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Arcane Underworld #1
Premonitions
TWO MILLION DOLLARS...
It’s the kind of score Karyn Ames has always dreamed of—enough to set her crew up pretty well and, more important, enough to keep her safely stocked on a very rare, very expensive black market drug. Without it, Karyn hallucinates slices of the future until they totally overwhelm her, leaving her unable to distinguish the present from the mess of certainties and possibilities yet to come.
The client behind the heist is Enoch Sobell, a notorious crime lord with a reputation for being ruthless and exacting—and a purported practitioner of dark magic. Sobell is almost certainly condemned to Hell for a magically extended lifetime full of shady dealings. Once you’re in business with him, there’s no backing out.
Karyn and her associates are used to the supernatural and the occult, but their target is more than just the usual family heirloom or cursed necklace. It’s a piece of something larger. Something sinister.
Karyn’s crew, and even Sobell himself, are about to find out just how powerful it is… and how powerful it may yet become.
It’s the kind of score Karyn Ames has always dreamed of—enough to set her crew up pretty well and, more important, enough to keep her safely stocked on a very rare, very expensive black market drug. Without it, Karyn hallucinates slices of the future until they totally overwhelm her, leaving her unable to distinguish the present from the mess of certainties and possibilities yet to come.
The client behind the heist is Enoch Sobell, a notorious crime lord with a reputation for being ruthless and exacting—and a purported practitioner of dark magic. Sobell is almost certainly condemned to Hell for a magically extended lifetime full of shady dealings. Once you’re in business with him, there’s no backing out.
Karyn and her associates are used to the supernatural and the occult, but their target is more than just the usual family heirloom or cursed necklace. It’s a piece of something larger. Something sinister.
Karyn’s crew, and even Sobell himself, are about to find out just how powerful it is… and how powerful it may yet become.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
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911 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 22, 2015
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2014/10/03/b...
I have a thing for heist books. That’s what Premonitions is and more, mashing up the best elements of urban fantasy, mystery-noir and dark psychological horror. Be prepared for lots of thrills along the way as things spiral rapidly out of control on a high-stakes job, leaving a rag-tag gang of professional thieves floundering in a situation none of them could have imagined in their worst nightmares.
This is the story of Karyn Ames’ crew, who thought they’d hit on the ultimate score when the notorious crime lord Enoch Sobell offers them two millions dollars to steal an ancient occult artifact – just some piece of dusty old bone. But as it turns out, that bone once belonged to something evil, vengeful, and not even of this earth. And it just so happens to be in the possession of a fanatical cult, who will stop at nothing to protect their precious treasure.
There are two main reasons why I love heist stories. One is that they are essentially a problem solving mission to acquire a quest item, with the characters using everything at their disposal to gain their goal, very often leading to some creative solutions. The second part of it is the characters themselves. After all, what’s a heist story without a diverse crew made of individuals with “special” talents? Premonitions shows us how it’s done.
First up, we have our leader, the one who heads up the crew and decides which jobs to take, and that’s Karyn Ames. But Karyn isn’t your typical mastermind who calls all the shots. She has a condition which allows her to hallucinate slices of the future – a useful power when you’re the one responsible for the safety and wellbeing of your crew, but it can also be overwhelming and debilitating when the visions get out of hand. To keep her hallucinations in check, Karyn relies on a very rare black market drug called Blind, which unfortunately is also very expensive. Without Blind, her visions can get very unsettling. It becomes difficult to tell the present from the tangled mess of near or even far future possibilities.
The author has done an incredible job here portraying Karyn’s struggle with her visions coming and going, as well as evoking powerful responses from me with the things she sees. Imagine experiencing scary moments like armed gunmen kicking your door in, not knowing if it’s really happening or if it’s something that will happen in the future (not like that’s any more comforting). Or having gruesome hallucinations of things like bullet holes spurting blood in the middle of your friends’ foreheads even as they are in front you talking like nothing is out of the ordinary. Jamie Schultz ends up capturing the disturbing nature of this very well, and I think it’s one of the best aspects of the book.
Karyn’s predicament with her condition makes her the most interesting character, but the rest of her crew are no slouches either. Anna is the second-in-command and best friend, ever competent and dependable. Then there’s Nail, who is most definitely the guy who brings the big guns. He’s the expert on ordnance and how to dish out the punishment. Finally, there’s Tommy, the eccentric and somewhat creepy practitioner of dark magic arts, probably because his line of work involves doing some pretty unsavory things. A mid-mission addition is Genevieve, liaison extraordinaire and a love interest for Anna, and pretty good at some of that sorcery herself. And of course we also have to talk about the client, the ruthless criminal overlord Enoch Sobell himself. Is he the crew’s ally or villain? Both or neither? There are so many surprises when it comes to this mercurial character, you’ll just have to read and find out more.
All told, there’s plenty of delicious twists and turns in this one, a treat for fans of the urban fantasy genre who are especially looking for a touch of something darker and more ominous, but without sacrificing the action and the fun. Premonitions ends up being a lot more than the sum of its parts, but it does stumble briefly on a couple of bewildering segments. Perhaps my only issue with the story is the jumble of factions involved in the main conflict, at times causing a few instances of confusion when it’s not clearly explained who’s going after who and which group has taken over which other group. In the end it’s not an issue that I found overwhelming, and I enjoyed the overall story in spite of it.
Ultimately, Premonitions ended up being a pretty damn good read. Considering how the book has been on my radar for a while, it didn’t disappoint. With this, the series is off to a great start and I’ll very likely pick up the next book because I think I’d like to know more about this world and its characters.
I have a thing for heist books. That’s what Premonitions is and more, mashing up the best elements of urban fantasy, mystery-noir and dark psychological horror. Be prepared for lots of thrills along the way as things spiral rapidly out of control on a high-stakes job, leaving a rag-tag gang of professional thieves floundering in a situation none of them could have imagined in their worst nightmares.
This is the story of Karyn Ames’ crew, who thought they’d hit on the ultimate score when the notorious crime lord Enoch Sobell offers them two millions dollars to steal an ancient occult artifact – just some piece of dusty old bone. But as it turns out, that bone once belonged to something evil, vengeful, and not even of this earth. And it just so happens to be in the possession of a fanatical cult, who will stop at nothing to protect their precious treasure.
There are two main reasons why I love heist stories. One is that they are essentially a problem solving mission to acquire a quest item, with the characters using everything at their disposal to gain their goal, very often leading to some creative solutions. The second part of it is the characters themselves. After all, what’s a heist story without a diverse crew made of individuals with “special” talents? Premonitions shows us how it’s done.
First up, we have our leader, the one who heads up the crew and decides which jobs to take, and that’s Karyn Ames. But Karyn isn’t your typical mastermind who calls all the shots. She has a condition which allows her to hallucinate slices of the future – a useful power when you’re the one responsible for the safety and wellbeing of your crew, but it can also be overwhelming and debilitating when the visions get out of hand. To keep her hallucinations in check, Karyn relies on a very rare black market drug called Blind, which unfortunately is also very expensive. Without Blind, her visions can get very unsettling. It becomes difficult to tell the present from the tangled mess of near or even far future possibilities.
The author has done an incredible job here portraying Karyn’s struggle with her visions coming and going, as well as evoking powerful responses from me with the things she sees. Imagine experiencing scary moments like armed gunmen kicking your door in, not knowing if it’s really happening or if it’s something that will happen in the future (not like that’s any more comforting). Or having gruesome hallucinations of things like bullet holes spurting blood in the middle of your friends’ foreheads even as they are in front you talking like nothing is out of the ordinary. Jamie Schultz ends up capturing the disturbing nature of this very well, and I think it’s one of the best aspects of the book.
Karyn’s predicament with her condition makes her the most interesting character, but the rest of her crew are no slouches either. Anna is the second-in-command and best friend, ever competent and dependable. Then there’s Nail, who is most definitely the guy who brings the big guns. He’s the expert on ordnance and how to dish out the punishment. Finally, there’s Tommy, the eccentric and somewhat creepy practitioner of dark magic arts, probably because his line of work involves doing some pretty unsavory things. A mid-mission addition is Genevieve, liaison extraordinaire and a love interest for Anna, and pretty good at some of that sorcery herself. And of course we also have to talk about the client, the ruthless criminal overlord Enoch Sobell himself. Is he the crew’s ally or villain? Both or neither? There are so many surprises when it comes to this mercurial character, you’ll just have to read and find out more.
All told, there’s plenty of delicious twists and turns in this one, a treat for fans of the urban fantasy genre who are especially looking for a touch of something darker and more ominous, but without sacrificing the action and the fun. Premonitions ends up being a lot more than the sum of its parts, but it does stumble briefly on a couple of bewildering segments. Perhaps my only issue with the story is the jumble of factions involved in the main conflict, at times causing a few instances of confusion when it’s not clearly explained who’s going after who and which group has taken over which other group. In the end it’s not an issue that I found overwhelming, and I enjoyed the overall story in spite of it.
Ultimately, Premonitions ended up being a pretty damn good read. Considering how the book has been on my radar for a while, it didn’t disappoint. With this, the series is off to a great start and I’ll very likely pick up the next book because I think I’d like to know more about this world and its characters.
November 10, 2014
Fantasy Review Barn
Premonitions is a book that is exactly as advertised; a heist novel with paranormal elements. Karyn Ames, leader of a little crew with a constant need for cash, takes on cases that involves the theft of items that may have protections a bit harder to cut through than state of the art alarm systems or dogs with big teeth. She has a condition that allows her to see glimpses of the future but it is more curse than blessing. While occasionally useful in their heists it takes a powerful (and expensive) drug to keep from taking over; seeing EVERY vision of the future is maddening.
The story kicks off when the crew takes on a case from a known crime lord named Sobell. Their mission is simple enough; steal an artifact. Problem is the artifact is in the hands of a pretty fanatical cult and may be guarded by something extra sinister. Saying no is not really an option though. Not only do several members of the crew REALLY need the cash; Sobell is not the type of person one says know to.
There are two threads here playing out as one. One is the story that is supposed to be the main one; that of Karyn and her crew. It is an exciting heist tale with simple theft gone wrong, a failed delivery, and a whole lot of minor magics. The second story, which is supposed to be the background thread, involves the crimelord Sobell. And Sobell’s story absolutely shined. He was exactly the kind of character I wanted to read about; talking to demons, locking up angels, gaining a near immortality and ruling a criminal empire. Any scene he showed up in was gold—and it over took the rest of the story for me. I felt that this book lacked when he wasn’t present; a problem when he is not supposed to be the main character.
