Quincy Harker: Year One

Quincy Harker #1

by John G. Hartness

Librarian's note: An alternate cover for this ASIN can be found: here

Award-winning dark fantasy with action, snark, and demons galore.

Straight out of the pages of the legendary vampire novel Dracula comes a demon hunter for the modern world. 

"There are things in this world that men and women aren't meant to understand. We aren't supposed to know these things exist, much less how to fight them. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters in the closet, the shadow out of the corner of your eye -- that's where I live." 

Quincy Harker is the immortal magic-wielding son of Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray from the classic novel Dracula. Today he lives in Charlotte, NC, hunting demons and making the world a safer place while making wisecracks and tossing back shots. 

"Quincy Harker - demon killer, monster hunter, & kin to Dracula, yeah, THIS is who i want protecting the world! I love these books." - Academy Award Winner Whoopi Goldberg

"If you love action-packed dark edged urban fantasy with mystery, humor and a lot of foul language then check this one out." - Sharon Stogner, I Smell Sheep


Year One collects the first four short novels in the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series

Raising Hell - Winner of the 2016 Manly Wade Wellman Award -
Quincy Harker takes on a demon-summoning entrepreneur that makes Gordon Gecko look like Santa Claus. 

Straight to Hell
The Four Horsemen are back in Charlotte, NC, and I don't mean Ric, Arn, Tully, and Barry. Harker has to save the world from the forces of Apocalypse. 

Hell on Heels
She's hot, she's mean, she's borderline psychotic and has a lot of issues with Harker and his people. She's Gabriella Van Helsing, and she's Hell on Heels. 

Hell Freezes Over
Somebody is walking through dreams and murdering families all over Harker's city. Now the ghost of a murdered little girl is walking through Harker's dreams. Is he going to stand for this? Yeah, when Hell Freezes Over.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Audiobook, Paranormal, Vampires, Demons, Supernatural

422 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 2, 2016

About the author

John G. Hartness is a teller of tales, a righter of wrong, defender of ladies’ virtues, and some people call him Maurice, for he speaks of the pompatus of love.

He is also the award-winning author of the urban fantasy series The Black Knight Chronicles (Bell Bridge Books), the Bubba the Monster Hunter comedic horror series, the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter dark fantasy series, and many other projects.

In 2016, John teamed up with a pair of other publishing industry ne’er-do-wells and founded Falstaff Books, a small press dedicated to publishing the best of genre fictions “misfit toys.”
In his copious free time John enjoys long walks on the beach, rescuing kittens from trees and playing Magic: the Gathering.

For free short stories and to follow his activities and appearances on his newsletter, follow this link - http://eepurl.com/fV4In

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Year One
A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Collection
By: John G. Hartness
Narrated by: James Foster
This book was soooooo good! It has the first four books in the series. Quincy, or Q as his Uncle that is Dracula calls him, is a demon hunter. There are all kinds of creatures, demons, myths, and more in the book as real. Q is a snarky (but not snarky enough to be annoying), fighter against evil which most of the time is creatures from the underworld in some form. Lots of action, giggles, snark, unpredictability, and even tender moments. It's a fun ride and I couldn't get enough. Bought the next two book collections while listening to this one! Yes, it's that good!
I have been waiting for something like this!
The narration was excellent!!!

[JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I decided to read this because I was in the mood for something fun that didn't need my brain to do anything but sit back and enjoy the ride and the synopsis seemed interesting enough.

It ended up reminding me quite a bit of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files except that it takes itself much less seriously, it's packed with much more pop culture references, and Quincy Harker is actually aware that he's kind of an asshole, unlike Harry Dresden.

It was fun and I'll give the rest of the series a look, I think. The only thing I didn't like is that the main character is supposed to be the son of Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray, and an augmented human due to the fact that both his parents were attacked by vampires but never turned, so he's a hundred and twenty plus years old but looks thirty-something and lives in Charlotte, NC, hunting the supernatural, but despite this he often thinks and acts like the life of a white American male who reached his thirties during the first two decades of the 21st Century is the default life experiece everybody has.

