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The Felix Renn Novellas
Temporary Monsters
Felix Renn is a private investigator in a supernatural world, an alternate reality where a dark dimension called The Black Lands co-exists alongside our own. Travelling to and from The Black Lands is dangerous - and illegal - but that doesn't stop some of the creatures that reside there from crossing over into our world from time to time. After a man goes berserk in a posh Toronto restaurant, Felix suddenly finds himself torn between both worlds as he is drawn into a deadly game of movies, murder, and monsters.
ebook
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Ian Rogers
119 books201 followersIan Rogers is the author of the award-winning collection, Every House Is Haunted. His novelette, “The House on Ashley Avenue,” was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and is currently being adapted into a feature film produced by Sam Raimi. His debut novel, Family, was published by Earthling Publications. He is also the creator of the Black Lands series. The first book, Sycamore, was published by Cemetery Dance Publications.
Ian's short fiction has appeared in several publications, including Tor.com, Cemetery Dance, Broken Pencil, and Shadows & Tall Trees. His work has been selected for The Best Horror of the Year and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing.
Ian lives with his wife and two cats in Peterborough, Ontario. For more information, visit ianrogers.ca.
Ian's short fiction has appeared in several publications, including Tor.com, Cemetery Dance, Broken Pencil, and Shadows & Tall Trees. His work has been selected for The Best Horror of the Year and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing.
Ian lives with his wife and two cats in Peterborough, Ontario. For more information, visit ianrogers.ca.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 24, 2020
"I reached instinctively for my gun, then remembered I wasn't wearing it. One shouldn't come armed to lunch with one's ex-wife. I think Confucius said that."
A short supernatural Noir tale from Ian Rogers with the typical wise-cracking gumshoe at the helm. Great writing, snappy dialogue and a fast pace make this a perfect introduction to Rogers' universe. Unfortunately as I write this, none of his work is available on kindle, (in my country anyway), but when it is, I'll be first in the queue for my copy :-)
A short supernatural Noir tale from Ian Rogers with the typical wise-cracking gumshoe at the helm. Great writing, snappy dialogue and a fast pace make this a perfect introduction to Rogers' universe. Unfortunately as I write this, none of his work is available on kindle, (in my country anyway), but when it is, I'll be first in the queue for my copy :-)
December 9, 2011
I do love me some gritty urban fantasy, so when The Man Eating Bookworm reviewed this novella by up-and-coming Canadian author, Ian Rogers, it caught my eye.
Set in a world in which monsters do exist and the borders between our dimension and a hellish one known as the Black Lands exists as well, Felix is a burned-out private eye with an ex-wife and bills to pay. His latest job has him looking into the background of a movie star who went on a psychotic rampage, in the guise of a vampire, before someone killed him in self-defense--that someone being Felix, no less. Felix soon learns the rising star was not only doing one helluva job as a vampire when he went outhouse crazy in a restaurant, but the movie he was working on in town had him playing a vampire. And when things go wrong with the actor's co-star, who is playing a werewolf ... well, one guess how that turns out.
The world Ian has created here is surprisingly robust when barely using thirty pages to know only set the stage, but tell the whole story. The added twist of a drug that seems to temporarily morph users into monsters of choice is both macabre and original. There's a good payoff at the end with enough of a teaser for future installments. In fact, The Ash Angels is the next story in the Black Lands series, which I hope to read sooner rather than later.
Seeing Canada portrayed as something other than a snowbound land of overly polite syrup-suckers is always welcome, and Ian did a heckuva job layering grime all over Toronto. I'm looking forward to reading what else he has in store for the great white north and abroad.
Set in a world in which monsters do exist and the borders between our dimension and a hellish one known as the Black Lands exists as well, Felix is a burned-out private eye with an ex-wife and bills to pay. His latest job has him looking into the background of a movie star who went on a psychotic rampage, in the guise of a vampire, before someone killed him in self-defense--that someone being Felix, no less. Felix soon learns the rising star was not only doing one helluva job as a vampire when he went outhouse crazy in a restaurant, but the movie he was working on in town had him playing a vampire. And when things go wrong with the actor's co-star, who is playing a werewolf ... well, one guess how that turns out.
