Message for the Devil: A King Roger V Adventure by Jason McDonald and Stormy McDonald

King Roger is back and he's up to his armpits in trouble. There's a lot going on in the city of Charleston, South Carolina is in danger. People are dying hideously. Who did it? I didn't know. You still don't. In Message for the Devil by Jason and Stormy McDonald the police think it might be Roger himself. We'd never believe that though would we?

Part of the problem is with Roger. He grew up in a mystical land on the planet Gaia, sister to Earth, where magic is plentiful and customs are closer to Medieval European than they are to modern American. This creates some problems for our hero as he does not always know the right way to handle things. At one point it becomes obvious that he doesn't even know how to count change.  In some cases, I enjoyed that face immensely, because he acts more like a Player Character in a Dungeons & Dragons game than a modern American, but it makes sense in context. 

The story itself is a mystery. Roger has been hired to find a ghost, but it's not just any ghost. Nope. That would be too easy. It has to be the ghost of a convicted murderess who was executed. Rumor has it that she said some nasty things at her own execution...

Yeah, it gets ugly quickly. This may have escaped your notice up to this point, but vengeful spirits tend not to be very nice people. Sometimes they can get downright...

Vengeful

Okay, that was terrible, but you get the point.

Hence the whole "dying hideously" that I mentioned earlier. Of course, it gets worse because Roger isn't exactly the most popular guy with the local police and they don't really understand some of his methods. I mean, do you know what a rust potion is? Do you think the police would? Think about it. I wouldn't and I'm a fantasy fan.

In a lot of ways, Message for the Devil feels like an early Dresden novel. The hero uses magic, even if Roger doesn't have the raw power that Harry does. There's a mystery. There's a supporting cast of characters that includes the police. There's even a human skull, although Roger doesn't name his skull "Bob." I've always had the feeling that Harry Dresden felt a bit out of place and Roger is certainly out of place.  Both heroes have problems with using technology, even if they manifest themselves differently. The McDonalds' world is probably about as well developed as Butcher's was after two or three books as well. (And yes, that means that the McDonalds haven't managed as much worldbuilding in two books as Butcher has managed in eight million. They'll get there. Just 7,999,998 books to go.)

There's a lot of action in Message for the Devil, too. This is not the Hardy Boys by any stretch of the imagination. Roger is a big fan of bladed weapons and the police, of course, have guns. There is plenty of fighting and running and hiding to keep things lively. This is one of those areas where Roger clearly doesn't not understand the customs and laws of the United States and has a chance to get himself into some very real - and very serious - trouble. He somehow manages to get out of it, at least for the most part. Sort of. Read the book.

That's not to say that all there is to Message for the Devil is all action. This isn't a Michael Bay flick and there is no lens flare. 

Huh?

Oh, yeah. Listen, I'm not sure how you would do lens flare in a book either, but I'm fairly certain that Bay would find a way to do it. Just don't pay attention to the fact that it doesn't make sense and you'll get it.

There is some fairly serious research taking place in order to solve the mystery. Speaking as a guy who has spent his time at libraries pouring over microfilm, the research in Message for the Devil makes sense. It reads like it was written by someone who has done some real research, for the simple reason that the characters in the book are smart enough to find the right place to go to and talk to someone who knows the story and where to find the information they need. This isn't a case of some rando jumping on the internet and solving a two hundred year old mystery in five seconds using Google. There's some real work involved here. I like that. The McDonalds some how manage to keep these parts from dragging out too long as well, so props to them.

There's some personal drama here as well. King Roger abandons his chance to return to his kingdom at the end of Thief on King Street. He did so for the love of a woman that he had just met. Yes, that is a cliche but it's used so often because it works. So while all of the insanity is going on, with murders and police problems and hauntings and...

You get the idea.

...Roger has to get to know the woman that he stayed for and figure out how things work with her. And, quite frankly, IF they work with her. It's not that she's disloyal, or that he is, but we've all been there. Making things work with a new person is never easy. He's a good dude and makes his way through it, but it's not as easy as perhaps he'd like it to be. I'm okay with it though. Easy stuff doesn't make a good story. 

Message for the Devil is, as mentioned previously, a sequel. While I certainly do recommend reading the first book, you should be able to enjoy this work either way. There is enough here to move the story along independently and what callbacks there are to the previous story are brief and well enough explained so that you won't feel lost. All in all, this is a story worth reading.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Golden Coins

Message for the Devil: A King Roger V Adventure
Jason McDonald and Stormy McDonald
Parlatheas Press, 2024

Message for the Devil: A King Roger V Adventure is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you. 

Message for the Devil

Check Out This Trailer

Wow. So Mr. Never Intentionally Watches a Trailer Twice (that being your friendly neighborhood blogger) can't get enough of this one. Seriously. It's weird, too because I can't stop myself from watching it. Anyway, enjoy!

Seriously, that's the whole post. I'm just posting a link to a trailer from a movie that I'm totally excited to see that's a sequel from a franchise that I love. I'm not going to point out that this trailer makes its movie look exciting. I'm totes going to keep silent about the fact that it focuses on story. I won't even point out that it shows characters that we all know and care about. I'm going to shut my mouth about all of that.

I won't rub it in your face that this is one of the very few sequels of movies that had decades between releases that was actually worth watching. I won't mention that Ghostbusters: Afterlife was also a very good movie or that I reviewed it on this very blog. I would never do anything like that because, let's face it, that would be taking your attention away from a damn fine trailer.

So go back up there and watch the trailer. 

Huh?

You watched it before you wrote this? Watch it again.

Because, let's face it, Hollyweird doesn't really care about providing quality entertainment anymore and it's becoming increasing rare to see a decent movie anymore. Their product is full of angst, whining and post-modern claptrap. They've become so obsessed with subverting norms that it is the norm what is subversive now. They think they're clever, but they're not.

So I'll leave you alone and ride off into the sunset, content with a job well done. Peace and love to all.

Some Ghostbusters related merchandise can be found below. If you click a link and purchase literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.

Fae Wars: Futures Past, Fae Wars Volume Three by James Copley and J. F. Holmes

Once upon a time, when I was a much younger, thinner and better looking Jimbo (just ask your mom, she remembers) I went to the bookstore and picked out a book named Death Quest by some Hubbard dude who later (or possibly before and I just hadn't heard of it) went on to establish a "religion" known as Scientology. It was the sixth in the series and I had sworn never to start another series in the middle again, ever, for as along as I lived, or probably longer since I didn't see my self as starting any new series after I had passed. Not that I wouldn't try, but you know...

Yeah, anwyway...