I mean, the dude grew up in London at the turn of the 20th Century, and saw all kinds of mundane and supernatural shit all over the world in the following 100 years until settling in Charlotte with his "Uncle." There's simply no fucking way he'd be such a stereotypical All-American Action Hero with such a simplistic view of things.

It's just dumb and bad storytelling, but since you kind of get used to it as this is not high-brow stuff, it's ultimately a minor gripe, really. Other than that, they're fun stories.

[Daniel Loudermilk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let see where I have read all of this before?
Tall smart ass mouthy magician/investigator?
Female bad ass cop?
Angels and heavenly creatures as friends?
Magical creatures and various classic monsters?
Ohhhhh that’s right...Harry Dresden!! Reading this book I felt like this was nothing more than a cheap rip-off of The Harry Dresden novels. Nothing new or great about this book and lets be honest - Jim Butcher wrote it better.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel has some charm, mostly because of the fast paced, humor laced dialog. However the main character can be an insufferable asshole and so ridiculously overpowered that it's hard to take.

In the very beginning of the book, the MC is hired by a man who's 15 year old daughter has just been violently killed by a demon. From the moment he arrives, Quincy makes crude, sarcastic comments about the man and his daughter. He calls the man an idiot. He wonders if the daughter is just having her period. His behavior crosses the line from jaded and darkly humorous to disgusting pretty much right off the bat.

The book gets better from there, but there is always that underlying "how does anyone put up with this guy?" Are we really supposed to root for him?

And the demons are as gross as they could possibly be.

The other main issue is that Quincy just barges into every situation with no strategy or thought, kills 30 guys, and then the book is over. He was born when his parents were being mind controlled by a vampire. Why does that make him stronger than most vampires? It makes no sense. Then, I guess by pure chance, he also ends up being a crazy powerful sorcerer. It's never really explained and his powers are vaguely defined.

I waffled for a while until he started ripping on Buffy while oh so clearly ripping it off at the same time.

[Cloak88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining collection of novella's 3.5 stars

As it turns out Mina Murray and Jonathan Harker had a son: Quincy Harker. Skip a century and in present day Charlotte (USA) Quincy is a deamon hunter who bumps back, the things that go bump in the night. Occasionally supported by his uncle Luke Card and his manservant Renfield (yeah you can do the math...) he fights the nasty things in the night.

A fun premise and cool characters. Overall this novel has a bit of a badass/ feelgood feeling to it. There is plenty of nasty, but no angsty teenagers, bloodchilling horror or endless superfluous wordbuilding. Just a bunch of cool characters doing their thing. In all this is a solid collection of four quite entertaining novella's.

I'll probably be reading more from this author and his series.

[Elizabeth]

DNF at 3%.

Nope. Not my thing.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this set. Feels more like a book than collection of novellas as it's the same characters in their setting in a time progression. Mentioning that as I'm not a fan of collections of short stories and this is a smooth read, easily transitioning from one story to the next.

[Gareth Otton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's tempting to give this book 5-stars because I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy the hell out of this book (and the ones that follow). It's obvious that the author is a fantasy nerd, both for books and TV/Film, and therefore he speaks my language. It's really obvious where the author's interests lay and where he has got his inspiration from, and this book is like an amalgam of what is great about all those other properties with enough unique elements thrown in to make this story the author's own.

However, unfortunately, it's not all good, and while there is enough good that I am tempted to overlook the bad, I can't deny that it's there.

The first issue is one that frustrates the hell out of me more and more in recent years, the insertion of the author's politics. To be clear, this has nothing to do with whether I agree with those politics or not as I get just as frustrated with things that I do agree with as the things that I don't. I just hate that these books that I read to escape the frustrating divisive nonsense in the real world gets tainted with this crap. It's not intrusive enough in this book to make me want to stop reading, but at the same time it does happen often enough that I am continually being pulled from the immersive experience of reading these books, and that's a bad thing.

The second issue I have is a much bigger one and is the main reason that there's a loss of a star on this book; the wiseass underpowered hero trope.

This is such a delicate trope and so easy to get wrong. For every Harry Dresden that successfully finds the perfect balance of wiseass hero who pisses people off who are more powerful than him but always finds a way to come through in the end, there are a thousand heroes who are wiseasses and who need to be saved by plot armour. This unfortunately is the case with Quincy. Don't get me wrong, he's close enough to that good balance that I want to keep reading, but when he is severely outmatched in every battle and it's not competence that carries him through but instead luck and plot armour, then it gets dangerously close to being annoying, and that's never a good thing for a book.

Worse is what it does for his character. He acts like an arrogant jerk who has an overinflated ego when every battle should be cutting that ego off at the knees. I understand why people who don't know him would buy into his legend based on the overall outcome of his exploits, but he is not shown to be the badass he thinks he is so he shouldn't act that way. It goes beyond bravado and enters a realm of arrogance that seriously damages his character in my mind.

Overall, this falls into the category of fun fantasy stories that have the potential to be more. It's fun enough that I can switch off my critical mind and enjoy the experience for what it is, which is why it gets 4-stars. But to be truly great, it needs to do just a little bit more.

[Melissa Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good three-parter. I listened to the audiobook version and have to say that I really like the narrator. This was the first time I've listened to him, and he did an awesome job. He had a very casual/natural sounding voice (not like he was reading something) that went well with the characters, especially Quincy. I'd definitely be interested in listening to more stories by him.

Anyways, this audiobook was recommended to me by my husband. I have to say that even though we usually listen to different genres, the stories he recommends to me are usually pretty good!

Looking through the comments on Goodreads, I couldn't help but notice several people comparing this book/characters to that of The Dresden Files. Yes, I thought of that series as well when I first started listening. I read, I think, the first five books of the Dresden series. I liked it, too! Those giving this story a lower rating because of similarities between the two stories/series are being ridiculous. It's like saying that since one person wrote a certain type of character (an assy magician), it can no longer be used again. Grow up, people. As long as both characters have something more to them or uniqueness that makes them stand out, then they're all good in my book.

Questions/Comments:

So, Quincy states that when a demon knows your true name it can be dangerous because they'll have control/more control over you. Makes sense, I've heard this many times before. Yet, if Quincy Harker isn't his true name then what is?

I question why Quincy would have made Mr.Garda forget that his daughter had died hours prior? I mean, Mr. Garda didn't even realize she was dead yet. Plus, why not make him forget he saw her in her possessed state? Wouldn't that have made more sense?

Also, after the demon is gone, Quincy states that the girl now looks like she's simply sleeping. Ah...given her description when he first came into her room, that seems highly unlikely.

Can I just say that I wasn't a fan of Det. Flynn at all in part 1. I mean, I couldn't figure out why Quincy was so nonchalant regarding her harassment of him. I was like 'why doesn't he press charges? Why is he letting her get away with all this stuff?' I had to ask my husband if the two of them eventually got together. He said 'yes.' I was actually upset about that because Flynn equated to a bitch, in my opinion, and while Quincy has his moments, I found him sarcastically hilarious. But, thankfully, I got the whole story in part 2. So all is well now.

The vampire in part 3 that ends up getting badly burned and loses an eye, why did he just stand there and let Quincy kill him? I didn't get that part.

How did the little kid who Mort was living in know about the supernatural world? Much less how to summon a demon for help?

[Vakaris the Nosferatu · Rating 4 out of 5]

all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu

About the Book: Quincy’s parents were Mina and Jonathan Harkers who, one way or another, were affected by Vlad Dracula himself. This means that Quincy, while not a vampire, now lives in the age of cell phones and security cameras, and calls Dracula his uncle. He works as a demon hunter, one way or another banishing the things that go bump in the night, bumping them back, as he puts it. But whether it’s because being an anomaly that he is – he attracted attention of said beings, or because they just pissed him off – remains unknown. After all, living this long means he saw the worst humanity has to dish out. And the darkness those acts pull into the world.

In this book Quincy starts officially working with officially nonexistent paranormal activity division. And while at first that sounds like great fun – finally someone to clean the records, the blood, and the bodies – it turns out they’re lacking in the supernatural department. So there he is, as before, against a few of Apocalypse Horsemen, Death itself, Hell’s Lieutenants, and all kinds of other crap. Must be Tuesday.

My Opinion: Great humor, colorful epithets and unmatched vocabulary, incredible fights with creatures from the depths of hell, whose sharp tongues are only matched by their damned swords, Vlad the Impaler himself going medieval or, worse, getting all parental, a guardian angel who can barely keep up with this bad influence of a protagonist, and many other absolutely glorious things. Well written, easy to absorb, and even easier to read. The only minus is that some prominent characters follow a very clear pattern that makes their acts, events around them, answers, and dialogues – overly predictable. Occasional curveball would’ve made this beyond perfect.

[Darrell Grizzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of four totally-badass novellas introducing us to Quincy Harker, nephew of Count Dracula (who now goes under the pseudonym Luke Card) and vanquisher of demons and other supernatural threats in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Audible version has a narrator, James Foster, who perfectly captures the sardonic tone of Quincy and propels the noir-tinged action forward. I haven't enjoyed an urban fantasy series this much since reading the also-badass Deacon Chalk series by James R. Tuck. The stories here are compelling, but the characters even more so. I found myself caring about Quincy and the other main characters, and I'm looking forward to reading more about them in The Cambion Cycle, which collects the next 4 novellas in the series. I can see why Whoopi Goldberg (yes, THAT Whoopi Goldberg) is such a big fan of Quincy Harker!

[Abe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm liking these stories

[Lindsey Albright · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew the main character of this book was going to be insufferable but I was hoping that he was going to be insufferable in a fun way. I like arrogant, rough around the edges characters. I was yearning for a Felix Castor or a Harry Dresden. What makes them work is that they have all these unlikable qualities that make them imperfect but they have something relatable going for them too.

Despite my love for Dracula, the Harkers, and my absolute adoration of the name Quincy, I could not find a redeeming quality in Quincy Harker. He's arrogant, dismissive, reckless, holier than thou, holier than God, "scarier" than satan, completely unsympathetic, and a murderer.... and that's just in the first three chapters. I was not given a single reason to want to stick around and see if he succeeds. It's like if you mashed together the "cool, bad boy" tropes from Constantine, The Dresden Files, and Buffy the Vampire slayer and added a dismissive hand wave towards some 2000s version of Van Helsing or Dracula, with none of the quirks that make those stories interesting and thriving.

I DNF-ed this and I will not be revisiting it. I'm terribly disappointed because I really wanted to like Quincy.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I swear I had already written a review for this, but there doesn't seem to be one. I'm going to blame goodreads.)


I picked this book up on something of a whim from Amazon. I needed something to read and was recommended after reading the Capt. Hook series, and it was cheap on kindle.

Anyway - it has a somewhat standard UF hook, there's magic in the modern world and someone has to work with the police to deal with the situations out of the norm. There's the standard skeptical-cum-believer partner, etc, etc.

The 'twist' of this series is that the magician in question is the son of Mina and Jonathan Harker - their firstborn son, conceived while they were still tainted with the blood of Dracula. Oh, and Dracula has adopted him as a sort of nephew, after everyone sort of patched up their differences after the events of "The Book", which, of course, isn't really how it happened.

The best part of this series is probably Dracula.

