The Necromancer's House

This novel of powerful magic and magicians takes some effort to get through but is worth it. Todd Haberkorn is an engaging narrative guide. The hero, Andrew Blankenship, is a powerful and equally disturbed warlock who is targeted for death by old Russian wizards and witches for the theft of a trove of ancient magic books. Todd Haberkorn, a veteran actor in dozens of animé animated adventures, does a mean Russian accent when necessary, and his mermaid voice is a wonder to the ear. He paints an audio picture of a shadowy world in which magic spells, curses, and myth come together in the unseen underground of upstate New York. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Starred review from August 12, 2013
A Russian man’s drowning launches this rambunctious magical melee. Buehlman (Those Across the River) pits Andrew Blankenship and Anneke Zautke, companions in witchcraft and Alcoholics Anonymous, against Russian ogress Baba Yaga, whose son, Misha, falls prey to mischievous water sprite Nadia, a friend (of sorts) of Andrew’s. Contrasting with exotic magical escapades, real-world losses haunt both Anneke and Andrew. As the threat from Baba Yaga mounts and bad things happen to Andrew’s sidekicks, the eponymous house no longer provides a certain refuge. The logic of the plot is eclipsed by the eruption of characters who evoke Dickensian whimsy and range from the merely unusual to the bizarrely imaginative. Within this magical universe, rivalries, revenge, and self-seeking contend with the willingness to sacrifice. The final confrontation, evolving in part from Andrew’s prior service to Baba Yaga and her daughter Marina’s defiance, wreaks an ambiguous ending in an explosion of enthralling fantasy. The vibrant, bracing atmosphere easily overpowers any niggling concerns about a few incongruous incidents.