Monstrumologist

Monstrumology: (noun) The study of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specificallly those considered products of myth and folklore. (verb) the act of hunting such creatures. Like his father before him, Pellinore Warthrop is a monstrumologist and Will Henry, his 12-year old ward, is his assistant apprentice. Will Henry tells the story through his diaries which come to light when he dies--apparently at the age of 131--an indigent in a small New England town. Will Henry's father had served Dr. Warthrop as assistant in his travels to far reaches and his investigations into strange creatures. So when both parents die in a fire, Will Henry is orphaned and now serves the monstrumologist in turn. Set in the late 1800's, the book is gory--there are indeed man-eating monsters and they have apparently infested the cemetery of the town in which the story is set, which in Will's diaries is known by the pseudonym of New Jerusalem. Is it just coincidence that these monsters have shown up in the same town where one of the world's eminent monstrumologists lives?? Probably not. The story is based on the first 3 folios of 7 diaries, so you can count on a sequel or two if you like this. The author, Rick Yancey, cunningly only claims editorship of the book.