When a child goes missing, his mother asks me to help. After all, she believes he was taken by a monster and that’s my field of expertise. The search leads to the storm drains of Dearmont; not a good place to be when you’ve seen as many horror movies as I have.
Turns out the monstrous kidnapper is also responsible for the mysterious disappearance of a patient from a psychiatric hospital nearby. And as I investigate further, I'm pushed into the waiting arms of an old nemesis.
Missing children, fishy creatures, and icy curses are all in a day’s work for Harbinger P.I. But when Mister Scary shows up, the hardest job is staying alive.
Yes! Another solid book in the Harbinger P.I. series. I thought the story was more 'contained' this time. No life-threatening situation, no Midnight Cabal, no going away to a different country.
This time Alec and Felicity took a case of a missing boy -- who said was taken by a monster -- which turned out to be related with the boy's missing father from an asylum. I loved that; plain old mystery solving from our P.I.
We also got more information about Mister Scary -- and I was really
Oh, another difference with this book, we have two chapters from Deputy Amy Cantrell, whose father the Sheriff, apparently is now I hope he doesn't turn out to be a jackass of a character ^^
This felt very short and quite rushed. This time we get a simple mystery. Alec and Felicity are hired by a mother of a missing boy. I liked that part of the plot and a bit more was revealed about Mister Scary but the other aspects are still unresolved. I thought after the big reveal at the end of Dead Ground this will follow the same thread but it didn't. It mostly felt like a filler. The author should have kept the momentum going. Nothing on Alec's mother and his missing dad wasn't even mentioned. Compared to the previous book and how much I enjoyed it, this was a bit of a let down.
Another solid read within the Harbinger P.I. series! Keep in mind, if you aren't already aware, that this book is available to read for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. That's how I read it.
I remember, ironically, writing in a previous installment in this series that Alec had his plate full within the book. This book? The plate transformed into an endless buffet! He was on a case that led down some interesting twists and turns, unlocking more paths to more major arcs in the story.
Sadly, there wasn't much in the way of development in the Midnight Cabal front. This was mildly disappointing, given at the tail end of the previous book a massive truth bomb was dropped on who a key player of the Midnight Cabal was. And the fact it was someone Alec Harbinger knew well. I do hope we see more of that arc covered in the next book.
This book was significantly less intense in the way of life threatening situations. That said, it felt more of a mystery-action book than it did a fighty-action one. However, despite it being more mystery and less action-packed fighting, there still were fight scenes. Some in particular were very interesting.
Something that bothered me was how towards the end of the book Alec was able to sling around his newfound magical powers without the side effect he so frequently endures thereafter. He didn't become immobile or get fatigued nor was there a mention of the spell he could cast to rectify it (the one that seems to singe anything nearby). However, I'm not 100% sure if it was because of where he was at the time of using his magical powers or an oversight by the author.
All in all, another really enjoyable installment to the series that leaves me insta-downloading the next book to start gobbling away at it!
I noticed this had come out quite late, I had read the previous entries into the series and enjoyed them, although it might count as a bit of a guilty pleasure. These books are a little bit 'identikit urban fantasy' and probably wouldn't stand up to much scrutiny if you cared to apply it – the fact that the local police 'don't believe in this supernatural stuff' in spite of the recent zombie outbreak and numerous other, provable phenomena happening around them and to them, does stretch credulity a bit. However, the books do entertain and on that basis it would be daft not to indulge in what is a very quick read – quick partly down to pace but also to length. Here we have what, if we were in a TV series, would be a filler episode as a young boy is abducted by a monster and our hero works to first rescue him, then to find out what's going on. In all honesty the 'surprise' isn't very surprising, nevertheless, if it's a brainless couple of hours you want, these fit the bill nicely.
Another good story in the series. This series is one of the more enjoyable UF I've read. I quite enjoy it, looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I think this has been my favorite Harbinger P.I. yet! There were three different storylines going on and each one was interesting. One was sad, one had a happy ending, and one promises to be very exciting in the next book. I hope the next book comes out soon!
I’m loving Adam Wright’s take on the paranormal, or preternatural as referred to in this series. There is always so much going on that I’m hooked and addicted to finding out what is going on. There is always more than one mystery to solve, an antagonist or two to fight or run away from. Wright’s concepts are fun and engaging.
However there is still one of the biggest gripes in ‘Shadow Land’ that I have had with this series front and centre - again with our protagonist Preternatural Detective, Alec having things fall into his lap, or his assistant Felicity doing them for him. I know a lot of detective work is boring and something we don’t necessarily want to read, but coming up with ideas and uncovering clues are prime aspects to test the protagonist and drive the story forward – watch any detective show on television for numerous engaging examples. This was a big miss for me.
