A Terrible Beauty [Mass Market Paperback]

Graham Masterton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2003

There are things I need to know...

On a farm in southern Ireland, the dismembered bones of eleven women are found in a common grave, buried eight decades ago. Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire is used to bloodshed, but this ivory litter of human remains is unimaginable butchery.

Of other worlds apart from this...

In isolated darkness not far away, an American tourist is at the mercy of a serial killer. His tools are a boning knife, twine, and a doll fashioned from nails and fishhooks. The murder of his victims is second only to the pleasure of their pain.

Darker places inhabited by evil monstrosities...

As an eighty-year-old mystery unfolds, so does a modern-day ritual that's marked Katie Maguire as its next victim. For what happened once in this small picturesque village is happening again. It's more than a series of horrifying crimes. It's tradition.

Take me there.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Philadelphia InquirerMasterton is a superlative writer of horror fiction. -- Review

About the Author

Graham Masterton has published more than thirty-five horror novels and three short story collections: his debut novel, The Manitou, was an instant bestseller. His more recent critically acclaimed novels include The Chosen Child, Trauma, Spirit, and Prey. He is an Edgar Award and Bram Stoker Award-winner and a World Fantasy Award-nominee. In addition to his prolific fiction career, Masterton is also renowned for his bestselling sex guides, including How to Drive Your Woman Wild in Bed and Wild Sex for New Lovers. Born in Edinburgh in 1946, he lives with his wife Wiescka in a Gothic mansion in Cork, Ireland, where he is currently working on his next horror novel.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (February 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743462939
• ISBN-13: 978-0743462938
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,867,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Hundred Years in the Making, September 15, 2003

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: A Terrible Beauty (Mass Market Paperback)

When Detective Superintendent Katie Maquire is called to investigate the discovery of a common grave in rural Cork, she little expects that mythology and madness are about to take a walk through the fabric of her life. Eleven skeletons, the flesh carefully removed from their bones nearly a century before, with raggedy dolls tied to each thighbone. An incomplete sacrifice, Katie finds out, to call up an evil witch. A ritual that once terrorized women in Europe and the US as the murderer traveled.

But after a long rest a killer stalks again intent on completing the ritual. Cutting the flesh from his victims slowly, carefully keeping them alive until the last moment. For Katie Maquire, who must deal with these horrific crimes and her own husband's descent into the world of crime, this becomes a nightmarish dream. Police procedural, psychological thriller, and not a small dram of the bleak mythology of Ireland's darkest past are the key components.

Against the foreboding backdrop, Masterton plays the practicalities of a police investigation and Katie's unraveling marriage with no small skill. His sin is in overdoing his effects. We spent too much time lingering over the torture of the victims without gaining much in the way of insight into the workings of what should be a very peculiar mind. While Maquire's character stands out, most of the rest of the cast could just as well be cardboard figures.

Even so, this is very nearly a complete success as a mystery and a suspense story. I was surprised at the end, though, when Masterton suddenly tries to turn it into a horror story in order to justify the final action. Not only was this unnecessary, but it rings a false note in an otherwise sensible and engaging story. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed reading the novel, both for its story and the tidbits of Celtic mythology. It is likeable if not particularly laudable.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping horror-mystery that doesn't let go, June 9, 2005

By 

Maggie May (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Terrible Beauty (Mass Market Paperback)

One of Graham Masterton's strongest novels in years gives the reader a first-rate crime tale of torture and murder with spices of fantasy along the way. Very gory and gruesome with fully fleshed-out characters (until some of them are "de-fleshed"...ugh!) and a highly involving mystery element that will keep you turning the pages. You'll probably enjoy the novel more if you enjoy very dark crime novels as opposed to outright horror novels--wherever you may draw the line between the two--since the fantasy elements of the book never quite come fully together. There's a rather silly twist at the ending that does nothing but further murk up the moody story, but that's a minor drawback to an otherwise hard driving, relentless tale. Just let yourself go with it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you've got a weak stomach..., April 17, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Terrible Beauty (Mass Market Paperback)

A Terrible Beauty is a ritualistic-serial killer mystery that is probably pretty good. My husband liked it. But I was unable to get beyond the first 70 pages because, by that point, the sadistic, graphic details just proved too much for me. There are some images I don't want in my head. So I gave it up, but that doesn't mean other readers won't enjoy it. You simply need a stronger stomach than mine, I suppose.Just a word of warning to others who don't fancy this sort of stuff.