My Two Cents: A FRAGILE THING by Stephanie Ellis

Monsters and madmen prowl the streets of Victorian London in "A Fragile Thing," the new release from author Stephanie Ellis, and the line separating one from the other is often quite thin and easily broken.

In "A Fragile Thing," Isaac Bercow's life is a con. While he presents himself as a physician, in truth, he's a fraud, all of his "credentials" and "diplomas" forgeries and fakes. He makes his living as a mesmerist, performing in seedy sideshows that operate in the poorer districts of town, earning chump change from those who can ill afford to part with it. It's a meager income, and Isaac has much grander aspirations, longing for a future in which he hobnobs with London's aristocratic society. He's willing to go to great lengths to achieve these lofty ambitions, and as the story opens, we see just how far, as Isaac makes a Faustian pact with a sinister man known as Genesis Caul. Caul purports to be an ally to Isaac, a patron of sorts in his schemes, but there's something lurking behind his friendly words and affable smiles. Genesis may well be the Devil himself, and in exchange for helping Isaac climb society's steep ladder, he demands Isaac take on an unusual burden: a bevy of dark spirits that are planted inside Isaac's mind, a demonic horde he is tasked with rehoming.

As Isaac sets off on this unenviable task, he "gifts" one of these evil spirits to a rival physician named Llewellyn, unbeknownst to the other man. Llewellyn seems genuinely kindhearted, but the creature Isaac forces on him compels him to commit horrific and gruesome acts. Trapped in the prison of his own body, he's forced to watch the demonic entity stalk and butcher the same unfortunate and impoverished souls Llewellyn, as a doctor, has spent his life trying to help. It's a horrifying fate, and one he's helpless to prevent.

Meanwhile, Isaac continues to advance his way in high society. With Genesis's help, he's able to elevate his mesmeric abilities to new and impressive levels. As he endears himself among London's privileged elite, his ambition and greed drive him to crave more. He'll manipulate anyone to get what he wants and stop at nothing to claim a life he feels he's more than due, even if that means trading away his own soul.

Ellis draws interesting parallels throughout "A Fragile Thing" to legends about Jack the Ripper. Theories of the Ripper's true identity include that he'd been a deranged surgeon practicing his trade on unsuspecting victims, or a killer eventually brought to heel either by death or incarceration. Both of these scenarios come into play as Ellis's story develops.

To me, "A Fragile Thing" was reminiscent of Nightmare Alley, with its similar premise and themes. Both stories follow ambitious young men from questionable backgrounds who are willing to lie, steal, cheat, and even murder to climb their way to the top. Neither protagonist is likeable, and their actions and motivations are never softened or spit-shined for the audience's benefit. We know from the very moment of his introduction that Isaac is a despicable person, and his downward spiral into depravity isn't as much a surprise as a reinforcement of this first, negative impression.

Thus, as in Nightmare Alley, when Isaac's luck finally runs out, we don't feel empathy or pity. We've come to know him well enough to know that he gets what is coming to him, and the lifetime he'll spend mulling over his mistakes and poor choices is the least of the suffering that will be coming his way.

As with Nightmare Alley, there's a colorful cast of secondary characters along for the ride in "A Fragile Thing." In addition to Dr. Llewellyn, there's the lovely and ingenuous Elizabeth Morton, Genesis's diablical hench-wench Lucy, and Isaac's assistant Dominic, who's dealt one of the book's most cruel and twisted hands.

Ellis paints a dreary, grimy portrait of London's Victorian-era underbelly, and the menagerie of unfortunate individuals who once called it home. She's done her homework and it shows. Her writing is wonderfully immersive, her pacing well-timed, and the twist and turns as the dastardly mechanisms Isaac has unwittingly set into motion come to a head are shocking and unexpected. This is historical horror at its finest, a story that leaves you questioning which is truly worse: the monsters lying in wait in the shadows, or the ones we kept hidden inside our own minds.

"A Fragile Thing" is available here.