'The Dirty Streets of Heaven' - Tad Williams (DAW/Hodder & Stoughton)

I ought to kick things off by saying that I'm a big fan of Tad Williams' work and have been ever since I first read 'The Dragonbone Chair' way back in nineteen eighty wheneveritwas. There are still a couple of books, of his, that I need to read but that won't stop me being first in line when the next one comes out (yes, even if it was a collection of Tad's 'to do' lists, I clearly need help).

So a new book, from Tad, is a huge deal for me then; especially since he seems to be the kind of guy who keeps things fresh by writing in a slightly different genre each time. This time round we're looking at urban fantasy with 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven'; a departure from the high fantasy of the 'Shadowmarch' series but a sub-genre that Williams has visited before in 'The War of the Flowers'. I thoroughly enjoyed that book (you ought to check it out if you haven't already) so was hoping for more of the same here.
While it wasn't the same book (and how could it be?), 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven' did more than enough to convince me that Tad Williams can pretty much take whatever genre he wants and make it his own. It's one hell of a read (pun possibly intended) and a  book that I think any fan of Urban Fantasy will get a lot out of.

Bobby Dollar is an angel, one of many tasked with advocacy for the souls caught between Heaven and Hell. It's not a great job but it does leave Bobby time for drinking, at his favourite hangout, as well as pondering the kind of questions about heaven that no angel should really be thinking. There are a whole load of other questions headed Bobby's way though, questions that Bobby really needs to answer if he wants to keep his head firmly attached to his shoulders. Why are the souls of the recently departed suddenly disappearing without trace? Just what is it that everyone thinks Bobby is carrying and why are they prepared to kill for it. And just what is the Countess of Cold Hands up to in all of this? If Bobby ever wants to enjoy a quiet drink again he needs answers and fast.

If you'd mentioned angels and Urban Fantasy to me, just a few weeks ago, I've got to say that I would probably have rolled my eyes and said something about the need for a 'next big thing' now that 'Twilight' was all over and done with. Lou Morgan has already proved me wrong with 'Blood and Feathers' and now it is Tad Williams' turn to prove me wrong (again) with 'Dirty Streets'. Urban Fantasy doesn't just have to be about improbable relationships between humans and vampires; it can be as mean and nasty as the streets that it's set against. That's very much the case here.

Having said that though, you don't get to see an awful lot of these streets, not the heavenly ones anyway. There's an awful lot of 'you wouldn't get it so I'm not going to explain it to you, that's just the way heaven is' that leaves a large chunk of the book feeling very vague and just a little flimsy (like if you blew on it then it would fall down). Not great then if you like your worldbuilding and a book with solid foundations. This is a deliberate move though and when you think about why this could be then it does start to make some sense here (especially as there are two more books where any questions will more likely be answered).

The bottom line for me is that 'Dirty Streets' is all about the story, not drawing people's attention to the background scenery. How much do we really need to know about that anyway? It's not like we don't already know that Heaven is lovely and Hell is pretty grim (and Dollar does make that much clear if nothing else). Strip the unnecessary background away and there’s a lot more room for the story to breathe and generally do its thing. It’s a move that really pays off as Tad fills the book with all the intrigue, double crossing, back stabbing and relentless investigation that you would expect to find in a detective novel. There’s plenty room for the action as well with Dollar going up against not only his counterparts, from the ‘opposition’ and closer to home, but an ancient Sumerian demon that absolutely will not stop until he is dead (just like the Terminator but much uglier and does a lot more damage to cars). There are some great sequences in this vein and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tad was writing ‘Dirty Streets’ with one eye on a TV show being made (at the very least).

The air of vagueness, around the plot, also serves to highlight perhaps the most important thing of all in terms of keeping the story running. As a detective of sorts, Dollar doesn’t have a clue what he is doing or what is happening to him. In noir fiction  none of the best detectives know what’s going on, stuff just happens to them until it all falls into place right at the end. That’s exactly what happens to Bobby Dollar (caught up in something that he never saw coming) and his attempts to make sense of it all, and stay alive, are what makes the plot move in the way it does. Full of surprises, bullets and an ending that I wasn’t prepared for. Some of the ways that Dollar gets out of trouble are a little bit ‘convenient’, to say the least, but it’s all so entertaining (and fraught with all the right stuff) that I didn’t care too much.

The love interest is in the best traditions of detective noir as well, although Philip Marlowe never got it on with the dames quite like that I have to say. I don’t think there’s anything, in those passages, which you wouldn’t find in any other adult Urban Fantasy novel though. The main thing is that it works. A sultry dame ready to screw Dollar over but hurting the whole time she does it; you can’t get a lot more noir than that and I’m hoping for more from the Countess of Cold Hands over the next two books.

‘The Dirty Streets of Heaven’ is a book that makes the lack of background really work for it; giving the reader a novel that storms along with plenty to get your teeth into. After walking these dirty streets I’m definitely up for walking them a bit more; just need to wait for the next book to arrive…

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘The Dead of Winter’ – Lee Collins (Angry Robot)

It was a bit of a fight (what with other stuff happening, like Hope wanting me to play ‘Daleks’ all the time…) but I managed to read ‘The Dead of Winter’ in time for a review this week. Go me :o) To be honest, it wasn’t long after I started reading that I knew I’d be jealously guarding every spare minute I had just to get a few more pages read. That approach, and at least one late night, did the trick. For the first time in a long while I’ve actually finished a book that I promised I’d read, it’s a good feeling.

I’ve been going on about getting out of a ‘reading rut’ and ‘The Dead of Winter’ seemed like a good place to do just that. The concept is well worn but the setting intrigued me enough to pick the book up and give it a go. What the book did after that kept me reading until I was done. ‘The Dead of Winter’ isn’t a perfect read by any means but it did more than enough to have me looking forward to the sequel, ‘She Returns From War’, whenever that it is published.

Cora Oglesby and her husband, Ben, hunt a different kind of bounty to what you would normally expect to find haunting the plains of the Old West. Their prey are the dark creatures of legend; creatures that shouldn’t exist but still delight in taking the blood of the innocent.
When the marshal of Leadville, Colorado, comes across a pair of mysterious bloody deaths, he turns to Cora to find the creature responsible, but if Cora is to overcome the unnatural tide threatening to consume the small town, she must first confront her own tragic past as well as her present.

We’ve all read Urban Fantasy tales of bounty hunters searching out vampires and so on. Some of us have probably read similar stories set in the Old West; I haven’t so it made for a refreshing change in setting for me. That was a chunk of the reason why I kept reading but the main reason was the hints I got at a tragic past for Cora. I thought I knew what this would be so kept reading, if only to say ‘oh no, not again…’ The twist in the tale turned out to be a real surprise though; mostly because Collins tells you what it is right from the start but keeps it so low key that you’ve got no real idea until it creeps up onto your shoulder and taps you on the head…

The moment where it all clicks is masterfully handled by Collins. One minute I was reading the book, the next minute I was flicking back through the pages thinking things like ‘how did I miss that?’ and ‘bloody hell…’ Cora’s character is cast in a whole new light (you now know where she got her nickname from) and this revelation provides fresh impetus just when the plot needs it. I was also left wondering if there is a question yet to be answered in the sequel… You can’t ask for a lot more than that and it’s all brilliantly handled.

The rest of the plot settles into the more familiar territory of unworldly creatures being hunted down before they can hunt down others. Collins does a fine job here with the whole ‘thrill of the hunt’ theme. There were several moments where I found myself holding my breath as Cora made her way through a mine tunnel and she could hear footsteps coming towards her. My favourite bit though had to be where Cora is sat by the trapdoor, waiting for something to come out… Collins really draws out the tension in these passages and I couldn’t help but carry on reading, even as I was yelling at the book for Cora to get the hell out. The only moments that top this are when various monsters find their way onto the streets of Leadville. Collins clearly knows that the best way to tell this kind of story is to make all your characters expendable, no matter how much you’ve already built them up. No-one is safe here and that just adds more adrenaline to the mix.

The only thing I’d quibble about is how much attention Collins pays to the landscape that the story is set against. On the whole, a bleak and hard picture of Colorado really complements the plot but, every now and then, Collins feels the need to really go to town with his descriptive prose. Unfortunately, I found that these moments sometimes clash with key moments in the plot and the flow is derailed abruptly (albeit briefly) as a result. I’d say that the background really needs to remain as background if the plot is going to shine in the way that it deserves.

On the whole though, I got a lot out of this brooding supernatural Western tale that turns in your grasp and bites you like a rattlesnake when you’re least expecting it. ‘The Dead of Winter’ (a title you’ll appreciate more once you’ve read the book) is a gripping read that has left me eager for the sequel.

Nine and a Quarter out of Ten

P.S. 'The Dead of Winter' gets its UK release on the 1st of November, US and Canadian readers will get it the day before.

'Mockingbird' - Chuck Wendig (Angry Robot)

If you’ve been around these parts for a while then you’ll know that I have a problem with about ninety percent of Urban Fantasy that’s on the shelves at the moment. This is probably why I don’t read ninety of percent of Urban Fantasy that’s on the shelves at the moment… :o) That other ten percent though… There’s some amazing stuff hidden on those shelves if you have the time to go and look for it. Chuck Wendig has already written one of those books and another one is set to be released very soon (late August or early September depending which side of the Atlantic you’re on).