The world Ian has created here is surprisingly robust when barely using thirty pages to know only set the stage, but tell the whole story. The added twist of a drug that seems to temporarily morph users into monsters of choice is both macabre and original. There's a good payoff at the end with enough of a teaser for future installments. In fact, The Ash Angels is the next story in the Black Lands series, which I hope to read sooner rather than later.
Seeing Canada portrayed as something other than a snowbound land of overly polite syrup-suckers is always welcome, and Ian did a heckuva job layering grime all over Toronto. I'm looking forward to reading what else he has in store for the great white north and abroad.
July 23, 2016
This was a pretty good and fast read. I enjoyed the adventures of detective felix renn who kills a vampire and werewolf who goes beserk not knowing they were given drugs to turn into the monsters. If you like horror and detective fiction, def check it out. I got this ebook for free on goodreads and it was a joy to read!
November 11, 2012
The story is written well and enough action happens, even though this is a novella. I liked the dark ambiance of the world created in the story but I do think a little background about the world existing parallel to this one was needed. I mean, I couldn't understand, if everybody knew about that world or was it a secret. And if everybody knew about it, why was the appearance of a vampire such a shock? The ending felt a little abrupt to me too. I'd like to read the next one before I decide.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2010
Rogers' world of movie stars and far-off lands rings with the wit of Chandler and the balls of Matheson. He has a knack for the perfect turn of phrase, whether it's a bon-mot from Ren's mouth or the staggering sensation the horrors he encounters inflicts on him. "Temporary Monsters" has all the markings of a best-selling concept, and to see it here on the ground floor is exciting. Rogers' has such sights to show us, and I for one cannot wait to get a look.
May 20, 2014
I found this to be wonderfully written. The story was original, the characters were interesting and it was fast paced. Really my only complain would be that it was too short! When it ended I wanted to know what happened!! So I would say this free ebook definitely accomplished its goal of intriguing its reader!
February 28, 2013
Excellent twist on the Vampire trope but the mystery aspect and the ending left me hungering for more.
February 17, 2014
A really excellent story. I just wish it was longer; I really wanted to read more.
July 6, 2014
Fantastic.
Gripping.
Funny.
I loved this book from start to finish. I laughed, I cringed, I eagerly turned pages. Highly recommend this book to anyone loves suspense/mystery/horror.
Gripping.
Funny.
I loved this book from start to finish. I laughed, I cringed, I eagerly turned pages. Highly recommend this book to anyone loves suspense/mystery/horror.
February 7, 2024
As you’ve probably come to learn if you’ve followed my reviews – I’m horribly slow at reading physical books, but burn through everything else when reading on my Kindle. It’s just the reality of the way my life flows and our collective family schedule, but there’s times when I do my best to read a physical release and such is the case with this one. Not too long ago, I acquired a signed copy of Ian’s stunning collection, ‘Every House is Haunted,’ from him and he kindly sent three chapbooks as well. The other day, while reorganizing some of my signed books, I saw these and decided I needed to get them read, and the only way to do so was to make the effort to pull them from the shelf and have them sit in front of me on the coffee table. Over the course of about a week, I snuck in five or ten minutes randomly to get this one read and boy was it fun!
What I Liked: Ian has created a wonderful world of interconnected novellas that I previously described in my review of ‘Go Fish’ as something like the BPRD meets The X-Files. And this one, featuring Felix Renn was a really great slab of detective/supernatural/noir storytelling.
The Black Lands is a world just beyond ours, where you access it through portals this side tries to keep closed. But that doesn’t always happen and in ‘Temporary Monsters’ we get a glimpse of what happens when that world over there mixes with the world of high-profile drug use.
This is only about 45 pages long and Rogers wastes no time throwing us into the fire. Renn is out for dinner with his wife/soon-to-be-ex-wife, when the ‘next-big-thing’ movie actor comes in. Within minutes, we realize somethings off and suddenly Renn is caught in the mix as they change into a vampire and he must act. But that’s not the end of things. No, we see one of their co-stars change too and it all seemingly leads down the same path, to the same person who supplied them with an illegal substance.
This felt like reading a black and white version of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit.’ You could practically smell the cologne mixed with cigarette’s and hear the expensive liquor being poured into each glass. The atmosphere was phenomenal and that seems to be a Rogers trademark in his story telling.
The ending was great, giving us a supernatural blast of action and does leave that door open for me.