I liked this first installment and I really liked that they were short stories. All of them introduced us to the world and the characters, but the stories, themselves, were resolved somewhat quickly and didn't outstay their welcome - though they were all tied together.

The second book felt like more one story, and I did feel like it belabored it a bit, so I definitely preferred this first installment, though I probably will get around to book 3 at some future point.

***

Collects novellas:

Raising Hell - Winner of the 2016 Manly Wade Wellman Award - Quincy Harker takes on a demon-summoning entrepreneur that makes Gordon Gecko look like Santa Claus.
Straight to Hell - The Four Horsemen are back in Charlotte, NC, and I don't mean Ric, Arn, Tully, and Barry. Harker has to save the world from the forces of Apocalypse.
Hell on Heels - She's hot, she's mean, she's borderline psychotic and has a lot of issues with Harker and his people. She's Gabriella Van Helsing, and she's Hell on Heels.
Hell Freezes Over - Somebody is walking through dreams and murdering families all over Harker's city. Now the ghost of a murdered little girl is walking through Harker's dreams. Is he going to stand for this? Yeah, when Hell Freezes Over.

[BookLoversLife · Rating 5 out of 5]

In all honesty I don't know what to say about this to do it justice! Every time I sat down to write a review all that came to mind was amazing, hilarious, addictive and something that everyone should read!!!

Year one contains the first four Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter novellas and I was so glad they were all put into one volume.

Basically Raising Hell introduces us to Harker. He is Dracula's nephew and hunts demons. This one sees him doing an exorcism and hunting down the people responsible.

Straight to Hell sees Harker having to actually work with others! Something he isn't good at ;) This one sees him trying to stop the end of days!

Hell on Heels sees an old foe of Draculas coming back. When the original Renfield kidnaps the current Renfield to lure Harker and his Uncle Luke (Dracula) out, Harker has to get help from his employers.

Hell Freezes Over sees Harker trying to figure out why loving fathers are butchering their families. It leads him to a church and to someone much more powerful than he has ever faced!

I could tell you that the plots were all fast paced, action packed, magic and demon filled and absolutely gripping. I could tell you that the characters were all extremely well written and engaging. None more so than the foul mouthed Harker!! I could tell you that the quips and one liners will make you snort, snigger and laugh out loud. I could tell you all this and more but all I'm going to say is go read it NOW!! This book is amazing and one I will recommend highly to everyone!

James Foster is one of those narrators that will constantly surprise you. Every book he has narrated that I have listened to has been a 5 star performance, because that's what he does, he performs! He doesn't just read the book, he makes the book pop! He consistently delivers a memorable listen and I urge everyone to try at least one book by him!

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affected my thoughts.*

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew after the first three minutes of listening, that I would love every minute of this collection of novellas! Quincy Harker is a super snarky, magic using, demon and supernatural hunter. His sarcastic nature makes for some laugh out loud moments. The stories were great, being full of action and mystery. With a fast pace, there was no point that felt slow to me. James Foster was the narrator of the audiobook, and he was fabulous. He really brought the story to life, and was a perfect fit for Harker's personality. I really hope there will be more stories released in this series. I'd like to check out some of the author's other work as well. I had so much fun with this audiobook, and I highly recommend!
**I was provided this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in any way

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riffing off comic books, classic literature, and pop culture, Hartness has written a really enjoyable set of interconnecting stories that read well as a continuous narrative, but could probably also be enjoyed individually. Quincy Harker is the child of Mina and Jonathan Harker. Yep, *that* pair of Harkers. And, when he was conceived, something more than just a baby was created. Harker himself isn't sure what. He's human-ish, but very strong, very long-lived, and in good with the most famous vampires of all time.

I listened to this one as an audiobook and greatly enjoyed it. Harker reminds me of Hellboy and Harry Dresden, and on John G. Hartness all wrapped up in one foul-mouthed, talented curmudgeon. The fight scenes are creative and the relationships interestingly complex. Quite a romp!

