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4.0
Justin Alcala's journey into Victorian England with a vampirish detective story is a winner. He writes eloquently, intelligently, and with a voice that evokes one of my writing heroes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Alcala's style also harkens back to 19th-century writing--florid descriptions, highly detailed settings, and clear character descriptions.
I'm not much of a reader of fantasy or paranormal fiction, so I can't speak to the quality of the vampire and necromancer angle of the plot. But the storytelling is very good. Brannick is a likeably flawed hero and his relationship with Davis, his police partner, is believable with all the semi-good-natured back and forth sniping between the two. Supporting characters play a big role in adding flavor to the story.
Like other reviewers, I noted many typos and grammar goofs that took me out of the story far too many times. I also had trouble quickly recalling who of the three narrators was talking as the story progressed, which made for some confusion. But overall, this is a book worth buying for fans of the Victorian-era detective story (with a hint of supernatural).
I'm not much of a reader of fantasy or paranormal fiction, so I can't speak to the quality of the vampire and necromancer angle of the plot. But the storytelling is very good. Brannick is a likeably flawed hero and his relationship with Davis, his police partner, is believable with all the semi-good-natured back and forth sniping between the two. Supporting characters play a big role in adding flavor to the story.
Like other reviewers, I noted many typos and grammar goofs that took me out of the story far too many times. I also had trouble quickly recalling who of the three narrators was talking as the story progressed, which made for some confusion. But overall, this is a book worth buying for fans of the Victorian-era detective story (with a hint of supernatural).
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