Oh boy, where do I begin with this book ...

The Children God Forgot follows three storylines; doctors at a hospital performing a C-Section on a woman that denies being pregnant, a crew uncovering a massive block in the sewer system, and a man being arrested for stabbing another man after he terminated his girlfriends pregnancy. At first, I found this book difficult to get into, I really only found one of these storylines even remotely interesting. Then the storylines slowly started to blend together and that's when shit hit the fan.

The children themselves and the horrific things happening to the people involved in the children were so detailed and it evoked a lot of the emotions I look for in horror. There were several times reading this book where I actually said aloud, "Oh shit!" or "What are you doing, RUN!" The supernatural twist was unexpected and the buildup to the final showdown was a good pace with the rest of the book.

I struggled a lot with some of the dialogue of the characters and some of the word choices. At one point a character makes a comment and he follows it with something like oh that was sexist, then why even say it?! It adds nothing to the story. I originally thought this was set in England, a lot of the references and dialogue made it seem that way but then much of the story line and side characters were from Pakistan and it was ended up being a confusing cultural mix. I also think there's a larger discussion that could be had around treating every life as sacred or ending a life before it's begun, but that's not a discussion I'll be getting into here.

All in all, I would recommend this book to readers who are looking for something that falls in the "weird" bucket or readers who are looking for a good night time scare. I've always had Graham Masterton on my want to read and I'm so thankful to the NetGally and the publisher for an opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure reading a book that is so detailed in anatomical horrors is a good idea in the midst of a global pandemic but it was certainly a great distraction from the doom and gloom that is going on outside my abode, it’s a gory rollercoaster but well written and well told

Oh wow. What a ride. One of the best horror novels I have read this year. So refreshing to read something that actually creeps you the he** out. Definitely going to recommend this to all my horror loving friends.

(I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review)


A young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains in her stomach. The chief surgeon informs her that she is pregnant, even if she knows this is impossible. And there’s something wrong with the baby…
The Children God Forgot starts with a bang. You read the first few pages and you’re immediately hooked and compelled to what comes next. And, boy, oh boy, I was not ready for what came next… AT ALL.

The story is intriguing in its own. It kind of turned towards something I was not expecting and felt kind of rushed in the end, but it was a very interesting reading.

I really enjoyed the main characters as well, because they feel like real people. I have to admit my first impression of DC Jerry Pardoe was awful to say the least. His description of a fellow colleague made me roll my eyes - She had high cheekbones and feline eyes(…) her white uniform blouse only emphasised her very large breasts (…) the face of a TV weather girl and the figure of a Playboy model’- and it was only page 7 of 312! Thankfully, his character kind of changed? Evolved? and I could enjoy his misadventures with DS Jamila Patel, my favourite. She’s witty and has the best dialogues in the book.

There’s something I really need to address, though: this is, as today, the most brutal, graphic, clinically detailed body-horror book I’ve come across. From the very beginning, the writer describes everything that is happening inside the body of a woman who shouldn’t be pregnant but it is, describes the foetus that shouldn’t be alive but it definitely is…. And I just couldn’t. I’ve been reading horror my whole life, and I can count with one hand the times I needed to stop reading, take a long breath, and continue. As the story (and the horror) advanced, I reached the point where I thought maybe this was not a good after-lunch reading after all.

Does this mean it is a bad book? No, absolutely no. The writing is good, the characters are good, the story is good. It just isn’t for me. I will recommend it to readers who are looking for a bad, bloody, witchy trip, though.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. Here is the blurb:

"A young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains in her stomach. The chief surgeon delivers a living child with the face of an angel and the body of a tentacled monster. The doctors are unanimous that the baby must die.

Engineer Gemma is plunged into darkness in a tunnel beneath London. Before she escapes, a strange green light illuminates a cluster of ghostly figures. Gemma is certain they were children.

DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel, of Tooting Police, have investigated the occult before – but nothing as strange and horrible as what they must confront in the city sewers. Down here in the dark, where the dead come back to life, witchcraft is the only force strong enough to save you..."

I will be honest and admit that I have read Graham Masterton books for years and he is one of my favourite authors so this review will be bias. Another great book which sees the return of 2 characters from the Ghost Virus book, Jerry Pardoe and Jamila Patel. They are back investigating another crime with a supernatural twist. Given the subject matter of the story involving unborn children, this book may not be for everyone. However, if you have read Masterton's books before you pretty much know what you are going to get. Genuinely enjoyed this book and it did make me squrm in many parts. Does make me wonder if we will see more of Pardoe and Patel in future books?