I’ve been a fan of Wendigs work since the brutal ‘Double Dead’ came my way and ‘Blackbirds’ took things to another level entirely. You can read my review Here or run your eyes over a couple of choice paragraphs just below,

‘I’m hard pressed to remember any other book that I’ve read where death haunts the pages in the way it does here. Death is quite literally everywhere; whether it’s in the bleak landscape Miriam walks through, the hearts (and ultimate fates) of the people she meets and Miriam herself. ‘Blackbirds’ is a short read, clocking in at two hundred and eighty seven pages, but it’s a book where the subject matter makes the book feel that little bit heavier in your hands.’

‘The guy has only written two books and already I can’t get enough. If you’re after some urban fantasy that is by no means typical then ‘Blackbirds’ is probably already on your wish list. For everyone else, give it a go anyway and have your mind blown. Wendig takes you on a journey, down the forgotten highways of America, that you won’t soon forget.’

You can imagine my reaction when ‘Mockingbird’ turned up at the door… :o)

I read a few pages and then I couldn’t stop reading until there were no pages left to read. Chuck Wendig has only gone and done it again with a book that, for my money, eclipses its predecessor.

Blurb copied and pasted once again as it’s ‘nap time’ and I need to shave seconds, off writing this, wherever I can!

Miriam is trying. Really, she is.

But this whole "settling down thing" that Louis has going for her just isn't working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis--who's on the road half the time in his truck--is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.

It just isn't going well. Still, she's keeping her psychic ability--to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them--in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she's keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.
Then one day she touches a woman, in a supermarket, and finds that the lady has exactly three minutes to live. That’s when it all starts to fall apart again.
If you haven’t already read ‘Blackbirds’ then you really need to give a go before moving onto ‘Mockingbird’. Not only is it a great story in its own right but there’s a lot of back-story that you will want to get caught up on first. Miriam is just one of those characters that you will find yourself wanting to know everything about. A dark and sometimes nasty character but nonetheless compelling for that. A character who really wants to do the right thing but whose innate viciousness (lashing out against a world that has treated her very badly) will lead her down dark paths. That’s what Wendig brings to the table here and, once again, the results make for stunning reading.

What I would say though is that Wendig isn’t really doing anything that he didn’t do in ‘Blackbirds’. Same character, same relationships, same themes. Once again, we’re headed deep into ‘If it ain’t broke, why fix it?’ territory… It made for a difficult review to write, what with me not wanting to repeat myself (just click on that link if you haven’t already)…
I’m in two minds here to be honest. ‘Mockingbird’ does repeat itself but gets over that for reasons that I’ll go into in a bit. It’s something that you should be aware of though. Having said that, the signs are that the final volume, ‘The Cormorant’, should take things in a whole new direction entirely so I’m cool with things headed along the same path as before (at least for the moment).

What really saved it for me though, and edged ‘Mockingbird’ past ‘Blackbirds’ in terms of quality, is just how deep Wendig is prepared to go in order to give his readers a story that they will not be able to stop reading, I certainly couldn’t.

If you thought ‘Blackbirds’ was a dark read then I’m giving you advance warning to adjust your expectations accordingly, ‘Mockingbird’ is a whole lot darker. Wendig takes us further into Miriam’s head, showing us just what she is capable of when the chips are down (or when she’s feeling suitably bloody-minded). Miriam isn’t just acting like this for the hell of it either; the mystery that she faces is brimming over with the kind of deaths that even someone like Miriam has never seen. It’s a mystery that Miriam has to solve, especially when it becomes clear that doing so will help her discover her own place in this strange world. I liked that last bit in particular, Wendig’s worldbuilding is so subtle that you won’t even realise its happening but it is and fleshes things out in a most intriguing manner.

Wendig plumbs real depths of bleakness and horror to bring us the world that Miriam must negotiate. It’s a world that we all know is there and one we are secretly glad that we can put down when the book is done; no-one would want to live with what Miriam has to. The way Wendig presents it though makes for nothing short of compelling reading, a book that eclipses ‘Blackbirds’ in its determination to head to new depths for the sake of a good story. Wendig knows that his readers deserve nothing less.

If you’re waiting for ‘Mockingbird’ then take it from me, you’re in for a bit of treat. If you’re not waiting for ‘Mockingbird’, well… you should be.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Blood and Feathers’ – Lou Morgan (Solaris)

Now here’s a book that got a lot of people excited when Solaris announced that it was on its way, me included if I’m being honest. Well, I did get excited but then I stopped to think for a bit and all of a sudden I wasn’t really that excited anymore.
I mean… angels? Everyone knows that angels in Urban Fantasy are just the latest attempt to come up with a different species that does exactly the same thing as vampires and werewolves (and even zombies) have been doing ever since Kelley Armstrong and Laurell K. Hamilton started their series. Did you notice the subtle appearance of ‘Angelic Urban Fantasy’ around about the time that the ‘Twilight’ books were in full swing? I did and it didn’t leave me hoping for much here.

The book still piqued my interest though and it was a Solaris book after all. If I can rely on Solaris for one thing it’s that their Urban Fantasy doesn’t follow the usual lines so I had to give it a shot. I’m really glad that I did. It only took a few pages for ‘Blood and Feathers’ to dispel my fears and it just got better the further along it went. If you’re feeling a little jaded with Urban Fantasy then I highly recommend you pick up ‘Blood and Feathers’ for a read. I think it will be just the tonic that you need.

Blurb copied and pasted, from elsewhere, today. I’ve got about an hour and a half to post this before Hope wakes up from her nap… :o)

Alice isn't having the best of days: she got rained on, missed her bus, was late for work. When two angels arrive, claiming her life so far is a lie, it turns epic, grand-scale worse. The war between the angels and the Fallen is escalating; an age-old balance is tipping, and innocent civilians are getting caught in the cross-fire. the angels must act to restore the balance - or risk the Fallen taking control. Forever. Hunted by the Fallen and guided by Mallory - a disgraced angel with a drinking problem - alice will learn the truth about her own history... and why the angels want to send her to hell. What do the Fallen want from her? How does Mallory know so much about her past? What is it the angels are hiding and can she trust either side? Caught between the power plays of the angels and Lucifer himself, it isn't just hell's demons that Alice will have to defeat...

A book that opens with a giant mouth in someone’s front garden and a man being killed by his own house. If that doesn’t get you interested then I genuinely don’t know what else to say. This is what you can expect from ‘Blood and Feathers’, a dark and compelling read that promises great things for future books. I actually wish it was August 2013 already so I could be reading the next instalment ‘Rebellion’. You’ll feel the same as well once you’ve finished reading.

I’ve just mentioned the impressive hook that Morgan uses to get you reading more and more. Not only is there a mystery to be solved here there are several other, smaller, mysteries tied up in it, all waiting to be solved. In that respect everything is paced almost perfectly; just as you think you’re getting the whole picture you find more pieces of the puzzle that need to be fitted together. The onslaught of angel names made it a little difficult for me to follow at times but it’s worth sticking with for the moment at the end when Morgan hits you with the answers and at least one surprise that I never saw coming.

I wasn’t sure though that Alice was the best person to be taking us through the plot though, at least to start off with. Our heroine knows so little about her origins that her awe, at this new world, can sometimes get in the way. We’re dealing with how she feels about it all, not what is actually happening. The plot isn’t stifled so much as slightly obscured by this but this does change as soon as Alice starts to accept her situation. This is when Morgan starts to throw some really nasty stuff at Alice (a trip into Hell is only the half of it) and she grows a lot in a short space of time. I’ve got a feeling this will continue in ‘Rebellion’, I really hope so.

The war between Heaven and Hell is a ruthless affair and this is made very clear in the frontline soldiers that Morgan sets against one another. There’s no time for romance with civilians here; the angels in particular are so far above humanity that the concept would be alien to them even if they weren’t fighting all the time (something that really makes them stand out on the page). And what a fight… We’re looking at a cold war here that occasionally bursts into life with a vicious heat. No punches are pulled (and I’m thinking of the final chapters here) and there is also a lot of politicking going on in the background. The battle lines may look clear but the cold-bloodedness of the angels leaves you in no doubt that we are the last thing on their minds. There are hidden agendas at play here that I can’t wait to see come to fruition.

So, a debut novel that suffers from a character that is perhaps a little too ‘new’ to be a truly effective narrative voice. When you balance that against the rest of the book though… You can’t really complain too much. ‘Blood and Feathers’ is an awesome read that will have you eagerly awaiting the sequel, just like me.

Nine out of Ten

'Fever Moon' - Karen Marie Moning, Al Rio, Cliff Richards (Del Rey)

I've been stuck with a really grim data input job for the last week and a bit; lots of box ticking and field filling on a computer screen... It pays the bills but I'd be lying if I said that I'd enjoyed it. In an attempt to break the monotony, of staring at the same words on a computer screen, I've been reading a few more comic books than I would do normally; lots of bright pictures to wake me up :o) They don't get a lot brighter than what you find within the pages of Karen Marie Moning's 'Fever Moon' (more on that in a bit), a book that I was always going to read, even though it's another Urban Fantasy.

