Dark Currents

Starred review from July 9, 2012
Acclaimed for epic fantasy (Kushiel’s Dart, etc.) and post-apocalyptic SF (Santa Oliva; Saints Astray), Carey turns to contemporary fantasy, showing off her talent for building engaging, detailed settings that feel utterly natural despite their inherent strangeness. Small town Pemkowet, Mich., is a popular tourist destination for humans. It’s also home to a thriving “eldritch community” of supernatural entities, thanks to the presence of the local underworld controlled by the Norse goddess Hel. Daisy Johanssen, a half-demon trying to dodge her innate attraction to the “Seven Deadlies” while functioning as Hel’s agent on Earth and the local link between the eldritch community and the human police, is called in to help investigate the drowning of a local college boy when signs of both foul play and magical residue are found on the body. The overall tone is light and gently humorous but still appropriate for a murder mystery, and Daisy comes off as confident and modern without excessive sass or defensiveness. Carey has set up a complex social ecosystem full of delightfully distinctive characters who warrant exploration in future volumes. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

September 15, 2012
The inaugural volume of a new urban fantasy series, from the author of Naamah's Blessing (2011, etc.). Pemkowet, a small resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan, provides the usual facilities for its wealthy summer residents, while the many tourists hope to catch a glimpse of one of Pemkowet's eldritch inhabitants--fairies (the toothy, vicious kind), vampires, naiads and so forth--whose benevolent supervisor is Hel, the Norse goddess. Daisy Johanssen, daughter of a minor demon and raised by a single mother, is Hel's enforcer and designated liaison to the Pemkowet Police Department, where she works as a part-time file clerk. Most of her duties are routine, like warning off fairies who try to abduct human children, but when a young college kid drowns in suspicious circumstances, Chief Bryant calls Daisy in--he drowned in salt water, and his pals are downright evasive about what really happened. Carey handles the investigation expertly. On the human side, the dead boy's parents instigated a political movement to banish the eldritch. As for the supernatural, well, Daisy's partner, Officer Cody Fairfax, is secretly a werewolf, and she's had a crush on him since high school. Daisy's voluptuous friend, Lurine Hollister, was a B-movie actress and is, openly, a lamia. The vampires are sleazy and uncooperative. And as for the ghouls: Having been rejected by both Heaven and Hell, they're immortal, feed on emotions rather than flesh, and Daisy finds their leader, Stefan Ludovic, dangerously attractive. She has personal issues too, being on the outs with BFF Jen Cassopolis, while her father keeps offering to awaken her demonic powers; this, according to received eldritch wisdom, would unleash big, bad trouble for reality itself. Beautifully articulated and intriguingly populated: Altogether, an arresting kickoff.

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Starred review from September 15, 2012

Since the advent of Carey's "Kushiel Legacy" historical fantasy series in 2001, fans have come to expect the amazing from this author, and her new urban fantasy won't disappoint them. Set in the Michigan tourist town of Pemkowet, well known for its eldritch (supernatural) community, it stars the spunky Daisy Johanssen, accidental hellspawn and enforcer on behalf of Hel, the Norse goddess of death, who presides over the town. Daisy fights her own demonic nature as well as her attractions to werewolves, lamia, ghouls, and humans as she tries to discover what manner of eldritch being drowned a college boy. She finds that as scary as her own people can be, sometimes humans can be worse. Daisy is vivacious and relatable, and her identity as a hellspawn doesn't keep her from trying for a normal life. VERDICT Carey's first urban fantasy turn is as fun and fantastic as her previous efforts; fans will definitely want this, and pronto. [Previewed in Kristi Chadwick's Genre Spotlight feature "Hungry for SF," LJ 8/12.--Ed.]--Stacey Comfort, Dexter District Lib., MI

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