Review of Mister Creecher by Chris Priestley

Billy is a street urchin, a pickpocket, and a petty thief. Mister Creecher is a giant of a man whose appearance terrifies everyone he meets. Their relationship begins as a matter of convenience. But before long, a bond develops between these two misfits as they embark on a bloody journey that will take them from London northward on the trail of their target . . . Doctor Victor Frankenstein. It seems the good doctor had promised Mister Creecher a bride, and Mister Creecher will stop at nothing to get what he's been promised. Nothing. 

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I have recently developed a taste for Frankenstein novels, despite not having read Frankenstein itself (yet). Last week I read This Dark Endeavor, a book which I found rather disappointing and this week, Mister Creecher, a book which a much stronger storyline and characters and I loved it! 

Chris Priestley certainly knows how to paint a gritty, realistic picture of London. By the time I had finished the book I wanted to scrub myself. Mister Creecher and Billy were two characters that I really connected with, I was engrossed in their story and wanted to follow it right to the end and that's where the problems start. We all know just who Frankenstein's creation is and what he does but when I found out about Billy it wasn't the happy surprise of other reviewers. It was shock and disgust. I loved Billy's character and when I learnt that he was one of the most despicable literary characters out there, I was pretty upset. I still am! *walks over to the corner and sulks*

Going to back to the story, we don't spend all of our time in London, we go off to visit the beautiful countryside too, after bumping into an author or two. There's a mash up of a few different literary things here! Chris paints a picture of the country just as effortlessly descriptive as he did with London and despite the stifling heat in Leeds at the moment, I could swear I could smell the fresh air. 

We really get to know Mister Creecher in this book and like I mentioned, I did get pretty attached to him. He gets a lot of crap for being something he simply cannot help and is much less of a monster than his creator, Victor Frankenstein. I was hoping for more from Henry, who has a couple of small scenes and nothing more. It would have been interesting to see what will happen next, but that's in the original story, Frankenstein!
 

4/5