So I had kept that vow for three decades plus and I just broke it. I blame James Copley, because I saw him advertising this book all over the stinkin' place and, you know what, I'm glad I did. Fae Wars: Futures Past was worth my time and money. I'm going to read it again some day. I mean, not right now, but eventually. I just finished it.

Fae Wars: Futures Past starts out like an alien adventure story, but with a twist: The aliens aren't from Outer Space, they're from another dimension. They don't arrive in ships, they come through portals. They don't have super science, but they do have a magical force field capable of stopping bullets. That's important because they fight with medieval technology; swords, axes, bows, etc. The entire army doesn't own a single gun from what I can tell but they kick ass because our weapons don't work against them.

Oh, and they've got magic. Freezing rivers in seconds, tossing fireballs, and the aforementioned ability to open portals from an alternate reality to ours are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot going on here and my certainty that we haven't seen everything magic can do in the Fae Wars universe approaches unity. That's okay though. There's more to read already and Futures Past certainly didn't feel like it ended the Fae Wars series. This thing feels like it has as long way to go still and that's exciting.

And, having already mentioned that Futures Past is part of a series I should mention that I had absolutely no problem following what was going on whatsoever. It works just fine as a stand alone novel. Given the title I'm guessing that this was a prequel but I can't even say that much for sure. That's okay though. I'm good with not knowing, at least until I finish writing this review and have time to hie off to Amazon and pick up the first two. They're on Kindle Unlimited too, so I can actually afford it.

The main antagonists of Futures Past and, one would assume, the Fae Wars series in general are elves, but these are not your grandfather's elves. Tolkien would probably barf up a lung if he saw the elves in Fae Wars and Dungeons and Dragons fans aren't going to see what they're used to either. The elves in Fae Wars are expansionist, domineering slave holders who fight mainly for material gain. Old school players of the Palladium Fantasy RPG may remember that the elves in that setting had once enslaved the dwarves and made them manufacture rune weapons so they come closer but they're still not quite a match. In some ways, specifically to exclude dietary preferences, the elves in the book most closely represent the Posleen in John Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata series. They show up, take what they want and destroy what they don't. I like these elves. By which I mean that I love to hate them. Seriously. They're almost like Blood Elves from World of Warcraft, only at the head of the Horde instead of part of it Think Lor'themar Theron's dream of world domination. "Trust no-one" indeed.

There are other fantasy races as well. Orcs are enslaved by elves and do most of the actual fighting, serving under elven officers. Gnomes and dwarves are enslaved by elves and a few feature prominently in the book. The gnomes and dwarves are artificers and bring something to the fore that is frequently missing in other works: Magical technology. It makes sense that a magic using society could accomplish many of the same things as a non-magical one given the right mentality among some of its members. While dwarves and gnomes aren't necessarily treated with respect by their masters, they should be. They build the stuff that makes things work. 

They also fix the stuff that doesn't and that's important, especially if you're a human who thinks they broke something irreparably only to find out that they magicked it back together again. Or that they found a way to bypass your fix. Of course, a fix is only good until you broke the object again and humanity seems to figure that out early on, but it's going to be an ongoing theme, I can feel it. 

There is an element of real world religion that works its way into the narrative. I love that part of it. Religious leaders knew something was coming and it's more than one religion if I'm understanding what's going on correctly. As goofy as I am, I'm thinking I get this pretty well, too. They didn't know how or when an invasion would be launched, but they knew it would get here eventually. Prophecy makes a return into the world as part of the narrative and helps to move things along. It's an aspect that works and fans of everyone from Jesus to Harry Potter will recognize the way it works. 

Overall, Fae Wars: Futures Past just works. It's got just enough familiarity that you can relate to it and enough twists on the old stuff to keep it interesting. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about this universe and trying to see if I can figure out where it's going. There are some interesting predictions listed so far, but it's very obvious that nothing is set in stone. Things are wide open and I can predict that it's going to be a wild ride. This is also Copley's freshman effort and I can't wait to see what else he has in store. That's assuming that he doesn't get lost along the way to his third hour French class. I know how confusing it can be.

Fae Wars: Futures Past ,Fae Wars Volume Three
James Copley and J. F. Holmes
Cannon Publishing, 2023

Fae Wars: Futures Past ,Fae Wars Volume Three is available for purchase at the following link, If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage of our purchase at no additional cost to you.

The Sacred Radiance, The Dragon and His Wrath, A Vital Breath (Paxton Locke Books 4-6) By Daniel Humphreys

Paxton Locke is that one kid from high school who didn't want to come to your after prom party because he was afraid he'd get in trouble. The twist comes when he decides that it's safer to go rob a bank or sumfin'. Like seriously, Paxton would be so much better off if he had a clue how much trouble he was getting himself into. That seems to be the common them of The Sacred Radiance, The Dragon and His Wrath, and A Vital Breath, Books Four through Six in the Paxton Locke series. 

Seriously, Locke has an issue with authority. Fans of the earlier books will realize that this is probably due to complications in his relationship with his abusive mother, who murdered his father. When your first authority figure is sick, twisted, depraved, deranged and in general not known for worrying about your well-being it kind of makes you a bit less than trusting of the people who are giving you orders. Paxton though, never lets his dislike of taking orders threaten himself or his partners.

No, it seems that he has other ways to do that. Locke is an extremely powerful mage who uses his arcane abilities in ways that aren't quite as safe as some others would prefer. He has a tendency to cast first and ask questions later. In fact, I'm not totally convinced that he has the knowledge to begin asking the right questions just yet, and I find that worrisome, although it doesn't seem to bother him much. 

Right from the beginning of Sacred Radiance Paxton seems to be learning a lot about not being a loner anymore, in both his private and professional lives. His career started off driving around the country in a motor home, all alone and never settling in one spot. Now he has a woman who means the world to him and a team that he is part of and accountable to. It makes a big difference in his life and in his job and he's adapting but it's harder than maybe he thought. I like that about the character though.

Paxton Locke is a character that is impulsive, perhaps a bit selfish at times and who quite frequently fails to make the most prudent decision possible given his situation, but he is eminently believable. Locke makes a list I have of characters that I almost feel like I've sat at a table and had a conversation with, because he's that lifelike and consistent. 

Seriously, I've compared the sensation of a new book coming out in one of my favorite series to having an old friend stop by for dinner. Paxton is a guy who could come in, have a glass of pop (Jimbo is not a coffee drinker and I don't own a coffee pot) or something stronger, and hang out for awhile telling me about his latest exploits. I'm sure we could all have a good laugh about the time he pulled all the en...

Yeah, never mind that ginormous spoiler. It sure was fun though.

