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Fantasy. Fiction. Thriller. HTML:In this delightfully witty fantasy adventure, Dr. Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, must defend London from both supernatural ailments and a bloodthirsty cult. Greta Helsing inherited her family's highly specialized and highly peculiar medical practice. In her consulting rooms, Dr. Helsing treats the undead for a host of ills �?? vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. Although she barely makes ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta's been groomed for since childhood. Until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice, and her life. Strange Practice is the first novel in Shaw's debut series, the Dr. Greta Helsing Novels �?? perfect for fans of Neverwhere and V. E. S… (more)
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Without giving any key elements away, the story involves some rather elderly aristocratic characters who would be very
The book is an interesting diversion and an easy read but it is no more than that. If one wanted to give it a heavier meaning one could say it was an allegory for the periodic rise of evil regimes in the world, but this is only a superficial similarity, albeit intended. It can also be considered a commentary on the value of diversity in a population.
The characters are all quite derivative and the story has the feel of fanfiction. I also found the actual story predictable, which took the edge off it.
This book has a lot going for it, but with its derivative nature, out of character dialogue, and storyline predictability I can not give it a very high rating. A good book rates three stars with me. I would have given this book a three star rating had it not committed grammatical sins and been so predictable.
Cons: repetition
Greta Helsing is a modern day human doctor who treats the supernatural. When she’s called to a vampire’s house for an emergency, she discovers that a mysterious group is hunting ‘creatures of evil’, a group that might be
I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters were quirky and entertaining. I liked that a few of them were familiar from older literary works. The mythologies for the different creatures were a mixture of common folklore with a few twists to make them different and fresh. I particularly liked the interpretation of angels and demons presented. The author did a fantastic job of making the ‘monsters’ feel very human and empathetic.
There’s a particular scene with Greta that I absolutely loved. Most urban fantasy novels have literal kickass female characters, so it was nice reading a book with a female protagonist who doesn’t know any martial arts, who’s terrified by horrific situations, but who manages her fear and is able to act despite it. It was wonderful reading about a woman who didn’t beat anyone up and who relied on her friends to help her when things got tough.
I was somewhat surprised that the core protagonists didn’t warn the supernatural community of their danger, specifically Greta’s patients and employees. I also found it strange that everyone in the group seemed to learn the same information separately - at different times - rather than pooling what they’d learned (or asking more questions of the group that had encountered the antagonists).
There’s a fair amount of repetition. Several conversations simply repeated information learned earlier.
On the whole, this was a fun, fast read. I’m very curious to see what adventure Greta has next.
Dr Greta Helsing (they dropped the Von a few generations ago for political reasons) works as a
It was a fun read. Greta is so matter-of-fact about it all, she grew up with these people around her and she knows that she has value to them. She is also clever and wants to solve what's going on for her patient's sake and to keep peace. I really had a blast reading it.
Greta Helsing is a doctor to the supernatural. If you are a vampire, werewolf, ghoul, demon, or the like in the London area, you go to Dr.
Granted, I am a fan of all things supernatural but this was a fantastic read. Everything from the deary setting of London to the eccentric and likable characters ( I don't think I have ever wanted to hold and cuddle a ghoulette more in my life) was enough to draw me in and get me hooked. In addition to the action packed plot line, the authors writing style was captivating, almost lyrical. Although the story could be a stand alone novel, I was excited to learn that this is one in a projected series, following Greta and her unique medical practice across various other mysteries and unfortunate supernatural events within London. If you are a fan of the supernatural, and a good ol fashioned mystery, I cannot recommend this one enough!
After reading urban fantasy novels, I've been really wanting to find more books in this genre. It's so different from high fantasy and stories set in alternate worlds ... and it's really addictive once you get
I so so so badly wanted to like this book, you really have no idea! It seemed like the perfect book for me, with its cool protagonist and story setting. However, I just couldn't get into this story. No matter how hard I tried, it all was just too bizarre. The switching of voices between characters was very jarring and it was hard to keep it straight in my head. One minute, the story seemed like it was set in Victorian times and the next minute, it seemed way more modern. It all just threw me off and I couldn't enjoy myself. There are a lot of positive reviews on GoodReads so maybe this is just one of those times where I am in the minority. If this book's premise sounds like something you would like, give it a shot!
When one of her patients, and a dear friend, Lord Ruthven, calls Greta in to tend to Sir Francis Varney, who has been attacked by chanting monks who have wounded him, perhaps mortally, you know that this book is going to be a lot of fun. It's a just-one-more-chapter book that kept me reading well into the night.
Shaw knows her background material and respects it, even though she doesn't take it too seriously. If I have a quibble it's that sometimes the characterization is a little flat. I didn't get a lot of feeling for the emotional lives of the characters and how they related to each other. I got those things explained to me from time to time, but got no visceral sense of who they were.
Nevertheless, I got a real kick out of this book, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Overall enjoyable, if a bit slight and nowhere near what I was expecting or hoping for.
I was expecting to spend
Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I was expecting.
The mystery was good, the conclusion of it satisfying and I found the culture and community of the supernatural intriguing for what little bit we got to spend there and I overall liked the characters we were introduced to, though I am a little leery of the implied romance being hinted at…
I am definitely willing to give the second book a chance and we’ll see where the series goes from there.
Latest in a line of healers descended from the famous Dr. Van Helsing out of the Dracula myth, Greta is very dedicated to her London clinic whose patients include banshees and ghouls, mummies and vampires, and any other kind of imaginable (or unimaginable) otherworldly creature. Greta’s busy but interesting routine is upset when she’s summoned by one of her closest friends, the vampire Ruthven, who is sheltering another vampire he literally found on his doorstep seeking help after a brutal assault.
The attack on Varney, the victim, seems closely related to a series of murders that’s worrying the authorities and creating sensationalist ripples in the public for the bizarre ritual connected to them: each of the victims was found with a cheap plastic rosary in their mouths, and it took no time for the tabloids to dub the series of killings with the name of Rosary Murders. Varney’s assailants wore what looked like monk robes, muttered outlandish chants and hit him with a cross-shaped dagger covered with an unknown poison apparently able to hinder a vampire’s quick healing powers.
The mystery deepens when Greta herself is attacked in her car by a scary individual, also dressed as a monk and uttering incoherent Bible quotes, with a face scarred by fire and strangely-glowing blue eyes. Moving to Ruthven’s house for safety, Dr. Helsing is soon joined by the other members of what will soon become a sort of investigative team set on finding the dangerous “monks” and removing the threat to the supernatural community: Fastitocalon is a mysterious being who was Greta’s father’s friend and acts a sort of uncle to the doctor, while she tries to make him take better care of himself – the true nature of Fastitocalon (Fass, for short, which is a blessing considering how stumble-worthy that name is….) will be revealed in the course of the story, and it’s a very, very intriguing one, indeed. And finally there’s the only other human of the group, young Cranswell from the British Museum: he’s aware of the existence of these extraordinary beings and delights in the possibility of delving into their lore – an enthusiastic, if at times naïve, person who offers a needed counterpoint to the weirdness of the… differently human characters.
Where the overall story is interesting and at times gripping, as it develops across the city of London and through the mazes of its underground, it often takes second place to the characters and their interactions: the narrative style itself is a quaint one, relying very much on an old-fashioned expressive mode that at first seems to place the novel in the Victorian era, and only reveals its modern background at the mention of cars, wi-fi connections and so forth. After a while I became convinced that the unusual choices of phrase were due to the fact that most of the supernaturals are very ancient beings, and therefore still tied to an older way of expression: the clearest example of this dichotomy is Ruthven, a man – pardon, a vampire – who enjoys the comforts of modern living, including a state-of-the-art expresso machine, but still loves to surround himself with the vestiges of the past.
Bizarrely enough, Greta does not feel like the strongest character in this novel: she is of course admirable in her dedication to her peculiar patients, and one of her best moments happens when she is asked why she cares so much about “monsters” and she replies that to her they are people – no more, no less. Yet to me she appears much less substantial than the strange and scary creatures surrounding her, who literally stole the scene, from the mummy whose bones are falling apart and needs a few replacement pieces fashioned from a 3D printer, to the ghouls who gather in close-knit family clans, including a baby ghoul who remains cute even as we learn that he’s being fed sewer rats.
