Okay the gore in here is R E A L.
This book was T E R R I F Y I N G.
Freaking loved it. Absolutely killed it, Masterton.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with a digital ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

This was the perfect novel to read as Halloween approaches. A great blend of horror, thriller, and mystery. For those faint of heart, you may want to tread very carefully with this one (or perhaps skip it altogether). Even I was creeped out by some of the scenes in this book!

Overall a dark, intense, and gripping read.

This being my first Masterton book that I've ever read, I would actually give some of his other books a try in the future.

I requested this one because it might be a 2021 title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one rather than push myself to finish the digital copy on my phone only to give it a poor review.

This book is very dark and not for the faint hearted. It deals with very serious and dark subjects and I definitely recommend looking up trigger and content warnings for this book. That said I liked my time reading it even if I had trouble stomaching it at some points. It had an interesting story and was scary at some points. Definitely a read for October when your looking for something very very dark to read

It's years and years since I read a Graham Masterton novel so was happy that NetGalley and the Head of Zeus provided this ARC, thanks for that!

The story is wildly gory and inventive with elements of folk horror, slashers, and even evil .n... (well, I won't spoil it!).

This appears to be the latest installment of a series featuring two London police detectives and their colleagues who are called up to investigate weird or paranormal cases. I haven't read any of the others but it didn't feel like I was missing anything of significance because I hadn't read previous instalments.

The pace is great and it rollicks along with the detectives and their pals solving problems and collecting clues with sometime ridiculous ease.

The characters are pretty cliched but when you've written so many books over so many years as Masterton has, it might be a hard to overcome that. The female detective is a straight-laced Pakistani woman while the male detective might as well be a pearly king the amount of cockney rhyming slang he weaves into his conversation. That constant flow of 'whistle and flute' and the like became tiresome as did the outdated sexism and the attempt at humour by having them correct each other with the accepted non-racist terms for foreign people or respectful terminology for the mentally ill.

All that said, this is great fun, not for the easily disgusted or the faint-of-heart, as it delves deeply into some pretty graphic scenes of torture, death, and cannibalism.

420 pages

5 stars

DS Jamila Patel and her partner, DC Jerry Pardoe have a reputation for solving the “odd” cases that are sometimes encountered by the Met (Metropolitan Police).

The latest case involves a strange cult of people who are very violent and who have been kidnapping people - then eating them. These people are strong and seem to only communicate through a series of grunts and growl-like verbalizations.

Once Jerry learns this, he wonders if the man they caught stealing art supplies is one of them. Jamila wonders if the creature painted on the walls, a goat-like figure, is an evil demon named Balaa from her home country of Pakistan. But then, many cultures have goat demons.

What follows is a hair raising chase through the tunnels beneath London. People continue to disappear. When some of the cult members are captured, others “rescue” them. More importantly, people continue to die. Jerry suffers a tragic situation.

Graham Masterton is among the premier writers of horror fiction. This book is one of his best. Creating a tense atmosphere from the start of the book, Mr. Masterton has the reader enthralled throughout. The need to keep reading to learn the outcome is very strong. The writing and plotting of the novel is very tight. The transitions are smooth and flawless. I really don’t know how he does it time after time. Mr. Masterton is definitely one of my favorite authors.

I want to thank NetGalley and Head of Zeus for forwarding to me a copy of this remarkable book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Whew, now that's a story. Probably more of a horror than mystery/thriller. (I know it's categorized as both, but it definitely leans more in one direction.) I can't really think of much to say beyond "wow."

Gosh, I feel like King Shark every time I try to talk about a book I like. "So smart, me--enjoy book so much."

WOW !!! The Graham Masterton I’ve always loved is back to his gruesome best. So if you are of a squeamish disposition then you will probably want to avoid this one as there are murders, mutilation & cannibalism to name a few in this his third instalment (although you can read it as a standalone book and this is the best so far) featuring Detective Sergeant Jamila Patel & Detective constable Jerry Pardoe, from the Metropolitan police. This dynamic duo always seem to get called into the crimes that have a supernatural element and this one is definitely a difficult one to crack.
Mr Masterton really doesn’t get the credit he deserves in the writing greats but Its a pleasure to see him going back to his roots with the creepy gore and long may he continue terrifying us all.