I don’t know where Karyn’s story moved to the back seat for me but once there it never threatened to come back up. Her crew was actually pretty forgettable; if you showed me a list of names two days later I am positive I will mix up a couple of them. One plays the tough girl, there is the big gun, and we have a newcomer who can draw up some cool magic. But Karyn’s condition basically places her outside the action. While her reflections on what is really happening had potential I mostly ended up thinking they distracted from the action; this is a heist novel and a brisk pace is pretty key.
So I found myself entertained throughout but usually wishing Sobell would just take over the whole story. There was nothing wrong with the main plot line on its own, it was fairly well paced and had some nice twists and turns that kept things from getting stale. But dealing with crew infighting and Karyn’s slipping sanity just couldn’t compete with Sobell’s full on mutiny and fight to stay ahead of demons.
A good read with perhaps a few too many ideas put into its page count. Something was going to suffer or the pace would be lost and for me it came out of one of the two major plot lines. Like many first in a series there are a good number of questions that are as yet unanswered. But still a book I have no problem recommending; it is a series that will be worth keeping an eye on.
3 Stars
Copy for review provided by the author. Thank you Jamie Schultz!
Premonitions is a book that is exactly as advertised; a heist novel with paranormal elements. Karyn Ames, leader of a little crew with a constant need for cash, takes on cases that involves the theft of items that may have protections a bit harder to cut through than state of the art alarm systems or dogs with big teeth. She has a condition that allows her to see glimpses of the future but it is more curse than blessing. While occasionally useful in their heists it takes a powerful (and expensive) drug to keep from taking over; seeing EVERY vision of the future is maddening.
The story kicks off when the crew takes on a case from a known crime lord named Sobell. Their mission is simple enough; steal an artifact. Problem is the artifact is in the hands of a pretty fanatical cult and may be guarded by something extra sinister. Saying no is not really an option though. Not only do several members of the crew REALLY need the cash; Sobell is not the type of person one says know to.
There are two threads here playing out as one. One is the story that is supposed to be the main one; that of Karyn and her crew. It is an exciting heist tale with simple theft gone wrong, a failed delivery, and a whole lot of minor magics. The second story, which is supposed to be the background thread, involves the crimelord Sobell. And Sobell’s story absolutely shined. He was exactly the kind of character I wanted to read about; talking to demons, locking up angels, gaining a near immortality and ruling a criminal empire. Any scene he showed up in was gold—and it over took the rest of the story for me. I felt that this book lacked when he wasn’t present; a problem when he is not supposed to be the main character.
I don’t know where Karyn’s story moved to the back seat for me but once there it never threatened to come back up. Her crew was actually pretty forgettable; if you showed me a list of names two days later I am positive I will mix up a couple of them. One plays the tough girl, there is the big gun, and we have a newcomer who can draw up some cool magic. But Karyn’s condition basically places her outside the action. While her reflections on what is really happening had potential I mostly ended up thinking they distracted from the action; this is a heist novel and a brisk pace is pretty key.
So I found myself entertained throughout but usually wishing Sobell would just take over the whole story. There was nothing wrong with the main plot line on its own, it was fairly well paced and had some nice twists and turns that kept things from getting stale. But dealing with crew infighting and Karyn’s slipping sanity just couldn’t compete with Sobell’s full on mutiny and fight to stay ahead of demons.
A good read with perhaps a few too many ideas put into its page count. Something was going to suffer or the pace would be lost and for me it came out of one of the two major plot lines. Like many first in a series there are a good number of questions that are as yet unanswered. But still a book I have no problem recommending; it is a series that will be worth keeping an eye on.
3 Stars
Copy for review provided by the author. Thank you Jamie Schultz!
July 2, 2014
One heck of a ride. It's a heist thriller mixed with urban fantasy. The story's told from half a dozen different viewpoints, each with their own take on things. The nice thing about this is there are no heroes, no villains. Everyone's working their own goals and agendas, from the Brotherhood, to Karyn and Anna's crew. Some have lofty motives, like killing everyone. Some want to make a quick buck, but most want more than anything to live to see another sunrise, preferably with their insides still in.
Sobell, in particular, as the criminal mastermind, business man and magician, plays a smooth game on everyone, but you come away knowing he could get beat - that he's smart, well prepared, and playing the odds, but one of these days, things will go pear shaped and take him with it.
Karyn, the psychic from the summary, embodies that nothing in this world comes free, and most things you get cost more than just cash. It's a dark, vicious world where everyone involved is going to get hurt, and still a blast to read.
The only flaw I can find is with Tommy, but I can't go into that without spoilers, and if that's the least problem in a book this fun, I don't care. There's a sequel coming, and if it's anything like the first, I can't wait to see it.
Sobell, in particular, as the criminal mastermind, business man and magician, plays a smooth game on everyone, but you come away knowing he could get beat - that he's smart, well prepared, and playing the odds, but one of these days, things will go pear shaped and take him with it.
Karyn, the psychic from the summary, embodies that nothing in this world comes free, and most things you get cost more than just cash. It's a dark, vicious world where everyone involved is going to get hurt, and still a blast to read.
The only flaw I can find is with Tommy, but I can't go into that without spoilers, and if that's the least problem in a book this fun, I don't care. There's a sequel coming, and if it's anything like the first, I can't wait to see it.
Read
May 7, 2019DNF
July 17, 2014
This? This was a pretty damn cool book. It was a like a hybrid born from a cross between Ocean's Eleven and Constantine. I was sucked in almost immediately into this world and this story of a four person crew who specialize in the less-than-legal aquisition of highly coveted items. When a local crime lord offers them a deal they can't refuse, the you-know-what starts hitting the fan.
There wasn't anything about this book that I didn't like. The relationships and interactions between the characters felt genuine, the dialogue was natural, and it all had a bona fide creep factor and noir feeling to set it all on edge. Told in third person with alternating viewpoints, this book is one heck of a start out of the gate and I'm definitely looking forward to more.
There wasn't anything about this book that I didn't like. The relationships and interactions between the characters felt genuine, the dialogue was natural, and it all had a bona fide creep factor and noir feeling to set it all on edge. Told in third person with alternating viewpoints, this book is one heck of a start out of the gate and I'm definitely looking forward to more.
August 8, 2014
I am sorry, Jamie Schultz, but Premonitions is too grim for me. I kept hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel, but the demon ate it (the light and the tunnel).
Premonitions is a fast, grim ride with more death and darkness than I am in a place to appreciate at this point in my life. The story is told from multiple points of view, I prefer first person or no more than two, and I really do not like the points of view to get killed off (unless they are the bad guys). Oh, a demon also ate the happily ever after.
Premonitions is a fast, grim ride with more death and darkness than I am in a place to appreciate at this point in my life. The story is told from multiple points of view, I prefer first person or no more than two, and I really do not like the points of view to get killed off (unless they are the bad guys). Oh, a demon also ate the happily ever after.
September 3, 2015
I could not finish this book. One of the characters kept having visions, but she was hallucinating and couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. Her trips to Adelaide to get "blind" so she wouldn't see visions all the time were creepy and sad.
They get hired to steal a jawbone, and then it all ends badly and their client is mad.
Oh, and we get to see the client cut out an angel's heart with a saint's sword. Really weird.
This was a did not finish book.
They get hired to steal a jawbone, and then it all ends badly and their client is mad.
Oh, and we get to see the client cut out an angel's heart with a saint's sword. Really weird.
This was a did not finish book.
August 14, 2015
The author breaks the cardinal rule and has a crew with more women than men, it's positively shocking! Who'd have imagined that a book could be primarily about three strong women, with several men moving in and out of the story as well, and it could still be action-packed and exciting. Good job, Mr. Schultz.
September 3, 2017
This book wasn't for me from the start. I started and read 30 pages, stopped for the night, yet wasn't sure what had even happened. The next day I decided that I probably should start over. The secod time around things weren't much better for me. I even read another 20 pages, still couldn't get very interested. In the end this one wasn't for me.
December 10, 2014
I love me a good heist story and Premonitions offers just that with the added bonus of a supernatural twist. Jamie Schultz takes us to an alternate LA where monsters are real, and they’re as often human as not, and deals with a devil are more common than you’d expect. Premonitions was a ridiculous amount of fun due to its twisty story with double and even triple dealing, a crew of miscreants that have great chemistry together and some genuinely bad guys gone worse.
What kind of supernatural elements has Schultz dropped into his version of LA? Thus far I’ve encountered no vampires, werewolves and other more traditional urban fantasy creatures. Instead Schultz's supernatural is based in various forms of magic practice, among which are dealing with demons, blood magic, and enchanted objects. The other major supernatural power on display is precognition, which in this universe is more of a curse than a gift. I liked how Schultz envisioned this power and the way that it debilitated Karyn's ability to function normally and made her dependent on medicine to cope. It felt like an interesting parallel to having a medical condition that can be managed through drugs, such as epilepsy or diabetes, or perhaps more closely to something like schizophrenia. It's interesting that during my reading of the book this never consciously occurred to me, it's only now that I'm writing my review and thinking about it that this parallel jumped out at me.
At the heart of the story is Karyn's crew, which is more like her family and consists of the entry specialist Anna, the ammunitions expert Nail, and the self-taught magic user Tommy. They each have their role in their jobs, but also in their group, with Karyn being the nominal leader, Anna as her enforcer, Nail as the loyal, brute-force silent guy, and Tommy seemingly the somewhat goofy younger brother. I liked the dynamics of the crew and how they gelled together. When Schultz brings in a fifth crew member in the form of Genevieve her arrival palpably affects the way the group functions and they all need to settle back in, which was interesting to observe. Genevieve's presence especially strains the close bond between Karyn and Anna, who are the core of the crew, since Anna feels pulled between taking care of Karyn and exploring whatever is developing between her and Genevieve.
Premonitions has a busy plot between the crew getting drafted by Sobell, an arcane crime lord, their becoming enemy number one for the Brotherhood, a sinister cult whose greatest relic they steal, and Karyn’s precognition spiralling out of control. While at times it felt a bit too frantic, Schultz manages to juggle all of the many elements he introduces and while he has many named characters, he manages to keep them all distinct, never once leaving me to wonder where this or that character popped up from suddenly.
The one big downside to Premonitions? It’s hard to imagine a way back from where the story ends. The crew is in a deep hole, the bottom of which is a sucking quagmire and it’ll take a lot of hard work, canny operating, and dumb luck to create a way out. Yet I’ve no doubt they’ll pull it off eventually and Schultz will make their quest entertaining as all get out. So I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book Splintered come July. If heist stories are your thing and you enjoy urban fantasy then Premonitions is definitely a book you should read.
This book was provided for review by the author.
