Carter & Lovecraft

I came across this book entirely by chance, as if the gods had set us on our path of destiny. It was highly improbable, but it happened: saw it in a library, picked it up, and fell absolutely in love with it.

The story was a fun jaunt featuring Lovecraft and Carter's modern-day ancestors. They're wrapped up in a story that has Lovecraftian charm without the boring language. It also offers up nice 'twists', so to speak, that keep things refreshing.

Best part is the author's homage to Lovecraftian inexpressability. Howard approaches it in a conceptual way over physical, focusing on not the visual aspect, rather the emotional and psychological ways of experience. The "Twist" itself is evident of this, and the way he deals with it is utterly show more magical. Sort of reminded me of Chiang's short stories.

I highly enjoyed this read and can't wait to read the next one! show less

The first couple of chapters of this novel had me worried. Felt like a whole lot of tell and little show. But, I have a ten per cent rule...that is, if the book doesn't get better by the end of the first tenth, then I throw in the towel (I'm looking at you, [a:Jeremy Bates|5327980|Jeremy Bates|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1453803472p2/5327980.jpg] and your shit [b:Suicide Forest|26594914|Suicide Forest (World's Scariest Places #1)|Jeremy Bates|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442428195s/26594914.jpg|43168499] novel).

Thankfully, the writing improved a lot after that first little bit, and then, BOOM it just got great. I enjoyed the characters, I loved William Colt, I loved how Howard pulled a bunch of stuff together and wove a new show more Lovecraft story from the elements.

Basically, I loved how he took the best parts of Lovecraft's stories (the monsters and the ideas) and left the bad writing behind, and created a whole new story that was completely in the spirit of the originals.

If you don't know Lovecraft, much of this will just go over your head. But if you do know Lovecraft, then this book is fun as hell.

Loved it. show less

This book gave me panic attacks, although nothing in it is particularly horrible. I didn't like it, but I could not stop reading it. Lovecraft stories -- the ones I've read, at least -- don't bother me. The archaic language, the purple prose, provides a handy armor for me. None of that in this book, and so my heart beats too fast, my breathing is labored, my hands tingle, my stomach roils, and yet I kept reading. There's no happy ending, although the main characters, whom I like, survived. I'm not scared of anything. I'm not upset. Panic attacks, while rare these days, are not strange to me. The book is a level of horror story that doesn't rely on body horror, dead puppies, or graphic descriptions of monsters. The tension build is show more subtle, but I finished reading about 10 minutes ago and my fingers still tremble. I will recover, and I will read the next one, and I hope I will not have a heart attack. show less

It's totally me.

No, really; it sounds like a line, but it's true. I'm a huge fan of Howard's Johannes Cabal series (particularly The Long Spoon and the succubus and part-spider, Zarenyia), and when I saw this one had a detective as a lead character, I thought it might be equally engaging. Alas; I glossed over the 'Lovecraft mythos,' one of my least favorite subgenres of supernatural fiction. Or horror, if you prefer to shelve your Lovecraft that direction. Either way, add in lovely fall weather and leaving my job, and it was a battle for my interest. Eventually I committed and finished the story. Carter & Lovecraft is well-written, with what feels like a solid re-invention of the mythos, admittedly to someone who isn't all that familiar show more with it. It also lays the groundwork for a new series, and I sincerely hope for Howard's sake that it's successful, because he's got talent that deserves to be more widely known.

The book does open with a mildly horrific scene of Detective Carter and his partner Hammond chasing down a child serial killer in Red Hook. Those few pages and the tension reminded me, quite unexpectedly, of John Connolley, and his own peculiar blend of supernatural-tinged horror-thriller, and honestly, I wasn't sure I could continue. Serial killers and child-killers are usually plot lines I avoid like the plague. However, it proved to be largely exposition, setting the tone and reason for why Carter was open to profound changes in his life. It settled down into a more straightforward supernatural mystery, at least from Detective Carter's perspective, but I understand a few readers felt like there was a bit of a bait-and-switch, with a beginning that didn't well match the remainder of the book. I'd agree if one was looking for that kind of horror-thriller, but what Howard is really writing is a more thoughtful police procedural crossed with otherworldly supernatural.

"What do you do, Mr. Carter?'...

'I'm an investigator,' said Carter. Leaving 'private' out covered a multitude of sins, real and imaginary.'"

The writing is solid, a fair blend of dialogue and introspection. It is a departure from the witty, tongue-in-cheek tone used in the Cabal stories. The focus is more on the atmosphere oft the world and the whole story, as is fitting for a book built on oddness and suspense.

