Book Review: “The Hobgoblin of Little Minds” by Mark Matthews
The Hobgoblin of Little Minds
Mark Matthews
Publisher: Wicked Run Press
Release Date: February 18th, 2021
With no other clues as to where her father has gone, Kori roams the abandoned hallways of Northville Psychiatric Hospital. But the walls hide dark secrets, and as demolition grows closer, Kori discovers sinister secrets about what really happened in the hospital’s final days.
Matthews takes the werewolf trope and twists it, looking at it through the lens of mental health. These aren’t your typical werewolves, as Matthews breathes fresh life into this myth. As Kori looks for any hint of her father, she finds savage creatures living in the hospital basements. Her story and that of a previous patient, treated by the fascinating but creepy Doctor Zita, intertwine, and Matthews does an excellent job of switching between the different point of views in the book.
Matthews really gets under the skin of his characters, and treats the mental health aspects with empathy and respect. His experience within the behavioural health industry shows through his writing, with realistic portrayals of bipolar and the affect it has on family members.
Kori loves her father, who is exciting and spontaneous, full of surprises, until he isn’t, and the bad times she experiences usually result in her father going away. Kori’s struggle is made clear, as the book takes place when her mother is looking to move away from the family home, but Kori feels this will take her out of reach of her missing father.
Doctor Zita is a well written antagonist, someone searching for a cure to help those who seem beyond help. Her motivations start as pure, but become twisted. Matthews focuses on female characters in this book, and they’re written well, with a lot centred around parenthood and the affect mental illness has on children.
Some parts of the book were a little repetitive, or stretched on just a touch too long, but overall I think this book is something unique, and handles certain horror tropes in a different way, with a solid result.
Grade: B
Author Website: http://www.WickedRunPress.com/
Review by Elle Turpitt
@elleturpitt
I received this e-book from the author for review consideration.