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Mousebane & Red Mist #3
Underworld
347 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2026
14 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
C.J. Powell
7 books80 followersHi, I'm Chris. I write fun science fiction mysteries and thrillers set in the real world with lots of humour.
Sign up to my mailing list to find out about offers and deals and occasionally receive a free novel!
Find more at my website - https://www.cjpowellauthor.com
You can follow me on social media...
Tik Tok / Instagram / facebook -@cjpowellauthor
A little about me...
I enjoy authors such as Jeff Vandermeer, Blake Crouch, and P G Wodehouse.
My favourite films are Alien and The Fifth Element.
I live with my wife and daughter and enjoy retro computer games, pretty much all science fiction movies, and if I ever get the opportunity I love to rock climb. I also play bass most weeks in a rocking wedding band.
Sign up to my mailing list to find out about offers and deals and occasionally receive a free novel!
Find more at my website - https://www.cjpowellauthor.com
You can follow me on social media...
Tik Tok / Instagram / facebook -@cjpowellauthor
A little about me...
I enjoy authors such as Jeff Vandermeer, Blake Crouch, and P G Wodehouse.
My favourite films are Alien and The Fifth Element.
I live with my wife and daughter and enjoy retro computer games, pretty much all science fiction movies, and if I ever get the opportunity I love to rock climb. I also play bass most weeks in a rocking wedding band.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 4, 2026
Underworld
This the third book in the Mousebane & Red Mist series finds Dan & Amy living in Devon but the past won’t stay in the past. They find themselves caught up in the nefarious dealings of hitmen, gun runners, mad scientists and more.
At times laugh out loud funny, with edge of the seat danger and some witty repartee and unbelievable adventures this is possibly the best of the series so far.
This the third book in the Mousebane & Red Mist series finds Dan & Amy living in Devon but the past won’t stay in the past. They find themselves caught up in the nefarious dealings of hitmen, gun runners, mad scientists and more.
At times laugh out loud funny, with edge of the seat danger and some witty repartee and unbelievable adventures this is possibly the best of the series so far.
April 14, 2026
Loved it
This one is loaded with action! So much going on! A wild ride for sure. And nicely set up to continue the series. Love the cats and squirrels.
This one is loaded with action! So much going on! A wild ride for sure. And nicely set up to continue the series. Love the cats and squirrels.
April 11, 2026
"By the power of the Brown Hotness", the squirrel said, wriggling like a bucket full of worms. "I haaaveee the pooooweeer!"
March 23, 2026
Not every hero is a warrior.
If I might use one of my favo(u)rite quotes from British popular culture to describe C.J.Powell's latest book in the "Mousebane & Red Mist" series, namely, "Underworld", it would simply be:
"My brain hurts!"
I think that sums it up nicely and now I'm going to collapse into a small T-Rex like position, hopefully landing on something soft along the way. And yes, I completely agree with the statement: "Sometimes life was just having the piss taken out of you for absolutely everything." Because of the brain thing, honest.
If he starts approaching me with a knife clenched between his butt cheeks, I’m gone.
Do not worry gentle readers, this book is just as all the others I've read from Mr. Powell, that is, intriquing, exciting, and a bunch of other things ending with "-ing". You can even include the maching that goes *PING* in there should you choose to do so. But this series remains for me his seemingly most self-reflective, nigh autobiographical of the lot. No, no, I'm not talking about all the different powers folks & various critters have (though we can't rule that out). But I know that he does indeed play in wedding bands (plural) in real life, is probably ridiculously in love with his wife, has (hm, that should most likely be "had") major feelings about becoming a dad for the first time (heck, my kids are both in their 20s and I still remember those times very well), and doesn't have a huge proclivity for hanging around others in public or otherwise crowded situations.
With mediocre power came mediocre responsibilities.
But do not worry for those of you who have been keeping up with this series - and you absolutely can NOT just start here, sorry - for most of your well-known favorites have returned. Naturally, that means Dan is still turning invisible and can communicate with his cats as well as a metaphorical (or fully phorical) Reptile as well. He is naturally filled with self-doubt and probably any other kinds of doubt that come to mind ("…why would anyone want to hear your songs, they suck and you suck?"). But his wife Amy is still talking to plants and making them happy, the Flash (cat #1) is a veritable genius and Catman (cat #2) can still become a humongous, nearly panther-like killing machine when the need calls for it.
…you’re not normal. Normal, for you, is hard.
We also then get back our hidden base deep beneath the Fleetwood Industrial Estate (which I suspect is named for Fleetwood Mac, a darn good option for wedding songs). Our best friend Andrew the greatly healable is still up to his usual tricks, including various times when his Deadpool-esque healing powers come in handy (oh ha ha, that's a great pun, trust me!). We even have a reunion with the love of his life, namely, Scratchtacular (cat #3). Just remember as we trudge about that "Humans serve cats. That is the way." (wow, talk about your popular culture quotes!) But that should be enough to get things going, huh? Not even close. Like light years away from being close (that's a hint but not a spoiler, I promise!).
People were horrible. Not everyone, but enough.
But no, remember we also have all kinds of bad guys running around including both Germanic and French mobsters, police persons of various health, the talking, rapping, brain-controlling squirrels (BRUP!!), and Fréo, who we learn is connected across our entire planet by other so-called Goddesses of the Forest. What I won't tell you about under threat of getting 40 lashes across the eyeball with a wet noodle are the (redacted) nor the people-from-Earth-but-wait-until-you-learn-the-details folks. So yeppers, Powell has managed to attempt another juggling act using 5 or 6 bowling pins plus a few running chainsaws, a small gerbil named Phil, and various flaming items that may or may not constitute a building hazard even though I doubt anyone would let him perform these tricks anywhere other than an empty field or abandoned quarry.
Oh for fuck’s sake… Those bastards killed me, didn’t they?
In fact, I've noticed when reading the instalments of this series that there's also a kind of dissociative feeling when starting off like I'm not quite sure where we were last time (yes, that even happened with the first book which was a very odd feeling, trust me). But then you get a few pages or chapters in and it's just "oh, right, this is what was happening and let's hope it works because otherwise we may ALL be doomed!" It makes for fun reading and I really underline (I initially wrote underling which I'm not sure if it counts as Freudian or not) enjoy Powell's imaginative powers. The fact that he accompanies that with excellent execution is just the icing on the ol' scone that gets served to special guests at tea-time! OK, granted one gets addicted to heroin and not heroine, but then again, maybe they're both right once we see what the hell is going on…
Things would make a heck of a lot more sense than the zero sense they currently made.
So, if you're looking for some absolutely brilliant fantasy in a series that may or may not be over (the author said "some things" that make me think there's at least one more left) then definitely check this out. Like I said before, it's not the kind of story-line that lends itself up to just starting whatever you want, so you'll have to go allllllll the way back to Book 1 before you can catch up ("It was all writing. Daydreaming especially. Such was art."). But trust me, it'll be gosh-darn worth it! And if you love rap at all (I don't but anyway), you'll be impressed with just how good these fuzzy little rodents are at it! Peace!
If I might use one of my favo(u)rite quotes from British popular culture to describe C.J.Powell's latest book in the "Mousebane & Red Mist" series, namely, "Underworld", it would simply be:
"My brain hurts!"
I think that sums it up nicely and now I'm going to collapse into a small T-Rex like position, hopefully landing on something soft along the way. And yes, I completely agree with the statement: "Sometimes life was just having the piss taken out of you for absolutely everything." Because of the brain thing, honest.
If he starts approaching me with a knife clenched between his butt cheeks, I’m gone.
Do not worry gentle readers, this book is just as all the others I've read from Mr. Powell, that is, intriquing, exciting, and a bunch of other things ending with "-ing". You can even include the maching that goes *PING* in there should you choose to do so. But this series remains for me his seemingly most self-reflective, nigh autobiographical of the lot. No, no, I'm not talking about all the different powers folks & various critters have (though we can't rule that out). But I know that he does indeed play in wedding bands (plural) in real life, is probably ridiculously in love with his wife, has (hm, that should most likely be "had") major feelings about becoming a dad for the first time (heck, my kids are both in their 20s and I still remember those times very well), and doesn't have a huge proclivity for hanging around others in public or otherwise crowded situations.
With mediocre power came mediocre responsibilities.
But do not worry for those of you who have been keeping up with this series - and you absolutely can NOT just start here, sorry - for most of your well-known favorites have returned. Naturally, that means Dan is still turning invisible and can communicate with his cats as well as a metaphorical (or fully phorical) Reptile as well. He is naturally filled with self-doubt and probably any other kinds of doubt that come to mind ("…why would anyone want to hear your songs, they suck and you suck?"). But his wife Amy is still talking to plants and making them happy, the Flash (cat #1) is a veritable genius and Catman (cat #2) can still become a humongous, nearly panther-like killing machine when the need calls for it.
…you’re not normal. Normal, for you, is hard.
We also then get back our hidden base deep beneath the Fleetwood Industrial Estate (which I suspect is named for Fleetwood Mac, a darn good option for wedding songs). Our best friend Andrew the greatly healable is still up to his usual tricks, including various times when his Deadpool-esque healing powers come in handy (oh ha ha, that's a great pun, trust me!). We even have a reunion with the love of his life, namely, Scratchtacular (cat #3). Just remember as we trudge about that "Humans serve cats. That is the way." (wow, talk about your popular culture quotes!) But that should be enough to get things going, huh? Not even close. Like light years away from being close (that's a hint but not a spoiler, I promise!).
People were horrible. Not everyone, but enough.
But no, remember we also have all kinds of bad guys running around including both Germanic and French mobsters, police persons of various health, the talking, rapping, brain-controlling squirrels (BRUP!!), and Fréo, who we learn is connected across our entire planet by other so-called Goddesses of the Forest. What I won't tell you about under threat of getting 40 lashes across the eyeball with a wet noodle are the (redacted) nor the people-from-Earth-but-wait-until-you-learn-the-details folks. So yeppers, Powell has managed to attempt another juggling act using 5 or 6 bowling pins plus a few running chainsaws, a small gerbil named Phil, and various flaming items that may or may not constitute a building hazard even though I doubt anyone would let him perform these tricks anywhere other than an empty field or abandoned quarry.
Oh for fuck’s sake… Those bastards killed me, didn’t they?
In fact, I've noticed when reading the instalments of this series that there's also a kind of dissociative feeling when starting off like I'm not quite sure where we were last time (yes, that even happened with the first book which was a very odd feeling, trust me). But then you get a few pages or chapters in and it's just "oh, right, this is what was happening and let's hope it works because otherwise we may ALL be doomed!" It makes for fun reading and I really underline (I initially wrote underling which I'm not sure if it counts as Freudian or not) enjoy Powell's imaginative powers. The fact that he accompanies that with excellent execution is just the icing on the ol' scone that gets served to special guests at tea-time! OK, granted one gets addicted to heroin and not heroine, but then again, maybe they're both right once we see what the hell is going on…
Things would make a heck of a lot more sense than the zero sense they currently made.
So, if you're looking for some absolutely brilliant fantasy in a series that may or may not be over (the author said "some things" that make me think there's at least one more left) then definitely check this out. Like I said before, it's not the kind of story-line that lends itself up to just starting whatever you want, so you'll have to go allllllll the way back to Book 1 before you can catch up ("It was all writing. Daydreaming especially. Such was art."). But trust me, it'll be gosh-darn worth it! And if you love rap at all (I don't but anyway), you'll be impressed with just how good these fuzzy little rodents are at it! Peace!
March 25, 2026
C J Powell has done it again! His world is very familiar - until it isn't. His characters are bumbling and funny - until they are fighting alien monsters to save the world. And the squirrels! Hilarious! This series just keeps getting better and better - and the ending of this one promises another in the series! Can hardly wait!
April 19, 2026
Love the series but...
I thoroughly enjoyed book 1, brilliant! Bike. Book 2 also very good but book 3...overlong and a lot of characters, relationships which made it hard work to keep on top of. Still a good book but I ultimately found it hard going
I thoroughly enjoyed book 1, brilliant! Bike. Book 2 also very good but book 3...overlong and a lot of characters, relationships which made it hard work to keep on top of. Still a good book but I ultimately found it hard going
April 26, 2026
I really wanted to love this as much as the others in this series, but I felt the story was missing it's heart / character connections and focused too heavily on the incoming doom. I'd still read the next book though because I want to see how the story ends.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews