Mister Creecher by Chris Priestley (Bloomsbury, PB, £6.99, out now)
It is always an enjoyable thing to see a talented writer challenging himself with an ambitious project. Here we have an exceedingly talented writer doing just such a thing with Mister Creecher, his latest novel. It would have been very easy for the author to produce another gothic slice of storytelling, like his last novel, the incredible The Dead of Winter , or his superb Tales of Terror trilogy. And I’d imagine that would have been what his publisher would have been hoping for. And you would have heard no complaints from this reviewer either, if that had been the case.
But what we have here is quite the literary curveball. Mister Creecher is perhaps Priestley’s most ambitious work yet, a version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein story, focusing on the monster himself / itself. It feels like very much a departure for the author, and you get a sense of his passion for the story from the relish and zeal with which it is told. It is still firmly within the gothic horror bracket, but Priestley is flexing his skills here, and in doing so has delivered one of the finest horror novels of the last year or so. It is almost like a gothic ‘buddy road movie’ …
Billy is an orphaned street urchin, eking out an existence as a petty thief. A brief, violent encounter brings him into contact with the roaming monster, Mister Creecher, an inhumanly sized apparition on a quest for vengeance against his creator. Their relationship is initially one of convenience, but soon Billy comes to rely on the perks of having a giant as a bodyguard companion. Such familiarity comes at a price for the young scamp and he is inextricably drawn into Creecher’s revenge plan, taking the pair from the grime of London to the fresh air of the Lakes, and beyond. On the way, Billy comes into contact with a host of literary icons, which all sit very well within the narrative framework rather than feeling like crammed in showpiece turns from the author. What seals the deal here is that Priestley takes you on a very dark journey that reveals the true cost of a violent life; the ending is brilliant, with a ‘that’s a bit clever’ feeling mixed with a sense of bleak finality.
Engrossing and superb, and a very original take on a familiar story.
Andy Jamieson, Editor
[suffusion-the-author]
[suffusion-the-author display='description']