DNF, really graphic for my taste, but it seems promising. I’m sure people into cults and more gory themes would absolutely love this !

Sorry, and thank you lots to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with this Advanced Copy of Reader book.

After a chilling beginning we find a horror novel with hints of mystery and Thriller.
The main characters, Jerry Pardoe and Jamila Patel, are interesting enough to have a series of books with them as protagonists.
The pace of the book is agile and easy to read. Bottom line, another hit from Gaham Masterton.

Graham Masterton never fails to deliver on books that are tense and full of horror and this is no exception. it was dark and disturbing and I could not get enough of it

Thank you Head of Zeus, NetGalley and Author for this outstanding ebook copy!.
For an honest review

The Shadow People by Graham Masterton has to be one of the top thrillers I've read to.date
The novel is horror and a mystery. It is so creepy that I can’t imagine what will happen next. It’s riveting with the terror of seeing and not seeing. It has the perfect amount of intrigue and suspense. The book kept me enthralled to the vey end of it.
Honestly I didn't want to put my kindle down!. I believe at one time my husband actually said "Rubie are you taking the kids to school today?" Because I was sitting on the couch reading this book and about made them late for school! 🤷 hey it is what it is!
Now I'm off to read Graham Masterton other two books because this was freaking phenomenal!

Thanks again NetGalley, Publisher and Author for the chance to read and review this amazing book!
I'll post to my Social media platforms closer to pub date!

I ate this book up in one sitting!! (Pun intended lol) Seriously though, this book was excellent if your into horror/thriller/mysteries! A side note: make sure you have a strong constitution because some parts of this book can be a bit gory.

Without giving away any spoilers, The Shadow People is centered on two detective partners whom seem to have built a reputation on solving "odd" cases. This current case definitely is right up their alley as bodies are found charred and half eaten! The case takes them all the way back Satan worship that has not been performed in ages.

The characters themselves are decent and have quick wit. The pacing of the book is fast, which I like, and kept me entertained. Overall, I would recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I remember reading the manitou back in 1976 and then watching the movie in 79, unlike myself the author seems to have survived the years very well indeed as this book although somewhat gory and bloody still managed to keep engaged and enthralled to the end

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.*
The Shadow People is about a crazy cannibalistic cult that is said to have the same beliefs and backing as those during Neolithic times. (Think caveman grunts and amazed by fire). When a few burned and half eaten bodies are found in a basement they called in Jamila and Jerry (detective partners) to solve the case. They believe the people that did this were part of a religious cult that worships the devil based on the shrine on the wall.

I am not sure how I feel about this one. It was relatively short, so I was able to read it quickly. I appreciated that it was pretty quick-paced throughout and did not take forever with fluff. I thought a thriller with some mystery and horror would be right up my alley, but I think it was just okay and needed more. I almost thought this was part of a series (maybe book 2) because they introduced characters like you should know them and discussed "previous cases" by just throwing in random lines about them. I honestly think there was too much different plot standpoints thrown in at once that made it slightly overwhelming. I won't leave my review with spoilers, but you will understand if you read it that some of the main points did not really tie together well. It reminded me a little of Angels and Demons/Da Vinci Code, not just with plot and detective ideas, but with how "easy" it was for the main characters to solve the problem. "Oh I know a guy that can help" or "Oh I have read about this, so I know the possible answer." I would have preferred it to be a little more difficult and a little more in-depth. I would welcome a series with a book 2 though. Jamila and Jerry solve another supernatural case.
Three things that really annoyed me was the use of DC, DCI, and DS. The acronyms did not need to be written every single time to announce a person. It's Saunders, great. I get it. Saunders, he's the DCI. The second thing was the quick thrown in bits about Islam. When Jamila knew all about the different aspects of a religion they did not know about yet. Or her quick encounter with one of the Muslim characters with the evil eye. This kind of goes with my previous comment about the murder solving being too easy. The last thing (and really I think it was just because I am from the US and it was written in the UK) was the slang terms. "Not a sausage" Like what? (That is just a personal comment and not a critique of the book itself).
I would try a Masterson book again though. I think he has creative ideas, and would love to see what else he has.

