The Wolves of London by Mark Morris
Series Name: Obsidian Heart
Volume Number: 1
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Time Travel, Urban
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Titan
Edition: Mass Market paperback
ISBN: 978-1781168684
Rating: 2.75/5
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Description from the Book
Alex Locke is a reformed ex-con, forced back into London’s criminal underworld for one more job. He agrees to steal a priceless artifact — a human heart carved from blackest obsidian — but when the burglary goes horribly wrong, Alex is plunged into the nightmarish world of the Wolves of London, unearthly assassins who will stop at nothing to reclaim the heart. As he races to unlock the secrets of the mysterious object, Alex must learn to wield its dark power — or be destroyed by it.
Personal & Info
This book looked and sounded spooky, so I grabbed it during a big pre-owned book sale as something to try during spooky season. I know spooky season is already over, but I extend it all the way until Christmas. I never have any Christmas or New Years themed books to read, anyway.
Obsidian Heart is a trilogy. I have no plans at this time to read more of the series. For those interested, volumes two and three are The Society of Blood, and The Wraiths of War
Content Warnings
-Self harm
-violence
-animal violence
-body horror
-kidnapping
-mutilation of children
Characters
Alex Locke is the main character. He is an ex-con who turned his life around. Alex is in his mid thirties and works as a Psychology lecturer. He has two daughters, Candice (18) and Kate (5). Candice lives with her mother (Michelle) and step-father (Glenn), while Alex is raising Kate alone.
Benny Magee is a criminal contact from Alex’s prison days. He’s essentially like a mafia boss, and he provided protection for Alex during his stay in prison. Benny also provided Alex with a number to call if he ever needed help or got into trouble.
Clover Monroe is the owner of the night club Incognito. She has connections to Benny and provides the job involving the obsidian heart in hopes of making some quick and easy cash. Clover has a good code of morals and loyalty.
Barnaby McCallum is a rich, wheelchair bound, old man presumed to be around ninety. He is the owner of the obsidian heart before Alex gets his hands on it.
Lyn is Kate’s mother. She is currently living in Darby Hall Psychiatric Hospital due to an unusual onset of insanity that occurred while she was pregnant with Kate.
Private Frank Martin is a twenty-year-old man who served in World War I. Due to various events involving the obsidian heart, Frank is alive and well in 2012 to assist Alex.
Story & Thoughts
This book has a lot going on. It is absolutely jam packed with various fantasy themes. There are people with weird powers, possible Erdrich creatures, monstrosities, time travel, and people coming back from the dead. Normally, I wouldn’t think all these different elements would fit together for a good story, but surprisingly they mix well here. It does feel like a bit too much smushed together sometimes, though.
The story itself is interesting, but I’m not fond of the writing style. I like all the details, but some of the more complex monstrosities and body horrors are hard to picture based on the description. The book also does this thing at the start of chapters. It tells you where they are and then jumps backward to tell you how they got there before continuing onward from where they presently are. I don’t like this writing method. I can get through it, but it rubs me the wrong way.
Alex isn’t very smart in regards to his actions. The story takes place in 2012. He lacks caution in choosing babysitters. Apparently he has never done a background check on the people he trusts to watch Kate. I’m pretty sure background checks were not difficult to do in 2012, so that’s just pure carelessness on his part.
It bugs me to no end early in the book when Alex is trying to figure out how to get money to help Candice. He has a matter of days based on her estimate. He goes to a contact he knows is a criminal and then gets upset when the only means provided to make enough money is illegal. Like, come on, what was he expecting? And he has the nerve to turn it down and waste everyone’s time just because it’s illegal as if there is any other way he could possibly make thousands of dollars within a few days.
I only have one or two questions about the story I have any interest in getting answers for, so I’ll likely just google those. The book is interesting enough. It’s not like anything I’ve read before, so I enjoyed the experience, but I have no interest in continuing the series.
If I already had more of the books, I would probably read more, but I don’t, and I don’t have enough interest to want to get them. Some of the plot points are how I expect, so I won’t be surprised if the answers I find are what I’m guessing. Overall, the story isn’t bad, but it’s not great, either. Based on the content, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.