Mike Carey
The Devil You Know (2006)
“I don’t know what I want to read.” Peruses bookshelves. “I remember buying The Devil You Know, why haven’t I read it yet?” Reads first paragraph. “Hmmm….” Hours later. “Wow!”
First off, I believe this was shelved in the mystery section, which is part of why I put off reading it. It wasn’t what I wanted when I was in the mood for a mystery. This isn’t to say it isn’t a mystery–it is. However, first and foremost it’s supernatural fantasy. I’m pretty sure if I’d pigeonholed this differently, I would have read it much sooner; this wasn’t what I wanted to read when I was in the mood for another Victorian or Forensic mystery. However, it hit the sweet spot for supernatural mysteries.
Also, the synopsis on the back of the book seemed unrelated to the book I actually read.
Felix Castor is an exorcist. For the time being he has walked away from his job and his calling after an exorcism more than a year ago went terribly wrong. But he’ll do anything for his friend and landlady, which is how he ends up taking a gig as a stage magician to help make ends meet.
Felix Castor’s London isn’t quite today’s London. Ghosts are real and everyone knows about them–even if not everyone truly believes in them. So Felix’s job as a freelance exorcist is unusual, but not unheard of–he’s not the only exorcist in the phone book.
Felix has all kinds of problems. He’s suffering tremendous guilt after his last exorcism, he’s struggling to make ends meet, and he’s tired of being single. Unfortunately, all these problems come together in one unholy mess to make his life miserable.
I have to admit that–especially at the beginning–Felix reminded me quite a bit of Constantine. But relatively quickly Felix picked up his own personality and quirks and thoughts of Hellblazer faded into the background. Felix has his own problems and issues, as well as his own strengths and weaknesses. So although a comparison to Constantine is inevitable (especially as Mike Carey has done some writing for Hellblazer), I don’t think I direct comparison is justified, since they are very different characters.
I particularly liked the slow discovery of who Felix is and how he does what he does. Since his world isn’t quite our world, there is a fair amount of world building that needs to be done, but that world building is tied to our discovery of Felix’s past, so it’s not noticeable as world building as I was eager to learn about Felix’s past and how he became who he was.
Rating: 7/10
Vicious Circle (2006)
Felix (Fix) Castor, who is usually at loose ends, is suddenly involved in three different cases. As a consultant in a police case, in a missing child case, and in assisting Juliet with a case she has taken on involving a haunted or possessed church. Additionally, he is still trying to find a way to free Rafi from the clutches of Asmodeus, and to get solvent with his friend and landlady, Pen.
Someone is warning him off the case, but unfortunately for him, he has no idea which case they mean.
I started this book two days ago, and was planning on reading a couple chapters a night. Last night when I picked up the book I was halfway in, and unfortunately for my day today, didn’t put down the book until I finished it, which was after midnight (and way past my weekday bedtime.)
Despite the fact Felix remains a bit of a bastard, I still like him. He has priorities with which I agree, and although he has to make hard choices based upon those priorities, he does the right thing–at least as far as I am concerned.
Vicious Circle has a fair amount of horror, but then Felix is an exorcise who deals with demons, so the amount of horror isn’t particularly surprising. I’m not necessarily a fan of horror, though I’m far more okay with gruesome than I am with scary, but this story isn’t just horror or supernatural fantasy, but is also a mystery–a fascinating if gruesome mystery that went places I didn’t expect yet had a logical (if depressing) conclusion.
If you like supernatural mysteries, then I highly recommend checking out Mike Carey’s Felix Castor series. But start with The Devil You Know to give you a better idea of the history between Pen and Rafi and Felix.
Rating: 8/10
Dead Men’s Boots (2007)
I’ve actually been waiting for this book for awhile. The American publishing and access to this series is… quirky. I was able to get the British copies of the two books that follow this, but I had to wait about a year for this to be put out by an American publisher.
Come on folks, you don’t have to take out all the Britishisms for us to enjoy a good story!
Felix Castor has to go to a funeral, the funeral of John Gittings, an exorcist who took his own life. Felix feels guilty because he ignored John’s calls, and wonders if he could have saved John’s life if he’d answered those calls. That guilt leads him to helping John’s widow more than he wants to, which in turn gets him tied up in the case that may well have caused John to kill himself.
The Rafi thread is still here, although it plays a background role right now, and shows no signs of being concluded any time soon, which is perfectly fine, because there may well be no solution.
The story that Felix stumbles into is actually a very interesting one. There’s no way to discuss why it was interesting without giving it away, but it is an interesting idea.
If you like Constantine or Harry Dresden, you might want to check out the Felix Castor series, though you should probably start at book one, The Devil You Know.
Rating: 8/10
Published by Grand Central Publishing
Thicker than Water (2008)
Felix gets a call to come out to a crime scene–something that had not happened since he was accused of murder and became persona non grata with the police. Unsurprisingly, nothing good comes of the call, and Felix is embroiled in a mystery involving involving individuals from his past–way back in his past.
