Once More Upon a Time

by Patrick Thomas

Beyond the veil lives the source of fairy tales, dark entities who are the embodiment of fable. They watch and wait for another chance to wreck havoc in the real world. None of them want anything to do with happily ever after. The fables take over humans and manipulate events to reenact their stories, each time with new, unwitting players trapped in the story cycle. If left unchecked, the death and destruction escalates to a worldwide scale.

For over a thousand years the duty of stopping them has fallen on the agents of Templar Mason, known in the days of old as the Knights Templar. Witch Jillian Anderson is hunting a sorcerer who has found a way to summon the stories to the mortal plane. She must stop him before the fables can get a foothold on the real world and end their stories before they end hers.

Genres: Fantasy

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2011

About the author

With over a million words in print, PATRICK THOMAS keeps busy writing the the popular fantasy humor series Murphy's Lore (which includes 8 books- Tales From Bulfinche's Pub, Fools' Day, Through The Drinking Glass, Shadow Of The Wolf, Redemption Road, Bartender Of The Gods, Nightcaps and Empty Graves) as well as the After Hours spin offs Fairy With A Gun, Dead To Rites and Lore & Dysorder. His Mystic Investigators series has grown to include the books Bullets & Brimstone and From The Shadows both with John L. French and Once More Upon A Time and the upcoming Partners In Crime both with Diane Raetz. He has co-edited two anthologies - Hear Them Roar and the vampire themed New Blood. Patrick's syndicated humorous advice column Dear Cthulhu has been collected in Have A Dark Day and Good Advice For Bad People. A number of his books are part of the set and props department at the CSI television show. He was voted Preditors & Editors favorite author of 2010. As an artist his work has graced covers for Dark Quest, Padwolf and Marietta, interiors and a cover for Space & Time magazine and comic covers for Ghostman. A mockumentary about him has recently surfaced on Youtube. To learn more, drop by his website at www.patthomas.net.

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have loved all Patrick Thomas' books until this one. The story itself is interesting, even with the lack of background about the Fables and the Neverafter. However, the abrupt move away from the established "universe" was jarring. On top of that, the main characters were unlikable and many actions illogical. Jillian comes across as snobby, and she stereotypes people. Prof treats her like dirt, and after she doesn't kill in cold blood--a mistake leading to several deaths--he becomes even worse, forcing her to work seven days a week and to live in the office. What really bugs is that with all his carrying on about the importance of the task he's had her working on, he doesn't help at all and, in fact, seems to spend most of his time fishing. He also maliciously ensures only grudging help (if any at all) from her coworkers by canceling all vacations and blaming it on her. And she never objects to this treatment, despite being set up for failure by being forced into activities above her ability.

There is supposed to be another book in this series, "Partners in Crime," scheduled for release several years ago. I can find no evidence it was ever released nor an explanation as to why it's not available. Despite my disappointment with this book, I would very much like to see more books set in the world of the other books, so here's hoping.

[Jeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 'heroine' is a good witch/investigator - part Stephanie Plum, part Harry Dresden. The storyline includes a similar premise as Remington Steele - you might remember he used old movie plots to help solve his investigations - but here it's fairy tales & fables. There's a lot of action and humor continually, but it's a pity there are so many typo's which slow reading & comprehension. This was so much better than the author's Mystic Investigators.