Detective Jamila Patel and Jerry Pardoe are legendary on the London Metropolitan Force. They have a knack for solving the most bizarre and gruesome of cases, but this newest case may be their undoing. The remains of three people have been found in a cellar in London, and they appear to have been cooked and eaten.And this is only the beginning of the horror as more people are kidnapped….and eaten. Only a writer as masterful as Masterton could breathe life into satanic panic and scare the crap out of me

Holly freaking sheet ( you know the real words! I tried to maintain my politeness ) Okay! Breathing in breathing out! This is absolutely one of the goriest, most graphic, mind blowing, blood freezing and extremely terrifying reading experiences lately I’ve ever had.

I advise you not to read it with heavy stomach. And I warn you this book is not for everyone’s cup of tea! ( this book can only taste like absinthe meets ethyl alcohol so you have to be tough enough to endure those realistically depicted, extra violent crime scenes! )

Do you want me to give you a quick example?
Let’s talk about strikingly shocking, shaking you to the core, making you cry like a whiny baby opening scene:

Two poor demolition workers find themselves at the basement of a creepy building they’d pay to work on. The bbq smell surround the area picks their attention. Could somebody hide in the building? And as they guessed before there are raw meat parts are hanged around. But? Wait a minute. There are also heads! Wow! They are not animal heads. Those semi burned faces in terrified expressions belong to humans as like those body parts! Somebody captured those people, skinned and cooked them! And probably ate them, too.

I already suffer from my churning stomach after I write those sentences above.

This ultra bizarre case bring back two detectives who are specialized to work on unusual, peculiar SPN cases. Unfortunately they are not Winchester brothers who shows their fake FBI IDs or Mulder and Scully who like to have close encounters with the third kind.
But don’t worry, detective sergeant Jamila Patel ( Pakistani, Muslim ) and Det. Con. Jerry Pardoe ( British, agnostic) have great skills, sharp, quick wits and strong stomach to conduct this ultra weird case!

It seems like this case may be a product of bunch of homeless people’s serious psychopathic breakdown! But as they dig deeper they realize this is something so much sinister than that. The murders may be connected to Devil worshippers invoking an ancient god who has been worshipped since Neolithic age.

Well, especially the last chapters were way too much heart throbbing. You shouldn’t choose to read them in the middle of the night, when the lights are turned on as like I did and I ended up punching my husband who was just trying to make quick visit to the loo. ( I confused him with sinister cult member who worships devil ! My bad! )

Overall: I’m still trembling! I liked the quick witted, sarcastic dialogues, intense story building and impressive writing style. I’m looking forward to read more works of the author!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This was my week-end read! Wow! Masterton best book in years! Perfect with the fall season coming in! Creepy, atmospheric, solid plot, strong characters, everything is working and executed to perfection a must read for the horror/thriller fans!! I can't recommend it enough!

Det.Sgt. Jamila Patel and Det.Con. Jerry Pardoe have reluctantly acquired a reputation in the Metropolitan Police for their ability to tackle bizarre and apparently supernatural crimes. Now they have been called back together after three bodies are found in a London basement…bodies which have been taken apart, roasted, and eaten. The markings on the wall suggest this might have been done by some kind of religious cult - and as more people are kidnapped and cannibalized, Patel and Pardoe realize they are dealing with a group of devil-worshipers invoking an ancient god who has not been worshipped since the Neolithic age...
Loved the cover and was gripped by the storytelling

London Metropolitan Police Detective Sergeant Jamila Patel and Detective Constable Jerry Pardoe are quite the unusual pairing, always tasked by superiors when a case veers into the outre. Jamila is Pakistani and Muslim; Jerry is English, fond of Cockney phraseology, and distinctly non-religious. Yet in combination they are wildly effective at parsing out occult and/or supernatural crimes, and reading their exploits and investigations.

In THE SHADOW PEOPLE DS Patel and DC Pardoe encounter a bizarre and nearly inexplicable set of cases, which on the surface seem to be the product of homeless squatters and "raging psychopaths," but soon prove to be far worse and degradingly evil.