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Saint Tommy, NYPD #10
Lightbringer
When a director's daughter overdoses, that's one thing.
When she comes back as a zombie, that's a mission for NYPD Lt. Tommy Nolan and his new Joint Supernatural Taskforce.
But when he comes up against a conspiracy that goes back centuries, Tommy will need an army of light to fight off the darkness.
When she comes back as a zombie, that's a mission for NYPD Lt. Tommy Nolan and his new Joint Supernatural Taskforce.
But when he comes up against a conspiracy that goes back centuries, Tommy will need an army of light to fight off the darkness.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 19, 2022
4 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Declan Finn
109 books746 followersDeclan Finn is the NYC based author of books ranging from thrillers to urban fantasy to SciFi, including the 2016 Dragon Award Nominated Novel for Best horror, Honor at Stake, 2017 for Live and Let Bite, and 2018 for Codename: Unsub in best Apocalypse. He is known for "his strong fight scenes and is romance novels are sexy without being dirty, providing enough sexual tension to curl toes."
He hosts the Catholic Geek Radio show, and can be found wherever someone is starting trouble. He also writes thrillers, video game reviews, and works for several blogs.
He is one of a legion of writers over at The Catholic Geeks blog (a legion, for we are many). Other books he has written includes the comedy-thriller It Was Only on Stun! where he blows up a sci-fi convention (no, not this one). He co-authored the science fiction espionage novel Codename: Winterborn. However, he is most proud of The Pius Trilogy – which includes “A Pius Man,” “A Pius Legacy,” “A Pius Stand,” and an anthology, “Pius Tales.”
He hosts the Catholic Geek Radio show, and can be found wherever someone is starting trouble. He also writes thrillers, video game reviews, and works for several blogs.
He is one of a legion of writers over at The Catholic Geeks blog (a legion, for we are many). Other books he has written includes the comedy-thriller It Was Only on Stun! where he blows up a sci-fi convention (no, not this one). He co-authored the science fiction espionage novel Codename: Winterborn. However, he is most proud of The Pius Trilogy – which includes “A Pius Man,” “A Pius Legacy,” “A Pius Stand,” and an anthology, “Pius Tales.”
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 11, 2022
Again, I can state that this series just gets better and better! I have read 15 books by Declan Finn in the last few months, and 1 prior to that. I have loved what I have read to date. And I have plans to read all that I can lay my hands on. Both the Saint Tommy and the White Ops series are greatly entertaining, and I cannot wait for the Pius trilogy of 5 books to be back in print. This is another great story in an always entertaining series. These books took me completely by surprise, and I find that I am surprised again with each new novel. They are very well written. The description of this story is:
“When a director's daughter overdoses, that's one thing.
When she comes back as a zombie, that's a mission for NYPD Lt. Tommy Nolan and his new Joint Supernatural Taskforce.
But when he comes up against a conspiracy that goes back centuries, Tommy will need an army of light to fight off the darkness.”
Just as I was finishing up this book I saw an announcement for 3 published short stories in the series. I reached out to the author to find out where they would fit in the series:
They Burn Witches, Don't They (between Lupus Dei and City of Shadows)
Principle Necromancy (between Deus Vult and Coven)
Vessel (after book 12, Blue Saint)
At that point I believe the series is completed at least for now. I have been packing myself with these books. I have been reading about 1 a week, interspersed with other fiction and nonfiction. It was only a massive amount of self-control. And having three new stories set in this world is like a surprise gift.
Tommy is still officially on staff with the NYPD, but he is working mostly independent of them, with a new task force. They are sort of part of the FBI, the team is the Joint Supernatural Taskforce, the official designation with the FBI was JSTF, but we called it JST or “Just.” The day to day team is Tommy, his son Jeremy, Jeremy’s wife Lena, and his retired partner Alex Packard. They also have some floater desks for FBI agents when they are working with the team. And dedicated desks for Father Richard Freeman, Medical Examiner, Doctor Sinead Holland and ADA William Carlton of Manhattan.
Tommy states:
“In the years that JST had been active, the FBI had allowed us all sorts of access—to their databases, AFIS (for fingerprints), PERT (physical evidence recovery team), the FBI labs—but they had yet to send us a single FBI agent to work with us on a long-term basis. We had access to resources, and were were occasionally sent either a rookie or someone who was on-the-job retired.”
Lena and Jeremy are both officially agents for the CIA but work mostly without supervision. I highlighted 2 passages because they made me laugh so much, they are:
“lex looked up from his paperback omnibus edition of The Pius Trilogy (which was, for some reason, five books. I didn’t ask).”
“Rivera shrugged. “I’m in a business where the expectation is that every film based on a comic book has to make a billion dollars or it’s a flop. Heck, for a while, slap the Marvel label on something and it automatically made a billion dollars.””
This story does have a lot of action, in fact it opens in the sewers with a battle against spiders including one that could give Shelob a run for sizing. But this story has a lot more police work, uncovering the trail in the old gum shoe fashion. JUST reaches out to their contacts at H.E.R.O. and Human Exploitation Rescue Operative Child-Rescue Corps, and others. They slowly put together a history going back decades to the beginning of Hollywood. And an adversary that goes back much further. Their investigations into Golden Chalice Studios and Luminary Productions the facts just do not add up. The companies seem to be making decisions that are bad business, they only thing they see to focus on is corruption for corruptions sake. Until a piece falls into place for Tommy. And soon they are pulling in all the resources they can in what might became the biggest case to ever hit the New York Court system. But to get there Tommy must face his strongest foe yet!
This story is has a lot of action, some crime procedural and detective work. All happening while Tommy’s wife is diagnosed with a brain tumor. It is like Die Hard film with the whole family, and a close knit group of friends and allies in on the action. Finn does an excellent job of weaving current events into this Catholic Action Horror novel. The characters are wonderfully written. Wondering what will happen to them next leaves you hanging big time! And with book 12 planned as the last novel, how it will end overall.
I have now read books from three different series by Finn and can say I enjoyed them all. The books in this series should be read in order as they are a continuous story. I can easily recommend this book and these stories to mature readers. Finn does a masterful job of blending faith and fiction and thereby crafting excellent stories! It is an intense story. An excellent installment in a great series!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!
“When a director's daughter overdoses, that's one thing.
When she comes back as a zombie, that's a mission for NYPD Lt. Tommy Nolan and his new Joint Supernatural Taskforce.
But when he comes up against a conspiracy that goes back centuries, Tommy will need an army of light to fight off the darkness.”
Just as I was finishing up this book I saw an announcement for 3 published short stories in the series. I reached out to the author to find out where they would fit in the series:
They Burn Witches, Don't They (between Lupus Dei and City of Shadows)
Principle Necromancy (between Deus Vult and Coven)
Vessel (after book 12, Blue Saint)
At that point I believe the series is completed at least for now. I have been packing myself with these books. I have been reading about 1 a week, interspersed with other fiction and nonfiction. It was only a massive amount of self-control. And having three new stories set in this world is like a surprise gift.
Tommy is still officially on staff with the NYPD, but he is working mostly independent of them, with a new task force. They are sort of part of the FBI, the team is the Joint Supernatural Taskforce, the official designation with the FBI was JSTF, but we called it JST or “Just.” The day to day team is Tommy, his son Jeremy, Jeremy’s wife Lena, and his retired partner Alex Packard. They also have some floater desks for FBI agents when they are working with the team. And dedicated desks for Father Richard Freeman, Medical Examiner, Doctor Sinead Holland and ADA William Carlton of Manhattan.
Tommy states:
“In the years that JST had been active, the FBI had allowed us all sorts of access—to their databases, AFIS (for fingerprints), PERT (physical evidence recovery team), the FBI labs—but they had yet to send us a single FBI agent to work with us on a long-term basis. We had access to resources, and were were occasionally sent either a rookie or someone who was on-the-job retired.”
Lena and Jeremy are both officially agents for the CIA but work mostly without supervision. I highlighted 2 passages because they made me laugh so much, they are:
“lex looked up from his paperback omnibus edition of The Pius Trilogy (which was, for some reason, five books. I didn’t ask).”
“Rivera shrugged. “I’m in a business where the expectation is that every film based on a comic book has to make a billion dollars or it’s a flop. Heck, for a while, slap the Marvel label on something and it automatically made a billion dollars.””
This story does have a lot of action, in fact it opens in the sewers with a battle against spiders including one that could give Shelob a run for sizing. But this story has a lot more police work, uncovering the trail in the old gum shoe fashion. JUST reaches out to their contacts at H.E.R.O. and Human Exploitation Rescue Operative Child-Rescue Corps, and others. They slowly put together a history going back decades to the beginning of Hollywood. And an adversary that goes back much further. Their investigations into Golden Chalice Studios and Luminary Productions the facts just do not add up. The companies seem to be making decisions that are bad business, they only thing they see to focus on is corruption for corruptions sake. Until a piece falls into place for Tommy. And soon they are pulling in all the resources they can in what might became the biggest case to ever hit the New York Court system. But to get there Tommy must face his strongest foe yet!
This story is has a lot of action, some crime procedural and detective work. All happening while Tommy’s wife is diagnosed with a brain tumor. It is like Die Hard film with the whole family, and a close knit group of friends and allies in on the action. Finn does an excellent job of weaving current events into this Catholic Action Horror novel. The characters are wonderfully written. Wondering what will happen to them next leaves you hanging big time! And with book 12 planned as the last novel, how it will end overall.
I have now read books from three different series by Finn and can say I enjoyed them all. The books in this series should be read in order as they are a continuous story. I can easily recommend this book and these stories to mature readers. Finn does a masterful job of blending faith and fiction and thereby crafting excellent stories! It is an intense story. An excellent installment in a great series!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!
August 8, 2022
Getting too old for this...
Tommy Nolan was in his thirties when the wonderworking started. Now he's forty-five, and feeling it. His kids are grown up and married, working ops for the federal government. But neither the Lord nor the devil are quite done with him yet. Tommy and the kids, and his old partner Alex, are the core of the FBI's new supernatural-threats task force, and they're back in New York. We see more of Tommy's own struggles here, as a family crisis draws him out in sharper lines and deeper tones.