I'm hoping that, since Book Five is literally named The Dragon and His Wrath, I can get away with revealing that it had a dragon in it. I love Humphreys's take on dragons. I've always preferred the intelligent, conniving, ruthless style dragon ala Dragonlance or the Temeraire series (I hope I spelled that right) over the mindless, crude, animals like the ones depicted in Harry Potter or Harry Turtledove's World at War series. Kudos to Humphreys for getting it right where two far more famous authors didn't. 

And listen, it's not my fault those other two authors are more famous. I'm sitting right here promoting Humphreys's work. Have you left your review on Amazon? If I can knock out a thousand words (my usual minimum) you can knock out twenty. It ain't hard folks. Who doesn't like telling everybody about something they like? And no, it's not your fault personally, but word of mouth worked for Larry Correia (twice, Monster Hunter International was originally self-published and Dead Six started off on a gun forum. Of course, that helped Mike Kupari get started too.) and Andy Weir (The Martian also appeared on a forum site, this one for science nerds I think) so we can make it work for some of these indy authors, too. For the record, I wasn't involved in any of these incidents. I'm just evilly plotting to help good authors sell good books.

But please tell me you're not just noticing that.

No, really PLEASE tell me you've picked up on that at some point.

In A Vital Breath, Locke pushes the Fwoosh Button  and heads off into the multiverse. I love this book because alternate realities are something I'm really into. I have been since I read my first alt-hist book right after my father passed. Locke does some bouncing, runs into some old friends, and does some things that might not technically be considered a responsible use of magic. It was a lot of fun. I wanna try. I mean, I know magics not real and that it's not actually possible, but I wanna do that one thing that he does. Of course, the reason he has to do it sucks..

But every story has to have a problem right? And, trust me, at that point he has one. It's not a problem I'd want to deal with, that's for sure. I mean, unless I could do the thing.

Actually, not even then.

And on the way, Locke runs into some old friends and finds some new ones. I was really happy to see another friend in particular, even if it was only for a second. I'm not going to say who it was but if you read this blog and you can't figure it out on your own, you need to work on your reading comprehension skills.

Parts of the story focus more on Agent Valentine as well and I like that. Valentine is a bad ass with a lot going on and I'm not really sure what his story is (and that's intentional on Humphreys's part) but maybe when Humphreys gets sick of Locke he can do a series of Valentine prequels. That sounds like it would probably be a lot of fun and I'd buy them. I'm just sayin'.

 Overall, the only complaint I have about any of these books is that I can never read them again for the first time. I mean, I'm the guy who used to hang out in his grandma's basement watching the Star Wars films every holiday instead of socializing, but there's just something about that first time through and not knowing what's coming next. Speaking of which, there has to be a next book and I can't wait for it.

One last word of warning: These are not stand-alone novels. I highly recommend starting this series at the beginning. It'll make a lot more sense that way and they're all good books. 

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Frozen Lakes

The Sacred Radiance
Daniel Humphreys
Self Published, 2022

The Dragon and His Wrath
Daniel Humphreys
Self Published, 2022

A Vital Breath
Daniel Humphreys
Self Published, 2022

The books above can be purchased at the links below. If you click a link and buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.

Thief on King Street: Adventures of Roger V by Alan Isom, Jason McDonald and Melanie McDonald

Listen, I don't ask for much in my entertainment. Just give me an epic story that takes place across two planets, is full of political intrigue, has non-stop action, religious conflict, a crazy amount of tension and a few unbelievably well thought out characters and I'm pretty much okay.  See? Easy peasy! Or not, as the case may be, but that's what the McDonalds and Isom delivered. Seriously, between working sixty hours a week and trying to recover from stomach surgery it took me WAY TOO LONG to read this book but that's my weakness talking and not their stories. Thief on King Street was an experience to treasure.

And great, here come the Fun Police to arrest me for enjoying myself. They've been after me for years. You've got no proof this time! It's an electronic copy! I can delete it while you're pounding up the driveway with the Murderous Miniature Dachsund Marauders! You'll never take me alive, Fun  Police. Who am I kidding? Those guys drink decrappinated coffee. There is NO WAY they'll have the energy to make it up the driveway, even with their hot dogs.

The earlier works of this writing trio have featured the "sister planets" - Gaia, the land of magic where technology is thought of as being weird and Terra - land of technology where magic is rare and feared by most of those who actually believe it exists. Some might be tempted to call this the "Real World" and, for the most part, it is. This set up should seem familiar to readers of the Cayn Trilogy as I'm sure you all are because I reviewed them previously and I know you all read what I tell you to, right?

Or sumfin'...

Thief on King Street is both awesome and kind of strange in how it subverts a trope: This isn't Earthlings venturing in a strange land, it's people from a strange land adventuring on Earth. They've done it well, too. I want to make a comparison to the 1632 Universe, but even that is kind of backwards. I mean, seriously, the reaction of the characters from Gaia to a typically dressed woman in her teens is pretty funny but it also makes an absolute ton of sense if viewed with just a touch of sensitivity to someone from a society which, while it is probably more egalitarian toward women than one would initially assume, is Medieval European in nature. They don't truly grasp modern technology and that makes sense too. I can just imagine trying to dress up a medieval knight to fit in at a hospital. Think about it in context.

The authors also do a good job of including modern magical practices in their work. It seems that there is still SOME magic left in Terra - if one knows where to look for it. That makes sense given the existence of Terrans on Gaia in their earlier, uhh, Later?

I mean, this is a prequel series but that means that the books that are later in the timeline were written first, so they've already happened even though they haven't happened yet. It's a total paradox. HELP! I guess the Fun Police better bring a Time Cop as back-up. 

Seriously though, if Ambrose Battenberg doesn't intrigue you as a character you don't have a pulse. In which case I'm honored, because I've always wanted a member of the undead to read my blog. 

*SIGH*

I'm off topic again.

Listen, Ambrose has a bit of the whiny little girl in her when the story starts. She gets his with a responsibility she never wanted and wasn't prepared for. Inheriting a throne isn't for everyone, especially since she was way down the list and came into her crown by losing several members of her family. Her kingdom is beset by attackers from outside, there are those from within who don't want to see a woman running the country and honestly, she doesn't want to deal with it. The fact that she is the last of her family and there is literally no one else to take over doesn't seem to matter to her.

Honestly, she starts out reminding me a bit of that Bella chick from Twilight (for those that aren't aware, I tried to read the first book after I made a deal with a girl I know: She would read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I would read Twilight. I give every book a hundred and fifty pages, regardless. I got to one-forty in Twilight, prayed for God to make the next ten pages to go quickly and gave up early. I gave it to my sister and I hear my niece enjoyed it though. I hate Bella.) The thing is that Ambrose has a real character arc where she actually matures and by the end of the story she's exactly the type of woman I would want my daughters to be; Strong, proud, smart, tough, and brave. She turns into the type of leader I would follow anywhere. I love that about her.