The best, however, remain Ruthven and Fastitocalon, and both of them quickly became my favorite characters and managed to overshadow Greta thanks to their peculiarities and the way they both related to the doctor, each in his own way: Fass is confidant and protector, the person who somehow filled the void left by Greta’s father’s death; Ruthven is the go-to-friend, unfailing in his support and generosity and a very suave gentleman to boot. That on the surface, of course, because they also enjoy very intriguing talents: Fass can all but disappear from notice, masking other people’s presence as well – as is the case when he helps Cranswell replace some important books from the Museum after he purloined them for research into the monkish sect; Ruthven, as a vampire, can thrall people to do his bidding, and he avoids looking menacing thanks to his laid-back attitude toward his nature, something I will leave to his own words:
The easiest thing is to think of me as a large well-dressed mosquito, only with more developed social graces and without the disease-vector aspect.
Or
He didn’t even own a coffin, let alone sleep in one; there simply wasn’t room to roll over, even in the newer, wider models, and anyway the mattresses were a complete joke and played merry hell with one’s back.
This is indeed one of the peculiarities of Strange Practice: the distinctive sense of humor that might not be for everyone: in my case it worked very well, due to its light-handed nature, offering some needed respite in the most tense moments. Respite that also comes in those quiet passages where the group of characters takes a moment to discuss the situation over cups of tea or glasses of something stronger: these more intimate interludes help to better understand what makes these individual tick, and in the end they proved to be some of my favorite sequences.
Strange Practice is a very promising first book in this new-to-me series, whose unusual take on the genre’s themes might turn it into one of my favorite reads. Hopefully I will not wait too long before getting to the other two volumes published so far…
Too much of it seemed to be learned helplessness on the part of the humans, especially Greta.
Greta Helsing runs a medical practice for supernatural creatures. When a number of murders happen (and some attacks on supernaturals as well) Greta ends up drawn into the mystery and trying to solve it.
I really loved the characters in this book, they were just so unique and pleasant. I loved how their helpful and kind personalities contrasted with their vampiric and/or demonic nature.
While the main storyline follows a serial killer case, much of the story also involves Greta going about her day to day business helping the supernaturals. This was fascinating, Greta works to cure both unique and typical illnesses in a variety of supernatural entities. I also enjoyed the writing style which felt older to me, at times I felt like I was reading a historical novel even though the story is set in modern times.
I did have a couple issues with the book. The first of these is how the story randomly bounces between different POVs, this was a bit disorienting. The second was just how the writing flowed; I really had to concentrate to read this one and pay attention...I never felt really sucked into the story. This resulted in it taking me quite a while to read this story, however I felt like it was worth it because I really enjoyed the characters and story
Overall this was a unique book with wonderfully kind and nice characters. I loved the London setting and the creative theme. While this took me quite a while to read, I do plan on continuing the series. I recommend to those who enjoy unique novels about supernatural creatures that have more of a deliberate pace to them and a historical feel to them (even though they are in a modern setting).
The protagonist of this mystery/thriller is Dr. Greta Helsing, a descendant of Professor Abraham Van Helsing of Dracula fame, who runs a clinic in modern-day London for all manner of paranormal creature, including, but not limited to, vampires, were-wolves, demons, mummies and ghouls. This particular novel, the first in a proposed series, has Helsing on the hunt for a serial killer who leaves a string of rosary beads in the mouth of each victim. The murders are obviously motivated by some misguided religious fervor and when the killer(s) turn their attention to Helsing and her demonic patients, things get personal.
This was a real page-turner. And while the plot is very engaging and it has some chilling, nail-biting moments, for me the most enjoyable aspect has to be the characters. This is where Shaw’s background as a fanfic writer is most gloriously in evidence. The team that assembles to assist the good doctor – two vampires (one fabulous of wealth and dry of wit, the other devastatingly handsome and frustratingly reserved), a tubercular demon, a nerdy [and very human] museum researcher and a tribe of ghouls – are all meticulously fleshed-out and believable. They’re funny, sexy, flawed and fascinating. And the interplay between them is very entertaining. I’ve read so many genre novels in recent years where the author labors to capture that Joss Whedon-style banter but Shaw does it with ease. I was surprised to find myself very invested in these folks by the climax.
For the genre fan, this is the perfect beach read. I can’t wait for the sequel, Bad Company.
The "medicine for supernatural beings" stuff was fun, though, and I wish it had been more of a focus.