Review: Steampunk-Hard-boiled-Noir-Horror-Fantasy: Awesome!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2013
I love this author! His writing is like an expensive sports car: well-crafted, smooth, powerful and LOTS of fun.  This story is an amazingly coherent blend of hard-boiled police procedural and mystery, mixed with a liberal dose of horror, and all set in a magical, fantasy city beside the sea. There is a minor mention of sex, but thankfully, there are no heaving bosoms, nor burning loins. The world-building is careful, precise and logical.  It is revealed gradually, not just dumped on you all at once.  The main character is interesting, engaging and believable. The secondary characters are well-developed, too.The protagonist is Thomas Havenkind, a dedicated judicar (i.e. policeman) who uses alchemy and magic to catch evildoers.  His faithful assistant is an attack-trained raven, named Scoundrel. The mystery involves the kidnapping of the sister of a powerful Guildmaster (i.e. criminal/businessman). The horror builds gradually and gets creepier and creepier. I hated for the story to end.