic horror, an inventive mash-up of the pulp detective story and Lovecraftian terror.
Some say the war drove Robert Peaslee mad. Others suggest that given what happened to his father, madness was inevitable. He’s spent years trying to forget the monsters that haunt his dreams, but now has returned to witch-haunted Arkham to do the only job that he’s qualified for, handling the crimes other cops would prefer to never talk about. He’s the hero Arkham doesn’t even know it has.
Megan Halsey is dead, her body missing. She might have been one of the richest young women in Arkham, but all that money couldn’t make her happy. Word on the street is that her mother split a long time ago, and Megan had spent a lot of her money trying to find her.
Peaslee soon becomes obsessed with the murdered Megan. Retracing the steps of her own investigation, traveling from Arkham to Dunwich, and even to the outskirts of Innsmouth, he will learn more about Megan and Arkham than he should, and discover things about himself that he’d tried to bury.
It’s 1928, and in the Miskatonic River Valley, women give birth to monsters and gods walk the hills. Robert Peaslee will soon learn the hard way that some things are better left undead.
