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.

Declan Finn's Deus Vult: Saint Tommy, NYPD Book 6

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Remind me never to take a trip with Saint Tommy. Not ever. This guy has all the bad luck. I mean, it's not that I don't want to serve God. It's more like I don't want to be eaten by something along the way. Seriously.  Being shot or blown up is one thing, but some of the stuff this guy faces...

Oi

Anyway...

I'm not going to identify the big bad in Declan Finn's Deus Vult: Saint Tommy NYPD Book 6. It's not obvious from the title, so that makes it a spoiler. I will say that I enjoyed it. I was legitimately worried this time. Wow. That's a rough one to face down. I think I'd just poop my pants and run as fast as I could in another direction. I'm not worried about which direction, just one of them. This is one of those times when you want to cross universes and have Scotty beam you up so you can warp out of the system. Well, unless the Doctor is in town. That would work too, and one can't be picky while being attacked by something that they can't handle.

Some of you are thinking I'm exaggerating right now. I'm not. Some forces are just not to be trifled with. I think that just might be one of them. If you haven't read the book you're wondering what I'm talking about. That's good. Turn your ads on for my blog only. There will be a link at the end of the review so you can go buy it.

Of course, something that Finn has done consistently over his entire Saint Tommy series is to mix in elements of horror. None of the later books can match the first novel, Hellspawn for being true horror. That one had me shaking in my shoes and, while I absolutely loved it, was a lot closer to Stephen King or Dean Koontz than my normal fare. Deus Vult, however, has some real elements of horror to it. Finn mixes it in really well.

I may never go into a haunted house again.

Then again, I might. IF I can get my daughter to read this, just so I can see the look of terror on her face when she walks into it having read it. Deus Vult definitely has some nightmare type sequences and that's awesome. You never know what's going to happen or how things are going to go when Saint Tommy gets himself in trouble. Finn always finds new and inventive ways to torture his characters.

I love it. Then again, I'm a Dungeon Master who as been known to steal ideas from time to time. I think maybe I shouldn't let my players read this one. There are a few things here that I could use that they wouldn't have seen before and there's nothing like dropping something new on a veteran gamer to remind them that they don't always know what's up my sleeve.

We get to see a bit more of Tommy's family this time around than we did in past books and I really like that. Deus  Vult starts with the family away from home and so Mariel, Tommy's wife, and the kids are not just around, but involved in ways that they haven't been before, at least for the kids.

The supporting cast is, of course, bigger than just Tommy's family. His NYPD parter Alex and Father Pearson are both back as well. Alex is a good guy and is someone good to have at your back. He's kind of a modern day Samwise Gamgee, but taller. Father Pearson is both a good guy and a bit of an enigma. It's like he's a basic decent dude but he has a back story we don't know everything about yet. "Combat Exorcist" is a good title but even that might not cover everything the guy can do. He also appears to have some high level contacts that we may not be aware of. I'm watching that guy. Something more is coming from him. I'm just not sure what yet.

It's weird, but it was kind of good to welcome back an old enemy as well. Sometimes as fans of Speculative Fiction in general we can forget about the old bad guys who aren't quite dead yet. Or more to the point, the authors can. I can think of one particular series that was a collaboration between John Ringo and David Weber...

Nevermind

This time around though, we get to welcome him back with open arms and a deep desire to see things end the way they should have before, but it's not just that. Finn gives us a look at another side of the dude and shows that sometimes even the slimy types have a code. It might not be a good code. It might not be one we'd agree with. A code is a code nonetheless and it adds a lot to a character when it hadn't been revealed previously.

I had heard that Finn originally intended for this to be the last book in the Saint Tommy series and the last few pages show that. It really felt like he was tying this thing up to put it to bed. That was a bittersweet thing. Of course, it's always good to come to the end of a saga and find out how it ends. Who can forget the scene at Platform  Nine and Three-Quarters or the party on the Forest Moon of Endor as ends of their respective tales? Then again, who was happy that we wouldn't be getting any more Harry Potter or Star Wars? (And yes, we've had more Star Wars, but who knew that would happen at the time?) In this case though, I'm happy to report that there are more books planned. I should even know how many but I don't remember right now. I'll just be glad to see more. Maybe we'll get to find out more about Father Pearson. I'll be waiting with bated breath.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Wicked Teeth

Deus Vult: Saint Tommy, NYPD Book 6
Declan Finn
Silver Empire, 2019

Deus Vult, Saint Tommy NYPD Book 6 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 cost to you.