What I didn’t like: Even knowing this was a chapbook and that it would be over quickly, I still desperately wanted more. Rogers is such a deft and talented storyteller, that once he hooks you, you never want those hooks to come out.
Why you should buy this: So, this seems to be a limited chapbook that was released sometime ago. Currently it looks like you can get the Ebook through Rakuten, so that is the way you may need to go. But as for the book itself, the story within was such a fun ride, making me very excited to dive into the next chapbook, ‘The Ash Angels,’ and see what hijinks Felix gets up to again!
What I Liked: Ian has created a wonderful world of interconnected novellas that I previously described in my review of ‘Go Fish’ as something like the BPRD meets The X-Files. And this one, featuring Felix Renn was a really great slab of detective/supernatural/noir storytelling.
The Black Lands is a world just beyond ours, where you access it through portals this side tries to keep closed. But that doesn’t always happen and in ‘Temporary Monsters’ we get a glimpse of what happens when that world over there mixes with the world of high-profile drug use.
This is only about 45 pages long and Rogers wastes no time throwing us into the fire. Renn is out for dinner with his wife/soon-to-be-ex-wife, when the ‘next-big-thing’ movie actor comes in. Within minutes, we realize somethings off and suddenly Renn is caught in the mix as they change into a vampire and he must act. But that’s not the end of things. No, we see one of their co-stars change too and it all seemingly leads down the same path, to the same person who supplied them with an illegal substance.
This felt like reading a black and white version of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit.’ You could practically smell the cologne mixed with cigarette’s and hear the expensive liquor being poured into each glass. The atmosphere was phenomenal and that seems to be a Rogers trademark in his story telling.
The ending was great, giving us a supernatural blast of action and does leave that door open for me.
What I didn’t like: Even knowing this was a chapbook and that it would be over quickly, I still desperately wanted more. Rogers is such a deft and talented storyteller, that once he hooks you, you never want those hooks to come out.
Why you should buy this: So, this seems to be a limited chapbook that was released sometime ago. Currently it looks like you can get the Ebook through Rakuten, so that is the way you may need to go. But as for the book itself, the story within was such a fun ride, making me very excited to dive into the next chapbook, ‘The Ash Angels,’ and see what hijinks Felix gets up to again!
November 5, 2024
What a fabulous story! Think Kolchack meets Spencer.
Felix Renn is a detective in a world where vampires, werewolves and other things exist. He’s a wise guy like Sam Spade, and he seems to come prepared… sometimes.
I can’t wait to read more of the stories of The Black Lands.
Felix Renn is a detective in a world where vampires, werewolves and other things exist. He’s a wise guy like Sam Spade, and he seems to come prepared… sometimes.
I can’t wait to read more of the stories of The Black Lands.
October 4, 2009
I don't, normally, read short stories but for only having 37 pages, this little chapbook had me turning them as fast as I could.
The writing is tight and fairly fast paced; the author is comfortable writing in the short story genre and it shows... there is no purple prose or extrenous drivel on these pages. Everything is there for a reason and it all works to move the story forward. The dialogue is snappy and doesn't feel forced or contrite and the action scenes are well choreographed.
I have to say, though, that this little, bite sized tale certainly whet my appetite for something more substantial.
I want to know more about Felix Renn and the Black Lands.
The writing is tight and fairly fast paced; the author is comfortable writing in the short story genre and it shows... there is no purple prose or extrenous drivel on these pages. Everything is there for a reason and it all works to move the story forward. The dialogue is snappy and doesn't feel forced or contrite and the action scenes are well choreographed.
I have to say, though, that this little, bite sized tale certainly whet my appetite for something more substantial.
I want to know more about Felix Renn and the Black Lands.
October 29, 2011
Right from the 1st line, “The waiter got killed before he could drop off the bill”, which is so stark, it immediately plunges you into the heart of the action, readers are thrown into a world where monsters are the norm and the Paranormal Intelligence Agency (PIA) and the paranormal itself acts as a dangling carrot that entices both readers and Renn alike.
For my full review, check out Bloody Bookish.
For my full review, check out Bloody Bookish.
November 3, 2012
Great start to a short series of books. The only criticism i have is that it was too short for me and not alot for me to enjoy. Having said that i did highly enjoy it and am looking forward to reading the next books.
July 13, 2010
Fun monster mash-up with noir.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews