A review by tessa_talks_books
Dead Man's Hand by James J. Butcher

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One-word review: Fun

Emojis: ☠️👹🧙🏼‍♂️🤣😰

Rating: 4 🌟s

My thoughts:

Dead Man’s Hand, the debut novel of James J. Butcher, is an urban fantasy with a wide range of humor and a thriller-style plot that is pure escapist enjoyment to read. My favorite aspect is the humor. The humor in this book had me laughing so hard that I had to put it down at least once while I got control of myself. It has snarky humor and a lot of dry wit throughout the story, which provides fun banter with the bonus of a few hilarious situations.

The world-building has enough aspects resembling worlds I’ve already seen to feel comfortable and immediately immerse myself. But it also has a few unique twists, providing that cool factor that interested me and fascinated me. The plot contains a base in a thriller - starting with a murder that the main character is accused of committing and speeding its way through his detective work to find the actual killer. As a thriller addict, I love seeing the genre taken to urban fantasy with its fast-paced and dangerous situations in place.

Lastly, I enjoyed the character development, which was just sublime. In some ways, Les Mayflower and Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby (the main character) are very stereotypical. But together, they are hilarious and grow individually, and as a duo, it is just the right way. They are fleshed out so well that they leaped from the page and came to life in my imagination. I can’t wait to see them together again in the next story.