What kind of supernatural elements has Schultz dropped into his version of LA? Thus far I’ve encountered no vampires, werewolves and other more traditional urban fantasy creatures. Instead Schultz's supernatural is based in various forms of magic practice, among which are dealing with demons, blood magic, and enchanted objects. The other major supernatural power on display is precognition, which in this universe is more of a curse than a gift. I liked how Schultz envisioned this power and the way that it debilitated Karyn's ability to function normally and made her dependent on medicine to cope. It felt like an interesting parallel to having a medical condition that can be managed through drugs, such as epilepsy or diabetes, or perhaps more closely to something like schizophrenia. It's interesting that during my reading of the book this never consciously occurred to me, it's only now that I'm writing my review and thinking about it that this parallel jumped out at me.
At the heart of the story is Karyn's crew, which is more like her family and consists of the entry specialist Anna, the ammunitions expert Nail, and the self-taught magic user Tommy. They each have their role in their jobs, but also in their group, with Karyn being the nominal leader, Anna as her enforcer, Nail as the loyal, brute-force silent guy, and Tommy seemingly the somewhat goofy younger brother. I liked the dynamics of the crew and how they gelled together. When Schultz brings in a fifth crew member in the form of Genevieve her arrival palpably affects the way the group functions and they all need to settle back in, which was interesting to observe. Genevieve's presence especially strains the close bond between Karyn and Anna, who are the core of the crew, since Anna feels pulled between taking care of Karyn and exploring whatever is developing between her and Genevieve.
Premonitions has a busy plot between the crew getting drafted by Sobell, an arcane crime lord, their becoming enemy number one for the Brotherhood, a sinister cult whose greatest relic they steal, and Karyn’s precognition spiralling out of control. While at times it felt a bit too frantic, Schultz manages to juggle all of the many elements he introduces and while he has many named characters, he manages to keep them all distinct, never once leaving me to wonder where this or that character popped up from suddenly.
The one big downside to Premonitions? It’s hard to imagine a way back from where the story ends. The crew is in a deep hole, the bottom of which is a sucking quagmire and it’ll take a lot of hard work, canny operating, and dumb luck to create a way out. Yet I’ve no doubt they’ll pull it off eventually and Schultz will make their quest entertaining as all get out. So I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book Splintered come July. If heist stories are your thing and you enjoy urban fantasy then Premonitions is definitely a book you should read.
This book was provided for review by the author.
July 29, 2016
Karyn and her team pride themselves on being able to steal anything, and with Karyn's ability to see glimpses of the immediate future, it gives them an edge over security when on a job. However Karyn is addicted to a black market drug which stops her hallucinations getting out of control so when a huge job comes up she feels it is something she can't pass up.
This book just did not excite me in any way. I'm not greatly keen on drug addicted MCs as a rule but I made an exception in this case because it is used to control a legitimate medical condition. I still didn't connect to Karyn at all though. I just didn't feel that there was much character development to her and it was all focused on her condition instead of developing her whole personality. Maybe it happens later in the book with her and the other characters but I didn't read far enough to find out.
It was the same with the plot. I found it ok but I didn't really get into it in the way I'd hoped. It didn't have anything I would call special enough to make me want to continue. It just lacked that something that I was looking for. It's not a bad book in any way, despite the one star rating. It just didn't appeal greatly to me.
This book just did not excite me in any way. I'm not greatly keen on drug addicted MCs as a rule but I made an exception in this case because it is used to control a legitimate medical condition. I still didn't connect to Karyn at all though. I just didn't feel that there was much character development to her and it was all focused on her condition instead of developing her whole personality. Maybe it happens later in the book with her and the other characters but I didn't read far enough to find out.
It was the same with the plot. I found it ok but I didn't really get into it in the way I'd hoped. It didn't have anything I would call special enough to make me want to continue. It just lacked that something that I was looking for. It's not a bad book in any way, despite the one star rating. It just didn't appeal greatly to me.
July 28, 2014
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*My Thoughts*
Premonitions is the story about a group of thieves thrown to together to steal occult items from their supposed owners. Having made their share of enemies over the years, the group agrees to work for crime lord, sorcerer, and billionaire Enoch Sobell. Sobell's mission may be the most dangerous of their lives, and it will be a major surprise if anyone survives what's coming next.
**Full Review Posting to Gizmos Reviews 07/27/2014*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
*Won my copy via Twitter contest* Published July 1st 2014 by Roc
*Rating* 3.5
*My Thoughts*
Premonitions is the story about a group of thieves thrown to together to steal occult items from their supposed owners. Having made their share of enemies over the years, the group agrees to work for crime lord, sorcerer, and billionaire Enoch Sobell. Sobell's mission may be the most dangerous of their lives, and it will be a major surprise if anyone survives what's coming next.
**Full Review Posting to Gizmos Reviews 07/27/2014*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
*Won my copy via Twitter contest* Published July 1st 2014 by Roc
August 15, 2014
This is pretty perfect UF, sped right through it while on vacation...more thoughts later.
May 27, 2017
A group of these specialize in stealing magical artifacts. But when the city's top crime boss hires them to steal an item from a cult, things quickly get out of hand. Now, they are stuck between the cult and the gangsters with no one to trust and nowhere to hide.
This book has a lot of elements going for it. The premise is really good. A group of thieves working in the arcane underworld of modern Los Angeles. The characters are a good mix. The leader is a psychic that can see the future but her premonitions can be overwhelming. An ex-military man that handles the rough and tumble stuff. A master thief in the classic sense. A young, self-taught magic user. Rounding out the team is a bad girl magic user that might be a spy for the crime boss. The crime boss is a centuries old magic user that is trying to get out from his dealings with all of those demons, at least for a little while longer. The plot is fast paced mix of intrigue, action and double (or more) crossings that just keeps getting wilder as you read more.
Unfortunately, there are also a lot of drawbacks in this book. The first thing is that while the book is set in modern day LA, there is magic. The only reason this is a problem is that since half of the characters either use magic or have some type of magical-like power, I never could get a feel for how magic fit into this world. Was it something that everyone knew about but was very rare? Is the reader supposed to think, the world is like ours, where no one believes magic is real, but (in this world at least) is secretly real? If it is supposed to be secret or very rare, there are a lot of characters that hit the jackpot with it in this book. This is especially true for the psychic character. There seem to be only two known (and both live in LA) and have developed a drug that is essential to them but no one seems to know anything about it. Next, while I liked the characters and found them interesting, two of them kept bleeding into each other for me. Those were Karyn Ames (the psychic leader) and Anna (the master thief), especially when they used Ames instead of Karyn. I never really felt like Karyn was the gang's leader. Anna seemed the more natural fit there. In fact, Anna acted like the leader most of the time so this lead to some of the bleed through for the characters. But they also just seemed to be used interchangeableably at times. When they started doing things, it would become clear but if someone was just talking about them (or even if they were talking to each other), it was easy to confuse them. The final annoying thing to me was the amount of swearing. Thankfully, the swears weren't all one word (that is annoying on multiple levels). But the overall amount was more than I liked to read and will probably turn off a few readers all together.
Some of this can be attributed to the fact that this is the first book in a series. You are just getting to know the characters and this world. As the series progresses, I am sure (or at least hoping) that more and more details are learned about them. So it might not be the strongest start to a series, but I have seen and read worse. It would be worth it to check out the next installment at least.
This book has a lot of elements going for it. The premise is really good. A group of thieves working in the arcane underworld of modern Los Angeles. The characters are a good mix. The leader is a psychic that can see the future but her premonitions can be overwhelming. An ex-military man that handles the rough and tumble stuff. A master thief in the classic sense. A young, self-taught magic user. Rounding out the team is a bad girl magic user that might be a spy for the crime boss. The crime boss is a centuries old magic user that is trying to get out from his dealings with all of those demons, at least for a little while longer. The plot is fast paced mix of intrigue, action and double (or more) crossings that just keeps getting wilder as you read more.
Unfortunately, there are also a lot of drawbacks in this book. The first thing is that while the book is set in modern day LA, there is magic. The only reason this is a problem is that since half of the characters either use magic or have some type of magical-like power, I never could get a feel for how magic fit into this world. Was it something that everyone knew about but was very rare? Is the reader supposed to think, the world is like ours, where no one believes magic is real, but (in this world at least) is secretly real? If it is supposed to be secret or very rare, there are a lot of characters that hit the jackpot with it in this book. This is especially true for the psychic character. There seem to be only two known (and both live in LA) and have developed a drug that is essential to them but no one seems to know anything about it. Next, while I liked the characters and found them interesting, two of them kept bleeding into each other for me. Those were Karyn Ames (the psychic leader) and Anna (the master thief), especially when they used Ames instead of Karyn. I never really felt like Karyn was the gang's leader. Anna seemed the more natural fit there. In fact, Anna acted like the leader most of the time so this lead to some of the bleed through for the characters. But they also just seemed to be used interchangeableably at times. When they started doing things, it would become clear but if someone was just talking about them (or even if they were talking to each other), it was easy to confuse them. The final annoying thing to me was the amount of swearing. Thankfully, the swears weren't all one word (that is annoying on multiple levels). But the overall amount was more than I liked to read and will probably turn off a few readers all together.
Some of this can be attributed to the fact that this is the first book in a series. You are just getting to know the characters and this world. As the series progresses, I am sure (or at least hoping) that more and more details are learned about them. So it might not be the strongest start to a series, but I have seen and read worse. It would be worth it to check out the next installment at least.
November 20, 2014
This joint review was originally published at The Book Pushers
E: When I read the blurb I thought this looked like an interesting heist story augmented with magic and the supernatural. This immediately grabbed my attention because I have had success in the past with these elements in combination. Schultz certainly provided thievery, magic, and supernatural but in a much darker sense than I was expecting. Personally I would classify this as more horror/supernatural than anything else and I wasn’t quite prepared for exactly how dark it would get for Karyn yet I couldn’t stop reading as I hoped it would get better.
Marlene: I agree. I thought this would be kind of an urban fantasy/heist story, but wasn’t expecting it to be this dark. I don’t mean just gritty, I mean the horror/scary and also depressing elements. I found myself wondering why we didn’t pick this one for Halloween, because it had all the right elements for it.
E: Karyn is the leader of a rather motley group of people who all seem to have hit bottom. She is a precognizant who can see possibilities of the future but they are usually related to death or serious injury of others – rarely happy. However, her abilities are out of control and the different possibilities quickly overwhelm her unless she is on a highly expensive black-market drug. Like any drug the amount required to function kept increasing and so did her anxiety about maintaining her sanity. Anna was her best friend and keeper. While Schultz never showed any physical intimacy between Karyn and Anna, they had an extremely deep emotional bond. Their bond played an integral role in the decisions made and the end result of this story. Tommy was their resident mostly crazy mage. Magic, at least the magic shown here, wasn’t pretty and always had a cost. Tommy seemed to derive a sort of pleasure from what he experienced. Niall, a former Marine was their muscle and tactical planner who had a family member in what seemed to be never-ending debt to an unsavory element. As a result all four had desperate need for money and could lose their common sense if the dollar amount was high enough.
