A review by pawact
The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty

4.0

Zoe, a travel writer running from a bad break up ends up broke in New York and looking for work. She comes across a flyer on a bulletin board in a decidedly odd bookshop. She answers the ad and it turns out that a vampire named Phil wants to put together a travel book for monsters (who here prefer to be called coterie). You know gods, goddesses, zombies, vampires, incubi. She is the only human on staff and she has to navigate harassment, skepticism and deal with the fact that half the staff would rather eat her than work with her.

The book starts off a bit slowly and stiffly as there is a lot of personal history and world building to cover and at first it seems a bit haphazard, but about a quarter of the way through, the threads begin to tighten and everything starts to come together. About half way through, you are on a rip roaring roller coaster of an adventure.

Lighthearted, fun and occasionally quite sexy with a female character whose strength grows with her confidence, The Shambling Guide to New York City is a smart, funny, heartfelt urban fantasy. Highly recommended