Book Log 37/2016 - Joe Hill: The Fireman

I’ve had Joe Hill recommended to me a number of times, but this is my first foray into his writing. The Fireman picked me up and wouldn’t let me stop until the very last page. It’s a long book and doesn’t always move at a fast pace, but there’s always something to hold interest. The cultural referencing is a neat trick that keeps the reader grounded in the increasingly horrific world.

There’s a plague – not a virus but a spore. It has a fancy name but everyone calls it dragonscale. First you get the marks on your skin then you burst into flame and burn to death. Understandably the world is trying to keep this in check, but no one really understands how it’s spread, so it’s spreading rapidly – and huge swathes of America are burning.

Harper is a school nurse, but when the schools are closed she volunteers at the local hospital, fully covered in a protective suit. That’s where she meets The Fireman for the first time.  He brings in a child for emergency treatment (appendicitis) and Harper helps him to get medical attention in time to save the boy’s life, thus putting him in her debt. When Harper herself gets the first signs of scale the Fireman is there to save her (and her unborn child) from the husband, Jakob, who wants them to both die in a suicide pact. He takes Harper to a summer camp, a secret refuge for the scale-infected, and there she learns that there’s an alternative to going up in flames.

But the camp is not the ultimate answer. Duelling paranoias cause problems and Harper’s troubles are only just beginning. Her husband has become one of the anti-scale vigilantes and no one is safe. Harper has to protect herself and her baby while at the same time unravelling secrets of the Fireman’s past and his extraordinary talents.

Gripping and involving. Highly recommended.

I had this as a galley proof from netgalley in exchange for a review.

Book Log 38/2016 - Benedict Jacka: Chosen – Alex Verus #4

Alex Verus, keeps a magic shop in London and keeps his head down, or tries to. He’s not very popular with mage society, having once been apprenticed to a dark mage. His particular skill is that of a diviner. He can see possible futures. It’s not a very strong power, especially when compared to someone who can throw firebolts, but if he can see where the firebolt will land it enables him to not be there when it does.

As this series develops Alex, once a loner out of necessity) begins to gather friends and he’s discovering that he’s comfortable with it. Unfortunately that means when there’s a threat it rebounds on to them as well, and he doesn’t want to put them in danger. The Nightstalkers are hunting dark mages and they have Alex firmly in their sights. The mage council isn’t going to step in (what’s it to them if Alex is killed?) so Alex is more or less on his own… though maybe not entirely.

There are rumours that Alex’s old dark master is returning and Alex is faced with the prospect of revealing things he’s really not proud of to the people he’s come to like and trust. He’s pretty sure that once they learn the truth about him he’ll lose their friendship and support.

One of the charming things about these Alex Verus novels is the voice. Alex is an excellent narrator, wry and down to earth. Jacka is a master of pacing and tension. Highly recommended (though I suggest you read them in series order).

Book Log 39/2016 - Lisa Tuttle: The Somnambulist and the Psychic Thief

This is a detective story with a supernatural theme. Miss Lane, having left her previous job as companion to a psychic investigator (who turns out to be a fraud) ends up falling into the job of assisting Jasper Jesperson, a Sherlock Holmsian type of consulting detective. It’s all very proper as the household is managed by Mrs Jesperson, Jasper’s formidable mother. Clients are not exactly falling over themselves to employ Jesperson and Lane and the rent is due, but they take on a seemingly simple job to discover where a somnambulist goes when he sleepwalks. Things get complicated when this crosses over with a mystery which brings Miss Lane back into contact with her previous partner. Someone is kidnapping psychics and the police don’t seem very interested in finding out who. Naturally it’s a job for Jesperson and Lane.

I found myself liking the characters. Miss Lane (she hates her name Aphrodite) is intelligent and proactive without ever stepping out of the character of a Victorian lady while Mr Jesperson is hugely talented, though has an enormously high opinion of himself which takes a while to justify. I’m not a natural reader of Victorian detective fiction, though the supernatural elements appealed. To be honest, though it’s extremely well written, I found this a little slow at times, especially in the first half. Ms Tuttle tries for the Victorian voice, and succeeds, but that does mean that everything is very polite and steady; slightly stiff, in fact. It does, however, warm up in the second half as the mystery deepens. I would guess, that this is setting up a series for Jesperson and Lane. Recommended for lovers of detective fiction and the Victorian era.

I received this as a review copy via Netgalley