Marlene: Every single one of these folks was beyond desperate, whacked out, or a bit of both. Karyn and Anna’s relationship was pretty sad in its way; Anna was a gay woman in love with her straight best friend, while Karyn relies on Anna to get the money and jobs that pay for the drug that keeps her mostly sane. Nail and Anna both seem to be addicted to the danger involved in doing slightly illegal and totally crazy work, and poor Tommy doesn’t even know that he’s dealing with demons when he does magic.
E: After successfully completing a job, Karyn’s crew, found themselves the recipients of a job offer they could not turn down. Accepting the job however, meant losing their independent status and joining the list of people at the beck and call of Sobell, the worst crime lord. He had masterminded their previous job to get a hook into how the crew functioned. His job offer wasn’t straightforward but was one piece of a many layered plan all set up to give him an even more extended life and additional power while delaying the need to pay the ultimate price. His very focus meant when things started turning bad they got worse and worse. He did provide some additional magical assistance in the form of his liaison and spy Genevieve. Genevieve who very conveniently managed to start a separation of Karyn and her crew but even more importantly caused a rift between Karyn and Anna resulting in the situation changing from bad but survivable to worse. Genevieve also had more of a connection with Sobell than she was willing to admit.
Marlene: Ah yes, Genevieve. We never do find out what her real agenda was/is, or what Sobell hired her to do. Whatever it was, it was clearly more than she ever said. Sobell, on the other hand, is a disturbingly nasty piece of work. He’s sold his soul to the equivalent of the devil, and will do anything, throw anyone under the bus, in order to keep from paying up. He’s completely amoral to the point of no longer seeming human. This entire mess is essentially his fault, but he always finds some way to keep going.
E: Schultz’s world was dark and yet fascinating. Magic at least dark magic involved using Demons and bargaining with them but eventually the demon would move in and take over wrecking havoc until the human body was fully consumed. Various abilities seemed inborn like Karyn’s precog, the ability to do magic and it seemed as if the possibility of more existed. In addition to humans playing with things they didn’t understand or control Demons, Angels, and seemingly inanimate magical artifacts also had influence on the world. Occasionally I had the feeling everything in this story was the result of one or more supernatural beings manipulating things or playing the Great Game with humans as their game pieces.
Marlene: I agree. Very dark, always on the edge of scary, but impossible to turn my eyes away. As usual, I wondered how things got this way, whether this is intended to be our world, or if there was an event to send things this dark. We don’t really ever see many normal people, which makes the state of the rest of the world hard to judge. There was so much magic around, and none of it seemed to be benign.
I’m not sure whether there’s a superior being manipulating humans in general, but Sobell was certainly manipulating a whole lot of people in specific.
E: I thought the combination of flawed but motivated characters and dark deadly world in Premonitions was compelling. Karyn and her crew were put through a lot and did not emerge unchanged. I never had the feeling they really “won” because of the losses they took but they did get some of their own back. They also displayed some amazing loyalty under incredible pressure when things came down to working together or drying. Schultz also dropped a few hints about the trouble to come in the sequel in her last two scenes. I am not sure I feel sorrier for Sobell, Karyn’s crew, or the demons who will cross their path.
I give Premonitions a B
Marlene: Don’t read this one for a happy ending, because there isn’t one. This is more of a “things are always darkest before they turn completely black” type of story. And it wasn’t quite what I expected. This is definitely a story about loyalty, both that Sobell has none to anyone but himself, and Karyn and her crew are loyal to each other in the face of not just death, but things that are much, much worse. I felt compelled to see their story through to the end, and found myself hoping that their situation gets better in future outings.
I give Premonitions a B-
E: When I read the blurb I thought this looked like an interesting heist story augmented with magic and the supernatural. This immediately grabbed my attention because I have had success in the past with these elements in combination. Schultz certainly provided thievery, magic, and supernatural but in a much darker sense than I was expecting. Personally I would classify this as more horror/supernatural than anything else and I wasn’t quite prepared for exactly how dark it would get for Karyn yet I couldn’t stop reading as I hoped it would get better.
Marlene: I agree. I thought this would be kind of an urban fantasy/heist story, but wasn’t expecting it to be this dark. I don’t mean just gritty, I mean the horror/scary and also depressing elements. I found myself wondering why we didn’t pick this one for Halloween, because it had all the right elements for it.
E: Karyn is the leader of a rather motley group of people who all seem to have hit bottom. She is a precognizant who can see possibilities of the future but they are usually related to death or serious injury of others – rarely happy. However, her abilities are out of control and the different possibilities quickly overwhelm her unless she is on a highly expensive black-market drug. Like any drug the amount required to function kept increasing and so did her anxiety about maintaining her sanity. Anna was her best friend and keeper. While Schultz never showed any physical intimacy between Karyn and Anna, they had an extremely deep emotional bond. Their bond played an integral role in the decisions made and the end result of this story. Tommy was their resident mostly crazy mage. Magic, at least the magic shown here, wasn’t pretty and always had a cost. Tommy seemed to derive a sort of pleasure from what he experienced. Niall, a former Marine was their muscle and tactical planner who had a family member in what seemed to be never-ending debt to an unsavory element. As a result all four had desperate need for money and could lose their common sense if the dollar amount was high enough.
Marlene: Every single one of these folks was beyond desperate, whacked out, or a bit of both. Karyn and Anna’s relationship was pretty sad in its way; Anna was a gay woman in love with her straight best friend, while Karyn relies on Anna to get the money and jobs that pay for the drug that keeps her mostly sane. Nail and Anna both seem to be addicted to the danger involved in doing slightly illegal and totally crazy work, and poor Tommy doesn’t even know that he’s dealing with demons when he does magic.
E: After successfully completing a job, Karyn’s crew, found themselves the recipients of a job offer they could not turn down. Accepting the job however, meant losing their independent status and joining the list of people at the beck and call of Sobell, the worst crime lord. He had masterminded their previous job to get a hook into how the crew functioned. His job offer wasn’t straightforward but was one piece of a many layered plan all set up to give him an even more extended life and additional power while delaying the need to pay the ultimate price. His very focus meant when things started turning bad they got worse and worse. He did provide some additional magical assistance in the form of his liaison and spy Genevieve. Genevieve who very conveniently managed to start a separation of Karyn and her crew but even more importantly caused a rift between Karyn and Anna resulting in the situation changing from bad but survivable to worse. Genevieve also had more of a connection with Sobell than she was willing to admit.
Marlene: Ah yes, Genevieve. We never do find out what her real agenda was/is, or what Sobell hired her to do. Whatever it was, it was clearly more than she ever said. Sobell, on the other hand, is a disturbingly nasty piece of work. He’s sold his soul to the equivalent of the devil, and will do anything, throw anyone under the bus, in order to keep from paying up. He’s completely amoral to the point of no longer seeming human. This entire mess is essentially his fault, but he always finds some way to keep going.
E: Schultz’s world was dark and yet fascinating. Magic at least dark magic involved using Demons and bargaining with them but eventually the demon would move in and take over wrecking havoc until the human body was fully consumed. Various abilities seemed inborn like Karyn’s precog, the ability to do magic and it seemed as if the possibility of more existed. In addition to humans playing with things they didn’t understand or control Demons, Angels, and seemingly inanimate magical artifacts also had influence on the world. Occasionally I had the feeling everything in this story was the result of one or more supernatural beings manipulating things or playing the Great Game with humans as their game pieces.
Marlene: I agree. Very dark, always on the edge of scary, but impossible to turn my eyes away. As usual, I wondered how things got this way, whether this is intended to be our world, or if there was an event to send things this dark. We don’t really ever see many normal people, which makes the state of the rest of the world hard to judge. There was so much magic around, and none of it seemed to be benign.
I’m not sure whether there’s a superior being manipulating humans in general, but Sobell was certainly manipulating a whole lot of people in specific.
E: I thought the combination of flawed but motivated characters and dark deadly world in Premonitions was compelling. Karyn and her crew were put through a lot and did not emerge unchanged. I never had the feeling they really “won” because of the losses they took but they did get some of their own back. They also displayed some amazing loyalty under incredible pressure when things came down to working together or drying. Schultz also dropped a few hints about the trouble to come in the sequel in her last two scenes. I am not sure I feel sorrier for Sobell, Karyn’s crew, or the demons who will cross their path.
I give Premonitions a B
Marlene: Don’t read this one for a happy ending, because there isn’t one. This is more of a “things are always darkest before they turn completely black” type of story. And it wasn’t quite what I expected. This is definitely a story about loyalty, both that Sobell has none to anyone but himself, and Karyn and her crew are loyal to each other in the face of not just death, but things that are much, much worse. I felt compelled to see their story through to the end, and found myself hoping that their situation gets better in future outings.
I give Premonitions a B-
December 28, 2018
This was a darker and more violent book than I mostly like to read, but it was also compelling and well-written, with an interesting (if terrifying) premise and an enjoyably complex plot. There are no "good guys" in this story. Everybody is just doing what they can to survive and (in some cases) to keep their friends alive. Some are willing to go to greater lengths than others. Some are more sympathetic than others. Also, who ever heard of a book written by a man (especially in the "speculative fiction" genre) in which the central relationship in the book is between two women? And one of them is gay! And things don't go all that badly for her! This was VERY refreshing. I want to give it more stars because of that, but I can't because of the nightmares. If you like gritty urban fantasy with flawed characters and strong women, and you are not susceptible to fiction-induced nightmares, I highly recommend this book.
September 10, 2020
Premonitions - a review by Rosemary Kenny
A supernatural, haunting occult heist adventure, Premonitions is the series opener for Jamie Schultz's new missions for an LA alternative reality peopled by weird and wonderful people (and I use that term loosely) of every shade of strange.
Led by psychic Karen Myers, a new team/task-force has been formed by warlock Niall, with Anna as Karen's 'enforcer' and has Tommy as muscle-bound back-up.
The main reason for the 'task-force's' creation is the terrifying visions/experiences Karen's
experiencing and also to find out what's causing them, while carrying out a $2million heist simultaneously!
Riveting stuff and a refreshingly different take on this combination of disparate genres. Despite a fairly slow build and, being 354 pages lond (almost double the average novel
length), you won't want to miss Premonitions by Jamie Schultz to see what happens when things go bump in the night and more!
A supernatural, haunting occult heist adventure, Premonitions is the series opener for Jamie Schultz's new missions for an LA alternative reality peopled by weird and wonderful people (and I use that term loosely) of every shade of strange.
