Hellboy: The All-Seeing Eye

Hellboy Novels #8

by Mark Morris

Hellboy has his hands full. While the supernatural is on a rampage in London, a series of brutal "Torso Murders" turns up at various sites around the city. All of the corpses are headless, limbless, and drained of their blood. Called in to investigate the killings, B.P.R.D. agents Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman discover a wellspring of black magic under the London streets. They also find a sack of heads. Hellboy descends into the dark underworld of London, encountering demons who prophesy the coming of plague and the opening of an eye to the otherworld, bringing forth death and destruction upon the land.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Comics, Urban Fantasy, Comic Book, Graphic Novels, Paranormal

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.

His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.

His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy comes to England, London most specific. There are some ritual killing and a shedload of supernatural happenings. If it weren't for paparazzi and bobbies thinking they are doing their job HB would get his job done.
The B. P.. R. D. Have send their A team, with Liz and Abe Sapien to assist their great red friend. They will have to save the world starting with London.
This book and not a comic, is perhaps fun as it delves deaper into the universe Mignola has created, these books actually delve deeper into the thoughts and characters of the main characters including Hellboy.
They are fun and a quick and easy read.

[Latasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️ I LOVED THIS BOOK! ❤️

BPRD is sent to London to assist and investigate a series of murders where the only thing left is a torso. And of course, it gets a lot weirder than that.
I listened to the audio book which is read by Wayne Mitchell. Omg he did such a fantastic job! Liz’s voice was kinda rough but I can overlook that. The characters are those that I love so much. The story is action packed and interesting. It kept my attention the whole time. I loved the further development of Liz, Abe and Hellboy. And Hellboy is freakin hilarious. He’s a fellow Capricorn, you know. ☺️ I would definitely listen to more by this author as well as the narrator.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Hellboy novel. There are pros and cons to the Hellboy novels, at least in general. Most of the novels seem similar. A big plot to destroy the world for some reason, Hellboy fights monsters and foils plot. However, that's also a big plus, because Hellboy is awesome in those types of stories.

There's nothing incredibly original in this one, but there doesn't have to be as it's still a really good read. Abe and Liz are there for back up, and plenty of monsters pop up as well. Hellboy has to stop a cult from unleashing Hell on Earth, and things (and people) aren't always what they appear to be.

If you like Hellboy and/or any of the other Hellboy novels, you should enjoy this one.

[Blake Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was the tenth book in the series. I picked it up on a Chirp audio book deal. I loved this story. The voice actor was also incredible. Not only was his Hellboy really good, but it was so different from his other voices. He did women really well along with differing accents. I hope he does more of these because I intend to go back and read or listen to all of them.

[Chris Vest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah what a dark ride! Absolutely loved it!

[Allyson Fowler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not super familiar with the Hellboy comic canon, so I was fine with the characterization. Some of the banter felt forced, but I enjoyed a lot of the scenes with Hellboy, Abe, and Liz. I also really liked the few scenes we got with Hellboy and Cassie.

The descriptions could go on tangents and get away from themselves, especially when pacing hiccuped. My eyes had a hard time not simply skimming whole paragraphs; I had to force myself to go back and re-read paragraphs. Some of the descriptions were really great, though.

I also feel the skeezy reporter character, Proctor, was unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, I found him interesting, but I just didn't find him necessary to the overall story. Like, I'm sitting here, thinking if he had a huge effect on the story, and I really don't believe he did.

I also felt the "muti murder magic" was racist, given its origin in African society and the slapped-on African bad guys who don't get any names and only show up briefly, because the actual bad guy is the white man anthropologist who studied muti and offered his services to Hellboy and crew upon their arrival into London (saw this plot point coming as soon as he was introduced, tbh...).

If I find any other Hellboy novels for cheap, I may give them a try. But this one was eh.

[Richard Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is great fun if you're already a fan of Hellboy comics or movies, and this is a decent representation of the books. It has some specific flaws that I've decided not to point out because it was generally a pleasure to pick up and read each time I looked at my stack of books, and that's what matters here.

