The Lovecraft Squad

July 2, 2018
Series creator Jones continues the adventures of the Lovecraft Squad, more properly known as the Human Protection League, in this entertaining shared-world anthology that marries fiction to historical events. The HPL was created by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to combat otherworldly horrors. In these stories, President John F. Kennedy disrupts a demonic ritual sacrifice, black astronaut Magnolia Jones goes to the moon to uncover a monstrous infestation, and a search for the original “Water Gate” in Washington, D.C., takes two HPL agents to an underground river and the true source of Richard Nixon’s power. Following a New York City blackout, a supernatural soul sister, Nefertiti Bronze, uses her voodoo musical talent to defeat an otherworldly menace. A female HPL agent on the Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme detail gets recalled when the HPL headquarters beneath the Washington Monument comes under attack. The authors—including Kim Newman, Stephen Baxter, and Michael Marshall Smith—have fun crafting a secret history of 20th-century America and using historical figures and clever inside references as critical commentary on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Series fans will find this a satisfying addition.

August 1, 2018
The Human Protection League, aka the Lovecraft Squad, continues the fight against the Armies of the Night. The Dreamscape is opening up and threatening humanity, and the HPL is going to use all of its power and resources to fight it, including the archives of the department, in which an account of an early American settler holds some answers. Agent Elwood has to walk the political line with his boss, J. Edgar Hoover, and the president is inquiring into his mission, and he's also battling the Armies of the Night. Along with the Lovecraftian, spy, and adventure elements, the historical fiction component of this series is a blast. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)