Mike Carey: The Devil You Know (Paperback, 2008, Grand Central Publishing)
mass market paperback, 464 pages
English language
Published June 1, 2008 by Grand Central Publishing.
Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stamping ground. It may seem like a good ghostbuster can charge what he likes and enjoy a hell of a lifestyle--but there's a risk: Sooner or later he's going to take on a spirit that's too strong for him. While trying to back out of this ill-conceived career, Castor accepts a seemingly simple ghost-hunting case at a museum in the shadowy heart of London-- just to pay the bills, you understand. But what should have been a perfectly straightforward exorcism is rapidly turning into the Who Can Kill Castor First Show, with demons and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize. That's OK: Castor knows how to deal with the dead. It's the living who piss him off...
The one thing I dislike about college is how much it makes some books look completely non-plausible.
Review: Mike Carey - Felix Castor 01 - The Devil you know Book is OK. Not brilliant, not as fun as the Dresden Files, but OK. Dark, dry, cynical humor. Overuse of metaphors, every other sentence. The 'exorcise with music' is straight from Garth Nix's books. A lot of "Pratchetisms", sometimes almost outright quotes without a nod to the source. That irks me.The feel of the book's worldbuilding is nebulous and sketchy, but original. I like what he does with zombies and weres. That's outright fresh in this genre. I want to know more about it.
I don't think the book is all that dark and gritty. People who call it that obviously never read dark and gritty books. Try Donaldson's later works and Erikson's to see what I mean. The series has promise (Jim Butcher's "Storm Front" wasn't exactly brilliant writing either, even though it was a lot more …
Review: Mike Carey - Felix Castor 01 - The Devil you know Book is OK. Not brilliant, not as fun as the Dresden Files, but OK. Dark, dry, cynical humor. Overuse of metaphors, every other sentence. The 'exorcise with music' is straight from Garth Nix's books. A lot of "Pratchetisms", sometimes almost outright quotes without a nod to the source. That irks me.The feel of the book's worldbuilding is nebulous and sketchy, but original. I like what he does with zombies and weres. That's outright fresh in this genre. I want to know more about it.
I don't think the book is all that dark and gritty. People who call it that obviously never read dark and gritty books. Try Donaldson's later works and Erikson's to see what I mean. The series has promise (Jim Butcher's "Storm Front" wasn't exactly brilliant writing either, even though it was a lot more fun and was chockfull of memorable quotes), so I'll give the second book a try.
Score: 3/5
Finally a good writer gives ghosts and spirits genre the attention it deserves.
Same or Better written than the Dresden files.[b:Storm Front|47212|Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)|Jim Butcher|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1345556917s/47212.jpg|1137060]
Entertaining and suspenseful like [b:Odd Thomas|14995|Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1)|Dean Koontz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320512392s/14995.jpg|4574034]
Far Far Superior to [a:Simon R. Green|41942|Simon R. Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224555729p2/41942.jpg] Ghost Of A Chance (Ghostfinders, #1).
I haven't read Lucifer yet, but I enjoyed Mike Carey's first novel and will read more Felix "Fix" Castor novels.
Very interesting, imaginative take on ghosts, ghouls, the undead, and exorcisms. Plus, the detective novel who-done-it kept me guessing up until the end.
Good read.
