I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Night Crossing by Robert Masello Published by 47North on September 18 2018
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 442
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Full of mystery and adventure, The Night Crossing offers up fascinating history and supernatural eeriness in equal measure.
I had no idea what to expect when I started reading The Night Crossing, only that real life author Bram Stoker was the main character in the story. I was sort of expecting a tale about vampire mythology—because when I hear the name “Bram Stoker” my brain immediately goes to vampires—however, there was not a whiff of vampires to be found anywhere, much to my surprise and delight. Masello has written a fast-paced mystery with Egyptian mythology at the center of the action, a twisty, cinematic story complete with engaging characters, evil bad guys, and one mysterious gold box that might be cursed. Best of all, this book is full of history and real life characters from the Victorian era, 1895 to be precise, and I ate up every detail of Bram Stoker’s life, which is mostly true, although the author mentions in his Afterword that several events are fictionalized and added to move his story forward. And who can blame him for that?
The story alternates among several key characters. Minerva “Mina” Harcourt has trekked to the Carpathian mountains in order to witness a mystical event, and during her trip she unwittingly takes possession of a small gold box, which she brings back to London with her. The box appears to be empty, yet its clasp opens and closes by itself. Mina is fascinated by ancient artifacts and sets out to learn more about the origins of the box. Meanwhile, would-be author Bram Stoker is currently the house manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London by night, but yearns to leave his mark on the world with a piece of fiction that will make him a household name and pull him out of his melancholy life. His wife is no longer interested in him, and she doesn’t believe he has it in him to write a novel. But Bram is full of ideas and he knows there’s a novel inside him somewhere, if only he could find the right inspiration.
One night after leaving the theatre, Bram happens upon a destitute woman who is about to throw herself into the Thames. He rescues her and offers his help, even as she’s rambling on about her dead son Davey. Her name is Lucinda Watts, and she’s been living and working at the Thorne Mission House, barely surviving the harsh conditions of making matches. But her tale, when she finally reveals to Bram what’s happened, is shocking. She claims her son Davey was killed by none other than the Matron of Thorne House, Winifred Thorne.
As the stories of Mina, Bram and Lucinda come together, they discover the evil lurking behind the altruistic facade of Bartholomew and Winifred Thorne and join forces to stop them. With Victorian London as the backdrop, they will encounter all sorts of odd and dangerous things in the eerie and fog-shrouded streets, including Egyptian mummies, ghosts, hidden tunnels and more.
If you love historical mysteries, then you will probably love this book. Masello draws out the suspense of the gold box and its true purpose for most of the story, as well as the nefarious actions of the Thorne siblings and the purpose behind them. He also nails the Victorian flavor, infusing his tale with Gothic details and plenty of atmosphere. The Egyptian elements made this such an interesting story, from the Carpathian Sphinx to the idea of hiding treasurers in a mummy’s gauze wrappings to the mythology of the mummy’s curse, there is plenty to discover if you love the mysteries of ancient Egypt.
Because Bram Stoker is the focus of The Night Crossing, I especially loved all the details about how he got his inspiration for Dracula, which would become his most famous novel. If you haven’t caught on already, “Minerva” and “Lucinda” will turn out to be “Mina” and “Lucy” in Dracula, as well as several other acquaintances of Stoker who become characters in the novel. When the story opens, Stoker is questioning his self-worth as a writer, and it was interesting to peek behind the curtain and watch him discover the seeds of what would become the famous classic horror tale. Although the supernatural elements are fictional, Masello throws in plenty of real-life historical accuracy in his story, as Stoker rubs elbows with such people as Arthur Conan Doyle, Florence Nightingale, and even Charles Darwin. Stoker did actually work at the Lyceum Theatre in London, and I could tell that Masello did lots of research, because the details felt authentic.
