Publisher:
Orbit
Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron
Publisher: |
Orbit |
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Date: |
2006 |
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Size: |
470 Pages |
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Format: |
Paperback |
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Price: |
£6.99 |
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ISBN: |
1-84149-413-5 |
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Reviewed by: |
Rod Cameron |
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Review Date: |
October 2006 |
Mike Carey is the acclaimed writer of comics such as Lucifer and Hellblazer, which was recently filmed as Constantine. But The Devil you Know is his first novel. And what an impressive start to his career as an author. Set in a modern day London, but where ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night exist and are grudgingly accepted by the population – “spilling over into the mundane reality of the living” as it says on the back of the cover. Our hero, Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist who has been badly “burnt” by his experiences in the past to the extent that he is trying to “go straight”. Unfortunately for him, he is desperate for money and ends up taking on one more exorcism, after a job as children’s entertainer goes disastrously wrong. The job seems simple and straightforward, but nothing in life (or death) is ever easy. It’s just a simple haunting in a library. But why is the ghost there in the first place, why are a number of non-living creatures trying to kill him, and why don’t the villains like him either?
What an excellent book. Mike Carey has a style of writing that appeals to me – dark and cynical. The reading is easy, but littered with sarcastic and memorable jokes such as “… if his shirt had a map of the Lake District on it, the sweat stains under his armpits would have been Windermere and Coniston water.” or “Grambas, the proprietor of the kebab house next door … We’ve an understanding: he’s promised me that he won’t lay ghosts or bind demons so long as I don’t serve greasy fried food and over-matured salads.”
He also has a lot of unusual and original ideas – impressive especially as it could be said that over the last twenty years there have been quite a few books, films and TV series in this genre. Ranging from Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, the first three of which are Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse and Circus of the Damned. And not forgetting Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire etc. Before you moan, apologies for missing out all your other favourites. But the point I am trying to make is that Mike Carey’s ideas are truly original. And the ending is awesome – setting up a second novel in style.
On the back of the book is a quote from Richard Morgan, award winning author of Altered Carbon. He says it “Grabs you from the first out-of-nowhere nasty surprise, and rarely lets you go thereafter. You’ll be up all night finishing this one.” How true. I was even reluctant to close the book in the book shop before I had bought it! And the truly excellent news is that the second Felix Castor novel, Vicious Circle is out now in paperback as well. My hands are sweating in anticipation.