Truth be told, I've pretty much given up on the larger part of Urban Fantasy as I've realised that I'm into Urban Fantasy that deals with setting rather than angst and slightly dodgy relationships. 'Fever Moon' looked very much like it would fall in the latter camp but... It had been a hard week and it's a graphic novel; it was a read that was always going to happen.
As it turned out, 'Fever Moon' wasn't a bad read at all. There were problems but most of these managed to avoid the 'Urban Fantasy Trap'...

Here's the blurb,

Dublin is a war zone. The walls between humans and Fae are down. A third of the world’s population is dead and chaos reigns. Imprisoned over half a million years ago, the Unseelie are free and each one Mac meets is worse than the last. Human weapons don’t stand a chance against them.


With a blood moon hanging low over the city, something dark and sinister begins to hunt the streets of Temple Bar, choosing its victims by targeting those closest to Mac. Armed only with the Spear of Destiny and Jericho Barrons, she must face her most terrifying enemy yet.

'Fever Moon' is a very good mix of compelling (albeit predictable) storyline married to artwork that does an amazing job of what Moning obviously wants it to convey. At least three quarters of my attention was drawn to Al Rio's art. There were elements of the plot that I wasn't too keen on ('Though Barrons brought me back... The cure was endless sex' Really? Not again...) I found myself wanting to stick around and see how Rio, and to a lesser extent Richards, brought it all to the page. The setting is beautifully drawn as are the characters acting within it.

The story itself offers an intriguing world with an intriguing mystery sitting within it. Who is the mysterious assailant stalking the wartorn streets of Dublin? Annoyingly, a lot of the answer to this question refers back to previous books within the larger series. I wouldn't normally make a big deal of this but it's done in such a way that it seriously interupts the flow of the tale if you don't know what you are looking for. A little bit of sepia toning isn't quite the signpost that it was intended to be. I found myself going over the same two pages over and over again before I figured out what was going on... Not helpful at all. 'Fever Moon' is definitely one for long term fans (who will recognise this scene for what it is) rather than the casual reader.

The way its handled is a bit of a shame really as the plot does have a lot going for it. There's a lot riding on Mac's actions and the tension builds up accordingly with some amazing set pieces interspersed throughout the book. Mac is an interesting character to get to know, in such a short space of time, and her attitude towards the job at hand carries the plot forward in just the right way.

Again though, it's a shame that this had to be cut with all the flirting that people feel is necessary in an Urban Fantasy tale. 'Fever Moon' was doing just fine all on it's own; it didn't need the relationship stuff to move things forward, if anything those themes held things back a little.

A good read then but it was a shame that 'Fever Moon' felt the need to travel down certain well worn paths that it really didn't need to. This is a setting that could be a whole lot more if it struck out on its own...

Eight out of Ten
 
P.S. It's been bugging me all day, I knew I'd come across this series before...

'The Apocalypse Codex' - Charles Stross (Orbit)

I've always thought that the current trend (I say 'current', it's been going on for years) for angst ridden, relationshippy (it's a word), Urban Fantasy is taking the focus off what Urban Fantasy should really be all about. I'm talking about a world just like ours where just a couple of details can turn everything on its head and make you think twice about walking down certain alleyways (even in the middle of the day). Luckily for me there are still people out there writing Urban Fantasy like this; I'm talking Kate Griffin, Mike Carey and Charles Stross in particular.

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Stross' 'Laundry' series for years now and seeing how Britain's brave secret agents fight creatures from extra-dimensional space whilst dealing with the latest round of meetings and Civil Service budget cuts. Having worked in government I find this really funny because it's true (the bureaucracy I mean, not the extra-dimensional creatures...)

I was a little bit worried that things might be coming to an end when I reviewed 'The Fuller Memorandum' back in July 2010. I rounded off my review by saying,

'The end result is part smirk inducing satire and part chilling horror; a mixture that (despite some awkward moments) had me chuckling and shivering all at the same time. The ending of ‘The Fuller Memorandum’ could be one that either closes things off or leaves them open for another book. I’m very much hoping for the latter.'

I was really pleased then when a copy of 'The Apocalypse Codex' arrived and it was clear that things would continue for a little while longer at least. Throwing everything else that I was reading to one side (sorry 'other books that I was reading') I got stuck in straight away...

Despite himself, Bob Howard's star is on the rise within the corridors of the Laundry (a secret government department tasked with making sure that tentacled monstrosities stay on the right side of the walls of reality). Career fast-track and management training beckons but so does one more job and it may be too much for even Bob's ability to cheat death on a regular basis.
An American televangelist is taking rather too much of an interest in the Prime Minister and that's the one area of government that the Laundry cannot spy on. Freelancers are required then and it's Bobs job to report back with their findings. Sounds simple and it is... until things start going wrong and other agencies get involved. If, by any chance, Bob should survive what the Laundry has in mind for him isn't exactly a nicer alternative.

The original plan was to finish the book I was reading and then get going with 'The Apocalypse Codex' after that. As it turns out, I can't even remember the name of the book I was reading before I decided to give Stross' latest a little go. A few pages in and all of a sudden I was there for the duration. I even stayed up late last night so I could finish 'The Apocalypse Codex' on the train to work so I could get this review up today. It's that good.

Part of the appeal for me was that Stross appears to be of the mind that he is done explaining all the technical stuff that underpins this setting (stuff that has always slightly got in the way of what I've come to see). We've had a few books for it all to sink in and now it's time for the plot itself to have some room to breathe. It's a great move on Stross' part; his plots are normally brimming over with cool stuff anyway but the extra room allows things to ramp up to another level.
Basically, with 'The Apocalypse Codex' you're looking at everything that I've ever loved about this series with even more energy and surprises. You literally don't have the time to stop for a breather as the plot will run away from you if you're not careful; just when you think you have a handle on everything something will happen that casts everything in a whole new light. Nowhere is this more evident than at the end where Stross flips everything upside down and changes the game entirely (highlighting intriguing possibilities for future books, I think there will be more now).

The only thing that I would have a little moan about (maybe) is that Howard, his allies and his enemies all seem to be going after the same 'big bad' that they went after in previous books. It's not a huge problem at the moment but it feels like a pattern is starting to emerge when maybe a little variety would keep things fresh. The answer to that is probably along the lines of 'can you get any more bad than the big bad?' Probably not but it would be nice if we could see Stross try.

It's a minor quibble though when you have a plot that races along like 'The Apocalypse Codex'. Stross' vision of the occult arm of the Civil Service is familiar enough now to draw the reader in easily but there are still some nasty surprises in store to trap unwary characters and make 'The Apocalypse Codex' a book that you simply have to finish. My only regret is that I finished the book too quickly and now I have to wait for ages until the next installment.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Shadow Ops: Control Point’ – Myke Cole (Ace)

Just recently it’s been very difficult (pretty much impossible in fact) to frequent the blogs, that I regularly frequent, without coming across mention of ‘Shadow Ops: Control Point’ and just how great it is. Seriously… Check out reviews Here, Here and Here; those are just three reviews that sprang to mind, there are more out there.
With buzz like that going around it was inevitable that I would eventually find myself in Forbidden Planet buying a copy (along with some of those really cute little Lego figures but that’s another story…) I’m an absolute sucker for a little bit of well placed hype and I’m sure I’m not the only one who regularly falls foul of this ;o) It’s fine when it works out but not so fine when you’re all geared up to read something amazing and you come crashing back down to Earth with a read that, erm… isn’t. Luckily for me then I get to elude that sense of crushing disappointment for another day. ‘Shadow Ops: Control Point’ isn’t a perfect read but it still sits very comfortably in the ‘Amazing’ category and more than deserves all the nice things that people are saying about it.

Across the world, people are suddenly waking up with the ability to channel magical energy in a number of deadly ways. Faced with people able to set things ablaze, create storms and even summon the dead, American homeland security takes on a whole new meaning and that’s where Lieutenant Oscar Britton comes in. As part of the Supernatural Operations Corps, Britton’s job is to take down untrained and panicking ‘Latents’ before they can do too much damage. The questions that Britton already has about his job become a lot more searching when he suddenly manifests a strictly prohibited and potentially very deadly power. Now Britton is on the run and about to find out what really happens to the ‘Latents’ rounded up by the military. As a ‘Latent’ himself, will Oscar be able to live with what he is forced to do…?

If you read reviews online, you are guaranteed to come across reviews where the person deliberately missed a stop on the tube (or whatever) so they could read a few pages more. Looking back through the blog I’ve done that a couple of times myself :o) ‘Shadow Ops’ is very much that kind of book although, this time round, I found myself so into the book that I actually got off the tube a stop early and ended up with a slightly longer walk than normal…
It goes without saying then that ‘Shadow Ops’ is a book that’s very easy to get into and well nigh impossible to put down.