Stop With the Discrimination

Apparently Amazon does not approve of Christian authors writing Christian books.

Declan Finn and Jon Del Arroz, both authors which I have reviewed and am a fan of, have had their latest pre-release ebooks have been cancelled. No explanation has been given. That's fine. I'll provide one:

It's religious discrimination. Both men are Catholic authors selling Catholic themed works. They were banned because Amazon doesn't like Catholics. You know who else doesn't like Catholics? The Ku Klux Klan. Seriously. Yes, they are best known for their hatred and acts of violence toward black people. Yes, those happened. I'm not going to catalogue every bad thing the Klan has done to black people because the list is too damn long. If someone has a list they can put in the comments because fuck the Ku Klux Klan.  Here's the thing though: They can, and do, hate more than one group.

But really, how badly does the KKK  hate Catholics? (They term them "papists") Badly enough to have burned a cross on the ground of the Shrine of the Little Flower church in Royal Oak, Michigan just a few miles from my house. It has long since been rebuilt and looks magnificent on the outside. I have not been into the Basilica proper so I can't comment directly, but I'm told that it looks great on the inside too.

I have a hard time believing that two Catholic authors having their pre-orders cancelled on the same day, less than a week before they release to be a bit more than just merely coincidental. Apparently Declan Finn agrees. When I asked him for an opinion he stated, "I'm usually not paranoid, but in this case, the timing is too suspicious." I agree.

Jon Del Arroz gave me the following statement:

"I will never equivocate not water down my message proclaiming the Glory of Jesus Christ -no matter what it costs me!"

Apparently that would be a decent amount of money since all of your pre-orders were cancelled. 

Of course, the Klan weren't the only group of White Supremacists to hate others. Hitler's Third Reich was also known for deplatforming authors of a religious group they didn't like. Yep, book burnings were common in Nazi Germany.  Of course, you can't burn digital books, so Amazon would have to just ban them instead. Anything that doesn't get downloaded can't be passed on. You can stop the signal before it starts.

These series both sell extremely well as compared to their respective authors. Declan Finn recently extended his Saint Tommy, NYPD series because it was his best selling series to date. Del Arroz stated on his live stream that his Nano Templar series was his best selling series to date. This is nothing other than an attempt to ruin two men because of their religion.

I am, quite frankly, incensed. Seriously, I am not - myself- Catholic. My ex-wife is though. Both of my daughters are growing up in the Catholic church. Both have been baptized as Catholics. Both have made their First Confession and First Communion as Catholics. My oldest is set to make her Confirmation as Catholic next spring sometime. (My ex hasn't given me the date yet. I'm assuming that's because she doesn't have it yet either.) This blatant attack on the religion of my children has me fuming. This is not okay.

I'm hoping that this is some rogue employee doing the wrong thing. I'm hoping that this is one person's attack on the worlds largest religion and not the beginnings of a the systematic pattern of deplatforming of a major religion by Amazon. I truly do. If that's what it is, Amazon is free to remove the problem. I won't call for a boycott until I hear how this is resolved.

What you can do to show your support for these two victims of hate is simple: Buy their books.It's not hard to do. I'll drop the links at the bottom. I have not read either, although I am in possession of an Advanced Review Copy of Deus Vult. I have enough confidence in both writers to recommend their works sight unseen though, because I've read enough of their stuff to know how good they are. I will, at some point in the future be reviewing both. I can say that with confidence, because I have put my money where my mouth is:

So go forth and support these two brave authors. Buy their books from a non-Amazon source, since you can't get it where you want to get it from. You can still read them on your Kindle.

Deus Vult is available for purchase here:

https://silverempire.org/product/deus-vult/

Glorified by Jon Del Arroz is available for purchase here:

https://silverempire.org/product/glorified/

For the record, I don't get paid for things bought from links to the Silver Empire website like I would if I use Amazon affiliate links like I usually do. That sucks. Buy them from Silver Empire anyway.

Declan Finn's Infernal Affairs

Saint Tommy is at it again and I'm never moving to New York. Seriously, if this is the type of thing that goes down there I'm staying in Detroit because it's safer here. Our only problems are a few hundred gang bangers and some corrupt politicians. Never in my life have we been invaded by a hell spawned demon, a crazed death cult or an insane warlock, as in Declan Finn's newest work, Infernal Affairs. What a bunch of whackadoo insanity.

I say that with love though because, once again, Finn has given us a winner.This is one of those times where I really wish I had more hours in a day because I couldn't get enough of this book... And I couldn't get enough sleep either. I drive for a living, so I had to put the thing down, but UGGGHHHH. That doesn't mean I wanted to. I just had to do what was necessary to stay alive?

