The Munstrumologist

                                                  mun-strum-ol-o-gy, n.
                1. The study of life forms generally
               malevolent to humans and not recognized
              by science as actual organisms, specifically
             those considered products of myth or folklore.

                2.The act of hunting such creatures.  

"The Munstrumologist" by Rick Yancey is probably the most gruesome book I have ever read. I do not exaggerate when I say that it is fantastic.
          Anthropophagi:  Headless beats with mouths in the center of their abdomen, eyes on each of their shoulder blades  and a nearly insatiable thirst for human flesh.  Doctor Warthrop: One of the foremost experts on Munstrumology and the habits of such ferocious beasts, a man with an ego bigger than most planets. The Situation?: An infestation of man-eating beasts in a small New England town in the late 1800s. Jack Kearns:  The man that's brought in to kill them. Will Henry:  The twelve year-old boy that's forced to bear witness to it all.  Someone has created a river of blood and a path of destruction, bringing dangerous beasts into this town.  Blinded by pride, it's impossible to see.  And that can have deadly consequences.

Warning:  If you are squeamish, do not read this book.  If you have an aversion to graphic descriptions, mostly involving decapitations or bugs eating people alive, do not read this book.  If you do not like the possibility that there might be monsters underneath your bed at night, do not read this book.  But, if you relish those things, then, by all means.  Please, I beg you.  Read away.
         The book is told from Will Henry's point of view, looking back on past events.  At least, that's what it's supposed to be, but it reads like your average first-person past-tense novel.  But, because he's telling you, though, and you're not supposed to be submerged within the situation to the extent that you're supposed to be in other first-person scenarios, when something is hidden from you it doesn't feel like a glaring omission. Will Henry, though, is portrayed as a twelve-year-old boy very well.  You never get the illusion that he's older than his said age, nor do you get the illusion that he's younger, which is a very difficult balance to come by, especially when an adult is writing.
         The doctor is an enigmatic figure. Will Henry feels a very strong loyalty to him, though you can't really understand why because the doctor is not the sort of fellow that you'd want to live with.  The author tries to make it clear that Will Henry has a very strong bond with the doctor by telling you repeatedly, but you only really begin to see the connection near the end of the book.
        Jack Kearns is also a conceited character.  He's the stereotypical 'rouge' character, riding up on his metaphorical white horse, concerned about his appearance, expecting people to bow down to him as he proceeds to save the day, and making witticisms that are amusing to the reader but annoying to the people he's interacting  This character, though, has fewer morals than the Grim Reaper himself (or herself).  There is also a very strange connection from this character to another historical 'legend' that appears at the end of the book.  I don't get it, and I hope that it the author follows up on it in one of the sequels.
       The plot of this book is fairly straightforward.  There aren't very many twists and turns that you can't see coming, but that's okay. Not every book has to be a work of a crazy physiologist (thought, don't we wish that was the case).  In this case, the less elaborate plot--don't get me wrong, it's plenty complicated, but it isn't "Ender's Game" thought-provoking--is preferable, leaving us to focus on what really matters.  Namely, the blood and the guts.
       The language can be a bit troublesome at times.  There are hardly any curse words in it, as far as I can remember, it's just the vocabulary.  It's written in period-vernacular, not exactly old English, but it doesn't dumb anything down.  Which is nice, but sometimes things can get lost among all the pretty words.  Yet another reason not to make the plot so complicated.  And, if you miss something, you can usually pick it up a bit on, because everything has to be reiterated (no one wants to accept things the first time around).
       This book has a fantastic last line, though.  "Yes, my dear child, monsters are real.  I happen to have one hanging in my basement."  I love that line. It's so weird and creepy and gives you such a good picture of what the rest of the book is like.  Should I stop gushing right now?
       I couldn't find the second book, "The Curse of the Wendigo" in the library when I looked for it, but I will be looking for that.  The third book, "Isle of Blood" I believe, was at the library, but there's no point in reading the third book when you haven't read the second. Oh, and, today, (because I know you care so much) I found a tree leaking a strange orange substance in my backyard and I went up and touched it.  So, now I'm terrified that little white worms, no bigger than a hair, will eat me alive.  And I leave you now with that pleasant thought.

http://www.rickyancey.com/monstrumologist/index.php  For some weird reason, this site does not have anything on "Isle of Blood," which results in the fact that I don't really know what the book's called, I'm just hazarding a guess based off of what's in the authors bio.