‘Shadow Ops’ is ‘Harry Potter’ with a bomb in the boy wizard’s chest that’s set to go off if he disobeys Professor Snape one more time. ‘Shadow Ops’ is ‘Harry Potter’ with magic lessons taught under armed guard to produce wizards that will conquer the world of magic for the Muggles. I guess what I’m saying is that you should take any such comparisons with a pinch of salt. Any book where someone learns about magic will have the ‘Potter’ tag applied to it but ‘Shadow Ops’ is a different beast entirely with Cole taking the magic theme and running with it in a totally different direction.

‘Shadow Ops’ is quite an in-depth examination of the morality of warfare that’s wrapped in a dazzling (sometimes horrifying) display of magic overwhelming America’s enemies. Those scenes alone are worth the price of entry with Cole displaying a keen eye for how seemingly one dimensional magic powers can be utilised in a number of surprising ways. This makes for gripping sequences where you may know the outcome of a fight but you’ll have no idea about how that outcome arrives. It’s all fast moving stuff, even the training sequences that kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it all panned out (usually with lots of bruises or broken bones at the very least). Cole’s military background has enabled him not only to set Britton’s magical training against a detailed, and plausible, military structure but also to wed this structure seamlessly with the real life American military structure. It’s all very detailed stuff and you feel like you’re right in the middle of something that actually works.

Where ‘Shadow Ops’ really shone for me though was when Cole took a step back from all the pyrotechnic stuff and had Britton examine the consequences of his actions. Uncontrolled magic being what it is here (deadly at the very least) both the reader and Oscar are left in no doubt as to these consequences. Without going into too much detail (you really need to experience certain moments yourself) early chapters give Oscar a lot to chew over and later chapters have him questioning whether the alternative is any better. It’s an internal conflict between Oscar Britton ‘the soldier’ and Oscar Britton ‘the latent’. By making all the options unpalatable, Cole throws Oscar right in the middle of two extremes and makes him choose what may or may not be the lesser of two evils. This approach makes for an explosive finale and has set things up for some interesting developments in the sequel. What I’d question though is how well Cole handled Britton’s internal conflict…

It doesn’t take a lot to change Britton’s mind about his predicament, whether he’s better staying where he is or if he should be looking to do something drastic to change things. Britton bounces so madly between the two extremes that he crosses a line as far as I’m concerned. Britton’s indecision touches a nerve to begin with but, by the end, he has become a vehicle for Cole’s exploration of a theme rather than a character in his own right. Cole is perhaps talking a little too strongly through his character here… It’s not a huge deal but it did grate at times when I just wanted to be enjoying the story.

‘Shadow Ops: Control Point’ has it’s niggles then but still made for some awesome reading in the meantime; a book that is so in your face that real life somehow feels a little drab and colourless when you put the book down. Give it a go and thank me later.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Plague Town’ – Dana Fredsti (Titan Books)

This is going to be a much shorter review, than normal, as I’ve spent a large chunk of today sorting out bits of paperwork for the new job that I’ll be starting next Tuesday. Go me :o)

Do you remember the days when monsters used to be, well… you know… scary? I do. Werewolves used to prowl deserted moors and prey on hapless hitchhikers. Vampires used to lurk in the dark and climb through your bedroom window if you were stupid enough to leave it open. Other monsters quietly got on with doing what they did best, usually at a great cost in human life…
Then Urban Fantasy came along and everything changed. The werewolves came off the moors and became night-club bouncers for clubs owned by the vampires. Monsters still got on with what they did best but it all was tempered by deep and meaningful conversations with heroines looking for the humanity in creatures that hadn’t been human for an awfully long time. Thanks a lot Urban Fantasy, thanks for making vampires and werewolves (and even some demons) far less scary than they’ve ever been.

But that’s ok though. I mean, we’ve still got zombies right? The living dead, creatures that would rather eat the heroine than talk with her. There was still one last bastion of ‘monsterhood’ that Urban Fantasy couldn’t storm… could it? Well, I didn’t think so until a copy of ‘Plague Town’ arrived in the post. Look at that cover, have a read of the blurb in a paragraph's time. It was a long siege but Urban Fantasy won through in the end.
Of course I was going to read ‘Plague Town’ though, it promised to be full of zombies so how could I not? I picked up the book with a heavy heart though, not really that keen to see how Urban Fantasy treated my favourite monsters. Turns out that I needn’t have worried all that much. There’s a lot to ‘Plague Town’ that feels familiar but there’s a lot that’s different at the same time.

The people of Redwood Grove are dying of the flu but they’re not staying dead for long though… Student Ashley Parker finds herself on the wrong end of a zombie outbreak but also finds herself in a unique position, one that will let her fight back.
It turns out that Ashley is a ‘Wild Card’, someone who is not only immune to a zombie’s bite but can also heal from such a bite incredibly quickly. Recruited by an organisation that deals with this specific kind of threat, Ashley now has the chance to fight back. Will her small team of fellow ‘Wild Cards’ be enough to turn the tide though? Time is running out…

‘Plague Town’ is a bit of an odd one, at least it was for me. What I found difficult to get my head around will probably be what attracts a lot of people to the series. I’ll certainly be checking out the next book at least.

You see, ‘Plague Town’ is very much a ‘by the numbers’ Urban Fantasy. Take one feisty heroine with issues, open her eyes up to a world that she never knew existed and add a love interest that is destined to be a bumpy ride (in more ways than one) and what have you got? You’ve got ‘Plague Town’ of course but you’ve also got any number of other books doing exactly the same thing. It’s not original, not any more, not when the core tropes are just being rolled out instead of having a little care and attention paid to them. Actually that’s not quite true here.  The love interest does feel a little contrived but Fredsti does give you something new to ponder and that was cool as far as I was concerned.

I kept reading though, as I really will finish a book if it has zombies in it, and I’m glad that I did.

‘Plague Town’ may be ‘by the numbers Urban Fantasy’ in many ways but it redeems itself by also being a very nasty little horror novel at the same time. You may know what’s coming but Fredsti plays on your nerves and still manages to make you jump, sending her characters down some dark alleyways where anything could happen. There are plenty of ‘zombie surprises’ but there’s also a very interesting spin on the zombie epidemic that bodes well for future instalments (although if it’s used to solve the ‘love interest problem’ then I don’t know what I’ll do…) As it is, it’s certainly a moment that puts you right in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and shows you what people are capable of when the chips are down. If that wasn’t enough, Fredsti shows that she has absolutely no problems putting her readers right in the middle of a zombie swarm and leaving them to it. There’s a real surge of adrenaline in these sequences that makes you feel like you’re there experiencing it for real.

‘Plague Town’ is a novel then where short bursts of horror offset the fact that it isn’t doing a lot else that is new. There was enough to it though that I’d check out any sequels to see which way the balance swings in the future, definitely a series with potential.

Eight out of Ten

Didn’t Finish It… ‘Fated’ – Benedict Jacka (Orbit)

Because life is far too short to keep plugging away at a book that just isn’t working for you… isn’t it? I’d say yes, of course it is!
As much as I try to finish everything I read it’s not going to happen all the time, law of averages and all that. Some books are just plain atrocious (and there are a few of them covered here in this blog) and others have the misfortune to be the wrong book at the wrong time. Other books are out down for other reasons entirely, books like Benedict Jacka’s ‘Fated’ for instance. Here, have some blurb…

Camden, North London. A tangled, mangled junction of train lines, roads and the canal. Where minor celebrities hang out with minor criminals, where tourists and moody teenagers mingle, and where you can get your ears pierced and your shoulder tattooed while eating sushi washed down with a can of super strength beer. In the heart of Camden, where rail meets road meets leyline, you might find the Arcana Emporium, run by one Alex Verus. He won't sell you a wand or mix you a potion, but if you know what you're looking for, he might just be able to help. That's if he's not too busy avoiding his apprentice, foiling the Dark, outwitting the Light, and investigating a highly toxic Relic that has just turned up at the British Museum.

That looks like a great blurb doesn’t it? Well, the book itself may work for you but it didn’t for me.

I knew something was up when Jacka’s Camden didn’t come across nearly as cool and lively as the real thing. I don’t spend nearly as much time there as I’d like to but I love Camden and this just wasn’t Camden, not for me. It just felt a little lifeless.

I could have dealt with that though, and kept going, if it hadn’t been for the big issue that really turned me off reading any further.
The way I see it, you have to be very careful if you pay homage to another writer’s work in your own piece. If you’re not careful then you’ll find yourself writing in that writers world rather than your own; you really want to avoid this if you’re writing your debut novel and want to get readers involved in your own world.

For my money, Jacka fell foul of this trap when he paid a little homage to one Jim Butcher and his ‘Harry Dresden’ books. Butcher’s world is larger, and more established, so one almost throwaway sentence had the unwelcome effect of making Jacka’s world a part of Butchers.
So that was the sense of identity well and truly gone then and things started feel more and more like a ‘Dresden’ novel after that. It was at that point where I realised that if I wanted to read a ‘Dresden’ book then I may as well read one of the originals instead of ‘Fated’. About three seconds after that I put ‘Fated’ down and haven’t picked it up since. Fans of Harry Dresden might like it but not me, not this time.