"Carter had been to Providence handful of times in his life, and never by choice. It was always something to do with a case, or to help somebody out, but he had never willingly been to the place. He didn't like the city at all, but he couldn't have told you why. He knew the dislike was irrational; that didn't mitigate it in the slightest. The small flurry of optimism he had felt that this unexpected inheritance might be worth something was dampened...the discovery that it was in Providence, of all places, had already killed his buzz magnificently."

Still, there's moments of entertaining oddness, such as when he and the lawyer Weston meet regarding his inheritance. Lovecraft is the current manager of the bookstore that Carter mysteriously inherits, and is an intriguing character. Although African-American, she is the last of the genetic line of Lovecraft. Both characters feel very real, and their responses to the situations they face are built slowly and well enough to feel believable. I love that Howard decided that was one of the ways he would subvert the mythos. He also addresses the racism of Lovecraft's work (the author) directly through her voice.

I liked the book, but the fact that I wasn't wild about it really says more to do with my own tastes and my own level of life-distraction than it does for the quality of the story. It's worth nothing that for friends who enjoy this sort of thing, it had a solid four-star rating. show less

My thanks to the folks at the Horror Aficionados group for selecting this book as the February audio group selection, this giving me the opportunity to read and discuss it, and many other fine books, with others.

I really enjoyed this book. It provided a good mix of horror and comedy that reminded me of the old TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. The interpersonal dynamic between ex-cop turned private eye Dan Carter and antiquarian bookstore manager Emily Lovecraft is perfect, very enjoyable.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book is that it bears out my attitude towards H.P. Lovecraft. It's my belief that he was a thoroughly loathsome individual and a writer of marginal quality, at best. The one thing he has going for him is the show more Cthulhu mythos that he created. It is a perfect framework that other, more talented authors than H.P., could expand upon with great success. Thank you Jonathan L. Howard for proving me right. I never entirely got a firm grasp on Howard's attitude towards Lovecraft but the fact that he made the racist and misogynistic author's great great grand niece a woman of color gave me an inkling that we were pretty much on the same page.

I don't want to relate too much of what happens for fear of spoiling other readers' enjoyment but I will say it begins with a series of inexplicable events and deaths that defy the rules of physics. From there things just get curiouser and curiouser, all the way to a really great twist at the end.

I very much hope there is a sequel in the works. This would make a great series.

BTW: Ari Fliakos did a tremendous job narrating the audio version of this book. show less

Jonathan L. Howard's Carter and Lovecraft is not a bad book. But that does not mean it is a great book. For those who have read Johannes Cabal, be prepared for something quite different. Slightly more adult in tone and writing style... the story is put together using a handful of H.P. Lovecraft's ideas and sort of updates the ideological stigma that has stuck with his work for decades. There are a few plot holes, or things left unresolved. In the interim I think that is done on purpose because of who Carter is. The idea that the Lovecraft in the story is of black and white blood could be seen as a middle finger to HP's thoughts on racial purity. Someone so bound by the color of their skin that a mixed relative farther down the line show more insinuates his hypocrisy. Well. None of us know what Lovecraft really thought...we only know what he wrote. And while his imagination was beyond the stars, anyone familiar with his work should be able to deduce that his stance was one based on ignorance rather than hate. The man literally never traveled anywhere in his entire life. But back on topic. Carter and Lovecraft was a fun read. It seems the book ended just as it was getting ramped up. It also seems that there were lots of places for characters to see and many more things to do just as the book was ending.
The overall weirdness of Lovecraft was spot on. Howard really knew how tap on that potentially cosmic miasma that would cause HP to so often get lost. He kept us teetering on the edge of universal folly up until the end. The reader wants to go back to the ethereal drop off even though the proximity to it still threatens to swallow us whole. show less

Detectives Dan Carter and Charlie Hammond have finally tracked down and cornered the perverse serial killer known as The Child-Catcher. Found in his own home, the detectives move in, focused on a speedy capture, before the Child-Catcher performs his bizarre version of open-brain surgery. Charlie takes the lead, turns up a flight of stairs and Carter hears a shot ring out. He follows, and sees the Child-Catcher sitting against a wall, a pool of blood in his lap, and a seemingly serene smile on his lips. “Suicide by cop.” On the wall: a string-connected ‘psycho wall.’

Further down the hall, Carter’s partner is:

crying and laughing, Charlie put his S&W Model 5946 between his teeth, squeezed the trigger, and excused himself from show more life.

