A PI takes on dark sorcerers to protect a young family
Shadow's Blade
By David B Coe
Baen
Sci Fi & Fantasy, Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date: May 3, 2016
Review
If you like fantasy/noir, David B Coe's novels are right up your alley. Justis Fearsson is a weremyste (a natural magic user) of some power. At one time, he was a police detective. Now he is a PI with the usual mix of messy divorces and more serious cases. The police regularly consult him when magic may play a role in a crime. Don't expect a hard boiled story, but there are some similar elements.
In Shadow's Blade, Justis Fearsson is drawn into the same case from two fronts. His old partner calls him in to consult on a double murder where the suspect is a young mother with two children, clearly on the run. Jacinto Amaya, one of the heads of the Phoenix underworld, hires Justis to find the young mother and her two children. They've gone missing and are possibly in danger from dark sorcerers.
Finding them doesn't mean they will be easy to protect. Gracie is a powerful weremyste herself, as well as bad tempered and slow to trust any offer of help. They are being pursued by a powerful necromancer, her weremystes and the weres she controls.
Fearsson is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the family, even though it potentially means losing the protection of the runemyste who is his spiritual guide. Doing what’s right comes before strictly playing by the rules. As this is the third book in the series, it is no surprise that his past successes have given him a good reputation amongst both the police and the magical community. His girlfriend is loving and supportive, despite injuries she has suffered in the past.
While this is an entertaining novel on its own, it is probably better to read it in the context of the series. Shadow’s Blade is a solid piece of fantasy/noir, entertaining and well-written.
4/5
Book #3 in The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, Shadow’s Blade, is available for preorder and will be released May 3, 2016.
I received a copy of Shadow’s Blade from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
—Crittermom
Description
Book #3 in The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, the critically acclaimed contemporary fantasy series from fantasy all-star David B. Coe. A hardboiled, magic-using private detective fights dark sorcerers in Phoenix, Arizona.
Justis Fearsson is a weremyste and a private detective. He wields potent magic, but every month, on the full moon, he loses his mind. His battles with insanity have already cost him his job as a cop; he can’t afford to let them interfere with his latest case.
Phoenix has become ground zero in a magical war, and an army of werecreatures, blood sorcerers, and necromancers has made Jay its number one target. When he is hired to track down a woman who has gone missing with her two young children, he has a hunch that the dark ones are to blame. But then he’s also brought in by the police to help with a murder investigation, and all the evidence implicates this same woman. Soon he is caught up in a deadly race to find not only the young family, but also an ancient weapon that could prove decisive in the looming conflict. Can he keep himself alive long enough to reach the woman and her kids before his enemies do? And can he claim the weapon before the people he loves, and the world he knows, are lost in a storm of flame, blood, and darkest sorcery
