My Review of The Beast of London #fantasy #bookreview #TuesdayBookBlog from L.D. Goffigan

Title: The Beast of London

Series: Mina Murry Series

Author: L.D. Goffigan

Genre: Fantasy

Published: April 17, 2017

~ Blurb ~

An electrifying retelling of a classic tale, THE BEAST OF LONDON is the first book of the Mina Murray series.

Mina Murray once lived an adventurous life, but after a tragedy in the forests of Transylvania, she left it all behind. Now she has settled into a quiet routine as a schoolteacher in London, engaged to the respectable solicitor Jonathan Harker, attempting to fit into the stuffy upper class London society to which he belongs.

Her dark past comes careening into her present when Jonathan is abducted by a group of vampires from a society ball. Determined to rescue him, she teams up with her former paramour Abraham Van Helsing and his colleague, Scotland Yard Inspector John Seward.

As they pursue Jonathan’s abductors from England to the Low Countries and beyond, Mina realizes that Jonathan’s abduction is tied to a larger threat against humanity…

~ Review ~

I was given a review copy of this novel from the author a while ago, and I finally managed to read it this past week while I was looking for something light to read. Although the novel started off slow, once the characters are introduced the action grows and it became hard to put down. I have forgotten the novel was a re-telling of a classic tale and didn’t know what I wasn’t getting myself into.

The story is told from Mina’s point of view. I enjoy reading novels written in first person and Mina was likeable and relatable. She was strong, yet damaged. I’m not sure how believable her character is for the era (would a woman in that time period gone off with two men on an adventure???), but this is a fantasy novel after all. I think I’m in love with Abraham and hope Mina opens her eyes to see what he has to offer her. *Fingers crossed for the next book in the series*

Although I enjoyed the story and would continue to read the series, I had a few problems with the novel itself. My biggest problem was the Dutch. No one would have spoken in informal Dutch in that time period, and the word choice was often incorrect. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what university she’s referring to as the Municipal University of Amsterdam (The University of Amsterdam, The VU, I don’t know). There were also quite a few editing mistakes.

I hate cliffhanger endings! I didn’t realize this book was the first of a series. I am not a big fan of series that are composed of novels that are not standalones.

All in all, an enjoyable read. I’ll definitely continue with the series.

~ About the Author ~

L.D. Goffigan writes paranormal fantasy novels. She studied film and dramatic writing at New York University. She grew up on the East Coast but now resides in a large city by the sea on the West Coast. When not writing, she enjoys traveling and dreaming of new fantastical tales to tell. Her novel, THE BEAST OF LONDON, is the first book of the Mina Murray series.