If anyone here has read ‘Fated’ and disagrees with me please feel free to leave a comment in the usual place. This is how I feel about the book at the moment but I’m willing to be talked round :o)

'Berkley UK' Sampler

There’s no getting away from the simple fact that, for someone who loves his genre fiction, my head is well and truly buried in the sand sometimes. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t got other stuff going on but… a whole new publisher in the UK (since late last year) and I completely missed it.

Liz got there first with her post but Berkley UK very kindly sent me a sampler (five current titles and one forthcoming) and I thought it could be fun to quickly nip through them and give you my initial thoughts. From what I can see, Berkley’s list is very top heavy on the Urban Fantasy (American titles that you may have already read) but what list isn’t these days? I’m hoping they make good on their promise to give us a little more sci-fi and fantasy in the near future.

So, here goes…

‘The Pack’ – Jason Starr

When Simon Burns is fired from his job without warning, he takes on the role of stay-at-home dad for his three-year-old son. But his reluctance pushes his already strained marriage to the limit. In the nestled playgrounds of the Upper West Side, Simon harbors a simmering rage at his boss's betrayal.

Things take a turn when he meets a tight-knit trio of dads at the playground. They are different from other men Simon has met, stronger and more confident, more at ease with the darker side of life- and soon Simon is lured into their mix. But after a guys' night out gets frighteningly out of hand, Simon feels himself sliding into a new nightmarish reality.

Intriguing if only because I’ve worked in a similar office to Simon Burns. Seriously though, this one looks like it could be worth a look as I’m always interested in Urban Fantasy with male leads; doesn’t seem to be enough of that around (as far as I can see)

‘The Iron Duke’ – Meljean Brook

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power - and fear - of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans - and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

Hmmm… Cover art really is the first impression you get of a book and the art here looks like it’s designed to appeal to fans of romance rather than Steampunk. Go take a look and you’ll see what I mean. The preview didn’t really do a lot for me with a female lead who is obviously being set up for some romance, a little too obviously if you know what I mean. There didn’t seem to be a lot else to her…
‘Zombie infested wastelands’ though… I don’t know. Has anyone else read ‘The Iron Duke’? Worth a look?

‘Dust’ – Joan Frances Turner

After she was buried, Jessie awoke and tore through the earth to arise, reborn, as a zombie. Jessie's gang is the Fly-by-Nights. She loves the ancient, skeletal Florian and his memories of time gone by. She's in love with Joe, a maggot-infested corpse. They fight, hunt, dance together as one-something humans can never understand. There are dark places humans have learned to avoid, lest they run into the zombie gangs.

But now, Jessie and the Fly-by-Nights have seen new creatures in the woods-things not human and not zombie. A strange new illness has flamed up out of nowhere, causing the undeads to become more alive and the living to exist on the brink of death. As bits and pieces of the truth fall around Jessie, like the flesh off her bones, she'll have to choose between looking away or staring down the madness-and hanging onto everything she has come to know as life . . .

Not going to say too much about this title as I’m looking to give you guys a full review sooner rather than later. What? It’s a zombie book, what did you expect? ;o) Has anyone else here already read it?

‘Magic to the Bone’ – Devon Monk

Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user, maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allie Beckstrom is the best there is.

Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic ...

I liked the concept but it felt like another cookie cutter urban fantasy where I could just tell what was going to happen to our heroine. I’ll pass on this one I think.

‘Night Life’ – Rob Thurman

Cal Leandros is 19. He eats junk food, he doesn't clean up after himself and fights with his half brother Niko. It's a fairly normal life, but for the fact that Cal and Niko are constantly on the run. Cal's father has been after him for the last four years. And given that he's a monster whose dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares they really don't want him and his entire otherworldly race catching up with them. But Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him - he is the key to unleashing their hell on earth.

This one though… Let me clear a little room on the reading pile and I’d love to give this a shot. The set up is familiar but the character of Cal Leandros really got me thinking that I’d like to get to know him more.

‘Grave Witch’ – Kalayna Price

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she's on good terms with Death himself, nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high-profile murder when she's attacked by the ghost she is raising - which should be impossible. Then, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, thwarted only by Death's intervention. You know you're having a bad day when Death is saving your life . . .

I’m sorry but this one left me feeling nothing whatsoever, certainly no inclination to read the rest of the book. Short and sweet, sometimes that’s all there is to it.

So, a couple of titles that I’d take a look at with the potential for many more to come. Any of those take your fancy? Should I give ‘Grave Witch’ a go? Leave a comment underneath the post and let me know what you think… :o)

‘Blackbirds’ – Chuck Wendig (Angry Robot)

It’s early days yet but my theory is that, beneath that mild mannered exterior, Chuck Wendig could very well be a superhero writer using his powers to rescue readers from a reading fate worse than… [insert your least favourite book here]. It’s true, my zombie reads were starting to shamble down a very tedious and ‘samey’ path but, just in the nick of time, Wendig suddenly appeared on the scene with ‘Double Dead’, a zombie tale with a difference. You can either read my review Here or just have a quick look at how I rounded things off…

‘I didn’t realise that my faith in zombie novels was starting to wane but ‘Double Dead’ restored it anyway. There’s something here for both zombie and vampire fans (apart from ‘Twilight’ fans, obviously) and it’s all drenched in blood and entrails.’

I resolved to keep an eye open for anything else of Wendig’s and it turned out that I really didn’t have all that long to wait. Angry Robot will be releasing Chuck Wendig’s ‘Blackbirds’ around May time but I was lucky enough not to have to wait that long for a look at the book. And what did I think…? ‘Blackbirds’ is a totally different book to ‘Double Dead’ but the end result was that it blew my mind in exactly the same way.

All it takes is one touch and Miriam Black knows exactly when and how you will die… and there’s nothing that she can do to stop it happening. She’s tried over and over again but that just makes the death that she has seen all the more likely to happen. All Miriam can do then is keep on moving, and touch as few people as possible, but something is about to happen that will change everything.
Miriam shakes the hand of truck driver Louis Darling and sees that he will die in thirty days, gruesomely murdered while he calls her name. Miriam can’t save Louis but if she wants to stay alive then she’s going to have to try anyway.

I don’t normally do this in a review but I just wanted to take a quick paragraph to basically gush over the cover art a little as it’s gorgeous. If I was in the habit of doing ‘favourite cover art of the year’ posts then this would be an early contender, it might even take the prize right now. I don’t just love the way that it’s made out of blackbirds, I also love the way that closer examination reveals moments from the book as well as the amount of death that has filled Miriam up. Its artwork that you just can’t take your eye off. My advance copy doesn’t give the artist’s name but Angry Robot have more than got their money’s worth here.

But back to the book itself, a book that I had real trouble putting down… There are hints of a sequel here and I for one and all excited just about the possibility that this may be the case.

I’m hard pressed to remember any other book that I’ve read where death haunts the pages in the way it does here. Death is quite literally everywhere; whether it’s in the bleak landscape Miriam walks through, the hearts (and ultimate fates) of the people she meets and Miriam herself. ‘Blackbirds’ is a short read, clocking in at two hundred and eighty seven pages, but it’s a book where the subject matter makes the book feel that little bit heavier in your hands.

It’s a depressing read then, of course it is. How can it not be with the main character forced to live people’s deaths whenever she touches them? It’s clear then that Wendig has a struggle on his hands if he is going to hook the reader in past all of that so they can get to the story proper. The good news is that it turned out not to be a struggle at all. Wendig hooked me and I reckon you’ll be hooked too.

For me, Wendig’s masterstroke was not to sensationalise Miriam’s ability and send ‘Blackbirds’ down the trail of other more generic urban fantasies. Everything is very downbeat and matter of fact, so matter of fact that it is all very readable and flows as smoothly as your passage from this world to whatever comes next.
Wendig also makes it clear that he has a very healthy respect for death and what it means to die as well. Again, no sensationalism here. Everyone dies eventually and the way it happens isn’t fair; the way you check out is the way you check out. Wendig appeals to the slightly nasty part of us that we don’t want to admit to but know is there. Who amongst us doesn’t secretly want to know how it all ends for us? And who amongst us doesn’t want to know how others die so that we can hope for something a little easier for ourselves? Wendig can’t give us the answer to the first question but he gives us plenty of answers to the second.

Caught up in the middle of this is Miriam (a strangely endearing mix of viciousness and vulnerability), a young woman who is trying to deal with this unwanted ability in the only way she knows how; making sure that she stays away from as many people as she can. At the same time though, Miriam can’t help but seem to attract trouble and this is what drives the plot down some dark and unexpected roads. For a book that’s about fate (and how you can’t fight it) everything ties together very neatly in the end but, as Wendig no doubt intended, not quite in the way that you’d expect. There’s a real contrast here, one that I think will be explored in further books. I hope so anyway.
I think that’s where ‘Blackbirds’ fell down, slightly, for me. While the main plot wraps itself up nicely there are other strands that are clearly being set up for resolution at a later date and this offers a contrasting effect that makes the book feel ‘unfinished’ in a strange way.

