Tuesday 11 October 2016

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: London Tau 1: Poison City - Paul Crilley

Release Date: 11/08/16
Publisher: Hodder

SYNOPSIS:

The name's Gideon Tau, but everyone just calls me London. I work for the Delphic Division, the occult investigative unit of the South African Police Service. My life revolves around two things - finding out who killed my daughter and imagining what I'm going to do to the bastard when I catch him.

I have two friends. The first is my boss, Armitage, a fifty-something DCI from Yorkshire who looks more like someone's mother than a cop. Don't let that fool you. The second is the dog, my magical spirit guide. He talks, he watches TV all day, and he's a mean drunk.

Life is pretty routine - I solve crimes, I search for my daughter's killer. Wash, rinse, repeat. Until the day I'm called out to the murder of a ramanga - a low-key vampire - basically, the tabloid journalist of the vampire world. It looks like an open and shut case. There's even CCTV footage of the killer.

Except... the face on the CCTV footage? It's the face of the man who killed my daughter. I'm about to face a tough choice. Catch her killer or save the world? I can't do both.

It's not looking good for the world.

Poison City is the first in a fantastical new series for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Lauren Beukes, Sarah Lotz and Stephen King.


REVIEW:

Some books follow trends, others step out not only to forge a different path but to burn their own way through the literary jungle. It's this second group that Paul's stunning Poison City falls into.

It has cracking characters, good solid growth and when you get the backstory for those involved you can see how hard some of the choices are that they have to face. It's definitely quirky, fun to read and gave me a wonderful sense for the part of world where its set. All round its a pure joy to read and with great pace, magical dialogue all round leaves me demanding more. Definitely a book I'm buying for quite a few UF fans I know this year. Magic.

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