"The Only Child"

“The Only Child”

Written by Andrew Pyper

Review written by Diana Iozzia

 

            “The Only Child” is very reminiscent of horror classics that I have read thus far in my life. It takes inspiration from “The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, “Frankenstein”, and “Dracula”. Andrew Pyper has created a horror classic, and it’s only a few months old.

            We read about our main character, Lily, a criminal psychologist who isn’t living a very happy adult life. She talks about her lack of sexual interest, her drinking, and she seems to choke it up to her childhood tragedies. She meets her newest client, who tells her that he is the monster who inspired the classic stories I’ve mentioned above. He also tells her that he is her father.

            This is a whirlwind of a tale. Pyper has created a new monster, that is unlike other monsters I’ve read before, but exactly like other monsters. Without any further detail, (I feel I may spoil this), this is one of the best monster horror books I’ve read in a very long time. I am a longtime fan of Stephen King, who often makes his humans the monsters, but Andrew Pyper makes his monsters very human.

            This is a brilliant read, but there are some duller parts. The opening chapters are very reminiscent of the beginning of “The Silence of the Lambs”. I liked drawing the comparison, but it’s very obvious and not that thrilling. The last quarter of the book, including the climax, was very thrilling, and I couldn’t stop reading. However, I can’t lie and say the rest of the book was one where I couldn’t put the book down. I could, but when I picked it back up, I was happy to jump right back in.

            There are many characters, and they can get a bit confusing. One of my favorite quotes is “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” I remembered this quote often as I read this book.