forpeterssake reviewed The Unhappy Medium by T J Brown
Fun premise, but needed an editor!
3 stars
I liked the premise of a skeptical disgraced scientist being drafted into metaphysical service by the forces of good, but this book really needed to shed about 150 pages. The whole backstory about Dr. Newton Barlowe's fall from grace could have been told through brief flashbacks or references. I stopped reading it several times, and almost didn't pick it back up again.
When the book does finally pick up speed, it's a decently fun time, with the main character's skeptical approach to arcane mysteries, and a few sequences that draw from Indiana Jones and even a James Bond film. It's never more than adequately written, but it's serviceable enough. It just took way too long to get there.