Led by psychic Karen Myers, a new team/task-force has been formed by warlock Niall, with Anna as Karen's 'enforcer' and has Tommy as muscle-bound back-up.
The main reason for the 'task-force's' creation is the terrifying visions/experiences Karen's
experiencing and also to find out what's causing them, while carrying out a $2million heist simultaneously!
Riveting stuff and a refreshingly different take on this combination of disparate genres. Despite a fairly slow build and, being 354 pages lond (almost double the average novel
length), you won't want to miss Premonitions by Jamie Schultz to see what happens when things go bump in the night and more!
September 12, 2019
Muscular, gritty, lots and lots of action. A fun read. I'm interested to see where the characters go in this series.
January 5, 2015
4 1/2 stars!
The nitty-gritty: A high-octane urban fantasy, full of guns a-blazin' and dark magic, with plenty of flawed and damaged characters, not to mention a two-hundred-year-old crime lord with a lethal and magical sword.
Something pale shifted, flashed in the water ahead of her, and was gone. Was that actually there? she wondered. The water wasn't deep enough to harbor much of anything beyond a few frogs and odd billion or so mosquito larvae, or at least she didn't think so. But if it wasn't really there, what was the message? What was it trying to tell her?
One way I can tell that a book has really worked for me is that I get so wrapped up in the story, I forget to take notes. This can be a problem when it's time to write the review, of course, as I tend to forget story details if I don't write them down. Premonitions was one such book for me. I'm looking over the very sparse notes that I took while reading it, and I'm wondering if I'll be able to remember everything I want to say. Hey, I'll do my best! I knew immediately that I was going to enjoy it after reading this self-deprecating statement from the author's acknowledgement pages:
"...Their input and encouragement helped give me the momentum I needed to spin first-draft straw into final-draft, um, spun straw."
Ha ha!
Schultz's characters are on the edge. His motley band of thieves—Karyn, Anna, Tommy, Nail and Genevieve—are more or less living paycheck to paycheck. They are paid to steal magical artifacts, a very dangerous occupation, especially when they have to deal with demons and sorcerers. Karyn is the leader of the crew, and she usually keeps them out of trouble by being able to see glimpses of the future, and thus avoid danger. But Karyn's "gift" is also her fatal flaw. Without a very rare and expensive drug called "blind," she is barely able to function, since the visions threaten her sanity if they aren't kept under control with the drug.
Karyn's supply of blind is dwindling when the gang is offered the job of a lifetime—one that comes with a two-million-dollar paycheck: infiltrate and steal a jawbone from a group called the Brotherhood of Zagam, a jawbone that is supposedly a piece of a dead god. Crime lord Enoch Sobell wants it for his macabre collection, but Karyn knows that doing business with Sobell could be a huge mistake. But the money is too good to turn down, especially since Karyn desperately needs more blind, and they begin to make plans to steal it. But it turns out that crime lords and folks who worship jawbones are unpredictable, and things don't go quite as planned. When the bullets start flying, Karyn and her gang will need all their skills to stay alive. And that jawbone? Well, there's something a little strange about it...
I had so much fun reading Premonitions, and I was thrilled to find out that a sequel called Splintered is coming out next summer (although I couldn't find it on Goodreads). Jamie Schultz has a great ear for snappy dialog, and his pacing was really good. I especially loved the relationships between his characters, and this is one of those rare books where the relationships are so awkward and uncomfortable that I found myself actually cringing at times. Karyn and Anna are close friends and have worked jobs together for the past ten years. But when things go horribly wrong during a heist, Anna blames Karyn for the mistake, and the two stop talking. Not only is Karyn barely functioning, because she needs her drugs so badly, but she's also lost her best friend and confidant, at a time when they need to pull together to survive some very bad shit. Schultz doesn't shy away from these moments, and I thought they felt very real and personal.
Premonitions takes place in Los Angeles, mostly in the seedy and abandoned parts of town where danger lurks in the shadows. In order for Karyn to score blind, she must visit the worst of these places, and I loved the author's descriptions of the dank, water-filled basement where her drug dealer Adelaide lives. Most of the characters in this book are desperate and nearly broke, and the Los Angeles they live in mirrors their situations.
It wouldn't be a heist story without lots of violence and double-crossing, and Schultz gives the reader plenty of both. At times I was so caught up in the action, that I forgot I was reading a fantasy. But then the author hits you with characters who use blood magic to cast spells and humans who make deals with demons, and you remember: these characters are not your ordinary criminals packing heat. They are far more dangerous.
Schultz leaves a few threads dangling to entice the reader to come back for more, but the story ends on a satisfactory—and even emotional—note. I rooted for Karyn and her team from page one, and I can't wait to see what trouble they get into next.
Big thanks to Jamie Schultz for providing a review copy.
This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy.
The nitty-gritty: A high-octane urban fantasy, full of guns a-blazin' and dark magic, with plenty of flawed and damaged characters, not to mention a two-hundred-year-old crime lord with a lethal and magical sword.
Something pale shifted, flashed in the water ahead of her, and was gone. Was that actually there? she wondered. The water wasn't deep enough to harbor much of anything beyond a few frogs and odd billion or so mosquito larvae, or at least she didn't think so. But if it wasn't really there, what was the message? What was it trying to tell her?
One way I can tell that a book has really worked for me is that I get so wrapped up in the story, I forget to take notes. This can be a problem when it's time to write the review, of course, as I tend to forget story details if I don't write them down. Premonitions was one such book for me. I'm looking over the very sparse notes that I took while reading it, and I'm wondering if I'll be able to remember everything I want to say. Hey, I'll do my best! I knew immediately that I was going to enjoy it after reading this self-deprecating statement from the author's acknowledgement pages:
"...Their input and encouragement helped give me the momentum I needed to spin first-draft straw into final-draft, um, spun straw."
Ha ha!
Schultz's characters are on the edge. His motley band of thieves—Karyn, Anna, Tommy, Nail and Genevieve—are more or less living paycheck to paycheck. They are paid to steal magical artifacts, a very dangerous occupation, especially when they have to deal with demons and sorcerers. Karyn is the leader of the crew, and she usually keeps them out of trouble by being able to see glimpses of the future, and thus avoid danger. But Karyn's "gift" is also her fatal flaw. Without a very rare and expensive drug called "blind," she is barely able to function, since the visions threaten her sanity if they aren't kept under control with the drug.
Karyn's supply of blind is dwindling when the gang is offered the job of a lifetime—one that comes with a two-million-dollar paycheck: infiltrate and steal a jawbone from a group called the Brotherhood of Zagam, a jawbone that is supposedly a piece of a dead god. Crime lord Enoch Sobell wants it for his macabre collection, but Karyn knows that doing business with Sobell could be a huge mistake. But the money is too good to turn down, especially since Karyn desperately needs more blind, and they begin to make plans to steal it. But it turns out that crime lords and folks who worship jawbones are unpredictable, and things don't go quite as planned. When the bullets start flying, Karyn and her gang will need all their skills to stay alive. And that jawbone? Well, there's something a little strange about it...
I had so much fun reading Premonitions, and I was thrilled to find out that a sequel called Splintered is coming out next summer (although I couldn't find it on Goodreads). Jamie Schultz has a great ear for snappy dialog, and his pacing was really good. I especially loved the relationships between his characters, and this is one of those rare books where the relationships are so awkward and uncomfortable that I found myself actually cringing at times. Karyn and Anna are close friends and have worked jobs together for the past ten years. But when things go horribly wrong during a heist, Anna blames Karyn for the mistake, and the two stop talking. Not only is Karyn barely functioning, because she needs her drugs so badly, but she's also lost her best friend and confidant, at a time when they need to pull together to survive some very bad shit. Schultz doesn't shy away from these moments, and I thought they felt very real and personal.
Premonitions takes place in Los Angeles, mostly in the seedy and abandoned parts of town where danger lurks in the shadows. In order for Karyn to score blind, she must visit the worst of these places, and I loved the author's descriptions of the dank, water-filled basement where her drug dealer Adelaide lives. Most of the characters in this book are desperate and nearly broke, and the Los Angeles they live in mirrors their situations.
It wouldn't be a heist story without lots of violence and double-crossing, and Schultz gives the reader plenty of both. At times I was so caught up in the action, that I forgot I was reading a fantasy. But then the author hits you with characters who use blood magic to cast spells and humans who make deals with demons, and you remember: these characters are not your ordinary criminals packing heat. They are far more dangerous.
Schultz leaves a few threads dangling to entice the reader to come back for more, but the story ends on a satisfactory—and even emotional—note. I rooted for Karyn and her team from page one, and I can't wait to see what trouble they get into next.
Big thanks to Jamie Schultz for providing a review copy.
This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy.
September 26, 2014
I spent a lot of time staring at a blank screen trying to figure out how to talk about this. I came close to just posting, "This is seriously effed-up. But in a good way. Read it!"
Really, that might have been the way to go. But let's give this a try...
Premonitions is not your typical Urban Fantasy. Karyn isn't full of spunk, battling her way through some challenges with only her wits, a snappy line and her powers in a quest to defeat evil/save a life/protect justice. Nope, all she's trying to do is survive. Same for the rest of her gang -- they steal, they work only to make it to the next day. They're not well off, they're really not even comfortable -- borderline desperate, really. So when they're given the opportunity to split a 2 million dollar score, it's an offer they cannot refuse (in many ways)
In this world, magic -- or precognitive abilities -- come with a price. A nasty, dirty, life-altering price. Neither the magic or the precog life seems at all worth it -- and with one possible exception, everyone we meet in these pages with some sort of ability realizes that. Yet, those who can choose to pay that price or not, keep coming back to it. Karyn, on the other hand has no choice. Her abilities come with horrible hallucinations that she has to keep suppressed with a drug. Which is, of course, hard to find and only available on the black market. So like any good junkie, she steals to support her habit. Karyn's psychic ability is like a less-pretty, less specific and more unreliable version of Alex Verus' magic. Not that I think for a second that Schultz was going for that -- it's just what occurred to me as I read. I like the slightly different take on the idea.
Premonitions is a Heist story -- so, of course, things go horribly wrong (that's the point of these, right?), it's watching how this particular band of thieves respond to this that makes this compelling. In fact, the broad brush strokes of the plot are pretty apparent within the first few pages -- this isn't a knock on Schultz, it's just evidence that he knows what he's doing. This is a classic Heist story, told in his own particular way, with his unique blend of characters -- thieves, marks and obstacles.