[Kristy Maitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

All 4 story plots are okay reading material but at the same time, a can find a lot of negative pointers for example:
1. demonic story plot where main character Quincy has an annoying female cop to deal with. Why have to be women character at the start always annoying like hell. - 3-star rating for me.
2. 4 horsemen story plot with the end of the world problem was okay read but at the same time, Female cop Rebeca has to be saved from Quincy what leads to both of them being linked. - 2-star rating for me.
3. In next story plot, we get to know more about Dracula or Uncle Luc. Why? Because his first human butler wanted to be more than just a human and get crazy. It's a vampire story plot. - boring. 3-star rating.
4-In the last story, we are part of an angel story plot. - okay read but still 3-star rating for me.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of undecided about this trio of Quincy Harker stories. The concept is pretty cool - the nephew of Dracula is a demon hunter in Charlotte NC - but the execution was over the top with foul-mouthed characters. I cuss like a drunken sailer, but this was just unnecessary. Harker has all the chops to be a real bad-ass without the adolescent vocabulary. Same goes for Flynn...she is clearly a tough cop, but she has to join in with the teenaged diction. Besides that...the stories were good. Lots of excitement, lots of cool magic, and super fast paced.

[Scott Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. There were several moments that made me actually laugh out loud, which is always a huge plus for me. The main character seems powerful, but easy to relate to at the same time. I enjoyed the pacing very much, though to be fair, I find several books to be way to slow for my tastes. I guess the best thing I can say about this book is I bought the next in the series the same day I finished this one. I do recommend it if foul-mouthed urban fantasy is your thing.

[Gabe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly could not finish this. I got maybe two chapters into the second part of the book and had to put it down. It is such a cavalcade of dialog cliches that the involuntary cringes made me spontaneously lose 20 pounds

[Tracie Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. I love this series. The narrator made the whole book great, the story line was interesting in that Count Dracula's nephew was the main character. A great twist on an old classic.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liberal agenda

The author has a liberal agenda. Conservatives be warned, the author pushes his agenda too hard to enjoy the book.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of stumbled on this book by chance and I am rather glad I did. This is a roller coaster ride of supernatural adventures, monsters, demons, vampires, really fun dialogue and so on and so forth.

The main protagonist is my kind of character. He is generally competent, strong, kicks ass and has a quick, sharp and really foul mouth. His uncle, the one and only count Dracula is yet another take on Dracula but it is a rather good one. Then there is Dracula’s manservant, Renfield (of course) who is a rather hilarious but very competent take on a manservant for the most famous vampire ever.

As the story progresses Harker’s entourage slowly expands and the most noteworthy new acquaintances are a mysterious agent from an obscure and very secret government organisation. His name is, surprise, surprise, Smith. Then there is a police detective who hates his guts (at first). Both characters are as competent, as ass-kicking and as sharp and foul mouthed as Harker. There are also more to them both than what first meets the eye.

There are of course a number of bad guys floating around, ranging from stupid bureaucrats, equally stupid street thugs, stupid demons, smart demons etc… Actually the entire menagerie of classical supernatural creatures, ghosts etc… are around. Luckily they are not just thrown in to create some sensation effect but they all have their place in the story.

The book is really four short novellas turned into one normal sized book. Normally I’m not too keen on short story collections but these four novellas are still reasonably sized and they do string together rather well story wise. Kin of like four big chapters of a book.

The story overall is good. There’s really a lot of things I like in it and it is well written. The book is not for the easily offended who have a problem with adult language though. For the rest of us the dialogue is, at times, quite hilarious. There are of course plenty of action weaved into the story and a few surprise moments when people discover that there are indeed things that go bump in the night. I really like those.

On the whole I really liked this book and it would easily have gotten 5 out of 5 stars if it wasn’t for one really annoying issue. The author just had to sprinkle his woke and obviously left leaning opinions and comments all over the book. That is so annoying and unnecessary. Just leave your race, religion and political views out of the damned books! At least if it is fiction and fantasy books that you read for entertainment only. One of my favourite (and very successful) authors have very strong opinion about politics, guns etc… but he keeps that out of his books.

