3 for neutral, didn’t realize this was part of a series. Will updated when able to get previous books and read all.

This was a terrible read. I was extremely disappointed by the racial and gender stereotyping in this novel. At one point a nigerian woman's hair is described using the wrong term (not plaits, it's braids) and that she was "showing her ethnicity". I also felt the implication that indian religions worship cannablistic gods really horrendous.

Despite being a pacy, gory horror, I can't overlook the concerning way this was written and that the book has got to this stage without it being edited.

As a Jewish woman I was also horrified at the way the eugenics and experiments performed on Jews in the holocaust were turned into entertainment and then exaggerated/added to - as if what happened wasn't horrific enough.

I will not be reading another book by this author and I would appreciate a response from the publisher on my review and how this will be addressed.

If i could give this book 0 stars I would.

What a story - brutal, dark and unnerving. This is the 3rd in a series of books by Graham Masterton involving a couple of detectives in London who become embroiled in some...unconventional cases. This time it's a cannibalistic cult living below London and this leads to some incredibly stomach turning scenes throughout the novel. It may sound strange but I enjoy Graham Masterton's knack for detailing the more morbid aspects - definitely not one for the faint of heart! The one issue I have though is with the language - there's so much 'cockney wide-boy' chatter that it pulled me out of the story. Further, there is some misogynistic language that I found grating and could have been removed without detracting from the plot. All in all, a good thriller, written well, just leave some of the mannerisms on the drawing board next time!

3 1/2 stars

What did I just read?! I’m not normally into the horror genre but I wanted something that was going to terrify me this spooky season and this book delivered. I was gripped from the get go and found the storyline super interesting. A mix of murder mystery, suspense, and horror meant I wasn’t too bombarded with beheading and cannibalism. A cult has sprung up and 2 detectives are tasked with finding out about it and linking together all the mysterious disappearances over the last few months. An interesting delve into the horror genre for me although the ending was a lil bit anticlimactic.

If the previous Pardoe and Patel novels were too cheery and sweet for you, Masterton gives us a new volume full of Neolithic cannibals. The plot is seriously messed up and the gore is extreme. It requires a considerable suspension of disbelief, but it’s very entertaining and it was hard to stop reading. Members of the Fire Brigade enter a building after a fire and discover the remains of a barbecue that turns out to be human meat. Jamila and Jerry join the investigation when it’s clear that there is something unusual. Some incidents defy any rational explanation and there’s always the question of whether there really are supernatural powers at work, I enjoyed the conversations among the characters and the pace of the plot. This book is not for the faint of heart, but will please horror readers.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/#Head of Zeus!

I consider myself relatively hardcore when it comes to horror, I’m not usually squeamish and can handle a fair amount of gore and body horror. But at 35% I had to give up on this book - when someone (spoiler?) ate their own eyeball, and that wasn’t even the worst of it believe me. This book is gruesome and grotesque and not at all for the faint of heart - if it sounds like something you can stomach go for it. I’m going to find a cosy little haunted house or serial killer book now 😜

please don't shoot the reviewer on this one.
i do not think i was the target audience which is strange as I am in England but the cockney is just out of control.
it would be one thing if a dialect was used throughout but it seemed like it didn't fit as they would say something and then also describe what that meant which really kept you from being fully immersed in the work. I think it would have fit better if say in the authors native tongue? I personally didnt care for any of the characters of characters descriptions. The gore/horror was very good but the rest was offputting

Jamila Patel and Det.Con. Jerry Pardoe are detectives with the London Metropolitan police. They investigate supernatural phenomenon and crimes. When a particularly bloody and horrendous murder occurs they are sent to investigate. They are totally opposite personalities, goals and family backgrounds, but they meld like peanut butter and jam to solve the crime. I thought Graham Masterson had stopped writing novels years ago, and I had read his books in the 70s. But I am so glad he is writing! No one can plot out a gory mystery quite like he can!
Thank you NetGalley for providing this copy. This review is solely my own opinion.

I'm torn on this one. I'm giving it 4 stars, but I'd probably round down to 3.5 if that was an option, ONLY because I was 84% into it by the time it was revealed that this was a world in which supernatural things were possible. I wasn't aware this was part of a series when I read it, so I had no history to rely on, and the tale seemed so very, very far fetched, that I just couldn't suspend disbelief enough to immerse in the story. Homeless people taking a drug that reduces them to caveman level intelligence, but as soon as they take it, they all inherently understand each other's grunting? What? I caveat that with - this is EXCELLENTLY written. I'm tempted to go back and read the entire series reframed with the acceptance that it's a supernatural tale, because what I thought I was getting was a police procedural, which is what threw me off the entire first 84%. It's unique, it's gory, the characters are witty and fun, the only other thing I'd add is maybe avoid regional colloquialisms. I had no idea what several of the acronyms were, and some of the slang was indecipherable as well.

A creepy and thrilling ride! I'm glad I read this one prior to Halloween because it spooked me to the core! I definitely recommend this one!

So even though I have seen lots of books written by this author this is the first one that I have actually picked up and didn't know what to really expect. What I got was extremely dark and gory storytelling and I have to admit I really enjoyed it, another thing I really loved about this book was the hilariously colourful characters and the sometimes risque language which made the story come to life and had me laughing out loud quite a few times. I'm not really a big fan of supernatural elements in books as a rule but this was an exception and tied up the ending brilliantly. I will know be looking out for and reading other books by this talented man.

