Slaves of Obsession

In Victorian London, a seemingly pleasant dinner party sets in motion a chain of events that will pull William Monk and Hester across the Atlantic and into the bloody theater of the American Civil War. At its heart, this is a story about obsession—the kind that blinds people to moral consequence, that makes them capable of terrible things in the name of a cause they believe righteous. Perry doesn't ask readers to take sides; she asks something harder, which is to understand how ordinary people become complicit in violence when conviction outpaces conscience.

What distinguishes this entry in the Monk series is how Perry expands her canvas without losing her grip on character. The shift from foggy London streets to Civil War America could feel like a gimmick, but instead it deepens the thematic weight of the novel, forcing Monk and Hester into situations where their usual moral footing simply doesn't hold. Perry's prose remains precise and atmospherically rich throughout, and her ability to make historical horror feel intimate rather than distant is on full display here. Readers who have followed this series will find this one of its more ambitious and emotionally demanding installments.