Tag Archives: Urban Enemies

The Resurrectionist by Caitlin Kittredge

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: The Resurrectionist
Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Series: Hellhound Chronicles #2.5
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Demons, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 15th October 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Some dame with legs and a problem.

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Synopsis

A routine job turns into something a little more sinister. Especially when the end of the journey results in everyone dead and grudges being held.

Thoughts

It took me a little bit longer than I would like to admit to realise that the lead in this wasn’t alive. That he was dead. And that was why he got hit with a shovel (and other implements) multiple times and didn’t die. It finally started to make a little more sense… but in the best, most beautiful way possible. Because I really like stories about people who are weirdly undead rolling around the world.

This is one of those short stories that really didn’t end the way that I expected it to. Everyone is dead. There is no happily ever after, although there is a sense of finding oneself at the very ending. Or maybe refinding oneself is the better way to put it… since the narrator eventually realises what his original calling in life was and decides to return to it.

This short story has added yet another series to my wishlist. If this is the tale of one of the “enemies” in the story, then the heroes are going to be fantastically beautiful. There is something alluring about this story and the idea of hellhounds… they’re certainly a paranormal beast that I haven’t read much about…

 <- The Naughtiest Cherub ReviewDown Where the Darkness Dwells Review ->
Image source: Simon & Schuster

The Naughtiest Cherub by Kevin Hearne

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: The Naughtiest Cherub
Author: Kevin Hearne
Series: The Iron Druid Chronicles #8.8
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 30th September 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: By all reports, more hellish than other places on the human plane.

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Synopsis

Loki has entered the terrifying bowls of hell to try and make a deal with Lucifer. But will the Prince of Darkness be open to the discussion? Or will he just be another adversary in Loki’s quest?

Thoughts

I love the partnership of Loki and Lucifer in this story. It’s not a mix of mythologies I’ve seen much of before. And the interplay between the two was hilarious, sassy and incredibly witty. It also set up a reality in which the different mythos of the world interplay a lot more succinctly and neatly than any other series I’ve come across before.

Loki is probably one of my favourite villains in any mythology retelling. Although he is traditionally a trickster, he is also the one who tends to equalise others. The fact that Lucifer refuses to play ball with him and acts as an equaliser of his own was a really nice bit of karmic poetry. And it sets up the battles which I’m sure are about to come in this series.

The Naughtiest Cherub is a great short story which sets you up in a world that I personally can’t wait to sink my teeth into. If this is how the villains battle one another, I can’t wait to see how they interact with the “good guys”.

<- KissThe Resurrectionist ->

Image source: Simon & Schuster

Kiss by Lilith Saintcrow

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: Kiss
Author: Lilith Saintcrow
Series: Jill Kismet #6.5
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Demons, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 22nd September 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: You must agree that’s only fair.

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Synopsis

Is it the kiss of steel or the kiss of death? What could this horrifying creature be planning for?

Thoughts

I’m still not entirely sure what the storyline in this tale was. I’m more than a little confused by it. But I liked the darkness. The idea of a villain plotting against her victims for decades… and there was a lot of information about kisses and debts to be paid… like I said, not entirely sure what I was actually reading about… but I know that I liked what I did understand.

Most of the short stories that I read are really good standalones. This is not really one of those stories. It’s kind of hard to follow, and the insidiousness of the villain seems to be highlighted better in the preceding stories. it made it a little hard to fear and question the villain than other stories in this collection. Because I just didn’t know how much of a villain she truly was…

This story was a lot about plotting. Every move is calculated and part of a much larger scheme. It reads like a set up for the next Jill Kismet novel. One that will pay dividends when you finally get up to that point in the series, but a short story that doesn’t necessarily draw me into the world and make me want to rush out and buy the first novel.

 <- Sixty-Six Seconds ReviewThe Naughtiest Cherub Review ->
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Sixty-Six Seconds by Craig Schaefer

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: Sixty-Six Seconds
Author: Craig Schaefer
Series: Daniel Faust Companion
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 16th September 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: At all?

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Synopsis

What happens when two warring factions meet up? Nothing good. A blood bath is likely to be in the next sixty-six seconds…

Thoughts

I liked how all of the moments in this story were measured in short bursts of time. Almost as though each moment was actually worth sixty-six seconds and it was only in those short periods of time which the tale could be told. Breaking up the time and storyline in this way created an incredibly fast paced and intense short story. One that had me racing along with it every step of the way.

This was quite a graphic story of death and bloodshed. And a heck of a lot of assassination. I didn’t quite understand many of the backstory of this tale, but I know that I liked the goriness of it. And want to read more. There is nothing like a grey hero to spice up a storyline… and a lot of murky motives to make it seriously impossible to put down.

The revealing of motives at the end of this tale was somewhat surprising. Although I didn’t really think to question why the lead was hunting people, I just assumed that it was part of a greater organisation. Revealing the actual reasons of why and the conspiracy behind it… it made me intrigued as to the rest of the story. There is nothing like a good conspiracy to draw me into a new series…

 <- Nigsu Ga Tesgu ReviewKiss Review ->
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Nigsu Ga Tesgu by Jeff Somers

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: Nigsu Ga Tesgu
Author: Jeff Somers
Series: The Ustari Cycle #4.5
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Horror, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 26th August 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: His spell, his curse, it should have consumed me long ago.

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Synopsis

She is the most powerful of her kind. Her apprentice thinks that he’s finally found a way to usurp her. But there’s a reason that she’s survived for so long… a reason why she understands the words better than anyone else.

Thoughts

I absolutely adored the creepiness and spine-tingling evilness of this story. This might be in a collection of Urban Fantasy Villains stories, but there was something extra creepy about a girl chewing her own tongue to kill her father. A whole other level of darkness that hasn’t so far been portrayed in this collection – most villains use the sacrifice and blood of others. This woman starts off sacrificing parts of herself willingly.

I love that the woman in this is the most powerful in the world, but she is also incredibly feeble. This fantastic juxtaposition between physical and mental strength is incredibly fascinating and drives home the point that sometimes the most powerful aren’t the most physically able. The entire looks can be deceiving, and don’t judge a book by its cover ideal is heavy handedly highlighted in this story. But in a way that doesn’t feel clunky and irritating, just slightly humorous.

Nigsu ga Tesgu introduced me to a world that is entirely shades of grey. There is nothing black and white, good and evil in the world. There are just choices that aren’t good and aren’t necessarily evil. They’re just about survival and finding a way to move forwards further in your life. Normally the stories I read have a clear villain and hero (even if the hero is more than a little damaged), but this didn’t feel like that kind of story. I know that the woman was supposed to be the big Cahoona in the villains’ world, but it just felt like an old woman struggling to survive in a horrible world… in a incredibly horrible manner.

 <- Hounded ReviewSixty-Six Seconds Review ->
Image source: Simon & Schuster

Hounded by Kelley Armstrong

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: Hounded
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Cainsville #4.5
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 31st July 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: She dove under and pretended to snatch his feet as he kicked.

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Synopsis

He’s a huntsman and his Hound has been taken from him. He may have found a way to find a new one, but at what cost?

Thoughts

I was kind of thrown by how creepy this story felt. I know that it was going to be a bit off-kilter since it was in a collection of tales about villains from bigger series. What I wasn’t expecting was to go from really liking a character to feeling seriously uncomfortable about their entire existence. And reason for being. To close the last page and not only want to pick up the series, but to also not ever want to confront this rogue Hunter again.

To begin with, I was expecting this story to be a tale about a misunderstood villain. Or at least one who did have a nicer, softer side. And it started off in this fashion. Although he was obviously not a “good” guy, he did miss his hound and have a sense of yearning for what he had lost. He was also quite obviously hunting a woman who was not in any sense of the word “good”. Her inability to consider others, her belief that she was the victim and the ways in which she approached those who spurned her. Well, I started to think that this woman was the actual villain and one that I didn’t really want to have much exposure to.

Normally I love tales of poetic justice. Tales which highlight that no wrongdoing goes unpunished, and that there will somehow be a form of revenge. This short story did stick to that ideal, but it wasn’t in the normal format that I enjoy. Because the person who was serving the poetic justice was also the one pushing the wrongdoer and committing sins even greater. And, in my opinion, far more heinous.

<- Even HandNigsu Ga Tesgu ->

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Even Hand by Jim Butcher

Book Review, , , , , , ,
Overview
Dark and Stormy Knights

Title: Even Hand
Author: Jim Butcher
Series: The Dresden Files #11.6
In: Dark and Stormy Knights (P.N. Elrod) & Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy, Wizards
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: I glanced past the young woman to Gard, who gave me a slow, cautious nod.

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Synopsis

Even Hand is a short story in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It is set between Turn Coat and Changes, and is narrated by John Marcone.

Thoughts

It’s always interesting to read a short story from an alternate point of view. And although I am nowhere near up to book 11 in The Dresden Files, I have already met Marcone. And it was really fun to read a story about him. From his point of view. Which was kind of dark.

Something that I enjoy about Butcher’s writing is that he doesn’t have clear cut good and evil characters. Harry Dresden is the protagonist, and the “good guy”, but he isn’t completely innocent, and there is a darker side to him. One that I’m sure develops throughout the tale. Likewise, Marcone is strongly cast as the “baddie”. But, in reading Even Hand, you discover that there are good and nice aspects about him and his moral code. He’s still a scary, ruthless, unkind mob boss. But he does have some laws and rules by which he lives his life. Something that has certainly made me want to dive headfirst back into The Dresden Files….

 <- A Questionable Client ReviewThe Beacon Review ->
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