Kelly Driscoll is supposed to be on hiatus from her job as manager of Amenity Tower, but she needs money, and the barn her boyfriend bought has a spectral bee infestation. And while Kelly knows never to take a job offer at face value, she accepts a job to track down an immortal women’s restroom designer named Sun. The target was last spotted in Gridlock City, so Kelly—along with her dad, the single-purpose angels, and Af, the former angel of destruction—drive non-stop to get there.
When Kelly first locates Sun, she decides to not turn him in until she finds out who she’s actually working for, but he goes missing after accepting an award for his design of the women’s restrooms in the Ghostburp Hotel. She and her team meet Bes, an Egyptian goddess working as a travel nanny; Lemur, an angel who puts songs in people’s minds; and Penny, a woman who leaves her body behind and joins them as a floating disembodied head.
They search for Sun through a series of strange netherworlds, looking for clues to his current location. But after a narrow escape from the largest netherworld corporation, a bewildering experience on a college campus, a side job in a labyrinth, and an inescapable dentist office and airport, things look bleak. A maddening netherworld portal system is keeping Kelly separated from her family—and Sun is nowhere to be found.
Kelly learns that Sun is key to a plan that would obliterate all of the netherworlds. And as the condo board of Amenity Tower makes a trip to flush five very special toilets, her boyfriend negotiates a life-changing deal with a powerful entity, and her replacement manager at Amenity Tower teeters on the verge of a breakdown, Kelly has to hustle like never before to find Sun and protect both her world and the netherworlds from destruction.
This is the fourth of the Kelly Driscoll books, but it's especially fun because the story is a bit more opened up than usual. Kelly manages Amenity Tower, a condo-prison for fallen angels, and previous books all took place, more or less, within the confines of the Tower. The fallen angels scheme to escape their bonds, (usually by starting some sort of apocalypse), and Kelly works to keep them there, (and avert said apocalypse). This time, Kelly is on a leave of absence and is back at her original job as a bounty hunter chasing monsters. The plot eventually takes us back to another Amenity Tower escape attempt, but before we get into all of that Kelly and her companions have to travel through a variety of bizarre netherworlds.
The book sort of unfolds as a can-you-top-this? adventure through one bizarre netherworld after another, each more preposterous, amusing, and antically conceived than the other.
The change of scenery benefits the whole series. We still have Kelly, her Dad, the special purpose angels, and Af, the former angel of destruction. But it's road trip time, and between the constant changes in scenery among the various strange netherworlds, and the new side and supporting characters who show up to keep everything off balance, the story is bigger, broader, more creative, and even more energetic than usual, which is saying something.
The upshot is that I got the same old kick from following Kelly and the gang, with the added benefit of a bigger and somewhat wilder canvas. This is a nice addition to the series.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
The Last Netherworld of the Apocalypse is the 4th book in the Kelly Driscoll urban fantasy series by Nina Post. Published 14th Nov, 2017 by Curiosity Quills Press, it's 234 pages and available in ebook format.
I was unfamiliar with the artist or the series when I started reading, so I read it as a standalone. The plot moves along at whiplash speed, so it took a while to (mostly) keep track of the players. Once I got on top of the main characters it was a lot easier to stay up to speed.
As stated, this book is frenetic and moves along at a fierce, almost speed-of-thought pace. It is quite humorous and surprised a few giggles out of me on my daily bus commute (not easy to do). There were a couple of times I felt that some of the sight gags were slightly indulgent on the author's part, but she is certainly adept at driving the wildly careening out of control bus with no brakes that is this book.
If I had to try to categorize the 'feel' of the book, I'd compare it to Charles Stross' Laundry Files or Larry Correia's Monster Hunter books (though this book is less testosterone driven and not as full of obscure geekery). There's not a whole lot of super-snarky dialogue either which is a distinct relief. Brain candy, fun to read, undemanding and well written. Can't ask for much more!
Four stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
This is the fourth of the Kelly Driscoll books, but it's especially fun because the story is a bit more opened up than usual. Kelly manages Amenity Tower, a condo-prison for fallen angels, and previous books all took place, more or less, within the confines of the Tower. The fallen angels scheme to escape their bonds, (usually by starting some sort of apocalypse), and Kelly works to keep them there, (and avert said apocalypse). This time, Kelly is on a leave of absence and is back at her original job as a bounty hunter chasing monsters. The plot eventually takes us back to another Amenity Tower escape attempt, but before we get into all of that Kelly and her companions have to travel through a variety of bizarre netherworlds.
The book sort of unfolds as a can-you-top-this? adventure through one bizarre netherworld after another, each more preposterous, amusing, and antically conceived than the other.
The change of scenery benefits the whole series. We still have Kelly, her Dad, the special purpose angels, and Af, the former angel of destruction. But it's road trip time, and between the constant changes in scenery among the various strange netherworlds, and the new side and supporting characters who show up to keep everything off balance, the story is bigger, broader, more creative, and even more energetic than usual, which is saying something.
The upshot is that I got the same old kick from following Kelly and the gang, with the added benefit of a bigger and somewhat wilder canvas. This is a nice addition to the series.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
Funny and utterly insane. After reading this I would love to visit Amenity Tower, though not on a day that the board is planning an apocalypse. Kelly Driscoll is a heck of a manager.