A friend recently recommended this to me saying that it’s basically Harry Dresden set in Baltimore and I should give it a go if I liked Harry Dresden. As I was in the middle of Ghost Story at the time and the book was only five bucks, I figured there were probably worse books I could read. Honestly, I wish I’d passed on the book.
I really wish I’d passed because the author is a friend of the person who recommended it to me, and I feel terrible because I’m completely unimpressed. The book is mediocre at best and I hate that I can’t say that I loved it. Does that make sense? I’m a harsh reader, I know that, and I feel mildly guilty for not enjoying this book more then I did because I can’t lie and say OMG BEST BOOK EVER about a book written by someone I’m tangentially connected to.
But lets get on with it. The book is not that great, it’s not awful, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it. It’s a little Dresden Files and a little John Constantine, and I cannot keep those references from my head when thinking about the book. It’s one thing to say that a book is similar to another series, but I’d rather a story stand on it’s own rather then be something that can be described as a mix of two different urban fantasy stories but set in Baltimore. It’s just not unique enough to be a memorable story, and the writing isn’t good enough to make up for the generic story. I also think the book suffers for the comparison.
The plot is pretty basic. Dorian Lake sells charms and hexes in Baltimore. His life is a mess, and his ex-girlfriend is in a lot of trouble and begging his help. See, shortly after she (yes, SHE did it) ended their relationship she decided to sell her soul to another practitioner. Now, even though it was totally and completely her choice, Dorian still feels like it was his fault, because….because it just is ok. So of course he has to fix it. Then there are some noir type plot twists that just left me cold. I can tell that Sloan thinks he’s being edgy with his characters, but I’ve seen it before and all it elicits from me is an eye roll.
The pacing in the book is way off. The plot could have been tightened up considerably, and there were several incidents that were completely unnecessary filler. There were also one or two very ‘convenient’ moments that happened because the plot dictated that they needed to happen. There were long stretches where little happened
As for the characters. Unfortunately I thought that Sloan managed to brush up against some pretty offensive stereotypes. Carmen, the ex-girlfriend, might as well have had ‘saucy Latina’ tattooed on her forehead. And there were a couple of other background characters that were various African-American stereotypes. On one hand, it was nice to see Baltimore represented as the racially diverse city that it is. On the other, well…
Speaking of Baltimore and the surrounding area, I enjoyed seeing that in the book. I grew up (and still live) northwest of DC, and most of the places mentioned in the novel were familiar to me. Hilariously I also have a complaint about this though. I want to know how, HOW, you can tell an urban fantasy story set in the Baltimore metropolitan area and completely leave out Ellicott City, one of the more haunted little towns on the Eastern Seaboard? It’s a lot closer to Baltimore then Frederick, and I would have a much easier time believing that a shop selling magical things was located there then in Frederick, which is where Dorian gets his supplies in this book.
Still, I enjoyed the references to my home base. However, I think someone less familiar with the area would probably be annoyed at the constant references. When I think about The Dresden Files, I don’t think Butcher name drops places in Chicago quite as frequently as Sloan did in this on, and unfortunately I don’t think it worked for him. Sloan crossed the line that divides local flavor from obsequious references.
I don’t really recommend the book, but I can’t say it was a terrible read either. It was pretty meh. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series though.