We have two central characters -- Karyn and Anna, with a crew of others -- magicians(is that the word?), an ex-Marine and -- well, some others they pick up along the way. Years ago, Karyn and Anna become friends, and for reasons we're not privy to, and Anna may not fully recognize, Anna hitched her wagon to Karyn. She could've gone off and had a successful career, family, and whatnot. Instead, she's a criminal scratching by, doing all she can to help her friend make it to the next day.
That's the heart of this novel -- the friendship between these two. Their dedication to each other, to each other's needs, wants, desires and lives -- and by extension, those members of their team, romantic partners, and miscellaneous allies. There's no flashy swords, or government conspiracies, or prince to rescue -- but this is really a one for all and all for one group. As long as they remember that.
There is a pervasive atmosphere that characterizes this novel, a mood. The whole thing is dark and moody. In my mind, it looks like the sets from Season 1 of The Wire, lit by whoever picked the look for Blade Runner. This gives it a different feel than most of your Urban Fantasies on the market. Not that they're all rainbows and unicorns, but there is a "blue sky" feel to Urban Fantasies by Underwood, Butcher, Hearne, Harrison, Briggs and whatnot -- that is not shared here. Schultz is not Richard Kadray-dark, but he's close. Honestly, this reminded me of the Twenty Palaces world of Harry Connolly. Obviously, the magic system is different -- but I'd have no problem at all seeing Ray Lilly and Annalise Powliss bump into Karyn and her crew (thankfully, I'm pretty sure their magic isn't the sort that Annalise would feel compelled to eliminate anyone).
When I was 34 pages from the end of the book, I jotted down a note: "Not only do I have no clear idea how all this will end (frankly, I didn't see what happened three pages ago happening), but I also have no clue what a sequel to this looks like." That's not normal, that says a lot about how Schultz is working. Now, by the end of the novel, that wasn't the case -- I had a clear idea what to expect Splintered to be like (I'm also prepared to be totally wrong). But to be that close to the end, and not sure what's around the corner? That's pretty cool. To be fair, it could be that I was being dumb -- but I'm going to give the credit to Schultz for keeping me on my toes.
Give this one a try, folks, don't think you'll be sorry.
Really, that might have been the way to go. But let's give this a try...
Premonitions is not your typical Urban Fantasy. Karyn isn't full of spunk, battling her way through some challenges with only her wits, a snappy line and her powers in a quest to defeat evil/save a life/protect justice. Nope, all she's trying to do is survive. Same for the rest of her gang -- they steal, they work only to make it to the next day. They're not well off, they're really not even comfortable -- borderline desperate, really. So when they're given the opportunity to split a 2 million dollar score, it's an offer they cannot refuse (in many ways)
In this world, magic -- or precognitive abilities -- come with a price. A nasty, dirty, life-altering price. Neither the magic or the precog life seems at all worth it -- and with one possible exception, everyone we meet in these pages with some sort of ability realizes that. Yet, those who can choose to pay that price or not, keep coming back to it. Karyn, on the other hand has no choice. Her abilities come with horrible hallucinations that she has to keep suppressed with a drug. Which is, of course, hard to find and only available on the black market. So like any good junkie, she steals to support her habit. Karyn's psychic ability is like a less-pretty, less specific and more unreliable version of Alex Verus' magic. Not that I think for a second that Schultz was going for that -- it's just what occurred to me as I read. I like the slightly different take on the idea.
Premonitions is a Heist story -- so, of course, things go horribly wrong (that's the point of these, right?), it's watching how this particular band of thieves respond to this that makes this compelling. In fact, the broad brush strokes of the plot are pretty apparent within the first few pages -- this isn't a knock on Schultz, it's just evidence that he knows what he's doing. This is a classic Heist story, told in his own particular way, with his unique blend of characters -- thieves, marks and obstacles.
We have two central characters -- Karyn and Anna, with a crew of others -- magicians(is that the word?), an ex-Marine and -- well, some others they pick up along the way. Years ago, Karyn and Anna become friends, and for reasons we're not privy to, and Anna may not fully recognize, Anna hitched her wagon to Karyn. She could've gone off and had a successful career, family, and whatnot. Instead, she's a criminal scratching by, doing all she can to help her friend make it to the next day.
That's the heart of this novel -- the friendship between these two. Their dedication to each other, to each other's needs, wants, desires and lives -- and by extension, those members of their team, romantic partners, and miscellaneous allies. There's no flashy swords, or government conspiracies, or prince to rescue -- but this is really a one for all and all for one group. As long as they remember that.
There is a pervasive atmosphere that characterizes this novel, a mood. The whole thing is dark and moody. In my mind, it looks like the sets from Season 1 of The Wire, lit by whoever picked the look for Blade Runner. This gives it a different feel than most of your Urban Fantasies on the market. Not that they're all rainbows and unicorns, but there is a "blue sky" feel to Urban Fantasies by Underwood, Butcher, Hearne, Harrison, Briggs and whatnot -- that is not shared here. Schultz is not Richard Kadray-dark, but he's close. Honestly, this reminded me of the Twenty Palaces world of Harry Connolly. Obviously, the magic system is different -- but I'd have no problem at all seeing Ray Lilly and Annalise Powliss bump into Karyn and her crew (thankfully, I'm pretty sure their magic isn't the sort that Annalise would feel compelled to eliminate anyone).
When I was 34 pages from the end of the book, I jotted down a note: "Not only do I have no clear idea how all this will end (frankly, I didn't see what happened three pages ago happening), but I also have no clue what a sequel to this looks like." That's not normal, that says a lot about how Schultz is working. Now, by the end of the novel, that wasn't the case -- I had a clear idea what to expect Splintered to be like (I'm also prepared to be totally wrong). But to be that close to the end, and not sure what's around the corner? That's pretty cool. To be fair, it could be that I was being dumb -- but I'm going to give the credit to Schultz for keeping me on my toes.
Give this one a try, folks, don't think you'll be sorry.
-----
Note: I was provided a copy of this by the author, who seems like a pretty cool guy -- which made the fact that I really enjoyed this a relief.
August 10, 2014
Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publicist in exchange for a honest review.
Premonitions was a pleasant surprise, part Thriller-part Urban Fantasy but way darker and grislier than I expected. I loved it all.
The book opens on a suspenseful note as Karyn and her crew does a B&E to retrieve an artifact of supposed power for a client. Karyn and her team are notorious in retrieving/stealing. There aren’t any locks or security they can’t bypass as Karyn is some sort of oracle, Johnny dabbles in the dark arts, and Nail and Anna are the brain and brawns of the operation. Premonitions is narrated by various POVs from Karyn’s crew to crime lord Mr. Sobell to zealous cult members. The multiple third person POVs was a little confusing at first because the narrative would some time jump mid paragraph and it was hard to differeciate who was speaking but after a few chapters I got used to it.
I really like the cast of characters. They’re not your typical UF heroines, heroes, or villain. Everyone is motivated by different reasons for being in the type of business that they’re in. I like that they’re flawed characters, aren’t apologetic (much) for their actions and basically as real as it gets. There’s also no specific bad guys or good guys in this book, which is refreshing…well there are some characters that I’d say are more shady than the other but again everyone isn’t perfect and the world they inhabit isn’t any better. Another great thing about this UF is that there aren’t any werewolves, vampires, fairies, or shifters lurking about. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all but it’s nice to change it up once in awhile. The book has some demons being summoned and regular folks practicing black magic. What’s Interesting about practicing black magic is that if the person is using too much, it not only eats away at one’s soul but eventually a person becomes vulnerable to possession by a demon.
The overall characters development wasn’t as strong as I’d like since readers are getting multiple characters POV and the magic system isn’t fully explained (at least I don’t think so); but I hope with a sequel the author will divulge more into the characters and world-building. Other than that the pacing was great, a lot of actions and suspense. Again, I’d remind the readers that the author is very detailed when it comes to describing the gory bits…definitely not for those who are squeamish. Lastly, if anyone was looking for some sort of romance in this book, look elsewhere. Premonitions is all about the main plot, and introducing us to the world and characters. There is a romantic connection between Anna and another of Sobell’s contractor but its plays a very very small role in the book.
Premonitions is a great start to a new Urban Fantasy by Schultz. I highly recommend this to UF and Horror fans. If you’re looking for a new and refreshing Urban Fantasy, definitely check out this debut! I’m already looking forward to the next book!
Premonitions was a pleasant surprise, part Thriller-part Urban Fantasy but way darker and grislier than I expected. I loved it all.
The book opens on a suspenseful note as Karyn and her crew does a B&E to retrieve an artifact of supposed power for a client. Karyn and her team are notorious in retrieving/stealing. There aren’t any locks or security they can’t bypass as Karyn is some sort of oracle, Johnny dabbles in the dark arts, and Nail and Anna are the brain and brawns of the operation. Premonitions is narrated by various POVs from Karyn’s crew to crime lord Mr. Sobell to zealous cult members. The multiple third person POVs was a little confusing at first because the narrative would some time jump mid paragraph and it was hard to differeciate who was speaking but after a few chapters I got used to it.
I really like the cast of characters. They’re not your typical UF heroines, heroes, or villain. Everyone is motivated by different reasons for being in the type of business that they’re in. I like that they’re flawed characters, aren’t apologetic (much) for their actions and basically as real as it gets. There’s also no specific bad guys or good guys in this book, which is refreshing…well there are some characters that I’d say are more shady than the other but again everyone isn’t perfect and the world they inhabit isn’t any better. Another great thing about this UF is that there aren’t any werewolves, vampires, fairies, or shifters lurking about. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all but it’s nice to change it up once in awhile. The book has some demons being summoned and regular folks practicing black magic. What’s Interesting about practicing black magic is that if the person is using too much, it not only eats away at one’s soul but eventually a person becomes vulnerable to possession by a demon.
The overall characters development wasn’t as strong as I’d like since readers are getting multiple characters POV and the magic system isn’t fully explained (at least I don’t think so); but I hope with a sequel the author will divulge more into the characters and world-building. Other than that the pacing was great, a lot of actions and suspense. Again, I’d remind the readers that the author is very detailed when it comes to describing the gory bits…definitely not for those who are squeamish. Lastly, if anyone was looking for some sort of romance in this book, look elsewhere. Premonitions is all about the main plot, and introducing us to the world and characters. There is a romantic connection between Anna and another of Sobell’s contractor but its plays a very very small role in the book.
Premonitions is a great start to a new Urban Fantasy by Schultz. I highly recommend this to UF and Horror fans. If you’re looking for a new and refreshing Urban Fantasy, definitely check out this debut! I’m already looking forward to the next book!
September 21, 2014
Gritty, straightforward and refreshingly ambiguous, - these are the first words coming to my mind after finishing Premonitions.