I was fascinated and horrified by some of the history of the Victorian time, in particularly the process of making matches and the facial disfigurement called “phossy jaw,” after the phosphorus used in making the tips of matches, a poisonous substance that affected mostly the women and children who worked in match factories. I was also interested to see that Mina is caught up in the burgeoning suffragette movement which becomes a passion of hers.
There were a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me, however. This story is so stuffed full of characters, events, subplots and history, that at times it felt like a little too much. Masello’s pacing is fantastic, however, which saved the story from actually feeling bogged down by these extra details. There’s also a very strange and unexpected time jump in the last 20% of the story that I thought wasn’t going to work for me. Luckily, it all comes together in the end and makes sense, but I have to admit it was jarring at first. Masello also tackles yet another famous historical event in this section—which I won’t mention here as it could be considered a spoiler—and even though it was a bit over-the-top for my tastes, I thought the storyline and the writing in particular during this section were very well done.
Overall, this was such a fun and exciting read. History buffs, and fans of Victorian era fiction in particular, are going to love the detail that Masello put into his story. I glad I’ve finally read something by this talented author, and I’ll be seeking out more of his work soon!
Big thanks to Wunderkind PR and the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Great review, Tammy! I enjoyed this one too.
I’m so glad I read it, I’m definitely interested in reading more of Masello’s work!
Wonderful review Tammy — and what a glorious take on Dracula and stoker. It’s not easy to give stories like that new life.
Thanks Verushka! I definitely have a better sense of Bram Stoker as a person:-)
This sounds like one I will love! Great review.
I think you would like this, especially if you enjoy historical horror.
Great review, Tammy! I am glad that you enjoyed this one more than I did! The last 35% or so was so bogged down that all my enjoyment from the first half was sapped.
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Yeah, I do know what you mean. The story takes a weird turn and introduces a whole new plot almost, but I think the way he wrapped everything up made up for it, at least for me.
of wow I a story about Bran Stoker??!!! but no vamps but Egyptian mythology! How unique! It is the time for good horror stories like this one! 🙂
It’s definitely time, this would make a fantastic October read for sure:-)
This sounds so interesting! And I’m kind of loving the fact that there are no vampires in it.
Ha ha, that’s what I thought when I realized there weren’t any vampires, he went against expectations and it worked:-)
And after such an impassioned, enthusiastic review, how could I resist the lure of this book? 🙂
The blend between the fantastic and gothic elements and real historical facts sounds like the best part of the story, indeed.
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: THE POPPY WAR (The Poppy War #1), by R.F. Kuang
It was a fantastic blend, a little something for everyone:-)
Hmm, another new to me book! I should start looking into what 47North and Amazon Publishing is putting out these days, they seem to be publishing a lot of winners lately. This sounds great. I’m planning to hit up Dracul in October, maybe I should look into this one too and make it a month of Bram Stoker inspired fiction 😀
This actually came from Wunderkind PR, I had never heard of it until they pitched it. I think it’s the first 47North book I’ve read:-)
Oh yes that would make sense, they work with a lot of Amazon Publishing imprints. I might have passed over this one on their last mass pitch, because I had too much on my plate.
I havent heard of this one before, sounds interesting! And I learned something new! (phossy jaw)
I hadn’t heard of it either, but I’m glad I took a chance on it.
Egyptian mythology?! Um I think I really want to read this book now. You kinda sold me on it with this review. 😀
I hope you get the chance to read it, it’s exciting!
Sounds pretty interesting. Going to add this one to my list of things to check out. I do enjoy historical mysteries.
I enjoy historical mysteries too, but I think I especially loved the supernatural aspects of this one:-)
Excellent review! You have me very excited to read this book! And that cover is spectacular.
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It is a gorgeous cover, and the hardcover has a surprise when you take the cover off:-)
I love that about hardcovers! That used to be the only way I’d buy books.
This sounds really interesting! I always love a good Victorian era story, so this already sounds excellent for that. I will definitely be looking this one up to check out. Wonderful review!
I love the sound of this and think it would be something that would be right up my alley.
Thanks
Lynn 😀