The blurb: "He used to be the best detective on the job. Until he became the hunted...
Once a legendary police inspector, Nicolas Lenoir is now a disillusioned and broken man who spends his days going through the motions and his evenings drinking away the nightmares of his past. Ten years ago, Lenoir barely escaped the grasp of the Darkwalker, a vengeful spirit who demands a terrible toll on those who have offended the dead. But the Darkwalker does not give up on his prey so easily, and Lenoir has always known his debt would come due one day.
When Lenoir is assigned to a disturbing new case, he treats the job with his usual apathy—until his best informant, a street savvy orphan, is kidnapped. Desperate to find his young friend before the worst befalls him, Lenoir will do anything catch the monster responsible for the crimes, even if it means walking willingly into the arms of his own doom…...
My take: Really liked this. Easy to get into, fast-paced, good read.
Lenoir is a cranky expat living in a backwater country compared to his more genteel homeland (think a Frenchman living in exile in England, but this is a different world, so it's more kind of French and English-like). He is a detective with the Metropolitan police, a brilliant detective but often bored, very arrogant and blunt, always searching for decent food, and haunted by nightmares from his past.
He is called into a case of a missing corpse and is drawn into an even bigger conspiracy when his orphan informant/sidekick (one of the few people he allows himself to care about) is kidnapped. He has to navigate the various villages, nobles with long reaches, and the secretive and persecuted Adali (similar to the Romany).
The world feels familiar enough but is still it's own separate universe from ours. There is a supernatural element, shown in Adali magic and healing and the Darkwalker. It starts out subtly, then grows.
The Darkwalker is very interesting and I loved how it was introduced and the interactions with Lenoir. Very good "monster". I don't want to talk about it too much because you just need to read it.
There is no romance in this book but relationships between characters are key. Lenoir is firmly in the center of the story, but we do get to see things from other characters' POV as well.
There is no romance in this book but relationships between characters are key. Lenoir is firmly in the center of the story, but we do get to see things from other characters' POV as well.
I need to read book 2. Luckily, MASTER OF PLAGUES will be out February 3.
E.L. Tettensor
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