Oh, did I say "what was necessary to stay alive?"

I think I did!

And, coincidentally, what you'll see a lot of in this book, sort of. While Tommy does literally fight the good fight, and does it well, he's not always looking out for his own wellbeing. He lives up to the title of his series. Tommy places himself directly in harm's way in service to his Lord and he does it willingly and unflinchingly. It's good to see. Finn gets that it's necessary to stand up to evil and that sometimes it takes more than words. It's a refreshing change of pace from what I commonly see now-a-days.

Oh, and speaking of doing what is necessary to stay alive...

There is one particular sequence in the book. It's one of those awesome things where it simultaneously feels like it was over way too soon and like you've been stuck in the action all day trying to figure out what happens next. Like, you want to know what happens but you don't want it to end. I don't know if that makes sense but it's true.

This same sequence also reads like a nightmare. I almost want to ask Finn if he had a dream like this and threw it into his novel. Seriously. I'm half tempted to think that the whole thing was a result of too much cheese before bed and I find myself wondering: Should I try to talk him out of eating cheese before bed for his own good? Or maybe show up with a block of cheddar and a box of crackers just before bedtime for my benefit? Then again, he gets paid for this. Do you guys know if he maybe prefers the mixed color cheese like a Colby-Jack? Hmmm....


Ok, now the disclaimer. I am a Protestant Christian who is divorced and has two daughters being raised as Catholics by their mother. (Yes, I see them and pay for them, but it's a long story.) I was actually undergoing the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults right before I separated from my wife. (For those of you who missed it, that's how you become a confirmed Catholic if you didn't go to Catechism as a kid.)  So, I have no problem whatsoever with the religion as contained in the novel. The thought of a living, breathing, praying saint (or prophet, more properly since no one is officially a saint until after they die) is one I find fascinating and entertaining. On the other hand, if you are an anti-Christian (in general) or anti-Catholic (in particular) type person maybe you'd be better off with something else. I mean, Christian and/or non-bigoted types would love Infernal Affairs but some people just suck.

Oh, and the other disclaimer: Infernal Affairs is the third in the series, coming after Hell Spawn and Death Cult. You could legitimately read Infernal Affairs as a standalone and enjoy it, but why would you? The first two books are awesome as well and, if you didn't read them already, you get the chance that I never had: To binge-read the entire first trilogy straight through. Although, I mean, I do own all three books and there's no law that says I can't RE-read them.

I love villains that I hate. If you've read this blog you know precisely what I mean. Finn's villain this time around is a complete POS. It's good to root for the saint, but it's fun to root against Satan and all of his works as well. Believe me, this is one for the ages. I don't want to give too much away because a lot of the nature of the villain is revealed slowly throughout the book but I'd go to war against this guy. I mean, I'm not a saint and I'd probably get creamed but at least I'd get creamed knowing I was on the right side.

I have to admit to being a bit relieved here, too. I was part of the Kickstarter for Hell Spawn. I'm glad I bought the book, because I got an autographed copy but part of it was that if it raised enough money, Finn would add books to the end of the series. For those that missed it, I'm a fan of Finn's but I was a bit concerned that he'd stretch the story he had too far to try to fill the extra books he now has to write. I'm both happy and relieved to find out that I was wrong. This book contains what it needs to contain and there is no sign that it was stretched unnecessarily. Maybe I should have known better.

HOWEVER

If I'm remembering correctly (and that's a risk I'm prepared to take) we should have at least two more of these coming. I, personally, am looking forward to them and I suppose my bank account will just have to shut up and deal. I mean, honestly, what geek pays attention to what his accountant has to say anyway? I've never met one.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Flaming Drones

Infernal Affairs
Declan Finn
Silver Empire, 2019

Infernal Affairs is available for purchase at the following link:

Declan Finn's Death Cult

Ladies and Gentleman (and you in the back) I present to you a plot synopsis of Declan Finn's Latest Book, Death Cult.

Hi
OOF!
OUCH!
Dude, don't
He did?
Really?
That sounds like it hurt.
That had to have hurt
Them again
I'm not sure that's physically possible
I KNOW that's NOT physically possible
COOL!
HOT!
The End!

 You may all now return to your regularly scheduled lives.

Kidding!

And honestly, I don't thinking I've quite done it justice. There is a slight chance that I'm oversimplifying a bit. The book is after all, quite a bit longer than that so called synopsis. It's worth reading every word though, because Death Cult kicks ass.

In Hell Spawn Saint Tommy fought a demon. It was ugly. There was lots of fighting and many people died to death. It was quite horrifying. I loved the book, but I was a bit worried. Don't get me wrong. Finn is a good author. But when you're writing Christian fiction and you go up against a demon, what comes next? I mean, I didn't see Finn bringing Satan himself to Earth for a straight up rumble, although I'd buy that book. The threats need to get bigger if you're going to keep it entertaining. So what do you do and who do you do it with? You fight a death cult. (No, that's not a spoiler. It's the title of the stinking book.) It works. It's deadly dangerous and definitely something that most Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, would find themselves at odds with.

I will say this much: Some of the symbolism in this book is both funny and a little blatant. I'm thinking of one thing in particular which I'm not going to mention. It makes massive amounts of sense. It's pretty gross. It's kind of funny in a sick sort of way because of how well it fits. I enjoyed it and it works but it's pretty hard to miss.

Finn has built his world very well. We're treated to some old friends and some new acquaintances and they all fit together nicely. I really like it when a book stays true to the universe it is written in. Death Cult does so nicely. The internal logic is consistent, the characters stay true to their own motivations. I don't mean that the book is predictable because it's not. There is, however, a difference between logical and predictable and Finn has found his groove here.

Having said that, it's worth mentioning that not every saint was Mother Theresa. I mean Saint George slew the dragon and the Catholic faith has seen it's share of fights as well as saints that were involved in them. Tommy is no exception. Yes, he's a nice guy when he can be. That doesn't mean he's always a nice guy. My pastor (who admittedly is not Catholic) just did a sermon a few weeks ago about the sixth commandment and talked about how it's not wrong to kill in the defense of life. Trust me when I tell you that Tommy has plenty of reasons to fight God would approve of all of them.

In a way, part of the reason I think I liked this book so much is because Finn picked a villain that made sense in the context of that selfsame commandment. The villain is the kind of person you just want to slap and can't. They are evil personified (and I'm guessing that's intentional) and hide behind a facade of providing a useful service. They really boil my butt. It did me heart well to see Tommy after them.

Finn has always (or at least as long as I've been reading his work) been able to write an awesome action sequence and Death Cult gave him a chance to show off his skills. You start to feel bad for Tommy after awhile because of all the crap he is going through but that doesn't mean it's not fun to "watch". I will say that I have no intention of ever getting on Finn's bad side though. It would appear to be a bad idea. If he can conceive of violence at this level, he might just be able to get the drop on me. That would be a bad thing.

The politics in this book work for me. I have no trouble seeing a liberal mayor cover for an unmitigated evil within his city if it fits his ideology. Finn does a good job of displaying things in a way that would not please the mainstream media, but fits with the beliefs of roughly half the country. It is presented in a manner consistent with religion (his main character is a saint in the making after all) but without being overly preachy. There are conversations I've had with family members that cover some of the same subjects. I'd like to get some of them to read Death Cult specifically, but since they don't really do horror...

UGH

Let's face it though. Family or not, if you can't enjoy a Declan Finn book you pretty much suck at life and your opinion doesn't really matter. Seriously, you all need to read this book right now. I'll wait to finish the review. Hie thee off to Amazon and purchase the thing. The link is down there somewhere. Okay, okay. If you haven't bought the first book, Hell Spawn then I'll wait for you to get back after buying both of them. Go ahead.

...

...

...

Back now? Did you put your credit card number in right? Actually, I don't really care as long as you didn't use mine. I bought the Indiegogo with the ARC and the autographed copy so yeah... I dished out the loot already.

Ok, so maybe I talked a bit of trash there, but this is a really good book and I'm seriously looking forward to number three. I think he announced a title, but if so, I'm pretty sure I forgot what it was going to be. That's okay though. I'm gonna read it anyway.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Hail Marys

Death Cult
Declan Finn
Silver Empire, 2018

Death Cult is available for purchase at the following link:

Declan Finn's Hell Spawn: Saint Tommy NYPD - Book One

Did you ever stop to look around you and wonder what the Hell just happened? Yeah, so has Detective Thomas Nolan. In his case though, he meant it literally. I have to hand it to Declan Finn. I really didn't think you could do much to make a homicide detective's day worse. In Hell Spawn Finn decided to throw a demon at one. He owns it and when a demon comes out to play, it gets ugly. Like, double plus ungood ugly. Like, this thing is eviller than evil ugly. Like, I'm cackling evilly remembering how evil this thing was ugly. It's a good time.

