Hex-Rated
گزارش تخلف
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
June 15, 2017
Korean War vet James Brimstone, once a child magician, is now a private investigator in 1970 Los Angeles. It may be stardust and fame for many who come to La La Land, but cults and real magic are creeping into the glamour. After the funeral of his former mentor, James lands his first case. A beautiful but physically scarred actress named Nico claims to have been attacked by black magic. And while the police have discounted her story, blaming drug use, James senses that Nico's chilling tale of demons, snakes, and the supernatural on the set of a porn movie is a troubling reality. VERDICT Pulp mystery meets urban fantasy in this gritty retro series launch by the author of the "Spar Battersea" thrillers. Hard-boiled humor and an action-packed plot combine in this deep dive into sex, death, and the movie industry.--KC
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 12, 2017
Steeped in the style of 1970s pulp detective fiction, this first book in a projected urban fantasy series capitalizes on some of the genre’s cheesier—and sleazier—aspects. Its gumshoe, former magician James Brimstone, has just hung out his shingle as a private dick. His first client, an actress with a scarred face, claims she was mauled by a snake that struck from the mouth of her costar on the set of a pornographic film. Brimstone smells sorcery, and before he can solve the mystery of why mages would be seeking purchase in the smut industry, he has to navigate encounters with the Hell’s Angels, Nazi cultists, and other personnel from the dark underbelly of Los Angeles. Brimstone is cut from the cloth of the classic wisecracking detective, and Ridler (Rise of the Luchador) peppers the text with perfectly pitched hard-boiled vernacular (“She’d fallen out of the pretty tree and hit every branch on the way down”). The novel’s wild mix of comedy and supernatural perils bodes well for its detective’s future adventures.
June 15, 2017
A 1970s private eye investigates the attack of a human-controlled snake on a starlet in the adult film industry.Now that Edgar Vance, his mentor in the magical arts, has been laid to rest in Inglewood Park Cemetery, newly minted shamus James Brimstone is ready to commit himself to his new gig. Brimstone uses the funeral to drum up business, and by the end of the day, he's already working his first case. Vulnerable starlet Nico wants Brimstone's help in unraveling a mystery that may be too weird for the police. While filming a skin flick earlier in the day with veteran actress Maxine Graham--the graphic details of which Nico obligingly supplies for the titillation of the detective and the reader--Nico claims that Maxine attacked her. Nor was this an ordinary attack: a snake emerged from Maxine's mouth and bit Nico's face, producing two scars and sending Nico running in fear for her life. A man familiar with the occult, Brimstone is more intrigued than afraid. His investigation takes several paths, as he thinks up crafty ruses, beds Nico's colleagues, and studies obscure Japanese erotica for answers. Perhaps that's what investigating was like in the '70s. Brimstone faces danger in his quest, but he's remarkably capable both physically and mentally, so it's only a matter of time before he's able to tie the mystery to its larger motive, which of course is really all about him. The retro setting matches the story's sensibilities, and Ridler's (Rise of the Luchador, 2014, etc.) quick and clever wit is overshadowed by his leering views of women.
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