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Editorial Content for Of Monsters and Madness

Book

Of Monsters and Madness

Contributors

Maggie L.

Reviewer (text)

Maggie L., Teen Board Member
After her mother dies, 17-year-old Annabel Lee is summoned to her father's house, where she experiences some disturbing things. Just like her mother, Annabel wishes to go into medicine and become a surgeon. Her father, too, was a doctor --- that is, until he got his license removed for his strange and unusual practices. He continues to do so in secret with the help of Allan --- for whom Annabel feels a deep and peculiar attraction --- and Edgar, Allan's creepy cousin.
 
With many references to the dark works of Edgar Allan Poe, this book had me gasping at the gory descriptions and yet craving more. 
 
Annabel befriends her maid, Maddy, and lives pleasantly, developing a close relationship with her kind-hearted grandfather who also lives in the house with them. Strange murders begin happening in the town, and the suspect may be closer than she thinks...
 
OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS is the perfect book for anyone who enjoys a Gothic, romantic and mysteriously gruesome story. With many references to the dark works of Edgar Allan Poe, this book had me gasping at the gory descriptions and yet craving more. The pace never slows, and every page has a shocking turn of events. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars for the overall creepy, Gothic experience. 

Teaser

 

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author. Annabel becomes infatuated with her father's assistant Allan, who dabbles in writing when he's not helping with medical advancements. But in darker hours, when she's not to be roaming the house, she encounters the devilish assistant Edgar, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Allan, and who others insist doesn't exist.

Promo

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author. Annabel becomes infatuated with her father's assistant Allan, who dabbles in writing when he's not helping with medical advancements. But in darker hours, when she's not to be roaming the house, she encounters the devilish assistant Edgar, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Allan, and who others insist doesn't exist.
 

About the Book

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.

Annabel Lee is summoned from Siam to live with her father in 1820's Philadelphia shortly after her mother's death, but an unconventional upbringing makes her repugnant to her angry, secretive father.

Annabel becomes infatuated with her father's assistant Allan, who dabbles in writing when he's not helping with medical advancements. But in darker hours, when she's not to be roaming the house, she encounters the devilish assistant Edgar, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Allan, and who others insist doesn't exist.

A rash of murders across Philadelphia, coupled with her father's strange behavior, leads Annabel to satisfy her curiosity and uncover a terrible truth: Edgar and Allan are two halves of the same person --- and they are about to make the crimes detailed in Allan's stories come to life. Unless Annabel stops them.