I’m still getting a sexist vibe, and a little of that ‘things conveniently happening’ around Alec’s treatment of the cast, in addition to secondary characters popping into the story when relevant to the plot, but otherwise ignored... it feels like they’re being used but not developed, not allowed to become complex. It feels like lazy writing… so many missed opportunities.
But the narrative improved after the half way mark.
We re-visit the on-again, off-again thing with Alec and Felicity… its feeling tired. Was it done to drag their relationship out over a few more books? Something was missing in the tension between these two with ‘Shadow Land.’ And it was awkward – not between the characters Alec and Felicity, but in the writing. As much as I enjoy this world and the characters, I question whether Wright is rushing through the writing-publishing process to keep the momentum of sales for the Harbinger P.I. series instead of taking a little extra time to polish the manuscript.
Upon reaching the end of the book I wasn’t totally satisfied – there were so many new clues and elements introduced in ‘Shadow Land,’ and less than half were resolved. Great for getting me to continue with the series, but reflects badly on this novel alone. Plus, we end on a cliff hanger which was incentive enough for me to want to pick up ‘Midnight Blood’ - but some more resolution to the Mr Scary storyline would have been good – or the Cabal... just saying.
I was a little perturbed by the death of a paranormal towards the end as well – though it was explained – it felt unjustified, and frankly, rushed.
But the writing style is pleasant, and I like the folklore references. I wish we would delve more into the mythology of things. We are starting to get there as Alec was more involved in the research with Felicity. It’s nice to see he can actually do some detective work for himself because he tends to outsource a lot and spend much of the time wandering around thinking.
The pacing is good and the plot jumps all over the place as well. The point of view briefly switches to Sheriff Cantrell and then is daughter Amy (a deputy) interrupting the flow of a narrative and follow a story arc. It was interesting, and in the past few novels Wright has started to add in different characters perspectives... it doesn’t feel as cohesive as it should be though. And we jump from first person to third person narrative.
I did guess the puzzle to the main case solved in ‘Shadow Land’ in the first couple of chapters. I don’t know how, or why, maybe I’m getting tuned into Wright’s mind. So I guess that’s also why this wasn’t such an impactful novel for me.
Still, this is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love the supernatural elements and Wright’s take on the world of things that go bump in the night. Also, where has all the thing about Felicity becoming a fully-fledged P.I. gone? She’s back to acting like a glorified secretary again, and the sizzle between these two has left the pages. And it might be the feminist in me, but I’d really like to see Felicity play the hero apart from Alec, and not constantly running around providing answers before Alec even knew he needed them... how about he do it for himself and let her get into the action!
Still a really fun and interesting world. Wright puts his little twists on the preternatural that I find engaging and fascinating.
I've enjoyed each of the books in this series. This particular one was well edited and proofed. The plotting and pacing was excellent. Lots of action on multiple fronts. Characterizations are well fleshed out and consistent, while allowing for each character to develop as the series continues. I liked most everything about it, although the ending was a bit too cliffhanger-ish for my taste. I also thought the enchantment regarding Sheriff Cantrell pretty easy to figure out. As soon as there was cold and ice you knew who was controlling Excalibur. Let's face it, there were really only 3 choices, and you could be relatively sure it wasn't The Lady of the Lake, so that left two. Anyone who has read much Arthurian lore would immediate think "Crystal Cave," and know which character it was. It will be interesting to see how that situation resolves itself, I'm assuming, in the next episode.
In this episode Alec and Felicity search for a lost child, Sammy Martin, and the monster who abducted him, work with the Blackwell sisters regarding the sword Excalibur and the spell cast on Sheriff Cantrell, investigate Sammy's father's disappearance at the Butterfly Heights mental facility, chase Mr. Scary in Shadow Land, deal with a doctor with a desire to be a faerie creature and the lengths he will go to achieve his goal, deal with a long imprisoned Siren, reunite a family in an unconventional way, and seemingly move a bit closer to a romantic involvment. I'm looking forward the next novel in the series "Midnight Blood."
Shadow Land may be the best in this series. Even though it doesnt involve any Fae or his sidekick (Leon) from the other stories, it has the best storyline thus far. There are multiple layers and some real investigating from our Paranormal Investigator.
Alex and Felicity are commissioned to find a missing kid, hunt a water monster, and kill the infamous Mr. Scary. First, I'd like to say again how stupid I think that name is for a bad guy. Proper villians deserve a cooler name.
The story is still short to me. That is my continuous complaint with the entire series, so at least the author is consistent.
I'm not sure how I feel about the romance angle. It doesnt get any real reaction out of me and I feel the story would be just as strong without it. I actually like when he uses Leon for back-up. I hope we get more of him in future installments.
3 Stars 🌟🌟🌟- Good Book. I like the overall concept and it was delivered well. Most common ranking for a book I enjoyed and look forward to the next.
