Darwin's Diaries 2: Death of a Beast review

You may recall that we reviewed the first volume of this Cinebook series here.
Part 2 picks off almost immediately where the first one ended, dropping the reader right into the aftermath of the incredible events that were the climax of Part 1.
We follow Darwin as he continues to investigate the mysterious beast that is hunting in the Yorkshire countryside.
And in that investigation you will get shocks aplenty in Sylvain Runberg's script. There is a lot of blood shed during the course of this volume, including one particularly powerful and memorable scene with a couple of unfortunate fellows on horseback.
I should mention the art by Eduardo Ocana here. It is, if anything, even better than it was in volume one. There are a few sections in there that are silent which really help the reader slow down and drink in the enormous detail and subtle colour in the book.
Ocana also excels in one particular scene, but one which I cannot talk about too much for fear of spoilers. But I will say that his creature design is genuinely the stuff of nightmares.
You’ll also remember me hinting at some surprising behaviour from Charles Darwin in the first book. Well, he’s at it again here, but this time we get more of a hint as to why he’s doing it, and along the way get one of the best cliff-hanger endings I have encountered in a long time.

Darwin's Diaries Vol1-The Eye of the Celts review

Well, I think we can safely say with no fear of contradiction that this book was almost totally the opposite of what I was expecting it to be.
It’s about Darwin, I figured, so Cinebook will give us an entertaining and informative biography of the great man. Maybe show us him travelling the world and looking at finches and tortoises and the like.
Boy was I ever wrong!
This is (I assume!) an alternate history of Darwin.
We join him a short time after the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species…’ just as he is met by a mysterious chap who asks for his scientific help on something extraordinary.
It seems that a strange creature is killing of the men who are building the railroad lines in XX, and would Darwin, with all his expertise on evolution, investigate?
This book is an eye opener on almost every level.
First off is the story, which is visceral and violent and full of intrigue.
I was thinking while reading that this was not going to be a monster tale, and that Darwin was going to figure out some kind of ‘real life’ explanation of what is happening, but this doesn't come. In fact no explanation does, as the book ends on an infuriating (in a good way) cliff-hanger.

Another eye popping plot element is the behaviour of Darwin himself. If you have read this book, then you’ll know what I mean here, if not, well… hold onto you hat! This is not the old man with the big white beard we always see him depicted as.
I have mentioned the story already, and it is great stuff. The plot and script, by Sylvian Runberg unfolds nicely as mystery is laid on mystery, leaving the reader gagging for more.
Eduardo Ocana on art duties is also at the top of his game, providing as he does magnificently atmospheric colours and manages to pull of a remarkable trick of depicting some very violent scenes without the reader seeing what is causing them.

All in all, this is straight out of left field and all the better for it. I can’t wait for volume two!