Books like this, IMO, are supposed to extend the fun for the reader, giving them more time with the characters they met in other media, and the regular standards for standalone novels don't really apply. Hellboy and Liz and Abe Sapien are tracking down some dangerous supernatural killers, and they get to fight and chase some real baddies. Hellboy gets hit and gets to hit back; they find secret spaces; they encounter terrifying villains; the citizens are in danger and need their help.

There ya go. That's all a Hellboy novel needs.

Good pulp action. Recommended for readers who appreciate that sort of thing.

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the series of Hellboy prose novels and this one, written by renowned horror author Mark Morris, is no exception. There's a big bad in London releasing all sorts of supernatural mayhem and it's up to HB, Abe and Liz to try and stop it. Mark's story moves along at a fair clip and there's some cool set pieces and monster action to be found. His prose is fantastic as usual and his portrayal of our three main heroes is excellent. Only reason it isn't four stars is the lack of a compelling bad guy, although I do understand the reason for this from a plot point of view. I would have also like to have seen a bit more of the sleazy journalist character as well. All in all this is a fun, fast paced Hellboy adventure and if you're a fan of the big red guy with the stone hand you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not picking it up.

[Nona · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing and the plot would normally have gotten a passable but unexciting three stars from me, but tired sexist tropes knock it down to two stars, and a callback to a real life horror that also points a finger at immigrants knocks it down to one. The latter is egregious for its racist undertones, its disrespect to real victims, and its disrespect to the spirit of Hellboy. Mike Mignola would never dream of pulling such a stunt.

[Joe Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Hellboy novels to date. It has all the hallmarks of a good HB story. Deep lore; mystery, horror, great attention to other members of the BPRD, and a small but unexpected twist that felt earned. Morris doesn't reinvent the wheel with this one, but he stays true to who the characters are and seems to take his time with building the setting and the smaller parts. As I work my way through these novels, this is definitely one I would recommend.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fully dramatized Hellboy novel puts everyone’s favorite sort-of-demonic hero up against a cult trying to bring a genuine demon to earth. My favorite part of the story came at the end when Hellboy told the cult just how stupid they were being—not that he expects them to listen.

Overall, it’s a very exciting story from beginning to end as Hellboy and friends strive to keep the city of London from becoming demon food. It’s action packed and generates a lot of emotion.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite of the Hellboy novels. I am not quite sure what didn't do it for me. It kept some of the sense of humor and references thatI expect from stories in the Hellboy universe, but didn't seem to gel into a good story. Maybe I will come back an edit this "less than helpful" review when I can put my finger on it. Well... onto the next book.

[Joel]

Took me forever to finish, but not the fault of the book. My first Hellboy novel and it was fun. More gory than expected, though that didn't turn me off, but my experience is with the Ron Perlman movies, not the original comics. Fun supernatural elements. I don't have any more Hellboy novels, but would certainly read another if it crossed my path.

[David Gurzynski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff!

Good solid escapist fiction. Just what the doctor ordered. I'll have to try some of the others in the series.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well crafted and entertaining Hellboy yarn. Things get punched! Things get shot! Evil takes multiple punches to the face and has its feeling hurt!

[Matthew Jording · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great characterization and decent story, enjoyable demon romp.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love hellboy novels and find great enjoyment listening or reading them but this one didn't live up to the standard of the other ones.

[Graham Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Bad ending that makes me wonder if the writer had no idea how to end the story right!

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, what you want from a Hellboy story.

[Damon · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are pretty much all the same. I don't expect a lot from a book like this - someone writing about someone else's characters - but I do expect that they will use those characters correctly, which isn't really the case here. Maybe the waters have been muddied a bit too much by all the Hellboy stuff out there - the movies, the cartoons, etc. - but it just bugs me that this guy puts Abe in the book, but makes him like a different Abe. The best thing about Abe in the Hellboy comics was always that the fact that he was a fishman had very little bearing on what he did as an agent. Sure, he went in the water sometimes, but mostly he was just a regular dude. In this book, though, he's this mellow studious guy who loves to do research and somehow events are orchestrated that he gets to swim around a lot.
Also, there's some bad editing, and also I think some bad physics, though I might have to do some research of my own to confirm that.
Anyway, this was not a bad book - a decent summer read. Nothing original or even terribly interesting, but it passed the time, and I'll read the next one.