This is a relatively small price to pay though when you’ve got Wendig throwing you into any number of violent and chilling encounters with what is becoming his typical abrasive attitude. The guy has only written two books and already I can’t get enough. If you’re after some urban fantasy that is by no means typical then ‘Blackbirds’ is probably already on your wish list. For everyone else, give it a go anyway and have your mind blown. Wendig takes you on a journey, down the forgotten highways of America, that you won’t soon forget.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Hounded’ – Kevin Hearne (Del Rey/Orbit)

It was way back at the end of December (well, last week actually but it feels like such a long time ago now...) that I broke the habit of... ooh, several months and decided to start reading some Urban Fantasy again. To cut a long story short, I’d had enough of certain tropes being criminally overused and it took M.L.N. Hanover’s ‘Unclean Spirits’ to get me back in the groove again.

And you know what? I don’t want to get out of that groove. When Urban Fantasy works, for me, it works really well with the modern day world being twisted ever so slightly out of kilter with the addition of werewolves, vampires and so on. I love that ever so slightly creepy feeling I get when I imagine that this all could be happening out of the corner of my eye :o) What could I read though? You see, I’m still not keen on the overuse of those aforementioned tropes... Then it struck me. Way back in June last year I read Kevin Hearne’s ‘Hexed’ and, despite a couple of issues (see the review Here) I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In one of those weird twists, I’d somehow managed to read ‘Hexed’ (the middle book; well, so far...) first instead of starting at the beginning. I’ve got both ‘Hounded’ and ‘Hammered’ sat on the pile so the New Year looked like an ideal time to go for it and finish reading this series. As it happened, I had just as much fun reading ‘Hounded’ as I did with ‘Hexed’ (if not more so). Why can’t all Urban Fantasy be like this?

The neighbours of Atticus O’Sullivan think he is nothing more than a young Irish guy who runs an occult bookstore and has a wolfhound that’s prone to misbehave itself from time to time. And that’s just what he wants them to think. Atticus O’Sullivan is actually a druid who is just over two thousand years old and wants to grow a lot older in peace and quiet. Atticus might have some trouble on that score though... A very angry Celtic god is after the sword that Atticus carries and has hounded the druid for it down the centuries. Now the god has tracked Atticus down, to his home in Arizona, and isn’t going to leave without the sword he came for. Atticus doesn’t want to leave either though; he likes his current home and is done running. It’s going to take all of Atticus’ power to face down this challenge; all his power, the Goddess of Death, a team of werewolf attorneys (plus one vampire) and a Hindu witch in the body of a bartender. And even all that extra help may not be enough...

I said ‘may not be enough’ but the fact that I’ve reviewed ‘Hexed’ (and will also be reading ‘Hammered’ sooner rather than later) suggests otherwise. All credit to Hearne though; even though I’d already read ‘Hexed’ he still managed to keep me on my toes and wondering how ‘Hounded’ was going to turn out. In those intervening pages, ‘Hounded’ ended up being a thoroughly entertaining and compelling read that I couldn’t get enough of. Just reading ‘Hounded’ has pretty much guaranteed that ‘Hammered’ will form a large part of my weekend reading.

As it happened, I did approach ‘Hounded’ with some initial reservations based on a structural issue that stood out in my reading of ‘Hexed’; an issue that went along these lines...

‘...there is too much of a dividing line between the three main elements of the plot itself. Atticus sorts out ‘Job A’ and there’s a real sense of closure that stops ‘Job A’ linking into ‘Job B’ (and so on). It felt to me like ‘Hexed’ was actually three short stories cobbled together into one novel and the pacing suffered as a result. I felt like I had to keep stopping and starting...’
This was something that I wanted to avoid, if I could help it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that ‘Hounded’ more than delivered on this score. No having to jumpstart the plot here; while there are separate plot elements to the story everything dovetails together very well and the book flows incredibly smoothly as a result. I found it all too easy to turn each page. I wasn’t too sure about how certain elements of the plot held up under scrutiny but it all seemed to work out and made sense by the end. I just wish it had been a little more clear in the meantime (although, that vagueness did pique my interest and keep me reading).

This is also in no small part down to the cast of engaging characters that Hearne brings to the page. Whether you’re a major player or minor character filling in a gap at the edge of the page Hearne imbues you with a real spark of life and individuality that had me wanting to learn more. Having read ‘Hexed’ I already knew some of Atticus’ background but had no problems being told it all over again. Hearne’s easygoing style means that you’ll read all this stuff without even realising it. Atticus is engaging as he was in ‘Hexed’ (refreshingly honest about his lot and showing a strength of character, in the face of adversity that had me rooting for him all the more) and I was really glad to spend more time with his incorrigible Irish Wolfhound Oberon. Hearne is a writer with a unique insight into the inner workings of a dog’s mind :o)

The plot itself is a fast paced affair full of little twists and turns to keep readers like me on their toes. There are no big surprises but there is plenty of tension to drive the plot forward and all of this makes for a suitably explosive finale when pretty much every supernatural creature you can think of (ok, no zombies) all pitch in for a massive scrap that had me glued to the page. The plot positively drips with evocative Celtic atmosphere as well and this helps to give you an idea of just how old Atticus really is (as well helping ‘Hounded’ really stand out from other Urban Fantasies that I’ve read). You just can’t lose.

A couple of niggling doubts over certain parts of the plot end up doing very little to detract from what is an excellent read that not only will appeal to fans of the sub-genre but will also do a lot to get jaded readers, like me, reading Urban Fantasy again. Bring on ‘Hammered’!

Nine and a Half out of Ten

P.S. 'Hounded' is published by Orbit in the UK and Del Rey in the US. I think I've posted the UK cover art but there really isn't a lot of difference between the two.

‘Unclean Spirits’ – M.L.N. Hanover (Orbit)

It feels like a long time since I last read any Urban Fantasy (actually, it was back in August but even that feels like a long time ago when we’re sat right on the cusp of the New Year) and it’s been even longer since I’ve read any of that kind of Urban Fantasy. You know the stuff I mean; feisty heroine should be keeping the peace but ends up falling for the local Vampire Master and the leader of the Werewolf Pack at the same time, cue lots of soul searching while the plot hangs around and wonders what to do next. I think that’s what killed my Urban Fantasy reading; it all felt very much like the same story was being told over and over again. When it got to the point where I could tell where the story was going next (with far too great a degree of accuracy) then I figured it was time to bow out and read something else instead.

And now here I am to tell you about the opening shot in a new(ish) Urban Fantasy series that I ended up quite enjoying, certainly enough to make me want to give the next book a shot when it comes out. What happened there? I’d pretty much decided that it would take something big to get me reading Urban Fantasy again and, these days, it doesn’t seem to get a lot bigger than Daniel Abraham.

If there’s a sub-genre then, more likely than not, you will find Daniel Abraham writing in it either under his own name or an assumed one. I’ve enjoyed his fantasy works and his space opera series opener (written with Ty Franck) is one of my favourite books of 2011; when I realised that Abraham was also writing as M.L.N. Hanover I knew I had to give his Urban Fantasy work a go as well. The end result? I’ll certainly be back to see how the sequel pans out.

Jayne Heller never really got on with her family; only her Uncle Eric was ever there for her and now he has been murdered. Jayne travels to Denver to settle Eric’s affairs, only to find that these are a lot more complicated than she ever realised. Not only is she the sole beneficiary of his estate (bank accounts bulging at the seams and property all over the world) but she also seems to have inherited his rather unconventional business...
Uncle Eric died fighting to rid the world of supernatural ‘riders’, parasites that possess humans for evil ends. Now it’s up to Jayne to avenge her Uncle’s death by finishing off the job he was trying to do when he died. If that job killed her Uncle though, what hope does Jayne have? Luckily she’s not in this on her own...

By the time I got to the end of ‘Unclean Spirits’ I was really into it and couldn’t put the book down until I saw exactly how it ended. I knew how it had to end, the beauty was in the details... but I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Things could have been so different though. You see, ‘Unclean Spirits’ is a real book of two halves (at least for me). The good news for fans of Urban Fantasy though is that the things that bugged me are all things that I’m pretty sure you will love.

A first glance at the plot had me feeling like I could be reading any one of a number of other Urban Fantasies; there certainly isn’t a lot that makes it stand out from the rest of the pack. You’ve got the heroine (from an oppressive family background) who discovers that not only is she a heroine but she has loads of cool fighting skills that make every confrontation look like a scene from ‘The Matrix’ (I like ‘The Matrix’ but that’s not the point...) You’ve got a good looking side kick that Jayne inevitably falls for but cannot have. There’s even the cool looking ‘jealous loner’ to provide a little bit of romantic uncertainty. I looked at all this and my first thought was, ‘well, this isn’t exactly original is it?’ This setup may well appeal to you but If I’m reading a book I want it to have an identity of its own and ‘Unclean Spirits’ suffers from fitting in a little too well with the rest of the scene.

It’s a good job then that M.L.N. Hanover is Daniel Abraham as the inevitable result of this is that there’s a lot more to ‘Unclean Spirits’ than at first meets the eye.
Hanover takes a very familiar looking set of building blocks and infuses them with a little spark of difference that makes everything a lot more readable; it kept me reading and that’s saying something given how I feel about Urban Fantasy!