I really don’t know what to say about this book. Some parts I liked and other parts I really didn’t. I’ll try my best not to spoil anything but spoiler warning here just in case. Firstly, the dialogue, it was so robotic! People don’t talk like that! It really bugged me. Secondly, the ending was bizarre, bringing all that supernatural stuff in all of a sudden, I would’ve liked to have seen some foreshadowing at least. The characters themselves felt pretty one dimensional and it would’ve been nice to have had their backstories explored a bit more. There was also a few things that didn’t sit right with me, and I found a few things to be quite problematic when I read them. But the book was fast paced and easy to get through, and kept me on my toes for the most part. I liked the dual perspectives of both sides.

I’m about a third of the way through this book and it’s frustrating me to no end. If you like gory stuff with no real plot then go for it this book is for you. But the way this book is written is just not cuppa.

First I will say I do like some of Jerry’s internal monologue because it adds a little humor to this gruesome story. Now on to the other points… firstly the man in the dress, a big no-no, a woman who’s just waiting to be kissed, oh gosh no. Then we have the detectives who do no detecting. I mean just a bunch of characters with no real jobs. Every idea she throws out he shoots it down and there is no follow through for anything. I mean the little boy gave them a clue and they just blew it off. I’m like at least write it down or record it just in case. Then why are the dogs afraid? Investigate it nope that’s too much police work the police. It’s frustrating reading a story like this. Ugh! People disappear near a building but no one checks said building just around it.

So Africans speak weirdo Detective Jerry? I mean this isn’t the first thing he’s said that has given me pause, but come on this just a slap in the face. I don’t think I can be surprised by much else that can happen at this point in this book.

First of all, this book is for readers who like gruesome scene descriptions.
In the story, we meet 2 detectives which are solving strange cases and a satanic cult. The cult is committing barbaric murders ( you can smell the burned skin), who knows why, it didn't seem to me to be well organised.
I did not enjoy any of the characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this book.

This made me have very mixed opinions. Whilst i appreciated and enjoyed the plot there was some unnecessary content - transphobia, offensive language towards people with mental illnesses which made me really uncomfortable. I enjoyed the mythology content included. The ending felt a bit forced and a bit of a let down for me.

This is my first Graham Masterson book and as a newbie to the horror genre, I was eager to give it a go.

Detectives Jerry Pardoe and Jamila Patel are investigating a shoplifting case of specialised paints by a man in a tutu who appears to only be able to growl and grunt. Separately, they are called to the discovery of charred human bones in a disused factory warehouse, when they realise both crimes may be related. Both appear to be the work of a cult - a religious, ancient Neolithic demon worshipping cult. Oh and did I mention the cannibalism?

This book wasn't at all what I expected. I loved it. Fast paced, exciting, graphic and gruesome (I actually heaved twice at separate points in the book!), equally creepy and witty in parts, I was hooked from the beginning. This is my first venture into the more gruesome side of horror, but tbh, I am used to reading crime novels and have read some very dark ones over the years, and this is not much more of a stretch, nor is it more unsettling than the worst of those I have read. I must admit that, at times, I did have very uneasy feelings and was totally thinking about the book and the plot once I put it down, and that is the sign of a great book to me - it got me in all the right places - total immersion and residual feels, together with a book hangover, it was great. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a sample of this book I really loved it and would love to purchase and add to my collection.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I like this author and have read most of his books and this was terrific, fast paced, great storyline and had me hooked from the beginning.

I am sorry friends, but I really loved this book...it was so bloody and sickenly gruesome. I love horror stories in general, especially ones that keep me up at night...either sucked in by the book or too scared to sleep...this book was both! This is the perfect book on a scary, rainy night in October. I didn't know this was book three is a series, starring DC Pardoe and DS Patel (LOVED HER), but I didn't feel lost and it worked well as a stand alone. I thought I was getting a police procedural thriller (there were definitely some mystery aspects to the novel as well) and ended up with a horror story and I am so here for that! I liked this so much I am absolutely going to be checking out the first two books as well.

I got a quarter of the way through The Shadow People before sitting to write this review. It's probably the first book in a while which has illicitly such mixed feelings from me.

On the one hand, it's gripping, has great pacing, multiple POVs which make the storytelling well rounded, and the plot looks really interesting - I mean who isn't intruiged by a mysterious neolithic cannibalistic cult in South London?

However, and it's a very big however, this book has so many red flags.

The overuse of cockney rhyming slang makes the detectives appear like characteurs and is oddly juxtaposed to the heavy, gory plot line.
Imagine the most tense detective scene you can think of and then imagine all detectives speak almost exclusively in rhyming slang. Bit of a mood killer.
I also wonder how intelligible the book would be to audiences unfamiliar with this niche part of the English language. Seems like an odd choice when considering audience diversity .

In that vein, the representation of virtually every minority in this book is atrocious.

Female characters are described almost solely in terms of appearance (from the stereotypical hot, dumb blonde in the office to the sole female detective who's described as having lips that "must want to be kissed"). A potentially trans character is introduced as a "man in a dress" and the surrounding transphobia is justified/brushed off because the officer has a trans neighbour who he likes.
To add insult to injury, the cultists are almost exclusively non-white and their c*nnibalistic ways are explained as simply because they're mentally ill.
There are more examples, but I think this brief vignette says it all.

I'm disappointed by this book. It had such amazing potential and the central plot like is very appealing to me as a horror reader with a penchant for cult-based stories but I can't divorce that from the discriminative prose.
Trying to be charitable, one could argue that the MCs are all in the MET police, who are notorious for being discriminative across the board. However, I don't find that convincing since the story would be just as realistic without it and therefore leads me to conclude that it's a direct choice of the author.

Despite it being an arc, I shan't be finishing this book. As a queer, disabled, afab person it'd be a disservice to myself and as someone who's Bookstagram prioritises inclusivity and kindness it'd be a disservice to my followers.

Thank you to @netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with this arc.