Fear on Many Different Levels (The Wolves of London by Mark Morris - Book Review)

The Wolves of London is the first book in The Obsidian Heart trilogy written by Mark Morris. A page turner. Every chapter ends with a cliff hanger. To make it more interesting the writer was clever enough to maintain the earlier chapters short, keeping readers hooked and only wrote long chapters at the back once readers are invested in the story.

What I like about this book is, it started very normal. Like a story of someone you know. A man, his daughters and a familiar city. The main character Alex Locke is an ex-con turned psychology professor who circumstances made him stumbled upon an artefact that took his life downhill (or up depends on perspective). The stories takes place in parts of London and surrounding areas, it helps with the imagining of the scenes.

I totally forgot that it is a horror book at one point. However, the story gradually builds up to a point of utter confusion. There are many surprises in the story leading to many questions, making you want to know more. It also did good in displaying the different levels of fear. Again, the writer was nice enough to start with the base level 'worry' which gradually increase into paranoia, panic and ultimately pure horror instead of straight away cutting to jump-scares like in some horror movies. I think this is how horror materials should be, start with the smaller kinds of fear and slowly build up.

The back cover of the book says it's categorized as Fantasy, although I found it at the Horror section of a book fair. For me, it is ultimately a Fantasy story, but with strong Horror elements with a pinch of science fiction. I am looking forward for the next two books.