The Soul Thief by S L Howe – Book Review

The Soul Thief by S L Howe – Book Review

Having in recent years found acclaim for her crime thriller ‘The Stranger in Our Bed’ (subsequently turned into a film), Samantha Lee Howe’s firmer return to the horror genre under the name is an exciting one. Gothic horror in every meaning of the word, what she metes out in ‘The Soul Thief’ is brilliantly cerebral. When Howe puts horrors on the page, they are as recognisably human as they are otherworldly, in this case every moment full of noir vigour; it is perhaps telling that a number of the characters you can imagine a young Denholm Elliott or Bela Lugosi bringing to life in a film adaptation.

Centred around Victorian investigator Mitchell Bishop and his ex-fiancée Laura Carter, they find themselves caught up in events when the latter’s sister becomes one of many in a series of strange and inexplicable murders; more perplexingly, all of these murders seem to be entangled with people apparently returning from the dead, a shapeshifting being, and disappearances at the hospital where Laura’s sister was committed and where a certain doctor’s life has been sent into disarray. With their investigations leading to a local photographer, the solution to the whole farrago is going to require Mitchell to disband his rational understanding of the world as he knows it…

The chilly world of Victorian Manchester suits the story perfectly.

It captures a lot of what makes Gothic fiction insatiable and then balances its seedier, grittier elements alongside it. The very stark understanding of what makes both Victoriana and the Gothic tick helps to define the novel too, telling you the boundaries and then over time blurring them until you have no idea which way is up. To that end, Howe’s characters fit into this world perfectly; while the first few chapters do feel like they might launch into something more akin to ‘The Forsyte Saga’ or ‘Wuthering Heights’ – full of wealthy families, marital scandals, and many a ne’er-do-well! – there is a sense that every character has a rich distinctness. Howe is deft in using them to flesh out the world around them, not just constricting them or their world to stereotypes or cul-de-sac plots. 

It has to be said, the pace does falter a tiny bit, the book perhaps outstaying its welcome by thirty or so pages overall. However, the immense upside to this is that there’s so much to unpack, the fracas of subplots and characters meaning that while you might find yourself in need of a cold compress and a mug of Earl Grey afterwards, you’ll also emerge shellshocked in just the right way, the horror and thriller elements takes their turns to punch you. In fact, despite the onslaught of characters to whom you’re introduced, a little attentiveness is all you need to keep track of whose who, and when the setting starts to constrict, it’s brilliant in how it traps you in its vices – an incentive if ever there was one to read this novel in one sitting.

S. L. Howe also illustrates her keen ability to tread multiple worlds and multiple themes.

In fact, it is one of the novel’s greatest strengths, as is the fact that her venust prose reads how a conniption fit feels (slightly erratic, full of varying emotion, and inescapable). Proffering a villain whose nature is akin to a very iconic one from the ‘Sapphire & Steel’ index, the supernatural is ever at the fore.

Yet, to balance, a sense of humanity is very much on show too; the perils of human nature are not just there, they keep you at sea with nary even a dinghy in sight. Intentionally or not, a number of moments evoke the death of Carew in ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, one of the most seminal Gothic novels and analyses of human nature. For all it is horror fiction above all, ‘The Soul Thief’ seems to tackle to every genre in a William Goldman-ish manner, intertwining them with the grace of a ballet dancer on ecstasy.

There’s also a nice sense of romance in there too.

Unlike authors like Guy N. Smith or Shaun Hutson, whose writing of romance is very pulpy and devotes a number of pages to giving heterosexual men a flutter that reminds them down there still works (not a criticism, just a quirk of that subgenre), Howe’s use of sex and romance feels far more careful. Amid the sleazier moments, her skill as a thriller author really comes to bear, offering moments of genuine romance as well, just in shorter, more intense bursts.

If horror less reliant on blood and guts is the order of the day, ‘The Soul Thief’ will make a fine caller at your door. The end result, more than just page-turning, is the chocolate gateau of horror novels – rich, dark, enamouring to the vast majority, and best enjoyed in one go even though it might make you sick!

My thanks to Sam herself and those fine folk at HarperCollins for supplying me with an advance copy. 

The Soul Thief by S L Howe

A brand new gothic horror for fans of Sarah Waters and Carly Reagon

‘A model of Victorian gothic… should be read by the light of a flickering gas lamp’ Mike Ripley

At the end of a long nightshift at the hospital Dr Warren Carter is offered a nightcap by a beautiful young nurse. Warren is exhausted and he knows he the consequences if he’s caught in the nurses’ quarters. He should resist, but he can’t. Rosie is very persuasive. That night everything changes for Warren and his life starts to crumble around him.

He turns to his dear friend Mitchell Bishop, a private investigator, for help – can he locate Rosie and discover the truth of that fateful night? But Mitchell can find no trace of Rosie, from what he can see she doesn’t exist. Instead, Mitchell finds a family gripped in madness.

When Mitchell sees Warren’s younger sister sectioned and his friend’s behaviour becoming increasingly erratic, he knows he must discover the truth before the whole family is lost. Mitchell is a rational man, looking for a rational explanation, but instead his investigations take him down an impossible path.

Praise for The Soul Thief

‘Such a well done Gothic horror novel… [I] was on the edge of my seat from start to finish’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A dark delicious gothic read that is intense, creepy and oh so good… I absolutely loved it’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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