There is a lot of a good versus evil in Thief on King Street and I can really appreciate that. Yes, I do believe that both good and evil exist in the real world. I also believe that, to paraphrase someone famous (CS Lewis maybe?) that we need good versus evil in fiction to prepare ourselves mentally to fight the battle in the real world.  The McDonalds and Isom do a good job of that. Their heroes are heroes and the villains are disgustingly villainous. Fantasy is, and always has been, at its best when you have someone to root for and someone to root AGAINST. Call them Sauron. Call them the White Witch. It doesn't matter. Just give me someone I don't want around to boo and I'm good. 

I'm really excited to see where this series goes next. I mean, it's the first in the series and it's not written by George R.R. Martin so we'll see the sequel sometime soon-ish I'm sure. I'll be there when it hits. You should be there, too.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Poisoned Arrows

Thief on King Street
Alan Isom, Jason McDonald and Melanie McDonald
Parlatheas Press, 2022

Thief on King Street is available for purchase at the following link. Please note that if you click my link and purchase literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you. 

Thief on King Street

Declan Finn's Blue Saint

So, yeah...

The emotional bond between someone who absolutely loves to read and one of their favorite characters is a weird one, especially when the reader starts the series when it first comes out and has to wait for each successive book. Cracking open the new book is like having an old friend swing by for a coffee. Like, you don't necessarily get as much time as you want with them but it's still nice to find out how they've been and what they've been up to.

"Go ahead and put your feet up on the table, Favorite Character and tell me about your adventures. How have you been feeling? How has your love life been? Kids doing okay? What losses have you suffered? What victories have you scored? What are you up to now?"

I'm not saying it's normal or a sign of sanity, I'm just saying that it happens. We smile with them. We cry with them. We laugh with them. We're happy when they're with us and we're sad when they're gone. Seriously, re-reading an old book can be like flipping through a family photo album.

Which is why it can hit us so hard when they die.

And, well, I don't do spoilers, but Declan Finn's Blue Saint is the last book in a series about a saint and there is no such thing as a living saint. Therefore saying that St. Tommy survived is pretty much like spoiling a movie about the American Revolution by screaming "The Americans win!" And seriously, I'm not going to conduct this review as a requiem of the life of Thomas Nolan (who, admittedly, was a better man than I'll ever be) but I feel the need to take this time to express my sense of loss and compliment both Tommy Nolan and Declan Finn on their accomplishment: Three deaths in all of the fiction I have read have brought me to tears; Sturm Brightblade, Fred Weasley and Tommy Nolan. Yes, I'm a Potterhead. Sue me.

Also like Sturm Brightblade, Tommy at least got the send off he deserved. Fred got hosed. That makes up for a lot. No one likes to see their favorite character die and ignominious death (Grayson Carlyle anyone?) and here he didn't have to. I've not seen a finer death for a character anywhere and that's saying something.

But hold on, now. There is a WHOLE LOT more to Blue Saint than the death of one character. There is love. There is loss. There's a lot going on here. There is a scene that reminded me of my only failings(?) not because of something awesome Tommy did but because of a human moment where he questioned himself. Maybe the best thing about Detective Nolan is that he has never been the arrogant, holier than thou type. He lives, he breathes and he questions himself, just like the rest of us.

A lot of relationships in the series are highlighted here in new ways and that works for me as well. Seriously,  think about it. If you had to go into a dangerous situation, who would you want at your back? Who would you want watching your family while you were gone? Are they the same person? What if they couldn't be? Blue Saint provides some perspective on those types of questions. It also, in a way, sheds a little light on the relationships of the people around us in ways that we wouldn't necessarily consider. I find this odd for what is primarily a first-person perspective book, but it's true. Actually, looking back on it, that's true of the whole Saint Tommy, NYPD series and your goofy reviewer is just now picking up on it. 

*SIGH*

No system is perfect I guess. I'll work on it.

The one negative (ish) thing I will say is that Blue Saint is in no way a standalone novel. This is Finn's masterwork, the result of a full dozen books worth of interweaving plotlines and relationships. Blue Saint is a serious achievement in finally bringing everything back together and tying it up with a bow on the package. I'm not saying he can't top it (as a matter of fact, I'm daring him to) but it's going to take some serious work. And a new reader coming in out of the cold is not going to understand the backstory. You need to understand the backstory to get the Blue Saint story. Read the first eleven books. I did. I'm glad I did. I plan to do it again someday. And that makes me happy because, unlike the real people I've lost, St. Tommy is still there to hang out with the same way I always have.

Of course, one of the areas that Finn has always excelled in is writing action. Seriously, Finn's asskickery kicks ass and he's outdone himself once again. I love the way these fights are choreographed. Things go boom spectacularly. The use of mini-guns was awesome. The way the team in the books has adapted things like holy water and incense to fight the minions of Satan has been amazing. And, of course, Nolan's personal arsenal comes into full play in the biggest fight in the series yet. The settings for the last couple are pretty epic, too.

Due to the weird nature of the app I used to read the story (FB Reader) I almost missed the fact that there was more story after Tommy passed. It really would have sucked to have missed what came after, too, because there is a lot of good stuff there. To misquote Kid Rock: "There ain't no story like a Blue Saint story because the Blue Saint story don't stop." (Yes, English. Don't tell me, tell Kid Rock.)

I'm not going to give up the end of the story, but I will say this: The mark of a terrific author, or any type of artist for that matter, is their ability to get an emotional reaction from their audience, whoever that may happen to be. Finn took me from crying to laughing in the last few pages of his book. There aren't many authors who could do that. Go buy the book. Then read the book. Then tell me how right I was because I AM right this time. And someone make the damn movie already.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Sappy Reviewers and my next years Dragon Award Nomination

Blue Saint (St. Tommy NYPD Book 12)
Declan Finn
Tuscany Bay Press, 2022

Blue Saint (St. Tommy NYPD Book 12) is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and get literally anything from Amazon I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you

Destiny, Lightbringer and Dark Web by Declan Finn

 I just read three books in five days. I haven't done that in... 

Uhh...

Well, probably since before I got my driver's license, back in the early Nineties. I may have done it once since then, but I can't recall when it would have been. At any rate, this certainly isn't something that happens often. I don't really have that kind of time and I just can't, but this time I did. Don't ask me how it's possible. Also, don't ask me what's for dinner. I haven't got a clue. I haven't had time to cook. 

Of course, you'll want to know the names of the books. They are Destiny, Lightbringer and Dark Web, Books 9, 10 and 11 of the Saint Tommy, NYPD Series by Declan Finn. I'm pretty sure I've reviewed every one of the novels since Hell Spawn which, if you missed it, was Book 1. I've enjoyed them all, but these things just keep getting better. Tommy's network of allies and enemies keeps broadening. His characterization gets deeper. It almost feels like I could walk into the Nolan house and sit down for dinner with the family. Ya know, maybe Alex would be over and we'd have some spaghetti...