This was a pretty fun book! It was super gross and gory in a very old Clive Barker way. I know that Graham Masterton has had an extensive career and it is probably very much his style, but I’ve read a bunch of Barker and not a lot of his work, so that’s what it read like to me. It read like a network cop show, only very, very British, which was fun and made it extra pulpy. I felt like the ending was a little anticlimactic and the religious stuff was a little on the nose, but I really had fun reading it overall. It does get pretty gnarly since a lot of it takes place in a sewer and the violence is pretty graphic, so this is definitely for gorehounds only.

I always start a review of any Graham Masterton book with a little of my own (ancient) history. During the 1980s my teenage years were spent devouring Masterton's horror novels. School homework? Pfft, what school homework?! I loved getting my hands on anything he'd written. As he has aged so have I. Now, almost 40 years later, I feel immensely nostalgic whenever a new Masterton book is published.

Well, what can I say except that this was one crazy bizarre read! Malformed foetuses are hopping from womb to womb. Yes, you heard me right! Imagine going to bed and sensing movement underneath the bedcovers. Suddenly you're wide awake fighting off a spider-like creature with an oversized cherubic baby's head. As if that's not terrifying enough, it's creeping up your legs trying to burrow itself inside you, EEK!

I really enjoyed this book, the second in the series featuring DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel. It was such a fun read with likeable characters. Yes, it was gory and definitely not for the fainthearted but those of us who've grown up reading twisted 1980s horror will love it.

Set in multi-cultural London, it contained a fair amount of British humour which lightened the mood — there were moments when I literally couldn't stop laughing at the sheer craziness! It was outrageously entertaining and I do hope a third book is in the pipeline.

Breathtakingly amazing as ever, I am a huge fan of Graham Masterton and this reminded me why. The plot, on the surface of it, is completely bonkers, a long since dead witch, strange deformed children, the supernatural, an old guy in tweed and that’s just for starters but somehow Graham makes absolutely implausible terrors seem completely possible and I found myself holding my breath and physically recoiling over and over again. He incredibly cleverly captured the weird alien feelings you have whilst pregnant and turned this into the worst possible nightmare, I’m actually really glad I’m not pregnant whilst reading this!! A deeply satisfying adrenaline ride and lots to think about, thank you very much.

There is way too much going on in this book. I found it challenging to keep track of all the plot lines and characters. There is gore. Lots of gore. Oh so much gore. Maybe a. bit more than in his other books but if you are a fan of his it may not bother you. I had a hard time with this story. I didn't dislike it....it just got lost on me due to the confusing complexity. Again, if you are a Masterton fan you will enjoy this I think. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

From the detectives that solved Ghost Virus, we get a trip into the sewers of South London and a ghost story of sorts, with some occult thrown in for good measure. A much better read than Ghost Virus, and some of the attrocities that should not have been born reminded me of a scene from Hellraiser 2 (and James Herbert's Others too), although here there is less reliance on the abnormality and more on the occult connection.
Some good characterisation and interaction with a twist at the end, well worth reading,

I have no idea how to review this. This book is crazy, and terrifying, and gory, and weird and I didn't like it, but I couldn't stop reading it.. I think if I was a true horror fan I would love it. Everyone else: proceed with caution!

There is a lot going on in this book. Mysterious pregnancies, murderous mutant fetuses, deformed children skulking through sewers clogged with body parts. I think this is the craziest story I have read in quite some time, but I don't mean that in a bad way. Oh and there's a witch, lets not forget the witch. There are characters in this book from a previous novel "Ghost Virus" which I believe I described as gruesome gore fest of a story but you don't need to have read that to get onto the wild ride of The Children God Forgot. I am pretty good with handling gore but the graphic descriptions of what went on in the sewer had me holding my breath and trying not to suffocate.

This is what I’m talking about!! My kind of horror book - great concept, solid writing, no plot holes, no loose ends, just the right amount of gore, supernatural elements, interesting characters, and lots of delightful weirdness!

Ghost Virus was my first Masterton book and I really liked it but this one I loved! The story was just so absorbing and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I can’t wait to read more of Masterton’s work. I’m definitely a fan!

