Well, now that I’m done graduating, job hunting, moving, and settling into a new job, I finally have time to just sit and read. Hurrah.
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| The Devil You Know |
I just finished reading Mike Carey’s debut novel, The Devil You Know, about a London exorcist. Like a lot of other contemporary fantasy novels, there’s something big that makes this world different from our own. In this case, the dead aren’t staying their graves. Not in a Dawn of the Dead sort of way, but in a taking care of unfinished business sort of way. The main character, Felix Castor, uses music to get rid of the hauntings.
I was hooked by this book right away. I kind of had my doubts because Carey used to write graphic novels. I should know better, because I’m a big fan of Neil Gaiman and he started out writing graphic novels, too. Plus, Carey wrote some of the Hellblazer books which feature exorcist John Constantine. I guess I was just worried about a first time novelist not having pictures to back up the words. But the world of this novel is wonderfully detailed and fully realized.
This novel begins with Castor being called in to exorcise a ghost from the Bonnington Archive. But as he talks to the employees and gets to know the ghost, he realizes that he can’t just get rid of her and collect his pay. A few days into the job, he finds himself playing detective–not only trying to figure out what happened to the ghost, but trying to find out who is responsible and trying to get a bit of revenge for the ghost.
Carey also knows how to spin out a mystery and build up tension. Not only did I have no clue whodunit, but I was actually worried about Castor when he went up against the bad guys. The solution was a total surprise, too, even though the clues where there. I never felt like I was being jerked around like I do when I read Agatha Christie. This was a really good read, and I look forward to reading the next books if Carey turns this into a series.