The Secret of Anatomy

by Mark Morris

1st HarperCollins 1996 edition paperback fine book In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Horror

450 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Mika Lietzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A message in a bottle floats its way to David, a troubled family man who stumbles upon it on a beach. The note, written by a kid long ago about how his dad's going to kill him, prompts David's sorry self into action and soon he's uncovering the secret behind the cryptic blast from the past. Little does he know that he himself is being tracked by a secret organisation who want nothing more than to get their hands on the bottle. Because you see, the note is unimportant, but the bottle is magic.

It's all a bit convoluted, but if Clive Barker had a carpet in Weaveworld then a bottle will do. The organisation is called the Flux, and basically they are people who have superpowers. Every individual has different strengths, for example, Violet the old lady can turn immaterial, Willie the Scot can stop time and Worthington the bad guy can turn into a many-mouthed monster that will devour anything and anyone. Apparently they are all at the beck and call of an oracle, an incorporeal entity, possibly a god or a demon, that possesses little kids as mouthpieces and regularly requires fresh bodies to do so.

Morris' fourth novel is a mix of horror and fantasy, perhaps set somewhere between Ramsey Campbell and Clive Barker, with an invisible war going on between the Flux and the Schism, a reformed offshoot of the former. The marketing folks at HarperCollins wisely plugged into Clive Barker's popularity with this one, both the curious title and the ill-fitting paperback cover conjuring up more associations with Barker than some of Barker's own works. The blurb from Barker on the cover probably also helps.

And it's a nice dark adventure poor David stumbles on here. David is a refreshingly different take on a protagonist, a video editor (there's a 90s profession for you) whose biggest problem so far seems to be general lebensangst. The other characters also feel solid enough, with even a obsessed Doctor Who fan in the cast. Going forward, however, it becomes clear that Morris isn't an imaginative powerhouse like Barker. Mostly the action just comes and goes and David's role always seems to be to grasp at the bottle, thereby producing supernatural beams of light that somehow save the day. But then the origin of the bottle is basically explained as an act of God. When the ball drops, it drops hard.

But what's good is good. The writing is sharp, and the plot flows well for the duration of a 600-page novel. The slightly drab britishness of it all is also as welcome as ever, a good atmosphere enveloping the novel like an English fog. The escalation in the last quarter is a nice detail, pushing the novel from a provincial adventure towards a a global epic, perhaps not quite making it but at least one cannot blame the novel for not trying.

[Dreadlocksmile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having heard about the author Mark Morris through the incredibaly talented Clive Barker, I was indeed intrigued. Following his recommendation, I bought myself a copy of The Secret of Anatomy and dived straight in. Morris has found himself a happy medium between a Hutson novel, a Barker novel and maybe even a hint of Herbert. After the first hundred pages or so, I got completly absorbed into the novel, reluctant to put it down even for a minute. A plot carefully taken from ideas in movies such as Assult on Precint 13 and Dawn Of The Dead with a definite Clive Barker fantasy/horror style, this novel held me gripped from the beginning. There is an underlying climax to the stoyline, which steadily builds throughout the novel, as the reader braces themself for the dramatic ending....and then alas, Mr. Morris fails us in the final 20 pages! I feel as cheated (controversally so) as when I read Shrine by James Herbert. Mark, what were you thinking? This could have been an epic novel, worthy of holding up against some of the best horror/fantasy novels out there! What a disapointment. But then, up until then the novel was great, so I decided to give it four stars. If only young Mark hadn't finished it in such a cop out of a way. I will still rate Mr. Morris rather highly regardless of the ending, and I recommend giving this a read, but be warned...we are talking about a somewhat poor ending here!

[Gooddeeds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book with great descriptions - of moods, the supernatural and the violence - the attack by the cat girl was like one of my recurring dreams!

The obsessive Dr Who fan made me laugh, the accurate descriptions of his books was great; shame he was (as usual) a weirdo stereotype.

The line about the shop floorplan was weird "The second floor (which was actually labelled one on the floor plan they came across, and the one below that labelled Ground)."
Well of course it was! that's what they are always labelled in the UK, because that's what they call them...

Donated to South Shields BHF Shop.

[Daniel Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

First outing with Morris and was initially, and for the most part, very impressed. While the plot and elements of the story are nothing new when you break them into their constituent elements, the author keep enough mystery on the page, and creates such a vibrant range of characters and mysticism that the pages keep turning. And turn they did! I love it when a book of this size whips through and you feel like you've read a novella...

A few things stopped this from being an all time favourite. For one, Morris creates one of the most memorable and effective villains that I've had the pleasure to read for a good while. Therefore, it's unfortunate that he is dispatched about half way through the book. The result is that the antagonists become somewhat faceless after losing their figurehead. The head of the Flux was never presented as overly threatening, smart, or even competent, so the stakes feel somewhat diminished. And speaking of villains, one character appears to have a subplot of her own that goes nowhere really. I thought we had been fooled, and that she had made a reappearance at the end, but...no? Very confusing (without spoilers, hard to explain. Erm...if you had a character who could make anyone ill, and later on a character became suddenly ill, you would attribute it to the villainous character, rather than a random illness. Know what I mean?).

It's the last quarter of the book that take the edge off. A small band of characters goes out on the big bad final mission, and I had no idea what they were doing. Yes, this was fast-paced, full of action and horror, and showcased a few powers we hadn't yet witnessed... But the group muddle through one encounter after another, and it doesn't add a thing. The story loses its focus here. While the ending somewhat makes up for it (again though, the head of the antagonists is barely an after thought), I felt that an editor should have been a bit firmer and shaved off a good few scenes!

I'm picky. I did really enjoy this though, and as I say, for a 600 page or so book, it rips along.

[Kelly Grice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great start to the book, where a man finds a bottle on a beach. Inside is a letter from a boy stating that his father was going to kill him. Address was attached along with the year 1954. Obviously the man begins digging into old newspaper archives to see if the boy was murdered. He's also approached by an old lady in the street whose eager to buy the bottle at any cost.
All sounds intriguing right? There are two groups vying to get their hands on the bottle. Ones the good group and ones the bad guys. The main bad guy/ shape shifter is not only horrid to look at but a psychopath too. Unfortunately he dies midway through and the book from then on becomes lame and falls apart. The last two hundred pages felt like a headless chicken had written it.

[Cally Rivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fantastic read let down by a sub par third act.

[Nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

An author I knew nothing about until I found this book at a local boot sale, Yes twas only 50p but the cover drew me in (Totally different cover than the one shown) and it's synopsis convinced me to part with the cash.

It's a pretty hefty paperback and it took me more than a few days to finish it but it was Pretty Good.

"An apocalyptic journey into dark and forbidden territory" (Clive Barker)

Whilst walking on the beach debating what to do with himself and the mid life crisis he is suffering, David Fox finds a bottle with a message inside. The message appears to have been written in 1953 by a boy called John who says his father is trying to kill him so now David feels compelled to find out what happened all those years ago but the truth, when he finds it, is more bizarre and horrific than he could ever have imagined.

Don't be afraid to give this one a bash, it's not the greatest but it's far from the worst and I thoroughly enjoyed it.