Black Jack

by David Youngquist

Jack is used to seeing strange things when he goes on drunken benders. So when he wakes up one day to see lion men in full armor trying to have their way with a lovely, yellow-furred and extremely reluctant cat-woman, he shoots first, passes out and asks questions later. And oh, what questions he has... Tabby, the female he rescued, informs him he has killed the king and crown prince of Felis. He has been transported to the magical world of Gwennolin. And judging by the claws growing where his fingernails used to be, the magic has started to have its way with him. Even his horse, Mare, is changing. Now some cats want to kill him. And some want to crown him king. Jack only wants to find a way to get home before he becomes another furred resident of Felis - and to figure out how he feels about the bewildering, beguiling Tabby. But he doesn't know how he got sent to Gwennolin, let alone how to get back. To make matters much, much worse, two armies are headed to Jack's world - our world - for an endless buffet of human flesh. Vampire clans, led by Al Capone, and werewolves headed by Adolph Hitler are gathering on the west coast. And Jack is the only one who can stop their move.

324 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2013

Reviews

[Nerine Dorman]

As much as I'd like to rate this book, it's sucky for the editor to go and dish out stars. What I will say is that I had an immense amount of fun working with David on this novel right at the start of 2013. Black Jack's setting reminds me a bit of Piers Anthony's Xanth novels, and David's writing style echoes Anthony's in some ways. Jack is the kind of guy you want at your back, and I enjoyed seeing how he coped with everything that the universe chucked at him – and things got very strange, very quickly. Mostly this is a story about honour, and doing the right thing in the face of immense adversity, even if you sometimes don't feel like you're really equipped for the job. Someone's gotta do it.