Many thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Sins of the Father by JG Faherty is as if Dr Frankenstein met HP Lovecraft to create a wild ride of thrills and chills. Henry Gilman is a lowly morgue attendant in the fictional town of Innsmouth in a time period that still remembers the horrors of the plague. He was a medical student, but was expelled and pretty much shunned after it was discovered that his father was attempting to reanimate the dead. One night Henry is out walking when he witnesses an attack which leads him into a murder mystery that he is determined to solve. During his investigation, he learns the truth about his father, himself, and how sometimes the journey to save the ones we love leads to a path of madness.
Sins of the Father was so much fun! I read it in one sitting and didn't want the story to end. I like how relatable Henry was as the main character and how we could empathize with some of the choices that he made, even when we the reader knew it was a bad decision. This was a very enjoyable mystery creature feature and a must read for fans of Lovecraftian horror.

It's an intriguing premise from Faherty, which is a departure from his most of his fiction in the sense that this one is more a historical/Victorian read in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft, whose influence is very much a core of this novel. Despite the historical elements, the book has a more immediate pacing and is written in a more accessible style. For Lovecraft fans, it's an absolute must.

The Sins of the Father by J.G. Faherty takes place in the Innsmouth of H.P. Lovecraft. It soon becomes obvious that The sins of the father is a loving pastiche of Lovecraft’s Arkham cycle, a practice which Lovecraft actually encouraged. It is all there, Arkham, the Miskatonic river, the University, and of course, the mysterious, indecipherable manuscript that holds all the secrets of the cosmos. The setting is interesting and realistically described. Lovecraft fans will feel right at home in Faherty’s underground caves and secret ruins, obligatory elements of the Lovecraftian mythos.

The author opens with the protagonist, Henry Gilman, in a darkened street, examining a murder victim. Readers find that Gilman is the son of a doctor and is a “recent former medical student” employed at the city morgue. Immediately, the mystery begins. Why is he a former medical student, and what sort of sin could a doctor pass on to his son?

Evil stalks the streets in the form of darker ones, demons, walking corpses. The locals live in fear but somehow do not seem surprised.

While taking a less traveled shortcut to the local pub, and his current love interest, Henry comes upon a crime in the offing. A large person hovers over a prone victim. When Henry tries to intervene, the creature rushes at him. Just before passing out, Henry hears the demonic killer whisper, “Henry?” When he wakes, Henry finds a heavy, leather-bound book. With that, he becomes locked into a deadly battle with cosmic evil that will test his moral fiber

Faherty keeps his cast of main character limited to four necessary players: Henry’s best but not terribly loyal friend Ben, his sister Callie, Henry’s current love interest Flora, and police inspector Flannery. The interaction between the characters and their shifting loyalties create extremely interesting and believable relationships that waver and morph according to the twists and turns of the plot. In addition, there is the cosmic force, Mother, who like the human characters reveals unexpected aspects.

The character that runs the plot is Henry. His character development is unpredictable, volatile and holds as many transformations as does the plot.

The relentless action begins on page one and continues to the end. The plot is complex, relentless, and constructed to keep readers surprised and guarantee that they will not be able to anticipate the next reversal or redirection.

Realistic dialogue and word choices appropriate to the time and locality combined with a skilled, smooth writing style make for an easy, pleasant read. Although the author is faithful to the Lovecraftian style, one feature the novel that might be considered in short supply is the high level of dread imposed upon readers of cosmic horror created by Lovecraft and writers such as Ramsey Campbell.

The Sins of the Father is an entertaining, satisfying read for those who hunger for the perpetuation of the Lovecraftian mythos.

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I found this one to be clunky, uninspiring and a struggle to finish. A tale of demons, monsters in a cosmic horror and after the opening battle in a local pub where creatures come looking for a young man, I knew this was not my cup of tea which lacked scares and imagination.

Thank you NetGalley and FlameTree Press for this ARC of 'Sins of the Father'. Below find my honest review and opinion.