Jayne Heller may be just like any other Urban Fantasy heroine and that goes for her self questioning as well. Where Hanover bumps things up to another level though is that Jayne isn’t just questioning what to do about her love life; we have a lead character here who questions her reaction to coming into an absolute fortune and (more importantly) will question how her decisions affect her colleagues. Hanover makes it clear that this is a dangerous world and the wrong decision can have fatal consequences. Already, we have a heroine who is prepared to think past the end of her nose and make it about other people too; I like that. This attitude of Heller’s has set up some interesting possibilities for the sequel and I’ll be there to see what happens next.

This world of vampires and werewolves (and so on) is also familiar but with just enough of a difference (once you get into the book) to keep the pages turning while you try to find out the answers to the questions posed by this new world. I’ve already said that this is a dangerous world and Hanover emphasises this with some bone crunching fight scenes that can have your teeth jolting in sympathy. Heller’s new found skills can come across as a little too good to be true but there’s no denying that it all looks great on the page and powers along a story that is already brimming with intrigue.

‘Unclean Spirits’ isn’t an original read but Hanover’s treatment of the subject matter makes it a very entertaining book where the pages turn all too easily. I’ll be back for more and I reckon I’ll see you there with me. The series has been out, in the States, for a little while already. Anyone here read it?

Eight and a Half out of Ten

‘Redlaw’ – James Lovegrove (Solaris)

I love reading about vampires and I love watching them on TV too; I just hate it when they sparkle… I’m all about vampires that are only thinking about where their next meal of human blood is coming from and vampires that take time to look cool but are still packing serious firepower under that long black overcoat (can you tell that I love the film ‘Blade’?) Vampires that know what they’re really about in other words; vampires that will tear the throat out of the heroine before it even occurs to them that they could get to know the girl a little better…

None of this is much good though if you haven’t got someone who’s ready to stand up and take the vampire(s) on. Again, I’m thinking of the kind of person who would rather kill a vampire than spend interminable hours discussing the angst of their eternal existence. The more ammunition unloaded the better of course, that goes without saying :o)
I wasn’t mad keen on James Lovegrove’s ‘Age of Odin’ but there was more than enough there for me to know that his take on vampires would be worth checking out in terms of the kind of vampires that I like. It turns out that my suspicions were well founded, ‘Redlaw’ is a hell of a read in all the right ways.

Vampires, the ‘Sunless’, live among us but that’s ok, the Sunless Housing and Disclosure Executive (SHADE) work constantly to ensure that vampires stay put in their assigned districts and that the constant simmering of resentment from both sides doesn’t escalate into something far worse. Captain John Redlaw is the top SHADE officer in London for very good reason, commanding fear and respect in equal measure with his devotion to duty. Humans must be protected from vampires but the same applies in reverse.
Things might be getting too much though, even for Redlaw. His inner struggles reflect increasing unrest on the streets as vampires riot in their ghettos and humans respond in kind. There’s a mystery hidden amongst the violence and one that Redlaw must solve quickly. The vampire’s baser instincts are being manipulated for financial gain but the final solution goes beyond mere profit.

Like I said, ‘Age of Odin’ didn’t quite hit the spot but this latest book of James Lovegrove’s sounded like it would be just my kind of thing. I wasn’t wrong in my assumption but I never expected ‘Redlaw’ to grab me the way it did. We’re talking about a book where I gave the first few pages a go and suddenly found it had usurped my other reads and was nestled comfortably in my bag for the commute to work. ‘Redlaw’ didn’t take long to polish off either. The book weighs in at a slender looking three hundred and nineteen pages but that wasn’t what made it fly by so quickly and so smoothly.

‘Redlaw’ is a big ‘blockbuster’ film in book form. There are threats on all sides and the only man who can save us is the kind of guy who will take an absolute kicking every chapter and still be on his feet by the end of the final chapter. We’ve all seen films like that haven’t we? ;o) They’re great fun to watch and ‘Redlaw’ hits those same targets with ease.

Having said that though, the problem with blockbuster films is that they all follow a certain formula and ‘Redlaw’ is no different in this respect. Without giving too much away, once you know who is playing which role then you can tell what is going to happen to them at certain points in the book. I could actually make accurate predictions at least nine times out of ten…
Now ‘Redlaw’ does make up for this, and in some style, by powering through the plot in a hail of vampires and bullets but the fact is that I knew how it was going to end and who the villain in the shadows really was. Knowing this did take some of the punch out of the final chapters although, to be fair, Lovegrove does regain some of the impact with a revelation that is hinted at but you probably won’t notice in the midst of everything else that’s going on.

And there’s plenty happening here. The action doesn’t let up for a second but it’s clear that Lovegrove has his hands firmly on the reins of the plot. No matter how intense the fight or how manic the car chase, Love grove never lets things get away from him. Everything happens for a very good reason and it all ties together perfectly for the big climax.

What I really enjoyed though was Lovegrove’s take on just what a vampire infested London could realistically look like given the fact that humans outnumber them to a very large degree. It makes sense that if vampires couldn’t be moved on then they would be re-homed and basically told to stay where they were if they knew what was good for them. That’s what happens here and London is just the grimy and dark kind of city that makes for an ideal backdrop for things to play out against.
This approach to the vampire issue also gives Lovegrove the opportunity to ask questions about the ethics of this treatment in lots of small ways as well as bigger instances which directly affect the plot. For all it’s action and violence, ‘Redlaw’ is a surprisingly thoughtful novel about how we treat minorities.

John Redlaw himself is the ideal character to bring these questions to light on the page as he is constantly asking himself if he is doing the right thing by both groups of people that he is sworn to protect. Redlaw is more than capable of using his fists when he has to but this thoughtful air of his gives the character a welcoming depth that makes you want to find out more about him. There is room to develop Redlaw further and I really hope that this happens in another book.

‘Redlaw’ may be a little too predictable at the end of the day but it’s still a lot of fun to read and gives you pause for thought at the same time. I really hope this is the start of the series and not a one off.

Nine and a Quarter out of Ten

'Regicide' - Nicholas Royle (Solaris)

Sometimes a book turns up on the doormat and I just know that I’ll be picking it up sooner rather than later. I’ll bet that you’re the same if you see a book on the shelves somewhere; you just know that you’ve got to check it out...

I’m not going to lie; my reasons for picking up ‘Regicide’ weren’t exactly highbrow at all. There’s a whole world of authors out there whom I’ve never heard of (my fault, not theirs) and Nicholas Royle falls into this category so this wasn’t the reason why the book was picked up so quickly. Nope, this time round not only did the cover art catch my eye but the fact that ‘Regicide’ is only a hundred and eighty eight pages long... that pretty much sealed the deal. I’m a busy guy at the moment and slim books are very appealing for this reason. I miss having the time to read thicker books though...

Anyway, ‘Regicide’ it was then and I polished this one off very quickly. Before you say, it wasn’t just because of the relative brevity of the book. ‘Regicide’ may not handle things perfectly but there’s still an intriguing mystery here waiting to be solved...

Carl has two mysteries to solve in his life. There is the alluring Annie Risk, a lady whom Carl has completely fallen for who doesn’t want to give too much away about herself after having been hurt in a previous relationship. There is also the mysterious fragment of map that Carl finds out side his shop, a map of an unknown town that doesn’t exist in any atlas. Does this town really exist and is there a connection to Annie Risk? Carl thinks so and comes to believe that the map details the town of his dreams, a place where ice skaters turn quintuple loops and trumpeters hit impossibly high notes. This town could be well be the home of Carl’s nightmares though and there’s no way that he’ll find out until he’s trapped there...

‘Regicide’ is a slow burner but give it a chance, before you know it you’ll be just as interested in what is going on for Carl as Carl is himself. You’ll both want to know the answers and the trip you end making is one you’ll make together.

It is a slow burner though; Carl is a character who is difficult to get to grips with, at least initially. There are reasons for this and these become clearer as the book hits its climactic scenes. It turns out that Carl’s inaccessibility is there for a very good reason but that’s not a lot of help though for the readers who are just starting out on their read. Carl doesn’t offer you a lot to engage with and this isn’t a good thing considering the plot doesn’t take a lot of pages to unfold. With a book this length you want to be in the main character’s head straight away and Royle intentionally moves away from this approach, to the detriment of the novel I felt.

Balancing this out though is the air of mystery and menace that permeate the novel as a whole. You can tell that there’s more to Carl’s reticence than meets the eye, his guardedness may be infuriating as far as the flow of the book goes but it’s intriguing nonetheless and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to know more.

And what’s going on with that map? Where does it lead to? The hints given are suitably vague, even when they are chasing Carl’s train and trying to force themselves through a carriage window! Bits like this scared the life out me and the great thing is that I had no idea why; I had to keep reading in order to find out. There were some deliciously surreal and terrifying moments in the meantime though and this all added to a grim and slightly foreboding atmosphere.