Jamie Schultz is not using many tropes and creates this major city magical underbelly that reader doesn't have trouble feeling comfortable with almost instantaneously. The lack of info dumping works here although I would have loved some sort of explanation for magic and how it works with demons taking over the body of a practitioner who's all used up. I would have liked it cleared out.
Also, do not believe the synopsis which makes us think that this book is told from Karyn's point of view. It works very much like Firefly, - all the crew members are involved.
Karyn works with Anna - her oldest friend, Tommy - a magic user and Nail - the mercenary as a team of thieves who are paid for helping certain magical artifacts change owners. Karyn is a seer, and she sees many variations of the immediate future every moment of her life. If she doesn't take "blind" - a very illegal, very expensive drug to diminish her premonitions to manageable level, she can't function at all, because she loses her ability to stay in present - she constantly sees the huge variety of distant futures and it drives her mad. It happens in the book, and frankly the way it's described I'm amazed Karyn manages to do anything at all.
But Karyn's POV is only a part of the book. There is Anna who organises every operation for the team, there is Nail with his limited POV and there is Genevieve - a newest addition and Anna's love interest.
However, there are also villains POVs. One is Enoch Sobell who is a fantastic villain. He is one of those subtle figures who we can't slot into a firm category of evil or good. If he is evil, it's a matter of fact evil. He kills with no remorse and with ruthless practicality, but he also doesn't derive pleasure from it. He is colourful and I found him the most interesting character in this story.
Another villain is Greaser or whatever manipulates him. He is the most trope-y unfortunately and lacks individuality, - you can clearly see that he just serves a purpose of driving the plot.
Anna and Genevieve are refreshingly understated, and actually the whole book has an understated feel. Nothing here is over the top, the humour is subtle and the story is utterly believable. Somehow it made me think of Firefly crossed with Kim Harrison - the story is painted in watercolours instead of oils, and it's quietly enjoyable.
Jamie Schultz is not using many tropes and creates this major city magical underbelly that reader doesn't have trouble feeling comfortable with almost instantaneously. The lack of info dumping works here although I would have loved some sort of explanation for magic and how it works with demons taking over the body of a practitioner who's all used up. I would have liked it cleared out.
Also, do not believe the synopsis which makes us think that this book is told from Karyn's point of view. It works very much like Firefly, - all the crew members are involved.
Karyn works with Anna - her oldest friend, Tommy - a magic user and Nail - the mercenary as a team of thieves who are paid for helping certain magical artifacts change owners. Karyn is a seer, and she sees many variations of the immediate future every moment of her life. If she doesn't take "blind" - a very illegal, very expensive drug to diminish her premonitions to manageable level, she can't function at all, because she loses her ability to stay in present - she constantly sees the huge variety of distant futures and it drives her mad. It happens in the book, and frankly the way it's described I'm amazed Karyn manages to do anything at all.
But Karyn's POV is only a part of the book. There is Anna who organises every operation for the team, there is Nail with his limited POV and there is Genevieve - a newest addition and Anna's love interest.
However, there are also villains POVs. One is Enoch Sobell who is a fantastic villain. He is one of those subtle figures who we can't slot into a firm category of evil or good. If he is evil, it's a matter of fact evil. He kills with no remorse and with ruthless practicality, but he also doesn't derive pleasure from it. He is colourful and I found him the most interesting character in this story.
Another villain is Greaser or whatever manipulates him. He is the most trope-y unfortunately and lacks individuality, - you can clearly see that he just serves a purpose of driving the plot.
Anna and Genevieve are refreshingly understated, and actually the whole book has an understated feel. Nothing here is over the top, the humour is subtle and the story is utterly believable. Somehow it made me think of Firefly crossed with Kim Harrison - the story is painted in watercolours instead of oils, and it's quietly enjoyable.
February 22, 2015
Review originally posted on my blog: A Book Obsession..
NOTE: Based on the other reviews I've read since writing this, my mediocre review seems to be in the minority, so take this with a grain of salt as perhaps this book just wasn't my style, but may work perfectly for you.
PREMONITIONS had a whole lot going on and between all of the different elements, it should have been a really great read for me, but unfortunately it wound up being mediocre overall despite me wanting so much more from it. The beginning started off really slow, to the point where if I had not been on a plane while reading this book, I probably would have easily been distracted by other things. There just wasn't enough to pull me in to start, be it action or the characters. But luckily as the book went on, things started to really pick up, leading to an almost frenetic pace by the end that held my attention, so it was a good thing I mustered through the rocky beginning and didn't give up due to the slow pace.
I'm a very character driven person, so this was a bit of a frustrating read in that aspect. The biggest being the large number of perspectives that kept me from really attaching to anyone due to the constant character rotation. I just didn't feel like the characters were developed enough and it left me feeling detached, which is never a good thing in my opinion. I think if it had been cut down to just two or three at most, it would have worked a lot better. As it was, each time I would just about settle into the new narrator's head, the scene would change, and there would be a new perspective, leaving me more than a little detached and unsatisfied. I wanted to know more about Karyn and Anna, and the rest of the perspectives were just in the way in my opinion. Granted, if you like seeing all angles of a story, then this one should work really well for you, but as for me, I prefer a more insular tale.
I realize it may seem like I really didn't enjoy this book. That's not the case. It was a decent read, not great, but definitely worth the time. I'm pretty sure this will be a series, and I'm intrigued enough with the world to want to see what happens next. Hopefully now that I've had a bit of backstory on the characters, it will be easier to connect to the next time around. That being said, if a faster paced read focused heavily on the heist plot rather than character development sounds up your alley, then PREMONTIONS is worth taking a look.
NOTE: Based on the other reviews I've read since writing this, my mediocre review seems to be in the minority, so take this with a grain of salt as perhaps this book just wasn't my style, but may work perfectly for you.
PREMONITIONS had a whole lot going on and between all of the different elements, it should have been a really great read for me, but unfortunately it wound up being mediocre overall despite me wanting so much more from it. The beginning started off really slow, to the point where if I had not been on a plane while reading this book, I probably would have easily been distracted by other things. There just wasn't enough to pull me in to start, be it action or the characters. But luckily as the book went on, things started to really pick up, leading to an almost frenetic pace by the end that held my attention, so it was a good thing I mustered through the rocky beginning and didn't give up due to the slow pace.
I'm a very character driven person, so this was a bit of a frustrating read in that aspect. The biggest being the large number of perspectives that kept me from really attaching to anyone due to the constant character rotation. I just didn't feel like the characters were developed enough and it left me feeling detached, which is never a good thing in my opinion. I think if it had been cut down to just two or three at most, it would have worked a lot better. As it was, each time I would just about settle into the new narrator's head, the scene would change, and there would be a new perspective, leaving me more than a little detached and unsatisfied. I wanted to know more about Karyn and Anna, and the rest of the perspectives were just in the way in my opinion. Granted, if you like seeing all angles of a story, then this one should work really well for you, but as for me, I prefer a more insular tale.
I realize it may seem like I really didn't enjoy this book. That's not the case. It was a decent read, not great, but definitely worth the time. I'm pretty sure this will be a series, and I'm intrigued enough with the world to want to see what happens next. Hopefully now that I've had a bit of backstory on the characters, it will be easier to connect to the next time around. That being said, if a faster paced read focused heavily on the heist plot rather than character development sounds up your alley, then PREMONTIONS is worth taking a look.
August 4, 2014
What a dark, scary, gory, crime thriller of an urban fantasy novel. Can't wait for book 2!
I liked how the protagonists behaved like real people with their own motivations and loyalties and back-stories. They're all kind of messed up and make some questionable choices, but real people are like that. Nobody in this book is perfect, and the good guys seem mostly good in the sense that they're not actively trying to be evil. (Well, except maybe Tommy. That cat scene on p.32 was very disturbing.) Also, not everybody's white!
Sobell, their boss for the primary heist in this book, is a charismatic villain -- and I don't mean that in a scenery-chewing sense, more in a -- he does really bad things, knows they're really bad, and if he likes the person he's screwing over, he'll apologize but he still does it. With flair. And he's not even the Big Bad of this book.
The 3rd person POV head-hopping was a little confusing. I got used to it after awhile, but the subtle jumps from how Anna was reacting to things to how Karyn was reacting to Nail were maybe a little too subtle. That's pretty much the only thing I really have to complain about.
In terms of romance, there are signs of a relationship brewing between Anna and Genevieve, but it's a fairly small part of the story. It seems designed as much to alter Anna's existing friendships with her crew as it is to develop Anna and Gen as characters.
In terms of worldbuilding, it seems to draw from Christian mythology about angels and demons and souls suffering in hell. I think if you're Christian, that might make some of the scenes described even scarier. (I was a little concerned this might get preachy at first, but it's not.)
Also, there's no sexual violence. (That seems fairly common in grimdark stuff, so just wanted to relieve any potential worries on that score.)
I liked how the protagonists behaved like real people with their own motivations and loyalties and back-stories. They're all kind of messed up and make some questionable choices, but real people are like that. Nobody in this book is perfect, and the good guys seem mostly good in the sense that they're not actively trying to be evil. (Well, except maybe Tommy. That cat scene on p.32 was very disturbing.) Also, not everybody's white!
Sobell, their boss for the primary heist in this book, is a charismatic villain -- and I don't mean that in a scenery-chewing sense, more in a -- he does really bad things, knows they're really bad, and if he likes the person he's screwing over, he'll apologize but he still does it. With flair. And he's not even the Big Bad of this book.
The 3rd person POV head-hopping was a little confusing. I got used to it after awhile, but the subtle jumps from how Anna was reacting to things to how Karyn was reacting to Nail were maybe a little too subtle. That's pretty much the only thing I really have to complain about.
In terms of romance, there are signs of a relationship brewing between Anna and Genevieve, but it's a fairly small part of the story. It seems designed as much to alter Anna's existing friendships with her crew as it is to develop Anna and Gen as characters.
In terms of worldbuilding, it seems to draw from Christian mythology about angels and demons and souls suffering in hell. I think if you're Christian, that might make some of the scenes described even scarier. (I was a little concerned this might get preachy at first, but it's not.)
Also, there's no sexual violence. (That seems fairly common in grimdark stuff, so just wanted to relieve any potential worries on that score.)
September 19, 2014
From my blog http://serialdistractions.com
Karyn Ames runs a tight crew of thieves whose specialty is purloining items of the occult. There’s Anna, her right-hand–solid and dependable, her best friend since high school. Nail is the muscle, tough as his name and equipped with military discipline and training. Tommy is the occult expert–squirrely, but he knows his stuff. And Karyn herself has a peculiar talent. She can see the glimpses of the future in visions that superimpose themselves over the present. Thus, she can sometimes see dangerous situations and the double-cross before they come. But sometimes the visions grow too much to bear, with possible futures intruding on the present so much that the two become interchangeable. Then Karyn needs to take “blind”, a rare, highly expensive drug, to keep the visions at bay. Thus, the life of lucrative crime…
Now Karyn’s team is working for Enoch Sobell, a criminal overlord with a reputation for exclusivity: once you work for him once, you work for no one else. But with a two million dollar pay off, this clause may be worth it for Karyn’s crew. Soon, however, the job goes south and everyone–including the unflappable Mr. Sobell–find themselves in over their heads and desperate to find a way to neutralize a certain object before its too late.