I'm going to cheat here and review all 7 books of the series up to this date as one. I read all 7 books in a wonderful and enjoyable binge read of about 5 days and what a fabulous time I had. This cheeky little urban fantasy series crept up on me out of the blue and grabbed my attention. It has all the things that I love most about this genre. A strong but not perfect hero, who has a newly discovered mysterious past and possible developing powers and history. A team of people around him who form a scooby gang :-), wonderful characters who start to feel like friends, with real life drama and situations. There is a hidden world of magic with secret societies, shady motives, and an increasing feeling of not knowing who the good or bad guys are. The books interweave constantly and whilst each book has a start and a finish, there is an interweaving and increasingly complex over reaching plot that had me hooked and reaching for the next. The wait for the next book is agony! Definitely now a fan of this author.
It has been a few years since I read the first four books. I didn't remember them being this short. That is about the ONLY complaint I have. Everything else is great. Best book I've read recently. These are the reasons why. 1. This novel is a proper mystery. Not in a tidy 'someone killed, whodunit' type mystery but more of here is a mystery and here is the solution by the end. Although we do find out about the larger 'whodunit' in the series arc. 2. This novel is a proper fantasy. It manages to meet both criteria without sacrificing either aspect. 3. This novel is a complete novel on its own, even though short. The story is tight and, even though I could read it very quickly, I didn't feel like anything was left out or sacrificed. It was a well crafted story. 4. It fits nicely into the overall story arc of the series without feeling like you stop on a cliff hanger or like it just stopped in the middle of the story.
“Shadow Land”, fifth in the 'Harbinger P.I.' series, strongly features a mental institution of the dark and foreboding kind. It's fitting for this is a very Victorian horror/mystery tale. A child is taken during the night by a monster (his mother saw the kidnapping) - local police are sceptical. Alec, with a little help from Felicity, sorts it out in short order but, oddly, the case remains far from solved. The trail leads directly to to the above-mentioned institution which seems to have more 'interesting' patients than Alec expected and a doctor who is definitely hiding something. Merlin continues to be an erratic character with a game plan of his own. And Excalibur … handle with care. 3 Stars.
Another solid addition to this series. The scope was a little more contained this time, Alec and Felicity manage to stay in Maine and the Shadow Land dimension, instead of multiple countries and multiple realms. Still plenty of action and twists that I didn't expect (though reading the reviews other people did). I liked that Alec was more involved in the step-by-step parts of the investigation this time and it seems more like a case-based story. The grand arcs are good too, but I like the more focused books from time to time.
While these books aren't going to win any literary awards, I've been enjoying them. They're a satisfying equivalent to bingeing on an urban fantasy TV show on a streaming platform. The books are short, so much so that they feel like "episodes" to me, which, for better or worse is sometimes like a cliffhanger that makes me want to read the next book immediately to find out what happens in the other storylines.
Random: The characters eat a lot of greasy burgers and fries, which always makes me want burgers and fries.
is not a bad book but I feel like the author made the main famela way better and smarter than our MC so much that I stopped many time thinking this dude is an idiot, and that is really bad' why read a book about someone I do not like? for what I see' everyone how put 5 stars has been bingin the whole series, me I been reading as they came out I barely remember much about our MC so it's like a fresh encounter and he didn't impress me
I'm pretty sure I got this audiobook as a present, as this is the 5th book in the series, and I'm REALLY anal about reading series in order. And I believe that I missed a lot by not reading the first four books :/
That said, this was interesting, the plot was solid, and I liked the twist at the end. I probably will be looking for the previous books, and start, as I should have done, for the beginning.
When does the next one come out, it was that good!
Loved it. I really can't wait for the next one. We have much to look forward to in the next book. I want to tell all about this one, but can't without many spoilers. Alec and Felicity have much to do in this book and do it well.
As usual, story kept me hooked until I reached the end. I hadn't even realised. The Mr Scary storyline is progressing as too the midnight cabal. Hoping to see Mallory back in the next one and for Amy to get the stuck out of her arse.
I waited a long time for the next book in the series to come out and boy was it worth the wait. I hope Felicity and Alec continue to grow closer. I can hardly wait for the next book 6!!!!
Ok so I just binge read this whole series and can't wait for the next one. I absolutely love the world you have built and I can't wait for Alec to learn more about the magic in him.
While I felt book 4 was a bit off, I thought book 5 came back strong. Although there wasn’t much progress on the main overarching plot, Alec did get closer to solving the Mister Scary mystery (which I hope will be wrapped up soon and not needlessly dragged out).
Each book so far gas continued directly on from the last but in this one the lead character had a week off I'm mortified! All joking aside yet another brilliant read. I can read a book a day, so easy to read and lots of fun