  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 08/01/2011 *Starred Review* After fighting off headless hordes in The Monstrumologist (2009) and a face-eating specter in Curse of the Wendigo (2010), Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and his trusty 13-year-old assistant, Will Henry, are enjoying a rare moment of tranquility when they receive a most horrific package: a nest woven from human body parts and dripping with pwdre ser—“the rot of stars.” It is the revolting work of the typhoeus magnificum, aka the Unseen One, aka the holy grail of monstrumology, a creature so ravenous it will eat itself. And it must be found! The relationship between Will and his master has never been more complex: Will, subservient for so long, finds his rebellious streak when Warthrop takes on a new, more qualified assistant, while Warthrop’s mountainous ego threatens to destroy them all. The middle section, a good 300 pages steeped in British and Russian espionage, lumbers on occasion. But once a human finger falls from the sky on a mysterious island off of Egypt, the horror comes roaring back. This is more ponderous and unwieldy than its predecessors, but Yancey’s skill as a stylist cannot be denied. Purportedly, this is the final entry in the Monstrumologist series; Pellinore Warthrop—that mad genius!—will be terribly missed. - Copyright 2011 Booklist. Loading...
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