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froggebip's review
4.0
A quick, simple romp through Deep One conspiracy and intrigue, Cthulhu Blues wraps up the Spectra Files trilogy with a fraught race against nefarious cultists and the avatar of an Old God.
I haven't read the prior two books in the series (this was a gift), so I can't say whether the conclusion was satisfying in that context. On its own, the book told a neat, self-contained story about Becca Phillips and Agent Jason Brooks trying to stop the apocalyptic workings of the Black Pharaoh (who I gather they've tussled with before).
The book takes something of a "true crime" tack in its presentation, giving us glimpses into the Black Pharaoh's conspiracy to punctuate our heroes' activity. I thought this worked well for a Lovecraftian story, as the readers are given many clues to work from instead of just waiting for the horror to unravel. Don't take that to mean there's no tension, however; the book does an excellent job of setting up uncertainties for the perspective characters, and those uncertainties are often catastrophic in scale.
My one complaint about Cthulhu Blues was that the conclusion didn't let us see any of the cleanup after the catastrophe. "True Detective" at least gave viewers a taste of what the main characters thought of its season events, but Cthulhu Blues leaves everything very much unfinished, though the threat is clearly quelled. Obviously that's an artistic choice, and perhaps if I had more familiarity with the characters, I'd find it an interesting take, but as a newcomer to the series it felt a little abrupt.
Overall, Cthulhu Blues is an easy one to pick up. It's an interesting, tense, imaginative take on the mythos which won't demand too much of your time. A great introduction to the Cthulhu mythos as well. Good stuff!
I haven't read the prior two books in the series (this was a gift), so I can't say whether the conclusion was satisfying in that context. On its own, the book told a neat, self-contained story about Becca Phillips and Agent Jason Brooks trying to stop the apocalyptic workings of the Black Pharaoh (who I gather they've tussled with before).
The book takes something of a "true crime" tack in its presentation, giving us glimpses into the Black Pharaoh's conspiracy to punctuate our heroes' activity. I thought this worked well for a Lovecraftian story, as the readers are given many clues to work from instead of just waiting for the horror to unravel. Don't take that to mean there's no tension, however; the book does an excellent job of setting up uncertainties for the perspective characters, and those uncertainties are often catastrophic in scale.
My one complaint about Cthulhu Blues was that the conclusion didn't let us see any of the cleanup after the catastrophe. "True Detective" at least gave viewers a taste of what the main characters thought of its season events, but Cthulhu Blues leaves everything very much unfinished, though the threat is clearly quelled. Obviously that's an artistic choice, and perhaps if I had more familiarity with the characters, I'd find it an interesting take, but as a newcomer to the series it felt a little abrupt.
Overall, Cthulhu Blues is an easy one to pick up. It's an interesting, tense, imaginative take on the mythos which won't demand too much of your time. A great introduction to the Cthulhu mythos as well. Good stuff!
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