Scan barcode
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
City of Devils takes the Los Angeles of the 1940s and 1950s and populates it with monsters. When monsters take over the world, and specifically L.A. it leaves the humans as the hunted. There are mummies, vampires, zombies, werewolves, killer robots, ghouls, shapeshifters, merpeople and the list goes on.
Nick Moss is a human detective in this crazy town. After surviving World War 2, he found himself at war with the monsters. Now he lives among them. A movie star's husband is missing and Nick is on the case to find him. The difference is she's a shapeshifter and the missing husband is a mummy. All that's left is some gauze and sand. The case leads Nick into some dangerous and hilarious territory.
It's a detective noir story crossed with modern urban fantasy. The humor works pretty well too as we see what jobs monsters find themselves in. Shapeshifters are good movie stars, zombies are grunt labor (pun intended), cops are werewolves, etc. The mystery is interesting and sets itself up nicely for a potential series. I really enjoyed this book.
I was given a review copy of this book by Candlemark & Gleam and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this book.
Nick Moss is a human detective in this crazy town. After surviving World War 2, he found himself at war with the monsters. Now he lives among them. A movie star's husband is missing and Nick is on the case to find him. The difference is she's a shapeshifter and the missing husband is a mummy. All that's left is some gauze and sand. The case leads Nick into some dangerous and hilarious territory.
It's a detective noir story crossed with modern urban fantasy. The humor works pretty well too as we see what jobs monsters find themselves in. Shapeshifters are good movie stars, zombies are grunt labor (pun intended), cops are werewolves, etc. The mystery is interesting and sets itself up nicely for a potential series. I really enjoyed this book.
I was given a review copy of this book by Candlemark & Gleam and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this book.
weweresotired's review against another edition
4.0
Do you like detective stories? Do you like mysteries? Do you like femme fatales and gumshoes and old Hollywood?
Do you like monsters?
Then stop right now and go get this book. Read it, and come back and thank me later.
Monsters!!
Our hero, Nick Moss, is a private detective, specializing in investigating missing persons cases. But this is no run of the mill detective story: in the world of City of Devils, monsters are real, and humans are at a distinct disadvantage. While most cops and detectives are werewolves or wolfmen, Nick is 100% human. This puts him at a distinct disadvantage: aside from the supernatural advantages monsters have, humans have to be in their homes by dark, or be at risk of being turned into a monster themselves.
Nick usually finds himself on the case of missing humans, but this time, he's looking for Juba II, a missing mummy who happens to be a very important man around town. Nick's investigation takes him deep into the monster side of town, to such places as a poltergeist biker bar, the lot of a Hollwood movie studio (P.S., Hollywood is literally run by monsters), and a very interesting sort of brothel.
The worldbuilding here is awesome, and you can tell the author has really thought out everything about the universe. You learn what the weaknesses are for different monsters, where they hang out, what their strengths are... there's been a lot of thought as to how the world works and how humans and monsters manage to co-exist. You get a bit of backstory on Nick, who was a soldier during WWII, and then again during the Night War, which was essentially the monster uprising, before he turns to being a PI. I would have loved to see a little more about the Night War, but ultimately, it's not important to the story, and the reader knows all they really need to know about it. (Do I smell prequel? Just a suggestion; I'd read it.)
We're taken along for the ride with Nick, who is definitely out of his element at times, and it's fun to watch as he tries to figure out ways to get himself out of whatever mess he'd gotten himself into. (There is a lot of running involved, and also some slime.) The story takes a lot of twists and turns and I definitely did not predict the ending. There are tons of laugh-out-loud moments, particularly regarding the group of monsters who haunt Nick's doorstep at night, hoping to turn him into one of them. There's also a very appropriately named wendigo who appears for like, one page, but which had me kicking my feet in glee. (Never let it be said that extremely minor characters can't make an impression!)
I really enjoyed reading this one. It was hilarious, and very fast paced, which makes it a tough one to put down.
Do you like monsters?
Then stop right now and go get this book. Read it, and come back and thank me later.
Monsters!!
Our hero, Nick Moss, is a private detective, specializing in investigating missing persons cases. But this is no run of the mill detective story: in the world of City of Devils, monsters are real, and humans are at a distinct disadvantage. While most cops and detectives are werewolves or wolfmen, Nick is 100% human. This puts him at a distinct disadvantage: aside from the supernatural advantages monsters have, humans have to be in their homes by dark, or be at risk of being turned into a monster themselves.
Nick usually finds himself on the case of missing humans, but this time, he's looking for Juba II, a missing mummy who happens to be a very important man around town. Nick's investigation takes him deep into the monster side of town, to such places as a poltergeist biker bar, the lot of a Hollwood movie studio (P.S., Hollywood is literally run by monsters), and a very interesting sort of brothel.
The worldbuilding here is awesome, and you can tell the author has really thought out everything about the universe. You learn what the weaknesses are for different monsters, where they hang out, what their strengths are... there's been a lot of thought as to how the world works and how humans and monsters manage to co-exist. You get a bit of backstory on Nick, who was a soldier during WWII, and then again during the Night War, which was essentially the monster uprising, before he turns to being a PI. I would have loved to see a little more about the Night War, but ultimately, it's not important to the story, and the reader knows all they really need to know about it. (Do I smell prequel? Just a suggestion; I'd read it.)
We're taken along for the ride with Nick, who is definitely out of his element at times, and it's fun to watch as he tries to figure out ways to get himself out of whatever mess he'd gotten himself into. (There is a lot of running involved, and also some slime.) The story takes a lot of twists and turns and I definitely did not predict the ending. There are tons of laugh-out-loud moments, particularly regarding the group of monsters who haunt Nick's doorstep at night, hoping to turn him into one of them. There's also a very appropriately named wendigo who appears for like, one page, but which had me kicking my feet in glee. (Never let it be said that extremely minor characters can't make an impression!)
I really enjoyed reading this one. It was hilarious, and very fast paced, which makes it a tough one to put down.
webslingingadam's review
5.0
Monster Noir
The setting is fantastic and the world is fully realized. The characters feel instantly familiar and full formed but my favorite part is the humor. I laughed through out the book and would often stop to read passages out loud to my wife. Highly recommend checking this one out.
The setting is fantastic and the world is fully realized. The characters feel instantly familiar and full formed but my favorite part is the humor. I laughed through out the book and would often stop to read passages out loud to my wife. Highly recommend checking this one out.
cj_jones's review against another edition
4.0
Between this and second season Peggy Carter, it seems like everybody's nicking my idea for 'Ar Noir'--the bomb brings something scary and supernatural into the world. This is your book if you've been looking for a 'hard boiled dick tries to avoid being eaten' story. Moss, our shamus in residence, works Los Angeles after the Night Wars that humanity fought with monsters soon after WWII. The good guys didn't win this fight. Humans are the underpowered minority in the City now, which makes investigating a murder among the bigwig monster politicians and fabulous monster moviestars that much trickier. That hits several of my sweet spots, and if it does yours then I encourage you to pick up this well written, well paced paean to dark alleys, grey hats, and twisted plots. Also Pumpkinheads.
kateofmind's review against another edition
5.0
Every bit as fun as the cover suggests. Review HERE.
drewsof's review against another edition
4.0
If I hadn't wanted to get this review out in time for the book's publication (Sept. 24), it would've been a fitting October read - fast, funny, full of monsters and frights and new riffs on age-old themes. I like the world that Robinson has set up and I like Nick Moss - and while things felt a bit like a Hollywood lot at times (lots of lights on the facade, but no house behind it), I was happy to let the story rush over me instead of focusing too hard on anything in particular. There's a lot happening here, in a world-view sense, and it's to Robinson's credit that things hang together as well as they do. It's a fun take that nobody's ever done before and that alone makes it a worthwhile read for fans of the genres at hand.
Full review TK (on 9/16) at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-Ol
Full review TK (on 9/16) at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-Ol
More...