His beliefs are shattered when he witnesses the murder of a man by a fishlike figure, more demon than man. Some townspeople evoke demons and ancient curses, but Henry Gilman is a man of science. Innsmouth has fallen victim to serial murders by strangulation, the latest of which was a policeman. He’s burdened by the legacy left by his father, who experimented on blasphemous reanimation techniques, and ended up institutionalized in Arkham Sanitorium. Henry Gilman is a mortician and occasional coroner for the town of Innsmouth, in the early 20th century. Sins of the Father is a lovecraftian period horror novel by author JG Faherty Perhaps others will connect more with this story than I did, as it did have some unique moments.

Once that happened, everything else fell apart for me. A large factor in this was that I didn't care any longer about any of the characters. Overall, a strong start that held promise, but ultimately left me feeling less than satisfied. Unfortunately, at some point this changed, rendering our main character unreliable, the others less than intriguing, and the novel itself began to feel like a variation of previously read material. There was a different spin that made me want to read on. Some of the scenes-particularly in the first half-I found very well done and engaging. but they are just two dimensions among millions.' I thought Henry began as a solid individual with firm viewpoints, yet about half-way through the story he became very inconsistent and difficult to follow. Henry, and the other characters, just didn't work for me as well as I'd hoped they would. While not a bad thing, per-say, I was hoping for a little more individuality in certain aspects. The novel quickly becomes a full-out homage to Lovecraft's ideas, in my opinion. Sadly, Henry's own reputation suffered unjustly because of his infamous father. What he resorted to was an act so repulsive that he was sent to live the remainder of his life at the Asylum. His father-a doctor-grew obsessed with finding a cure. 'Īt a young age, Henry's mother passed away with a cancer eating away at her.

'Believe in Science, Henry, not superstition. However, I expect that those not as familiar with Lovecraft's imagination might not fully appreciate all of the links. The setting near the town of Innsmouth, the Miskatonic University, and other Lovecraftian landmarks, interested me quite a bit. Faherty, is a Lovecraftian-style novel set back in the past.

Sins of the Fathers by Will Cunningham