Additionally, Jenna-Jane has taken a grab at Rafi, and Fix and Pen are struggling to keep him out of her hands.
All in all, Felix is once again in over his head.
First things first, I’ve had a heck of a time trying to get the order of these books straight. They were published first in Great Britain, and are (slowly!) being republished in the US. Which means I received this book and the following book long before I received the third book in the series.
But I do have to order correct now, and I have one book left that’s out (in the US anyway) and no sequel in sight.
Which makes me concerned about reading the next book.
Especially considering the conclusion of this book.
So yes, I hate cliffhanger endings, and I hate waiting for sequels, but if I have to have a cliffhanger ending, Mike Carey did a good job with this one. The main thread is concluded, and much of the book (the series even) has been building towards the event that happens at the end of the book. Not that you could see the specifics coming, but the situation is going to have to be resolved, so what he did actually makes sense.
SPOILER (rot 13)
Naq UBYL PBJ V ernyyl yvxrq gur eriryngvba ng gur raq nf gb jurer qrzbaf pbzr sebz. Vg znqr frafr tbvat onpx, ohg wrrfu, V gbgnyyl qvqa’g frr gung pbzvat ng nyy.
V nyfb gubhtug gur ovg jvgu uvf oebgure Zngg jnf tbvat fbzrjurer ryfr ragveryl (naq jnf tynq vg qvqa’g tb jurer V jnf nsenvq vg jnf tbvat.
Obgu bs gurfr cnegf jrer irel avpryl qbar.
END SPOILER
If you are not reading the Felix Castor books, I highly recommend them. I also recommend starting at the first book and working your way towards this book.
Rating: 9/10
Published by Orbit
The Naming of the Beasts (2009)
The last Felix Castor book, Thicker than Water, ended with the escape of Asmodeus. Not a very good point to end a story in my opinion, however, it was a logical conclusion to the way things were going, so I didn’t particularly mind. After all, the series has been working up to Castor dealing with Asmodeus, so we knew this was coming, and the situation really does deserve a long and thrilling conclusion.
After Asmodeus’ escape, Felix turned to his favorite solution–drowning his pain and sorrows in alcohol. And when he finally pulls himself out of his bender, he’s called to a murder scene where there are many many unpleasant discoveries to be made.
I have to say this really feels like the Grand Finale to the Felix Castor series. And if it is? I’m OK with that.
Unsurprisingly, Felix calls in all his cards and racks up debt in this story like nobody’s business. There are many many surprising things he does, not the least of which is who he turns to for help in trying to deal with Asmodeus.
Funny thing is, for as much of a bastard Fix has been throughout the series, looking back you can see that he isn’t really quite the SOB he’s seemed, and as selfish as he can seem at times, he occasionally does a good thing. And despite everything, he’s quite willing to man up to his mistakes, even though he is quite as good and being gracious when others do the same.
I also like that although Felix believes that everyone working for Jenna-Jane and Thomas Gwilliam, he’s willing to work with those who are willing to listen to what he has to say–even if it’s just a tiny bit.
If you have not been reading the Felix Castor series, do NOT start here. Go back to the beginning and work your way forward. Because this book is what the series has been working up to, and you really don’t want to come in at the end.
Rating: 9/10
Published by Orbit
Masked (2010) edited by Lou Anders
Masked is a collection of superhero stories by a variety of writers, many of whom are well known comic writers.
Matthew Sturges, who writes House of Mystery, wrote the opening story, “Cleansed and Set in Gold.” …and I just ended up rereading the story when I flipped through to remind myself of whether I liked it. So yeah, I liked it. David Caulfield has “variable” powers, and those powers are the crux of the story. Fabulous.
“Secret Identity” by Paul Cornell was another story I especially liked. What does the hero identity do to the man who carries the hero around?
Mike Carey is another favorite author, especially his Felix Castor series. “Non-Event” begins at the end, with the supervillain being interrogated after the plan goes all wrong.
Gail Simone’s story “Thug” was both amazing and horrible.
“Head Cases” by Peter David and Kathleen David was an odd story. Interesting, and there were a few bits that were hilarious, but I did spend much of the story going, “huh?”
Joseph Mallozzi’s story “Downfall” was one of the longer stories, but I loved the twists and turns of a reformed villain being pulled out of retirement by his government minders.
“Tonight We Fly” by Ian McDonald was another story I particularly enjoyed–what’s it like for a superhero as he gets older–apparently he becomes crotchety and yells at the damned kids to get off his lawn.
The final story in the series was Bill Willingham‘s “A to Z in the Ultimate Big Company Superhero Universe (Villains Too).” I love Bill Willingham’s Fables so I was looking forward to this story. It was another odd one, and it took me a bit to figure out what was going on.
All in all, it was a fun collection, and well worth checking out.
Rating: 8/10
Felix Castor: The Devil You Know (2006), Vicious Circle (2006), Dead Men’s Boots (2007), Thicker than Water (2008), The Naming of the Beasts (2009)
Anthologies: Masked (2010)
Mike Carey's website