The big payoff ties everything together very neatly although I couldn’t help but think that I’d seen this approach taken by other novels in the past. No real surprises then but the real joy is in seeing how all the pieces of the jigsaw come together to form the overall picture. Royle doesn’t leave any loose ends hanging around as far as this goes but what he does do is leave us with a pretty big question to be answered in the very last sentence. Everything we now know is thrown into doubt and we are left to deal with it on our own; what a great way to end a novel and make sure that it stays in the reader’s mind afterwards.

A book this length shouldn’t be a slow burner, not if it wants to get its readers on board straight away. ‘Regicide’ does take its time when perhaps it could really do with getting a move on and a deliberately inaccessible main character doesn’t help matters either, at least initially.

If you stick with it though everything will make sense and in the best possible way. ‘Regicide’ becomes a book that you can’t help but keep reading and the way that the eventual payoff comes together is worth the price of entry. And the way it ends, wow... Look out for 'Regicide' in early September.

Eight and a Half out of Ten

‘Blood Work’ – Kim Harrison (Del Rey)

One of the many things that I love about reading, in general, is how a book leaves me feeling after I’ve finished it and put it down. Of course I’m going to love it if a book leaves me feeling lots of positive things, I mean who wouldn’t? We’d all rather feel good about a book that we’ve enjoyed reading. Funnily enough though, I actually quite like it when a book leaves me feeling negative about the reading experience I’ve just had. I may not agree with how the writer tackled their subject matter (or any number of other things) but if it engages me and leaves me feeling strongly about something by the end... well, that’s a definite plus. If it’s jammed full of typos, continuity errors and overly reliant on lazy clichés that’s another deal entirely though!

What really gets me is when I’ve sat down and read a book (all the way through to the end) only to find that I’m left feeling absolutely nothing at all; nothing in the book has leapt out and grabbed me in any way, shape or form. I don’t know about you but that just makes me feel like I’ve wasted my time reading the book. You’re never going to know until you pick the book up, to start off with, but even so...
Here’s ‘Blood Work’ then, a book that left me feeling absolutely nothing at all.

I’ve copied and pasted the blurb for ‘Blood Work’ (from Amazon), the reasons for this will hopefully become clearer as we go along...

Hot-as-hell, tough-as-nails detective Ivy Tamwood has been demoted from homicide down to lowly street-crime detail. As if rousting trolls and policing pixies instead of catching killers wasn’t bad enough, she’s also been saddled with a newbie partner who’s an earth witch. It’s enough to make any living vampire bare her fangs. But when a coven of murderous witches begins preying on werewolves, Rachel Morgan quickly proves she’s a good witch who knows how to be a badass.

Together, Ivy and Rachel hit the mean streets to deal swift justice to the evil element among Cincinnati’s supernatural set. But there’s more to their partnership than they realize—and more blood and black magic in their future than they bargained for.

‘Blood Work’ is a book that aims to let readers know just how living vampire Ivy Tamwood ended up being partnered with earth witch Rachel Morgan for I.S (Inderland Security) business. Now, I haven’t read the series but I’m sure it’s been going on a lot longer than the publication of this comic book so my first question was ‘wouldn’t long term readers know all this already?’ Seems like a bit of an odd one considering background setting in the series should have covered this. Never mind I thought, at least I can come in at the beginning and get to know these two characters right from the start.

That’s what I thought anyway...

‘Blood Work’ just happens to be a book that throws it’s readers in at the beginning of Ivy and Rachel’s partnership but assumes that you’ve read the other books already and will get what’s going on. As someone who’s never read any of Kim Harrison’s books (what am I missing?) confusion totally reigned as far as I was concerned and I had no idea what was going on. I know there was a case to solve but it was totally lost under a mass of references that I knew were happening but was oblivious to their meaning. Stuff happened but I had no idea why. I guess there’s only so much room for background information in a comic but others manage, why couldn’t ‘Blood Work’? I can’t engage with a story if it doesn’t want to engage with me, that’s the bottom line I guess.

This wouldn’t have been such a big deal if the artwork had been of a slightly higher standard. Unfortunately, Pedro Maia and Gemma Magno combine to offer up artwork that does a basic job of scenery setting but then goes and fills it full of characters that are posed very awkwardly and don’t seem to be able to move smoothly. I couldn’t even engage with the artwork...

‘Blood Work’ was so inaccessible that I’m foregoing the normal score here and rubbing my poor tired eyes in a flurry of ‘what the...?’ Maybe I’m being too harsh on it, not having read the other books, but this really felt like a book that had no interest in engaging its reader. Doubtless, long term fans will find more to appreciate but I can’t believe that the dynamic between Ivy and Rachel hasn’t been gone over already? Oh well, onto the next book... 

‘Hexed’ – Kevin Hearne (Del Rey)

Urban Fantasy, the genre that winds me up to the nth degree but never fails to pique my interest whenever a new title comes through the door... I’m getting a headache just at the thought of being caught between these two extremes!

On the one hand, I’m heartily sick and tired of the genre’s overreliance on the whole ‘feisty yet strangely vulnerable girl kicks ass in the supernatural community and totally falls for the hot werewolf/angst ridden vampire/ghoul with chronic halitosis’ thing (actually that last one hasn’t happened, as far as I’m aware, I would read this book in an instant) in order to shift more books. I’m not as widely read here as I’d like to be but the whole thing seems to come across as formula driven to a ridiculous degree.
On the other hand though... Urban Fantasy offers a great escape into worlds that are familiar enough to feel comfortable in with just enough difference to generate the spark that hooks you. This is what keeps me coming back (and I’m looking at authors like China Mieville, Mike Carey, Neil Gaiman and Kate Griffin in particular here).
So whenever an Urban Fantasy comes through the door then it could really go either way for me (unless the cleavage on the cover art is bigger than the authors name, I don’t bother with those books...). Kevin Hearne’s ‘Hexed’ was the latest arrival, I hadn’t read the first book but the blurb caught my eye so I gave it a go. Having finished the book last night, ‘Hexed’ falls firmly into the ‘wow, I like this’ category albeit with one reservation...

Atticus O’Sullivan is the last of the Druids and, as such, will do anything he can for a quiet life. That’s why he’s about to sign a non-aggression pact with the local witches coven despite his general dislike of the breed. An encroaching coven of German witches (who Atticus ran across during World War Two) though? That’s a different deal, Atticus doesn’t want them on his turf and will do whatever he can to remove them (up to and including rocket propelled grenades, seriously...)
Before he can deal with these witches though there’s a fallen angel eating high school kids and a trickster god who thinks that Atticus is responsible and should take care of business. If that wasn’t enough, Bacchants from Vegas are in town and looking to kick off their own lethal brand of hedonism, Atticus finds himself volunteered to take care of business on that front as well.
Who’d be a druid?

‘Hexed’ is a lot of fun and had me seriously wondering why I didn’t pick up the first book when I had the chance. Oh well, I’ll just start right here as ‘Hexed’ is a book that allows you to dive straight in and get going without necessarily having read the first book. There’s just enough background information to give you a decent grounding (without crowding out the plot) and then you’re off and away.

When ‘Hexed’ gets going it sets out to do so with a fast moving plot that’s stripped down to get you in between all the cool bits without having to hang around too much. There are plenty of cool bits and if you’re anything like me then you won’t fail to be entertained.
The issue I found though (and to be fair, it’s the only real problem that I had with the book) is that there is too much of a dividing line between the three main elements of the plot itself. Atticus sorts out ‘Job A’ and there’s a real sense of closure that stops ‘Job A’ linking into ‘Job B’ (and so on). It felt to me like ‘Hexed’ was actually three short stories cobbled together into one novel and the pacing suffered as a result. I felt like I had to keep stopping and starting... Having said that though, while you’re reading these ‘short stories’ the pace is fast and furious even if these ‘mini plots’ are a little linear.

And then you get dialogue like this (the reason why I’ll be around for the next book)...

“If I want to grow this back I’ll have to endure the most terrifying sex imaginable! Gaahhhh!”

I’m not going to tell you who lost what but ‘Hexed’ is full of lines like this, lines that show the book isn’t taking itself too seriously (and maybe poking a little fun at the same time...) and just wants to have a little fun. I love that ‘Hexed’ is so open about what it is and believe that this approach really benefits the story itself. No mucking around, lets go out there and have fun telling an exciting tale. And ‘Hexed’ is an exciting tale, Atticus is a man out of his depth and having to use everything he’s learnt (over the course of millennia) in order to survive. He’s totally up against it and you genuinely don’t know what will happen to him next. At the same time though, Atticus’ devotion to his faith offers a nice counterpoint that fleshes out the character and has you rooting for him that little bit more.

The supporting cast have equal attention lavished on them by Hearne who does well to give his readers a little world full of believable characters who add to the plot in the best possible way. There’s scope on display for further developments and interactions, I’ll be around to see how it all pans out.

Structural issues in the book itself prevent ‘Hexed’ from being the truly excellent read that it could have been. Wit, honour and a dose of heavy ordinance balance things out though and make ‘Hexed’ a book that will hook you from the off. Bring on ‘Hammered’...

Eight and Three Quarters out of Ten