I'd be careful with Hell Spawn though. It almost caused me to stay home from work because I couldn't put it down. Oh, and I was reading it while eating solo at a local diner and the waitress was looking at me funny because I wouldn't leave after eating my meal and paying my bill. She was a bit confused. I just wanted to know what happened next. Chick obviously doesn't have a reading problem. Her bad.

Seriously though, don't start this one twenty minutes before you need to be somewhere. Hell Spawn starts off fast and accelerates continuously. Finn has redefined the term "page turner" here. It almost felt like the pages were turning themselves and I was just watching. Sometimes as a reviewer I find myself reading something because it's my job to. This is a book that made me want to read it.

Now, Declan Finn has always considered himself to be a fantasy author. He has stated this on his blog, but I'm too lazy to go find a link. Hell Spawn is a damn good book, but this isn't fantasy. Finn has a much better sense of how to write a plot than most Eighties slasher movie writers, but he's got them beat for gore as well. A lot of what happens in the tome is sick, twisted, disturbing and awesome.

Myself and Mr. Finn don't necessarily agree on the all of the finer points of theology (the whole Catholic vs. Protestant thing) but something we do agree on is the power of prayer. There is a lot of it in Hell Spawn. As a matter of fact, there are an awful lot of times when Christian attitudes are shown. I approve. Actually, I'd like to see more of this kind of stuff. Hell Spawn is a Catholic writer telling a story about a saint in the making. It fits. The fact remains that Finn/Tommy's takes on a number of controversial topics, including abortion, are on display for all to see. They're pretty stinkin' close to what I heard from my pastor a few weeks ago. If you're the special snowflake uber liberal type and just can't stand the thought that someone might disagree with you, this might be a good time to go buy a biography of Che Guevara that conveniently omits his stances towards homsexuals and black people. I hate to say it, but Hell Spawn may not be for you. Finn pulls no punches. I love it.

Finn's view of the police is somewhat nuanced as is  - surprisingly- his view of saints, but make no mistake about it: Hell Spawn  is about a battle between good and evil. Saint Tommy versus the demon (and no, I'm not telling you which demon. That would be spoiling.) is an epic throwdown between the darkness and the light. That much is made clear.

Somewhat missing though, and this may be intentionally, is a clear view of where Tommy v. Demon fits in the framework of the grand battle of God and Satan. It's treated as a personal battle, albeit one fought with allies. We're not really given much of a sense of the more colossal grand battle. That's the view I became accustomed to a long time ago as a fan of fantasy fiction. Then again, this is horror.  It works differently. And  Hell Spawn is book one in a series, so maybe I'll get to see where this fits in later. Maybe not too. The book was freaking awesome without it and it's Earthbound, so personal appearances by God and Satan might not work.

Finn lives in New York. The book takes place in New York. I've never been to New York (I know, I'm working on it) but having read Hell Spawn I almost feel like I have been. Finn's relationship with New York is in some ways analogous to Anne Rice's relationship with New Orleans. Both have stories that take place outside of their respective hometowns but both continuously return to the city they love in their fiction. It shows in the work. Both authors lay things out in their work that make you love their cities too. I'm really impressed by this. It's almost like you could make the car trips that take place in the story using the directions in the book. Oh, and do you know how I could tell the book was written by a native New Yorker? There were no references to  the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street or Broadway. There is not a single scene in Times Square. It's almost like Tommy had lived all his life in the city and had no desire to comment on things that he took for granted. It made him feel more real and human.

I can't say much more about the plot without giving the whole book away, but it moves. It's logical. The entire thing works within the rules of the work itself. There is no massive, gaping plot hole that you could float an aircraft carrier through sideways. That's always a fear when reading a work like this. It's pretty epic and it's easy for an author to get excited and forget about something. That doesn't seem to have happened here and that's good.

That's not to say that Finn tied up all the loose strings. Hell Spawn is the first in a series, not the last. There are some very obvious plot threads still dangling but there need to be. I am, after all, looking forward to the next book. How could there be one if Tommy solved everything the first time?

Oh, and if you're wondering: Hell Spawn is the current front runner for my Dragon Award nomination for Best Horror Novel next year. That is, unless Finn beats himself with the sequel to this master piece which is due out in Mid-December, just in time for my birthday.

Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Praying Chaplains

Hell Spawn: Saint Tommy NYPD - Book One
Declan Finn
Silver Empire, 2018

Hell Spawn: Saint Tommy NYPD - Book One is available for purchase at the following link: