A review by stewartfritz
Big Machine by Victor LaValle

3.0

Interesting world-building- I loved the idea of a totally cash-strapped, centuries-old paranormal investigation society that only hires former thieves, prostitutes and junkies as its employees... and for the first half of the book, that was enough to keep me hooked. The problem came when the book tried to take that amazing starting point and build on it... at which point things became a dull mish-mash of horror/noir that really didn't do much for me. Characters are introduced and then more or less discarded, sub-plots meander and go nowhere, and multiple flashbacks from different points of view make things a slog. Too bad, because it started out so well...