[Tamara✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE HELLBOY A LOT. I AM A SUCKER FOR HELLBOY RELATED ANYTHING!!!! Hellboy comics were probably my gateway drug to get me into reading more 'gothic' literature and the like.

This book totally felt like a Hellboy comic but in novel form!!! Which is exactly what I want because at the end of the day, these books are no different to FanFic that people write online. Except that it is published by Dark Horse. Which means someone got paid to do this. WHICH MEANS IT BETTER BE GOOD.

I especially love that they didn't follow the route of the movies in trying to make Liz and Hellboy a 'thing'. That really irked me in the movies. And even though it never became a thing in the comics, I was hoping it wouldn't be a thing in the novels either!! I mean, you never know ok. It's a different medium after all!!!!!!! But luckily it wasn't. The trio were as true to the comics as I felt they could be.

Totally worth reading if you're a Hellboy/BPRD dweeb like myself. Or have always been interested in the comics but never picked them up. The novels are always a fun place to start!

https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress....

[Rachel Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit, I have a weakness for Hellboy books, cannon or not. I absolutely love the world BPRD exists in and all the novelizations and collection of short stories are written by people who understand Hellboy. Morris is no exception to this and I am very grateful to him for getting the important elements right.

This book is very well written and engaging. It actually took me away from my own world and left me feeling energized. The characters are intelligent, even the bad guys (which I love). The events are interesting and flow into each other so that, at no point did I feel like I missed anything. At the same time, though, the plot twist was still surprising!

I am happy to have this book in my collection and find it to be more encouragement to continue reading novelizations of Hellboy. If you're interested at all in supernatural mysteries, action, witty dialogue, or comic book heroes, I highly recommend Hellboy: The All-Seeing Eye.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cue the scary music! Something horrible has happened in Finsbury Park and Hellboy and his assistants are called upon to deal with it. Action packed and featuring the walking dead, brutal murders, the press, one really annoying photographer and a touch of romance, this story is more a fun read than a true horror tale. Perhaps I’m jaded but a story that starts with the cliché of a boy hitting on a girl just before the terrifying creature shows up isn’t going to impress me much.

That said, I liked Hellboy himself and his teammates. Their well-written camaraderie, able dialogue and finely delineated characters are what make this story worth reading. You can ignore the rest.

[Scott Firestone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good. Maybe it's not fair to compare the novels to the comics, but Hellboy fights crazy stuff all the time in the comics. In the novel, he has a couple of small encounters, but it seems he spent most of his time just running around London. The ending was kinda lame and unexciting. Spoiler: Hellboy uses his Big Damn Fist (tm) to save the day.

Anyway, I was looking for mentally light fare, and this fit the bill. But I didn't really enjoy it.

[Haaley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book before and really enjoyed reading it a second time. The 'movie' playing in my mind actually imagined things a little bit differently the second time around. I think that it is good when a book can still hold you after you've read it. This book should be made into a movie- Personally I would choose an animated one like Blood and Iron.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

More B.P.R.D. than the last one I read, and more grisly murders, too. Still a thrilling read - though I wouldn't use "fun" to describe much of what I was having, especially towards the end bit. Compelling, certainly, and true to the spirits of Hellboy, Liz, and Abe with some solidly decent side characters that make the action move and deepen your feelings about the situation(s) at hand.

[Peter Bosson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes it's better to skip the quarter bin at the library. Not that this is a bad book, it's just not particularly entertaining nor does it add anything to the Hellboy mythology. It has a couple good battles and character moments but that mostly amounts to about one comic book worth of material stretched into a 300 page book.

[Paul Papa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, but there is an encounter with Hellboy and a supernatural being in the beginning of the book that doesn't get resolved. It still bothers me. However,the story is well-written and definately worth reading--assuming, of course, you are a fan of Hellboy.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly good Hellboy adventure. Set in London, the BPRD team seemed to adapt well to the surroundings, and the writng was quite good. A really excellent surprise!

[Danlikesbeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I've liked other Hellboy prose books better. Think I may just be having Hellboy burnout at the moment. Will switch gears for a while before reading 'The God Machine'.