Jonathan L. Howard is no stranger to the authorial weird. His resume, after all, includes the JOHANNES CABAL series — some genetic hybrid of horror, humor, gothic and, well, weird. Carter & Lovecraft contains elements of all of those, but is decidedly dark and heavy. And he writes a powerful opening. The child killer is seemingly caught by Hammond and Carter. He’s shot and while dying, the senior officer places a pistol in his own mouth and pulls the trigger. No reason why.

Carter leaves the police and ventures off into the world of private investigation. While chasing cheating husbands, a lawyer appears in his office (rather mysteriously and… quietly), informing him that he’s been named the sole in inheritor of a home in Providence, Rhode Island. He’s never heard of his benefactor, one Alfred Hill, gone missing seven years ago.

Howard writes wonderful prose. He’s noir without being clichéd or overdone. The narrative flows without seeming wordy, and is imbued with a subtle sense of humor:

“I’m sorry,” said Carter. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I came in,” said the man, as if to reassure him.

Carter didn’t need the reassurance on that point, but it was kind of the man to offer it, all the same.

Hill’s ‘home’ is actually a bookstore: “Hill’s Books — Antiquarian & Secondhand.” Emily Lovecraft is Hill’s niece and has been managing the store since Hill’s disappearance. It will surprise no one that Emily is related to the Lovecraft of Providence fame, ol’ H.P. And yes, she’s the last in the Lovecraft lineage.

More weird happenings orbit Carter and Lovecraft, and they find themselves pulled by the gravity of a series of deadly events. A mathematician magician has an uncanny ability to ‘influence chance,’ and while taking advantage of casinos, also seems to defy physics in several apparent murders.

It’s clear that the events in and around Providence are not merely magic, nor are they of the natural world. This is, after all, the home turf of H.P. Lovecraft and his dramatically interwoven tales of cosmic horror. Emily is a reluctant expert of her ancestor’s writings and history and is able to tease out from the clues of the recent murders to connect the dots with her own family history. Providence isn’t normal… nor has it ever been.

Everything… is kind of fucked up. And by ‘everything,’ I mean everything. Nothing is right, nothing is as it appears. I don’t just mean in some nihilistic, conspiratorial, paranoid kind of way. I mean fundamentally. And the joke is, it used to be worse. Then, back in the twenties, a group of guys figured out what was wrong, and how they could fix it.

The world seems to becoming UN-fixed. And it’s no accident that former Det. Carter is involved.

I’ll stay away from any further plot description/spoilers, but suffice it to say, there’s a whole lot of Lovecraftian weirdness, including disjointed cities, immortal creatures of the sea, and horrors that cause insanity with just a mere glimpse.

My biggest frustration with the pantheon of Lovecraftian writing is the lack of high quality long-form fiction. The space is awash with short stories, novellas and anthologies (I recently reviewed a Cthulhu-Roman Empire mash up anthology). Howard’s entrant is a terrific mystery, wrapped up in a detective tale, enveloped in the cosmic weird of Lovecraft. And it succeeds.

Carter & Lovecraft concludes with a terrific plot twist. And while Howard has written a solid and definitive ending in its own right, there’s a plethora of potential for a sequel. Additionally, Warner Brothers has acquired the television rights for the series.
Publication date: October 20, 2015. “Carter & Lovecraft is a Pandora’s box loaded with all the wonderfully twisted stuff I love, including a two-fisted homicide cop turned PI, warped realities, a mysterious bookstore, the Cthulhu mythos, a dash of romance, and creepy fish-men. What’s not to love? Jonathan L. Howard knows how to show his readers a wickedly good time.” ―Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author Dead Ringers. Daniel Carter used to be a homicide detective, but his last case―the hunt for a serial killer―went wrong in strange ways and soured the job for him. Now he’s a private investigator trying to live a quiet life. Strangeness, however, has not finished with him. First he inherits a bookstore in Providence from someone he’s never heard of, along with an indignant bookseller who doesn’t want a new boss. She’s Emily Lovecraft, the last known descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, the writer from Providence who told tales of the Great Old Ones and the Elder Gods, creatures and entities beyond the understanding of man. Then people start dying in impossible ways, and while Carter doesn’t want to be involved, he’s beginning to suspect that someone else wants him to be. As Carter reluctantly investigates, he discovers that H. P. Lovecraft’s tales were more than just fiction, and he must accept another unexpected, and far more unwanted, inheritance. show less