Yeah, these characters are that well drawn... err... written. Whatever. They're believable. 

So, I thought that since I was reviewing three books together, I'd give each a bit of space on it's own. They deserve it and so do my readers. So does the author for that matter. Even if he is a buttface. More on that in a bit.

Destiny

While I am one hundred percent certain that Tommy Nolan does not, under any circumstances, cave in to wrath, it seems that Declan Finn most certainly does. In this case, Finn got frustrated after the Italian government force him and his wife to pay an exorbitant fine while simulataneously having their travel plans cancelled because of an honest mistake. The Nolan family goes through basically the same thing and then...

It gets ugly.

Listen, I'm a history nerd with the degree to prove it. I've even got a couple of graduate credits in American History. I've always loved the history of both Ancient Rome and the Christian Church as well, but I never pursued those as a degree because I don't have the language skills. Seriously.

And what Finn does to some of the coolest historical architecture in Rome was kinda...

Well...

Were you a wrestling fan in the Nineties? Did you see the Undertaker/Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match? The one where Taker choke slammed Foley through the top of the cell into the thumbtacks? Do you remember running your fingers through your own hair, your eyes huge and your feet kicking? Do you remember the simultaneous feeling of "OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO COOL!!!!" mixed with "OH MY GOD THIS SUCKS!!!" with just a wee bit of "DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN?!" Do you remember that feeling?

Yeah, I experienced that a few times with Destiny. Seriously, Hollywood needs to stop rebooting crap and make this into a movie. 

Err...

Just as long as I don't have to be the one to pay for the special effects.

So it's only fair to say that the action scenes were amazing. Saint Tommy with all of his charisms and quite a few allies up against the best that Hell has to send after him. It's amazing and believable. Tommy takes a beating a few times. When he's up against what he gets thrown at him, that makes sense. He even has to be reminded to take care of himself at times.

And that's one of the things I like about Tommy Nolan. He's strong physically, strong at heart, and strong spiritually but we're reminded that his very strength is also a great weakness. He tries to take too much on himself and not accept help. I wish this didn't make as much sense to me as it does, but at the end of the day it's horrifyingly realistic. 

Also, the physical effects of aging are pretty accurately portrayed as well. It seems that our St. Tommy isn't as young as he used to be. I get that. I'm forty-five and sometimes my recovery takes a while longer. Since St. Tommy is forty-five in Destiny as well, it makes sense that he would suffer some of the same probl...

Hey wait!

Finn just said I was getting too old for something! You're busted, buddy. That's a one-ten millionth of a point deduction for...

uhh...

Sumfin' 

Pretty sure it was sumfin'.

The rest of the family is on vacation with Tommy. This doesn't start out as a business trip. It's weird because I never thought I'd say this about a St. Tommy NYPD book, but there is a certain Scooby Doo element here. Not the stupid humor thing, because that would never work in a St. Tommy novel. But it does have kind of an air of "Look guys, we're on vacation! This is gonna be SOO fun!" that then turns into "Uh, oh."Seriously, this thing needs two "Zoiks" and a "Jinkies"before the action really gets going. Well either that, or maybe I'm just a nerd.

Okay, not really. What it really needed was for my dispatcher to shut up and stop sending me off to make money while I was trying to read. Seriously, don't become a cab driver. But if you ever do, don't start a good book on the first. Just don't do it. That's the busiest time of month and it can be hard to do your job when your body is in Michigan but your mind is in another country fighting demons. I would definitely recommend reading Destiny, but I would also try to find an open spot in my schedule if I were you. It's going to take up quite a bit of your time after all, because you're not going to want to put it down.

Bottom Line: 4.9999999 out of 5 Missed Fares

Destiny

Declan Finn

Tuscany Bay Books, 2022

Lightbringer

Okay, so this time we're back on our side of the Atlantic and there are no more priceless historical artifacts around to mercilessly slaughter. That's a good thing. I like my violence with a side of not destroying the ruins of an ancient society.  I mean, it's not like Ancient Rome wasn't a cesspit, but modern New York is not only a cesspit, it's one whose loony ideas I have to deal with on a regular basis. 

And once again, as much as Finn says he hates his hometown you can tell how much he loves his hometown by how well he writes it and Lightbringer is no different. Anne Rice may have had a bigger love affair with New Orleans than Finn has with New York, but it's a close run race. The city itself oozes off the pages. All of New York's features and all of its foibles can be found here. It really feels like Finn hates the local politics but loves the city for what it is when he's not dealing with politicians. I have an urban fantasy work in progress and a lot of the reason I put it in the Detroit area is so that I could do Detroit as well as Finn does New York. 

I really like Lightbringer because Tommy Nolan finally faces something he can't take head on. I mean that sincerely. I love the fact that Saint Tommy is, well, a saint, but really if you pulled the prayer and the emphasis on piety and good works as a spiritual concept out of the books, what you'd have left is a superhero. Don't misunderstand me. I love superheroes. I just think that Thomas Nolan has a little more to him than Captain America or Superman. I mean, spiritually powered lightsabers are awesome, but...

I mean...

You can't solve every problem by stabbing it, or blowing it up, sprinkling it with holy salt or..

You get the picture.

And, as a man of faith who has been through some things, I can tell you truly that while God does answer prayer, it's not always with the answer you want.

This time around the man who can bilocate, levitate, call on angels for backup and outshoot pretty much anything he faces goes up against something that none of that will work on. In a sense, a very real one, you could say that he's facing his worst fear. And it makes him seem much more human than he had before. 

Sometimes with heroes, and it doesn't matter whether we're talking Bruce Wayne or Chris Kyle, Hal Jordan or Saint Peter, it's easy to forget that these are human beings. You get so used to thinking about what they've done that you forget who they are. There are times during Lightbringer when we're reminded that one Thomas Nolan is a man, just like the rest of us. I've always found Finn's characterizations to be realistic but after reading this one, I feel closer to St. Tommy.

And it makes sense, because two of Nolan's kids are adults now, and they are hardcore. It does the heart good to see the babies all grown up following in their fathers footsteps, still seeing the old man on a regular basis, hanging out and doing some of the heavy lifting. The way they show their support for their daddy the best way they know how. And the youngest, not yet grown, is showing signs (I think) of being something special herself someday.

But don't let me get too sentimental on you. I guess I'm just getting soft in my old age. There is plenty of over the top action to keep you entertained. Things go boom. Things go pow. Things go bop, bang, zing.  There's a collision or two. Some special friends show up when needed. A hole appears that wasn't there before. And, well...