Thank you to Graham Masterton, Head of Zeus, and #NetGallery for an eARC of #TheChildrenGodForgot in return for an honest review. Review will be posted on NetGallery, Goodreads, Instagram, and Facebook.

Quite possibly the strangest book I’ve read in a long time. I’ve read a few of the Kate Maguire books which I enjoyed and though this was clearly something different I was prepared with an open mind but it was too much for my comfort zone right now,

Crazy paranormal tentacled babies mid pandemic ...

Well written with a huge target market who will lapse this madness up. I fully expect a Netflix series of the two detectives with a bit of the old series ‘Fringe’ it’s that kind of wild.

3 out of 5 though if imagine very much a 5/5 for fans of out of this world horror with a crime procedural twist

Unfortunately, not my kind of book.. I read it to the end because Netgalley and Head of Zeus had kindly given me a free copy. I am sure that for lovers of dark, gory and violent horror it was an excellent read but not for me. I did not like the violence towards women and girls. In its favour it was well written. I have given it 2 stars because I appreciate that others would like it..

Wow loved this. The children God forgot by Graham Masterton is only the second book from the author I have read, and I am a fan already.
A woman with stabbing pains arrives at the hospital barely breathing when she is given a C-section. The women have not had sex for a long time, so she wonders how this happened. But the foetus that is delivered is horrifically malformed. But it still lives. When the nurse takes a short break, the foetus has disappeared only hours later another woman comes in who had a abortion only to find out that there is a baby inside which is identical to the one previous.
This book is a weird, terrifying book but got hooked from the first page. I have not read anything like this before but enjoyed it not only for its uniqueness but its originality. This has everything you want a gripping book, but also a horror book which is also part police procedural too. Loved it five stars from me.

"How much worse could her life become, if she wasn’t even allowed to die?"

This has to be one of the weirdest (if not the weirdest) books I've read in 2020... but I'm not complaining! The Children God Forgot follows a set of disturbing incidents of mysterious pregnancies and disappearances.

I'm not going to lie, this book took me a little bit until I was fully "into it". But I think the changing perspectives really keeps the pace moving, and some of the body horror made me cringe while reading it. The horror itself was great, the last time I've revisited the sewer setting in a horror novel was It by Stephen King, and these ones are just as creepy!

I definitely wouldn't say this is a book for everyone, but it will really appeal to the certain few who ready to read something all out bloody and suspenseful.

Graham Masterton is becoming a firm favourite of mine in the world of horror. His books are so different and I often wonder how his mind works! I love the story and idea surrounding the novel. This is another dark, well written and spooky tale that kept me up well past my bed time.

I’ve read my fair share if horror/Supernatural novel but The Children God Forgot by Graham Masterton is by far the most horrifying and disturbing one I’ve ever read. With most book the reader has time to easy into a story, to get the lay of the land so to speak. Not this time.

The first chapter is practically like a punch in the face. You have no time to acclimate, you have no time to recover. The story goes on and on and it gets darker and darker and more horrifying and you feel like you’re on a carousel and you feel bile in your throat - at least I always do, I hate carousels - but I kept on reading because I just couldn’t stop. THe more I read the more horrified I felt but still I kept reading.

I love books like this: horror and fantasy mixed with just enough reality so you keep asking yourself just what is going on, is this real…I haven’t read the first book in the series but I’m sure going to.

The two main characters DS Patel and DC Pardoe are your everyday police officers who are doing their very best to figure out what is going on.

What is going on, you ask? Women are giving birth to seriously malformed children. Children who shouldn’t be even alive.
A man goes missing in a sewer under London just to turn up days later seriously mutilated but alive. Before he goes missing, he and his employees are plunged into darkness and they see shadows of children illuminated by luminescent green light.
And to top it all, there is a woman. A woman made of smoke who protects these children. But who is she?

Well wow…just wow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for my copy.

Graham Masterton is the Master of gore and The Children God Forgot, is no exception, it is not a book for the faint hearted, as it is graphically gory and deals with the subject of abortions, terminations and deformed fetuses,, and I feel to really enjoy this novel you have to have suspensions of disbelief and just go with it, in fact it is so out there it is good. In parts the dialogue is laughable, like something out of a bad 70s tv script but ignore that and go along for the ride. It is a bit of a sequel to Ghost Virus as it has DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting police involved again, but you do not have to read the first book to enjoy this one.