Fortunately the bulk of the book and the story is really, really good and fun to read so this is one series that I’m going to continue reading.

[Lucy Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know all those supernatural TV shows with the cool, goth-y promos that look so fresh and good you actually make a note to watch it live—and then when you do, it’s either just crap from the starting line or slowly devolves into crap as the season wears on? (Lookin’ at you, Sleepy Hollow.) This book, a series of funny, scary, fast-paced novellas about a half-vamp demon hunter named Quincy Harker, is what you really, really, REAAALLY want a season of those shows to be.

Author John Hartness deals with the exposition fast and gets to the good stuff, so I will, too: Quincy is the son of Jonathan and Mina Harker, conceived when they were literally up to their necks in vampires back in the 19th century—he’s more than a hundred years old and calls Dracula “Uncle Luke.” He has a thriving business dealing with demons in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area, a day job working for the government and a hardass named “John Smith,” the obligatory sassy, sexy, tough-as-nails girl cop partner, and a gorgeous guardian angel with blonde curls and a potty mouth. Any writer who can find something fresh to do with the Dracula mythology deserves my money anyway, but there’s a strong sense of place in these stories that adds another fun layer we’ve never seen before. And not for nothing, anybody who wonders how to write supernatural fantasy in a multi-cultural universe, read and take notes—Harker’s world feels so real in part because it’s got all different kinds of people in it. And while it definitely has a sense of humor, it’s not embarrassed by its setting (again, are you listening, TV people?). Quincy can make fun of himself, but he’s not ashamed of what he is, and his stories, no matter how crazy they get, never seem anything but real.

Full disclosure; I know John Hartness, so I knew to expect to laugh out loud and to find good world-building and exciting story. What I didn’t expect and love is the depth of character and how emotionally and spiritually satisfying these stories are. Yeah, it’s got jokes and bad-ass fight scenes and cool monsters. But there are real stakes involved—you don’t just care about Quincy, you care about the people he’s trying to save because HE cares about the people he’s trying to save. This is a scary universe populated by people and creatures that feel real dealing with stuff that matters. Like all the best characters in stories, I’ll be carrying them around in my head for a while. And I’m very much looking forward to meeting the next batch in Year Two.

[Dave Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book and the author’s writing style. The concept is unique in that it takes existing characters in the Bram Stoker’s Dracula mythos and pushes them into the 21st century. This book focuses on Quincy Harker, the son of Johnathon Harker and Mina Murray. Their son is an anomaly because he has at least some vampire blood thanks to Dracula mixing his blood with Johnathan and Mina, he also knows magic! He has a heart of gold and the mouth of a sailor. This makes the character an endearing Everyman who is sick of demons messing up his life in Charlotte, NC.

The book is actually a collection of 4 novellas that have been put together. Each story could be read completely in isolation of another and still make sense, but when read together, they paint a fun picture of Quincy’s life. The characters advance somewhat with each novella, but when they are introduced in a new story, the author gives you a quick recap of the important points about the character so you are caught up.

The characters are masterfully done, they grow with each story and you never quite know what kind of monster Quincy will face with each story. The author is amazing at depicting fights with stellar details so you can visualize the actions as they take place. This is illustrated in gun fights with the realistic time of trigger to bullet and the cool down associated with it, the details about fist fights including the force of impact and associated collateral damage, even the magic fights make sense and are depicted clearly.

There is always a keen sense of “everything will work out fine” so the reader rarely worries that Harker will not make it. However, the way that Harker makes it out is often very unpredictable so you don’t really feel like it’s hopeless but you also can’t predict it. This is both good and bad but the story richness makes the light hearted nature of Quincy’s guaranteed win less important.

This is a great read and I am so glad I found it!

[Josh Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that was recommended to me in Rick Gualtieri’s Facebook group. Needless to say, the recommendations of “Booky McBookface” held true and this was a story that was worth the listen. This was actually a collection of the first four books (as you likely already know). I found that each book was decently scoped in size/duration and put the right amount of plot/storyline in each entry to leave me feeling greatly satisfied.

Each of the books left me with a feeling like these stories could have been the foundation for the Constantine movie, with Quincy being Keanu Reeves. I must say that I wished for more Renfield and Luke in the final story after getting quite a dose in the first three chapters. Luke is a character which has grown on me and I am hoping to find out more of his back story in the second omnibus.

If you are looking for a great entry into the paranormal/vampire/things that go bump in the night genre, check this one out. At only 12 hours long for four novels, this is a great collection and each story is well thought out. I will say that a slight smile formed at the ending to book four with Little Emily Standish. What a way to end the first collection. A 5/5 collection here.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have noted, this is eerily similar to Dresden Files. I'd really like to say it is an homage to Butcher's work, but it blew past "homage" about 10% of the way through the first story and landed squarely in "derivative", and that's being nice. At the very least, it's formulaic, and it coincidentally happens to be a formula developed very successfully by another author, to my knowledge, being Jim Butcher.

That being said, I still saw it through and would call it "OK". Maybe I would have liked it more if I didn't feel like it was just so blatantly a reskinning of the Dresden Files world and Harry Dresden himself.

Another reviewer delineated some of the virtual duplications between Butcher's work and this novel. I could triple that list with very little thought. I loved all of the Dresden files so managed to enjoy this a little even if it wasn't terribly original. I'd say the concept for Quincy Harker is a good one, and fairly original, but that's pretty much where the originality ends.

If you enjoy urban fantasy you'll most likely enjoy this if you can avoid being offended by the obvious, umm, "borrowing" from Butcher. It wasn't the best urban fantasy I've read but it's far from the worst. YMMV.

[Sean Fredericksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quincy Harker: Year One is a fun ride through familiar urban fantasy territory, but that’s also its biggest weakness. While the book is solid and entertaining, it feels like a story I’ve read a dozen times before. An old sorcerer helping the cops battle supernatural threats? It’s a setup that’s been done, and done better, by heavy hitters like Harry Dresden and Sandman Slim.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad book. Fans of the genre will likely enjoy it. The pacing moves well, the magic system has its moments, and there’s enough action to keep things lively. But “enjoy” is where it stopped for me. I wanted to love this, and it never quite got there.

Quincy Harker himself had all the potential to stand out, to be the dark, dangerous wildcard in a world of monsters and men. But instead of leaning into that edge, the story reins him in, shackling him to another “magic consultant for the police” role. I kept hoping he’d break bad, go rogue, or at least show us a little more of that ruthless side. The opportunity was there, and it just felt like a missed swing.

All in all, Year One is a decent read. It’s popcorn urban fantasy—light, quick, and enjoyable enough. But if you’re looking for something fresh or boundary-pushing in the genre, this might not scratch that itch.

[JJ Broenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about the underworld and one particular demon hunter named Quincy Harker; he is the nephew of Dracula aka Uncle Luke and also a wizard. There are a few stories within Year One that are cases/events within themselves; developing the characters and their relationships as we go through each case.
Entertaining and well thought out; I enjoyed the tie in to Dracula through Jonathan and Mina Harker; which if you have at the least seen the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula it is easy to follow Quincy's heritage.
He is a unique being because of his parents involvement with Dracula and his uniqueness is a key factor in his success as a demon hunter. There are many other characters that are quickly intertwined with Quincy in year one and I'm sure will continue to develop in future years. A favorite of mine is Becks aka Detective Flynn, she seems to be a regular human but is bad ass and her connection with Quincy is unusual and I look forward to seeing her part in the sequels to Year One.
If you like a little Severus Snape meets Bill Compton you should give this one a read.