Listen, this isn't a spoiler. It's in the title. But the book lives up to its title. Either you get that or you don't. If you do you already knew what was going to happen. If you don't you have no clue what I'm talking about. I just know that I was prepared to get really upset if I didn't see something occur and it did. If you don't know what, go read the book. If you still don't get it, leave a comment and I'll try to explain it to you. Then again, if you don't get it, maybe Lightbringer isn't the only book you need to read.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Soul Rings

Lightbringer

Declan Finn

Tuscany Bay Books, 2022

Dark Web

Holy Dichotomy, Batman! (Pun totally intended.) Dark Web is an awesome book but it shows one Lieutenant Nolan being torn in two directions. One is doing what he was born to do. Tommy fights evil like the champion that he is. But here again, he finds himself confronted with something he can't fight, and it's getting worse. I feel for the guy.

And it's weird because they always tell you not to meet your idols. The inference is that they won't live up to what you want them to be. Mr. Nolan finally comes up against a threat he has no defense against and it makes me like him more. There's nothing more humbling than watching someone go through something you can't help them with while wishing that you could. Tommy takes a metaphorical (and I think an actual) punch to the gut and it hurts.

I want to talk about this for a bit because it hit me pretty hard. Some authors do things better than others, right? Lots of people can write a book about friends and friendship but very few can do it like J.K. Rowling. Lots of authors write about battles in space but if anyone can do it better than David Weber I don't know who it is. Tom Kratman is the only human being on the planet who can write a training manual and make it entertaining. Declan Finn has always been the best writer I've read when it comes to combining spiritual matters with fun and action. I mean, who else can write a gun battle with a main character that prays the whole time and make it make sense? Finn is the only one I've seen.

What I never expected from a guy like Finn was for him to make me cry my own tears. I'm not that guy. Maybe as a kid I was, but I've been through some things since then. I got through a divorce without crying about losing my ex-wife. But Finn had me crying. I'm not going to tell you what happens, but once you figure it out for yourself, hold on. The part that really had me crying isn't quite here yet.

This is a big thing for me, because writing is art and art is all about evoking an emotional response. Sure, that might be excitement and aggression and with the Saint Tommy, NYPD Series it usually is. Tommy fights some really tough opponents and it's fun to watch him take them down a peg. That's why I like these books.

But I don't usually like things that make me cry. Crying comes from sadness and sadness sucks. I haven't shed tears of joy since...

Uhh...

I got a little choked up at my wedding I guess, but even then I didn't actually cry. There were no tears at either of my daughters' births...

It's just not me.

It is, therefore, a rare author that can make me cry and have me still enjoy their book. Finn managed to pull it off. Not to be that guy about it, but I didn't think he had it in him. His books are usually rollicking good fun, not the type of thing that would make me get all mushy. So kudos to one of my favorite authors for pulling off something I didn't believe possible.

And the thing is, this is NOT a tear-jerker. There is enough action in Dark Web to make a Rambo movie blush. It's almost non-stop. Finn brings out every monster he can think of. He leaves his hero weakened to face them in places. He pretty much (but not quite) drops a nuke from orbit. He brings back both old friends and old foes. Dark Web is the book where all of the things happen and nothing ever stops. Even when Tommy thinks things are boring, the rest of the crew would disagree.

Dark Web is the best St. Tommy, NYPD book yet and it's almost the last one as well. There's so much in here that I don't think I did it justice. Suffice it to say that I plan on re-reading this one soon. I went through Dark Web in one fell swoop on my day off because I couldn't stop reading it. I was so hooked into this one that I didn't want to do anything but rip through it as fast as I could. As a matter of fact, this one was so good, I think I give Finn a bonus one ten-millionth of a point to make up for the one I took away earlier.

Bottom Line: 5.0000001 out of 5 Shed Tears

Dark Web

Declan Finn

Tuscany Bay Books, 2022

And that's all three if you're keeping score at home. I'm a bit apprehensive about the next one. Blue Saint is the final book in the series and, if you know anything about the Catholic religion, you know there's no such thing as a living saint. We'll see how true that is on October Eleventh. I doubt Finn will make me cry two books straight though.

All three books are available at the links below. If you click a link and buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.

Jon R Osborne's A Reluctant Druid

First off, the disclaimer: I'm a Christian who not only attends church regularly, even if I missed it this week, and has plans to eventually have a prison ministry. That's going to be a rough road, but I want the challenge because it's important. I can't quite believe that I found myself reading a book where the good guys are the pagans and their enemies are the Christians, but here we are. I liked it so much I'm actually going to promote it on my blog. Then, at some point, I'm going to read the rest of the series. 

Our hero is a dude name Liam Knox and he starts out way over his head. Like trying to stand on the bottom while swimming over the Marianas Trench kind of over his head. It's crazy. He has no clue what is going on or what is happening to him. I mean, we've all seen this before, right? It's kind of a trope. This one goes from Buck Rogers to Harry Potter and back again, only Knox seems to have it worse. 

I mean, with Harry Potter he takes everything in pretty quickly. I love the books, but it almost seems too convenient how quickly he adapts to his new surroundings when he goes from the cupboard under the stairs to the king of the freaking world. Knox takes a bit longer but, if you can believe it, his world is even further from where he started from Harry's. He gets to where he needs to be mentally slowly but surely, I think. There's more to this story than just this one book, and he seems to be getting what's been thrown at him. Then again, the kitchen sink has not quite been thrown yet, that I remember anyway, so there could very well be something he hasn't anticipated. Or at least that I haven't. 

I really got a kick out of the way Osborne worked in a lot of mythological figures. No, I'm not going to list them all but trust me, you'll recognize a lot of them. I sure did. I got a kick out of it. I'm hoping to find out more about who from the Christian side is working with their champion in future books. So far, not a lot has been revealed that I remember but that should be interesting. And it's not like a good author is going to give away everything in the first book of the series. If I don't want more, I won't read more and the author doesn't get paid. So not knowing everything is a good thing, I guess.

I'm tempted to believe that a lot of research went into including all of those mythological beings into A Reluctant Druid. I'm also half tempted to believe that Osborne might just be one of those guys who likes reading mythology and decided to throw a bunch of it into his book because he could. I'm not sure if it's one, or both, or something else entirely but either way I approve. He did a great job.

Sometimes trouble can come from unexpected directions and Osborne gets that. He sure gives his main character a lesson or two at the School of Hard...

Knox.

Get it?

Ok, so that was terrible. Please do not take my poor attempt at humor as being reflective of the quality of A Reluctant Druid. I'll accept the thrown tomatoes. Osborne deserves better than that, even if he let me review his book. 