What starts as a Rod Sterling episode of CSI quickly unspools into the last great smash-hit for one film studio and its parent media empire. Most studios like a good blockbuster. But when Detective Nolan rips the scab off the lies behind the murder, he finds that the rot runs clear to the bone. From busting celebrity pedophiles and clearing a vampire brothel, naming folks in high places and shining a light under their beds, and fighting a carload of zombies on the Long Island train, Tommy and his allies deliver a bunker-buster instead.
The pacing lags in a few spots as Tommy, et al, catch breathers from wreaking havoc on hell to examine successive layers of the conspiracy they're up against, and more than one scandalous celebrity is subjected to Finn's 'Roman a clef,' but "Light Bringer" is a love note to the American media industry, just as "Destiny" was to the Italian customs and tourism agencies.
Oh look: it's twelve forty-five! The kids are asleep and I have work in the morning.... I can relate to Tommy's sentiment a bit. But is that any reason NOT to grab the next St. Tommy book as soon as it drops? Are you kidding me? I might finish up at three AM next time.
Tommy Nolan was in his thirties when the wonderworking started. Now he's forty-five, and feeling it. His kids are grown up and married, working ops for the federal government. But neither the Lord nor the devil are quite done with him yet. Tommy and the kids, and his old partner Alex, are the core of the FBI's new supernatural-threats task force, and they're back in New York. We see more of Tommy's own struggles here, as a family crisis draws him out in sharper lines and deeper tones.
What starts as a Rod Sterling episode of CSI quickly unspools into the last great smash-hit for one film studio and its parent media empire. Most studios like a good blockbuster. But when Detective Nolan rips the scab off the lies behind the murder, he finds that the rot runs clear to the bone. From busting celebrity pedophiles and clearing a vampire brothel, naming folks in high places and shining a light under their beds, and fighting a carload of zombies on the Long Island train, Tommy and his allies deliver a bunker-buster instead.
The pacing lags in a few spots as Tommy, et al, catch breathers from wreaking havoc on hell to examine successive layers of the conspiracy they're up against, and more than one scandalous celebrity is subjected to Finn's 'Roman a clef,' but "Light Bringer" is a love note to the American media industry, just as "Destiny" was to the Italian customs and tourism agencies.
Oh look: it's twelve forty-five! The kids are asleep and I have work in the morning.... I can relate to Tommy's sentiment a bit. But is that any reason NOT to grab the next St. Tommy book as soon as it drops? Are you kidding me? I might finish up at three AM next time.
July 22, 2022
St. Tommy - 1, Satan - 0
Wow! Tommy faces his toughest enemy yet (major shocker here) and battles hell's creatures again to save the world (yes, that enemy is more frightening than hell creatures). These stories aren't repeats/rehashing of prior books. Every St. Tommy novel faces new challenges, new enemies (okay, they are from the same source eventually). This is a well-crafted story that stands on its own however if you've been following the series, this is a other rich addition. I don't know how Mr. Finn keeps growing and evolving the story line and characters but I'm glad he can and does.
Wow! Tommy faces his toughest enemy yet (major shocker here) and battles hell's creatures again to save the world (yes, that enemy is more frightening than hell creatures). These stories aren't repeats/rehashing of prior books. Every St. Tommy novel faces new challenges, new enemies (okay, they are from the same source eventually). This is a well-crafted story that stands on its own however if you've been following the series, this is a other rich addition. I don't know how Mr. Finn keeps growing and evolving the story line and characters but I'm glad he can and does.
September 2, 2022
The tabloids and gossip rags tend to paint Hollywood in very dark shades for the most part. The author gives us a horribly dark and evil explanation for the less-than-moral behaviour of the the Hollywood glitterati and the worldly success they are still able to garner despite their appalling behaviour, and the author does that in his inimitable brashly Godly way with all its sledge-hammer charm. I have to say that this does not make Tommy's life easier - doesn't he have enough on his plate, opening the first joint anti-supernatural task force? (Thanks for volunteering him, Jeremy!)
September 18, 2022
excellent book. love the way Tommy’s faith is presented
I know the truth about Breen and Bradley felt good to see them get their comeuppance. The battle Scenes with Satan were excellent and why not have Warrior Angels and Saints in contemporary garb, appropriate to their position.
I know the truth about Breen and Bradley felt good to see them get their comeuppance. The battle Scenes with Satan were excellent and why not have Warrior Angels and Saints in contemporary garb, appropriate to their position.
September 2, 2022
Exciting read
"Saint" Tommy actually faces off against Lucifer this time. Always a convoluted plot. I couldn't give it better than a 3. There were some plot points that I still hope aren't factual, but they fit the story so I kept reading. I'll be back. St. Tommy N.Y.P.D. Bk 1
"Saint" Tommy actually faces off against Lucifer this time. Always a convoluted plot. I couldn't give it better than a 3. There were some plot points that I still hope aren't factual, but they fit the story so I kept reading. I'll be back. St. Tommy N.Y.P.D. Bk 1
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews