Tag: Batman

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#BookReview: The Vampire’s Valet by Kent Holloway

Stoker Meets Doyle With A Touch Of The MCU Approach. If you love the non-sparkly, dark, horrific, brooding, *evil* vampire lore… you’re gonna love this book. If you love the Sherlock Holmes type detective tale, perhaps with a more solo “beat people until they give you answers” Batman/ Jack Reacher type bent… you’re gonna love this book. If you like MCU style storytelling with a shared universe with lots of different well known characters… you’re gonna love this book.

Here, Holloway clearly shows that he too is a massive fan of all of the above, and he uses his skills as a writer to manage to combine elements of each into a cohesive tale that works both on its own and works to set up a “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” type saga. At just under 300 pages, this isn’t the shortest book out there, but it provides just enough… *ahem* red meat *ahem*… to tell its tale well without overstaying its welcome (a danger, with these types of characters, just sayin) and while effectively both satisfying the reader of this tale and leaving them wanting a subsequent tale in this shared universe.

Meaning the book did its job on all fronts, and did them all well.

Now I just need y’all to fall in love with this book and start preaching its wonders so we can see how far Holloway can take it. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of The Vampire’s Valet by Kent Holloway was originally written on August 7, 2024.

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#BlogTour: The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan

For this blog tour, we’re looking at an all too real story of homelessness and corruption set in a *just* fictional LA. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan.

Here’s what I had to say on the review sites (Hardcover.app, TheStoryGraph, BookHype, Goodreads):

All Too Real. Despite what some may claim about the problems of the Homeless Industrial Complex not existing in the real world, When We Walk By by Kevin Adler and Donald Burnes – released just 10 weeks or so before the publication of this book and so far as I can see, never read by Brennan as she was doing her research for this book – shows all too well just how much these kinds of things actually do exist.

Now, as with all *fictional* tales, Brennan has clearly taken a *few* liberties – no one is making any claims about the “real” world LA here, ultimately this is truly a fictional tale set in an alternate world very similar yet not completely identical to our own. Though the corruption in this particular version of LA and the multiple murders being investigated through the course of this book tied to that corruption… eh, I’m sure the citizens of that LA were wishing they had a particular dude styling himself after a small flying rodent whipping around their town.

Instead, they get Kara Quinn. And let’s face it, with her “irregular” investigative methods and keen detective abilities… Kara Quinn may at minimum prove she could be a reliable partner for that other dude. Here, her skills are both throttled at times and allowed to bloom into their full wonder at other times, all while the other members of the team she works with – Matt Costa’s FBI unit – each prove to be equally capable supporting members in their own ways.

Ultimately this is truly a fictional crime thriller, and Brennan as usual shows just how great she is at weaving tales that are clearly fictional, yet all too real. Does she get a touch preachy at times? Perhaps for some, though it was never truly heavy handed enough for me to deduct a star over or truly even mention here other than this very “your mileage may vary” kind of statement. The rest of the action is well paced, the mystery is complex with quite a few moving parts, and just when you think you may have everything figured out… well, it turns out you probably don’t know quite *everything*.

It will be interesting to see where Brennan takes this series next, assuming she does, given how this particular tale ends – and I very much look forward to finding out what may be next. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan”

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#BookReview The Djinn by Kent Holloway

This is my first book from J. Kent Holloway… and it most certainly will NOT be my last!

The action starts off with King Solomon (you know, ancient Jewish king, Son of David, Solomon’s Temple, all that jazz) thirsting for knowledge – and nearly paying for it with his life.

Several centuries later, during the Crusades, a new man – Baron Gregory – seeks the same knowledge. He has been sent to Jerusalem, blessed by the Vatican with the mission of finding the Urim and Thummim… except that isn’t why he’s *really* in Jerusalem.

As he nears completion of his actual goal, a specter begins showing up and kidnapping his men. Those few who see it and remain to tell the tale speak of a living shadow that smells of brimstone. They call it… The Djinn, based on Saracen/ Muslim folklore of spirit beings between humans and angels.

What is The Djinn? What is its goal? You’ll just have to read the book to find out. Well paced with lots of intrigue and action, as I noted in the title of this review, this is a book you REALLY don’t want to put down!

*Note: I received my copy of the book free from the author (who happens to also be the publisher) in exchange for an honest review.

The review of The Djinn by Kent Holloway was originally published on February 13, 2013.