Neolithic cannibals hunt modern day Londoners… You guessed it; horror legend Graham Masterton is back! Graham Masterton’s The Shadow People is the third novel starring his two London detectives Jerry Pardoe and Jamila Patel. Even if you have not read the previous books in the sequence The Shadow People works perfectly fine as a standalone novel making passing references to the previous cases involving Ghost Virus (book 1) and The Children that God Forgot (book 2). I am a big fan of this series and if you follow the links you can read my previous Ginger Nuts of Horror reviews for both books. Part of my attraction for this series is the fact that it is partially set in the Tooting and Streatham areas of south London where I live, particularly when something crazily supernatural occurs on my doorstep. Horror legend Masterton has been on vintage form with his recent work, with The House of a Hundred Whispers being another I loved and reviewed for GNOH. The Fantastic Fiction website calls this the Ghost Virus series however, I prefer to refer to it as the ‘Pardoe and Patel’ sequence as ultimately it is these two detectives who connect all the stories. At previous moments in the earlier books their police colleagues have referred to Jerry and Jamilla as the ‘Ghostbusters’ as whenever there is a weird case or something unexplainable they are called to investigate. In Ghost Virus there was possessed killer clothing (don’t ask!) and in The Children that God Forgot freaky deformed kids, nasty pregnancies, and witchcraft oozing from the London sewers causing havoc. Just to be clear, the plots of these novels are totally ridiculous and hark back in style to the type of crazy horror which was hitting the bestseller shelves in the eighties. Very few authors do this type of thing better than Graham Masterton. Just when you think it might be impossible to top the antics of its predecessor, Masterton does exactly that with the incredibly gruesome Shadow People. This is a gleefully violent book and has multiple sequences of cannibalism and torture with punters being nailed to the walls and much worse. It is not for the squeamish, will be too much for some readers, and because the torture is often inflicted on randomly normal innocents snatched from the streets going home after work it makes it even more realistically painful. At certain points others gouge out their own eyeballs and eat them (this was a new one for me). Do not say you haven’t been warned. The Shadow People deserves more trigger warnings than you can poke a cat at. Even the hardiest of readers will flinch at the nails through the kneecap sequences. As with the previous books the story is told via multiple points of view, with the police narrative concentrating on Jerry Pardoe, who is ranked lower than Jamila Patel. Jerry has always had a secret crush on his boss but has always kept their relationship professional (Jamila would undoubtedly reject him anyway). The reader gets glimpses into Jerry’s private life, but not Jamila who remains a mystery. If this series is to have longevity then I would suggest Jamila needs to have a stronger and more distinctive voice and not just a sidekick to Jerry and seen as an ‘expert’ on the supernatural just because she is British Asian. Right from the start you know The Shadow People is going to be a vicious read when police discover a shopping trolley full of human skulls whilst investigating a spate of homeless people disappearances. Masterton gleefully describes the police discovering huge fire pits which they quickly realise are full of half-digested human remains. Shock and astonishment quickly mount when they realise the sheer number of people the remains come from. Before long the police are on the hunt for a ritualistic cult inspired by Neolithic cannibals. How do we happen to have early-man cannibals in modern day London? Even for a Masterton novel that reasoning is farfetched once revealed! Long term fans familiar with his work will undoubtedly take it in their stride, newbies to his work might be laughing in disbelief. Some of the alternative points of view were a real highlight, especially as we saw the inner workings of the cult and an internal power struggle within the group and what happens when two young brothers are kidnapped from a Scout campsite. Other scenes when the cannibals were marauding around in broad daylight were also wildly over the top and highly entertaining. You just cannot take these books seriously otherwise you may well struggle with the casual sexism and other non-PC comments regarding race and gender which frequently pop up in the book. Also, there was too much Cockney slang, which might grate with non-British readers, and since the book is predominately set in south London this area does not actually speak this dialect, which originates more from east London. One wonders where Graham Masterton might possibly take the ‘Pardoe and Patel’ series next? I almost have a gleefully morbid fascination in discovering what could possibly top The Shadow People in levels of grossness. But this author has been around the horror block so many times absolutely anything is possible. Might we see an Egyptian mummy terrorising Streatham High Road or a plague of vampire bats attack Brixton? Anything is possible and I’ll surely be jumping on the 133 bus to enjoy the ride! Tony Jones  The Shadow People by Graham Masterton 'God, it's good' STEPHEN KING on The House of A Hundred Whispers Jerry Pardoe and Jamila Patel hunt down a ritualistic cult inspired by Neothilic cannibals in the new chilling horror from Graham Masterton. A BURNING PYRE The smell of roasting meat alerts police to squatters in an abandoned London factory. But when they arrive, the place is empty... except for a gruesome pile of scorched human heads. AN ANCIENT RITUAL DS Jamila Patel and DC Jerry Pardoe have solved bizarre crimes before, but nothing as spooky as this. Arcane markings on the factory wall lead them to a terrifying cult in thrall to a Neolithic god. A god who demands the ultimate sacrifice from his followers. A CULT OF CANNIBALS Now Londoners are being abducted off the city streets, to be mutilated, roasted and eaten. Can Patel and Pardoe save the next victim from this hideous fate? Or will they themselves become a human sacrifice? TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE BORN IN BLOOD, VOLUME 2 BY GEORGE DANIEL LEA [BOOK REVIEW]VILE AFFECTIONS BY CAITLÍN R. KIERNAN [BOOK REVIEW]
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