I very much enjoyed my first J.G. Faherty read. I will definitely read more by this author.
Set in Lovecraft's world of Innsmouth, 'Sins of the Father' was very difficult to put down. It was a mystery, a thriller, a romantic drama, a horror story, and a science fiction tale all in one. It kept me thinking about it, even when I wasn't reading.
The main character, Henry Gilman, was very easy to understand and relate to. He had a lot of father issues, as his father had done some monstrous things and been locked up as insane. His father's actions led to Henry being pretty much kicked out of medical school, and ruining his own reputation as well as his prospects. Henry was very wrapped up in his own head throughout the book - he missed a lot of cues and clues from other people because he just couldn't seem to focus on anyone other than himself and his own motives and desires long enough to pick up on what others were trying to tell him.
There were a lot of twists in this story. Irony played a huge role, as Henry learned how very easy it is to start down a slippery slope towards the unthinkable. The Henry at the end was very different in some ways from the Henry in the beginning. Of course, in other ways, Henry didn't change much at all.
It seemed that there might be a sequel to this story, as the end was left wide open. I very much hope that there is a sequel, because I would like to keep the story going. I want to know what happens next...
I recommend this highly for anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers, as well as anyone who enjoys Lovecraft's work.

This is going to be another of my "bear with me" reviews and for that I should probably apologize. If you do take the time to read this (or any of my other "bear with me" reviews), I'm sorry.

Let's get to it, shall we?

Recently I was told of Aphantasia ("a condition where one does not possess a functioning mind's eye and cannot voluntarily visualize imagery", according to Wikipedia who in turn credited an A.J. Larner). And I'm thinking that this might be one of the reasons - just maybe - that Lovecraftian horror doesn't do the trick for me. I can't for the life of me visualize what these cephalopod creatures look like, *despite* there being manyfold illustrations and *despite* my having browsed the web in search of visual understanding.
The irony of Lovecraftian horror being defined as "horror of the unknown or unknowable" isn't lost on me.

Another reason is, I say with all certainty, the cosmic element of Lovecraftiana. I feel like the opposite of Giorgio Tsoukalos (the Ancient Alien meme guy); where he goes "Aliens!" and looks pleased as punch - I go "Aliens!" and look utterly exasperated!
I love the Xenomorph of the Alien franchise, and I love the Predator of that franchise, but other than that? No, not a big fan of aliens in [horror] fiction.
Knowing this, you might say, why did I choose to read a book that is CLEARLY inspired by Lovecraft?
I fall so easily for an interesting plot line.

Some part of me thinks that Sins of the Father deserves "a better reader" than I. It's well written, it IS interesting, on a level, and I think that readers who do enjoy cosmic horror of the unknowable would probably enjoy this a whole lot more than I did.

If I were to give some objective criticism, it is that the main story - or at least the story that takes up most of the book - is less interesting than the conclusion, which feels more like a new beginning of another story (but maybe Faherty is setting us up for a sequel? In which case, I'm almost ashamed to admit, I'll probably read that too.). That's not to say that the "main" story isn't interesting in its own way; it's just not AS interesting.
And funnily enough, I found myself more sympathetic to Henry Gilman, the MC, as events were starting to wrap up - even before the grand finish, during which I most definitely sided with him. Possibly because it took that long for Henry to seem to even begin to understand his father's choices/sins.
I felt that, as a reader, I was confused and a little conflicted in regards to how I was supposed to feel about both Henry and his father, Silas: was I intended to feel sympathy for the choices Silas made? Was Henry meant to appear somewhat callous? What about the relationship between Henry and his friend, Ben Olmstead? And that between Henry and his former paramour, Callie Olmstead? Callie and Ben? Henry and The Mother? The Mother and He Who Dreams? I have questions!

It's hard to grade Sins of the Father, because I really do feel that in the right hands it would've been better received, and I can't actually fault the book for anything other than leaving me with so many questions and not even the satisfaction of knowing that they'll be answered in a coming book.

Sins of the Father is beautifully told in the first person POV of Henry Gilman, a morgue worker, who lives in the shadow of his father’s insane attempt to reanimate the corpse of Henry’s mother. Set in what appears to be the 19th century, the language used by Henry is spot on for the time and period and adds a unique sense of style to this story of the dead reawakening and terrorising Innsmouth. When you think you’ve got to the final battle,you’re totally wrong and in a good way, for the story twists and turns in ways I hadn’t expected and the open ending left me guessing as to whether there’d be a sequel and if there is, I’d definitely read it!
Highly recommend!