In between errands I opened my copy of HANG WIRE, thinking I could get a taste of it and then read more that night. I spent the rest of the day cursing myself. This is one of those books where I wanted a pause button so I could shut off the rest of the world while I read.
This is an urban fantasy that starts in San Francisco after the infamous 1906 earthquake then goes forwards and backwards in time, collecting and changing characters, until we get to the action-packed conclusion set in modern time. While it is largely set in San Francisco, this isn't your typical first person POV, powerful character, police procedural with paranormal elements UF. There is a serial killer, but it is not the whole story, not by a longshot.
It's also one that I don't want to describe too much, because I got so much enjoyment from just immersing myself in this world.
There is a deep ancient devourer sleeping underground, and a malevolent force that crashed to earth via meteorite, gods on earth (trying to make their own life or stay somehow connected to this world), and regular people caught in this whole mess. There is also a creepy circus (yes, I am aware of the innate creepiness of all circuses, but this one has the Lord of the Dance from hell, so extra creepy).
There are quite a few characters, and some have some pretty drastic changes happen to them. This was a bit of a problem for me since I had to prematurely put the book down. When I started it again I had to backtrack to verify that a couple of characters were who I thought they were. Not a big issue, and if I had been able to read uninterrupted it wouldn't have been a problem. However, once you are a quarter in, the players are pretty well set and I didn't have to backtrack.
The pace was quick and I found myself waiting on the edge of my seat for what happens next. Gods from different pantheons do play a role here, but there are real, terrible consequences to the gods using their powers on earth, so I didn't feel like it was an easy deus ex machina resolution.
Not everything is answered, but I was OK with that. I actually prefer it that way, to be honest.
I will be reading more from Christopher.
[received a review copy]
HANG WIRE Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Indiebound
Adam Christopher:
website: http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/
twitter: https://twitter.com/ghostfinder
Angry Robot:
website: http://angryrobotbooks.com/
twitter: https://twitter.com/angryrobotbooks
Hmm. Sounds interesting...
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