*SIGH*

No system is perfect, I guess.

The supporting cast here is huge and lots of fun. As already mentioned some of them are major mythological figures, but not all. Some of them are just regular people. Some of them are just regular people, only with powers. I love the fact that you don't necessarily know who is who and what's what when someone walks in or something happens. It actually does drop in the pot at one point and we're all just cruising along like, "Yeah, sounds rough." for about two or three pages before we realize all hell has already broken out and we were just clueless.

No, not like the movie. I'm neither that young, nor that hot.

Anyway...

There is a lot of suspense here. I spent most of the time I couldn't read the book (listen, I've got a job, okay? And like, reading and driving don't mix and no, I don't do audiobooks.) trying to figure out what's coming next. Osborne seems to have found that weird middle ground between revealing too much and ruining interest and telling too little and getting your book launched against the wall at a high velocity because the reader is too frustrated.

Not that I'd ever do such a thing. At least, not if it were an e-book. I need my phone too much for that.

A Reluctant Druid is the perfect kind of book to knock out on a rainy day when you're stuck in the house. We all know the situation, right? Nowhere to go, nothing to do, oh wow how did I finish that book in one day? I mean, I remember that feeling at least. It's been a long time since I've been able to actually do it. 

Of course, you can still read it if you're busy. I read it while working sixty plus hours a week. I'm just saying that A Reluctant Druid is the kind of book that can keep your mind absorbed for an entire day and make you feel like you got something out of it. Actually, if I hadn't been writing all day (going on three thousand words today, it's my day off) I'd probably be reading the sequel right now. 

Wait?

Why are you asking ME what the title of the sequel is? 

WHY DO I HAVE TO DO ALL OF THE WORK?!??!??!?!?!

Okay, gimme a second.

...

...

...

...

It's called A Tempered Warrior. I just found it on Amazon. I'll be checking it out soon.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Lightning Bolts

A Reluctant Druid
Jon Osborne,
New Mythology Press, 2017

Declan Finn's Hussar

So how's that promotion to Lieutenant feel Mr. Nolan. Are you enjoying yourself some time with your feet up and some paperwork in your hand? How does it feel to be in an office and have no one trying to kill you for a change? Well...

Uhh...

He wouldn't know.

See, Lieutenant Tommy Nolan is the main character in Declan Finn's Hussar, the eighth book in the Saint Tommy, NYPD series and he's having a rough...

Uhh...

Day?

Week?

Month?

Year?

Li…

Yeah, that works.

Our boy Tommy is having a rough life. That’s actually rather common among saints. They sometimes have to fight the Lord’s battles for him and, well, battles sometimes get messy. His wife, children, friends, church and home have all been assaulted. Then, just when he gets promoted to the land of head-aches and a sedentary lifestyle everything goes to Hell, again.

I mean that literally. Tommy fights demons, cultists and other assorted weird Satan spawned monsters. His weapons are his wits, his charisms (gifts given by God to saints), his gear and his God. Tommy is the kind that won’t give up no matter what because he knows he’s right. 

Speaking as a Christian man myself (albeit Protestant versus Tommy and Declan’s Catholic) I find that to be the best part of these stories. You don’t have to be a Christian to love Tommy Nolan, but you do have to respect a person who has faith and acts accordingly. Tommy puts himself on the line and does what is necessary because he believes in something higher than himself. He knows that he is a tool in the hand of God and he’s okay with that. It’s a lesson I’m still learning but one that I’m trying to embrace. 

Seriously, Tommy vs. Most of Society is like Sonny Corleone versus Michael Corleone in Godfather II. Michael enlists to serve in World War II because he believes in the United States as something larger than his own life. Santino disagrees. He tells Michael he’s stupid.

From a crooks point of view, he’s probably right. From the point of view of a person who believes in a higher calling, he’s dead wrong. The fact that he can’t see why is a character flaw. Tommy has his flaws, but lack of belief in something bigger than himself is not one of them.

Tommy’s family joins him on parts of this little adventure to save the world in unexpected ways. They do a good job of it. He has a hard time dealing with parts of it, but it works given what has come before. I’d almost consider the essence of what happens to have been inevitable even if I couldn’t have predicted the exact details. When you raise a child a certain way a given outcome should be expected.

And yet…

There is one scene in Hussar that kind of got my goat. I don’t believe Declan has any children and it kind of shows. At one point in the story, and I don’t want to say too much here, Tommy and his son Jeremy get into an argument about things and stuff. Tommy gets a bit angry. What Finn missed was the pride and above all, the fear that Tommy would have felt here. Many times as a parent, the anger you’re expressing comes from fear for your child. It kind of threw me for a second.

I  mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d be mad too. I’d be fuming. It’s just that it’s more complicated than that.

Other than that one scene though, Hussar is a rollicking good time. The action sequences in the book are fast paced and entertaining. Tommy’s knack of finding a way through however he needs to shows up again. He needs it. Finn keeps finding different beasts from mythology to throw at his protagonist and they’re all legitimate threats. I don’t think Tommy has ever had a walkover fight in his life.

One battle in Hussar comes to mind. Tommy’s method of winning the fight was something that I never could have attempted. It had consequences after the fight that he didn’t anticipate, but hey, nobody’s perfect. It actually did my historian’s heart well to read that part of the book. And anyway, it helps keep the atmosphere of this series going in the same direction it has. I’ve always considered Saint Tommy, NYPD to be an urban fantasy series, but it certainly does have elements of horror to it. That one brawl certainly brings that feeling back around again.

The return of an old enemy recast in a new light is a lot of fun as well. I love it when an author can turn a villain into a sympathetic character and make me believe it. What Finn managed here was similar to what Suzanne Collins achieved in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with Coriolanus Snow. I was really impressed.

Hussar, just like the rest of the series, is a weird mix of today’s headlines mixed with fiction and that makes it even more interesting. When an author of fiction can throw in things like the current crisis along the southern border of the US with church burnings in Europe then mix in a Texas Ranger (law enforcement, not baseball) and cross it with golem armor, the Spear of Destiny and a necromancer and (this is key) make it all MAKE SENSE, you know you’ve got something good in your hands.

Although I did love this book, I’d recommend starting at the beginning if you’re new to the series. Hussar is eight books in and there’s a lot of back story that it would be helpful to know. Yes, I am saying that the story might be a bit hard to follow if you’re just starting out. That’s okay though, you’ll love the first seven too.

All in all, I’d call Hussar a worth descendant of the first seven books in this series and that’s saying a lot. I work between fifty-five and seventy hours a week and I always (eventually) make time for a new Saint Tommy novel when it hits. That’s not counting the time I spend on my other geeky habits. I also get free books on a regular basis from people who want reviews. If I make a point of buying an author’s new book and reading it, you know it’s worth your time. I’ve read and reviewed every Saint Tommy book so far and I plan on doing the same with the next one. Once it actually comes out. Not that I’d like, you know, urge you all to start a letter writing campaign to get the next one published soon or anything. That would be mean. And if you do, don’t tell him it was my idea. But I really want to see if…

Ahhh..

Nevermind

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 Holy Water loaded Super Soakers

Hussar

Declan Finn

Silver Empire, 2021

Hussar and Hellspawn (first book in the series) are available for purchase at the following links. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no cost to you.

William Lehman's Shadow War

(Welcome to Day Three of Jimbo's Memorial Day Weekend Extravaganza. We're honoring those lost by honoring their buddies who made it back and wrote a book in the Science Fiction or Fantasy genres. 

Today, we're honoring William Lehman. He has twenty years in the US Navy and another twenty as a civilian employee of the Navy. That's forty years in public service if you're keeping score at home. He started out his lifetime of service as a Sonar Technician, Submarines. Of course, he can't tell me where he was deployed because he was in subs and he was never in the places where he was, never did any of the things that he did and was given awards for reasons that have been redacted because the stuff he got them for never occurred.

Or sumfin'

Those awards include the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Arctic Service Medal and a Navy Commendation as well as "some other stuff." He once circumnavigated the globe in ten minutes while surfaced at the North Pole, except that he didn't because he was never there.

Capisce?

He served on the USS McKee, the USS Alabama (g) and the USS Florida (g), as well as the Trident refit facility where he was seconded to Base Security for the duration of Desert Storm and finished up as the Work Programs Director for Naval Brig Bangor. He can't tell me about any of the fun toys he played with because those don't exist, either.

He is married to Kitiara Lehman and his kids, Michael and Amanda, are both grown. He also has three grandchildren, Scarlet, Lillian and Gracie-Ray. Oh, and at some point he found time to dual class into policeman, serving with the Bremerton PD concurrent with his service both in the USN and as a Navy civilian.)

 

Okay, so there are some things that Jimbo just doesn’t do, like ever. Or at least since I was twelve and picked up a copy of L. Ron Hubbard’s Death Quest. Stop laughing! It’s a good book when you’re twelve!

Anyway, having read through the sixth book in the series FIRST, I then had to go back and read the first five. It was expensive (when your allowance in a dollar a week, a five dollar paperback takes a LONG time to get) and half of what was in the books was spoiled because I came in after they had been published. Nope, never gonna do that again.

Well, until I get a request from a vet to accept an Advance Reader’s Copy of his book that’ll be out sometime soon. Uhh…

He’s a vet, right? SO you kind of have to, because vet on Memorial Day, and offering to read the first one might work but uh…

Yeah.

All of that to say that I REALLY REALLY enjoyed William Lehman’s Shadow War and I can’t wait to read the first two, since it’s the third in the series. Seriously, this hero is a heroic hero that does, like, heroic stuff. I like that. He’s not afraid to fight when he needs to and he’s willing to use his brain when necessary as well. If he’s a master werecougar and an Asatru priest in a world where magic exists and he can go berserk (only he spells it baresark. I’m guessing that’s the Nordic spelling) and do magical stuff too, so much the better.

Although, honestly, this is one of a very few Urban Fantasy works that I’ve read that could have worked without the Fantasy part attached. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the fantasy elements. I just think that the basic plot of the novel is good enough to stand on its own without the magic if that’s the way that Lehman wanted to write it. I’m kinda glad he didn’t, because the only thing cooler than a detective novel/spy thriller mashup is a detective novel/spy thriller/fantasy story mashup. I just think he built his world well enough that it fantasy is a useful addition instead of the main attraction.

Of course, he used a couple of real world cities (Seattle and San Francisco) to set Shadow War in probably does help. He had like street maps and stuff, and being a retired sub vet there’s a good chance he spent some time in Washington State as there is a sub base in Bremerton, Washington. Actually, I think there’s one in San Fran too. Ok, so that probably saved him a bit of trouble with research, but hey, there is nothing wrong with being a SMART author.

Or sumfin’

It’s weird though, because although Lehman himself is a bubblehead, his main character is a Marine who was with Seal Team Twelve. Never heard of them? I guess that’s because they’re the preternatural SEALs and you’re not read in. Yup, that’s where they send all of the ‘Thropes (short for lycanthrope, get used to seeing it) vampires, etc. They’re the A Team, the guys you don’t want to mess with. He used to be one until he retired, joined the Park Police and went out to live the simple life.

Or sumfin’

Apparently he ended up with a life more complicated than what he anticipated, but he and his girlfriend, a Native American shaman with magic of her own, seem to do pretty well dealing with what they’re faced with. For the most part. I mean, it’s not easy but they get through it. Somehow.

I also really like the fact that Lehman, like another personal favorite Declan Finn, adds things in that make his work that much more realistic. Think about it this way: How many times have you ever seen Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh (think Lethal Weapon) have to fill out paperwork after a gun battle? Lehman doesn’t dwell on it, but it’s there. It adds a lot to the atmosphere of Shadow War and it makes it a lot more realistic. I like that.

But that’s not to say that this is a book all about paperwork. Shadow War is a work of art with plenty of action and intensity to keep the reader interested. Some of the specialized munitions in the book sound fun all by themselves and when you add in the real world firearms and missiles then toss in some hard fighting with edged weapons, well, it just works, especially if you’re already in the mood for some skull cracking to begin with.

There is plenty of political intrigue in the background as well. Actually, it’s not really in the background, it’s pretty much in your face during large chunks of the book. It makes sense though. Shadow War isn’t just the name of the book, it’s a good description of what happens in the book, at least in general terms and Lehman gets it: Wars aren’t fought just because of hate and a desire to kill the people we don’t like. They’re fought  to further political ambitions using actual force instead of political pressure and money. Alliances rise and fall because of the political goals of the allied nations. His story makes sense because he gets the way things work in the real world.

Lehman’s service to his country is obvious in his characters as well. These aren’t just people who have been stationed in the same part of the country. They’re not just friends, although they are that. They’re comrades, people who have been welded together through shared training and shared danger. I’m a historian because of the real life equivalent to the characters in Shadow War. Seriously, if Fisher actually existed I’d buy him a beer. He’s good people.

And I’ve already gone and downloaded the first book in the series, Harvest of Evil. Of course, I had to boot a book from my Kindle Unlimited queue to get it, and that’s all Lehman’s fault. I’ll have to stick my tongue at him if I ever meet the guy. It’s all his fault that I’ll never read…

Uhh…

Whatever that other book was.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Severed Claws

Shadow War

William Lehman

Pymander Press, 2021