Premonitions is both a heist novel and an urban fantasy with enough twists and turns to satisfy lovers of both genres. The plot is fast-paced and tight and the characters are well-drawn and interesting. In fact, Enoch Sobell’s backstory is probably worthy of a prequel or two. The author hits all the right stops, but this is by no means a “paint-by-the-numbers” book. It simply stands out as being a well-executed example of genre. A sequel is in the works and I, for one, am looking forward to it. Schultz is an author to watch.
Karyn Ames runs a tight crew of thieves whose specialty is purloining items of the occult. There’s Anna, her right-hand–solid and dependable, her best friend since high school. Nail is the muscle, tough as his name and equipped with military discipline and training. Tommy is the occult expert–squirrely, but he knows his stuff. And Karyn herself has a peculiar talent. She can see the glimpses of the future in visions that superimpose themselves over the present. Thus, she can sometimes see dangerous situations and the double-cross before they come. But sometimes the visions grow too much to bear, with possible futures intruding on the present so much that the two become interchangeable. Then Karyn needs to take “blind”, a rare, highly expensive drug, to keep the visions at bay. Thus, the life of lucrative crime…
Now Karyn’s team is working for Enoch Sobell, a criminal overlord with a reputation for exclusivity: once you work for him once, you work for no one else. But with a two million dollar pay off, this clause may be worth it for Karyn’s crew. Soon, however, the job goes south and everyone–including the unflappable Mr. Sobell–find themselves in over their heads and desperate to find a way to neutralize a certain object before its too late.
Premonitions is both a heist novel and an urban fantasy with enough twists and turns to satisfy lovers of both genres. The plot is fast-paced and tight and the characters are well-drawn and interesting. In fact, Enoch Sobell’s backstory is probably worthy of a prequel or two. The author hits all the right stops, but this is by no means a “paint-by-the-numbers” book. It simply stands out as being a well-executed example of genre. A sequel is in the works and I, for one, am looking forward to it. Schultz is an author to watch.
May 27, 2016
“Premonitions” is an urban fantasy/horror/heist thriller. The protagonists are all immoral criminals, yet author Jamie Schultz manages to make most of them characters that you care about. They are a diverse group, as is fitting for the story’s setting: a dark, occult version of LA County, California, that feels noir and grimy.
One of the protagonists is being driven insane by visions that she needs to control like a bad drug habit; if she doesn’t, she can’t distinguish between what’s concretely real to everyone else’s vision and what is being projected only by her personal psychic visions. This is not the kind of preternatural power one dreams about... But it makes for a mind-blowing subplot.
There are demons and magic and supernatural artifacts and a mad cult. It all blends into a creepy atmosphere. The story gets a bit convoluted, and can be confusing, but not overwhelmingly so. It’s a side effect of misdirection, which the book is full of; the benefit is that it creates a wild story that never gets boring and leads to a few surprises. The story’s pacing is outstanding. The prose is interesting, with liberal use of “street slang”; I learned some new expressions as a result. One odd piece of insight: the author seems fascinated by the colors of light, describing different castings rather frequently. Given the role of visions in the story, I was struck by this emphasis on ocular vision. It looked like it might be subtle or subliminal subtext, as though he was trying to be indirectly enlightening… But it was still a dark narrative.
This is the kind of contemporary speculative fiction that I like; I have a premonition Jamie Schultz will be doing some more great work in the future. And for once it seems appropriate to say I am looking forward to the next book.
One of the protagonists is being driven insane by visions that she needs to control like a bad drug habit; if she doesn’t, she can’t distinguish between what’s concretely real to everyone else’s vision and what is being projected only by her personal psychic visions. This is not the kind of preternatural power one dreams about... But it makes for a mind-blowing subplot.
There are demons and magic and supernatural artifacts and a mad cult. It all blends into a creepy atmosphere. The story gets a bit convoluted, and can be confusing, but not overwhelmingly so. It’s a side effect of misdirection, which the book is full of; the benefit is that it creates a wild story that never gets boring and leads to a few surprises. The story’s pacing is outstanding. The prose is interesting, with liberal use of “street slang”; I learned some new expressions as a result. One odd piece of insight: the author seems fascinated by the colors of light, describing different castings rather frequently. Given the role of visions in the story, I was struck by this emphasis on ocular vision. It looked like it might be subtle or subliminal subtext, as though he was trying to be indirectly enlightening… But it was still a dark narrative.
This is the kind of contemporary speculative fiction that I like; I have a premonition Jamie Schultz will be doing some more great work in the future. And for once it seems appropriate to say I am looking forward to the next book.
September 6, 2014
In Premonitions we follow a small crew of thieves in an alternate future who work primarily as retrieval experts contracting to steal back items that have been stolen.
There is some excellent world building and introduction to the primary characters with significant focus on Karyn and Anna. Karyn sees "slices" of the future that enables her to direct her crew in achieving their objective and if she says duck, you better listen or your head just may no longer be balanced between your shoulders. However, Karyn is significantly affected by her hallucinations much like severe schizophrenia and constantly struggles to remain sane using a very expensive drug from the black market that is also starting to affect her abilities. The story follows a major heist for a client that cannot be trusted and all the subsequent ripples that drag the crew into a job with a major payout, but at what cost?
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise is very intriguing and the actual storytelling is as well. My issue was with Karyn, I had difficulty liking her character and really felt much more empathy towards Anna who constantly struggles to maintain her gruff exterior while caring for Karyn. This is not a fun read, nor is it overly dark, but there are moments of humor and an interesting storyline that managed to overcome my initial dislike of Karyn. The ending was satisfying with just enough open-endedness to set the groundwork for future tales and I am intrigued enough to venture into the next offering to see what happens with these characters next. I received this book via NetGalley. Rating 3.75
There is some excellent world building and introduction to the primary characters with significant focus on Karyn and Anna. Karyn sees "slices" of the future that enables her to direct her crew in achieving their objective and if she says duck, you better listen or your head just may no longer be balanced between your shoulders. However, Karyn is significantly affected by her hallucinations much like severe schizophrenia and constantly struggles to remain sane using a very expensive drug from the black market that is also starting to affect her abilities. The story follows a major heist for a client that cannot be trusted and all the subsequent ripples that drag the crew into a job with a major payout, but at what cost?
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise is very intriguing and the actual storytelling is as well. My issue was with Karyn, I had difficulty liking her character and really felt much more empathy towards Anna who constantly struggles to maintain her gruff exterior while caring for Karyn. This is not a fun read, nor is it overly dark, but there are moments of humor and an interesting storyline that managed to overcome my initial dislike of Karyn. The ending was satisfying with just enough open-endedness to set the groundwork for future tales and I am intrigued enough to venture into the next offering to see what happens with these characters next. I received this book via NetGalley. Rating 3.75
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July 10, 2014I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!
(Description nicked from B&N.com.)
“TWO MILLION DOLLARS...
“It’s the kind of score Karyn Ames has always dreamed of—enough to set her crew up pretty well and, more important, enough to keep her safely stocked on a very rare, very expensive black market drug. Without it, Karyn hallucinates slices of the future until they totally overwhelm her, leaving her unable to distinguish the present from the mess of certainties and possibilities yet to come.
The client behind the heist is Enoch Sobell, a notorious crime lord with a reputation for being ruthless and exacting—and a purported practitioner of dark magic. Sobell is almost certainly condemned to Hell for a magically extended lifetime full of shady dealings. Once you’re in business with him, there’s no backing out.
Karyn and her associates are used to the supernatural and the occult, but their target is more than just the usual family heirloom or cursed necklace. It’s a piece of something larger. Something sinister.
Karyn’s crew and even Sobell himself are about to find out just how powerful it is--and how powerful it may yet become.”
Continue reading...
(Description nicked from B&N.com.)
“TWO MILLION DOLLARS...
“It’s the kind of score Karyn Ames has always dreamed of—enough to set her crew up pretty well and, more important, enough to keep her safely stocked on a very rare, very expensive black market drug. Without it, Karyn hallucinates slices of the future until they totally overwhelm her, leaving her unable to distinguish the present from the mess of certainties and possibilities yet to come.
The client behind the heist is Enoch Sobell, a notorious crime lord with a reputation for being ruthless and exacting—and a purported practitioner of dark magic. Sobell is almost certainly condemned to Hell for a magically extended lifetime full of shady dealings. Once you’re in business with him, there’s no backing out.
Karyn and her associates are used to the supernatural and the occult, but their target is more than just the usual family heirloom or cursed necklace. It’s a piece of something larger. Something sinister.
Karyn’s crew and even Sobell himself are about to find out just how powerful it is--and how powerful it may yet become.”
Continue reading...
January 27, 2015
A small band of thieves comprised of a ex-military grunt, nerdy sorcerer, a woman that gets premonitions of the future, and her roommate/best friend are used to dealing with stuff normal folks can't handle. On the dirty edges of society, they are known to be be able to deal with situations, supernatural situations, that a normal would usually be able to handle. Unfortunately, when a job that pays too good to be to easy, or even safe, is offered by one of the crime bosses, they end up getting in over their head.
I truly enjoyed this book. It was referred by a friend who is a close friend of the author, so I definitely wanted to check it out. It opens right into the team's current job, which seemed a bit low brow at first, but quickly became a serious story. The characters are a good mix of personalities and the storytelling has the pace and feel of something in the Harry Dresden book series. However, it has its own tone and unique characters, and unlike Dresden, magic doesn't always win the day. It's powerful but less direct than what you see from Dresden. One thing that I thought was very well done was the premonitions. At times it was like being in a waking dream. In all I loved this first book and can't wait for the next in the series.
I truly enjoyed this book. It was referred by a friend who is a close friend of the author, so I definitely wanted to check it out. It opens right into the team's current job, which seemed a bit low brow at first, but quickly became a serious story. The characters are a good mix of personalities and the storytelling has the pace and feel of something in the Harry Dresden book series. However, it has its own tone and unique characters, and unlike Dresden, magic doesn't always win the day. It's powerful but less direct than what you see from Dresden. One thing that I thought was very well done was the premonitions. At times it was like being in a waking dream. In all I loved this first book and can't wait for the next in the series.
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