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John Conquer #1
Conquer
In 1976 Harlem, JOHN CONQUER, P.I. is the cat you call when your hair stands up...the supernatural brother like no other. From the pages of Occult Detective Quarterly, he's calm, he's cool, and now he's collected in CONQUER. From Hoodoo doctors and Voodoo Queens, The cat they call Conquer’s down on the scene! With a dime on his shin and a pocket of tricks, A gun in his coat and an eye for the chicks.
194 pages, Paperback
Published December 23, 2020
7 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Edward M. Erdelac
78 books114 followersEdward M. Erdelac is the author of thirteen novels including the acclaimed Judeocentric/Lovecraftian weird western series Merkabah Rider, Rainbringer: Zora Neale Hurston Against The Lovecraftian Mythos, Conquer, Monstrumfuhrer from Comet Press, Terovolas from JournalStone Publishing, and Andersonville from Random House/Hydra.
Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of kids and cats.
Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of kids and cats.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 13, 2021
Conquer collects seven short stories featuring John Conquer plus a preview of the Conquer novel, Fear of a Black Cat.
I'm a huge fan of Edward Erdelac's Merkabah Rider series so when I saw on Facebook that he was writing stories featuring John Conquer, described as Shaft meets Brother Voodoo, it was a no-brainer to grab this collection once it was released.
Much like The Merkabah Rider, Conquer is right in my wheelhouse. Part Blaxploitation, part supernatural, this hits all the right buttons for me. Conquer is a bad ass brother, a private detective people come to when strange shit is going on during the 1970s. In this book, he encounters a lot of weirdness, like a dead pimp haunting his old ride and a dead man shrunken to tiny size, floating inside a lava lamp.
Also like the Merkabah Rider, you can tell Erdelac did his homework. I'll have to pick his brain over what resources he use for the various magic techniques and creatures. You can feel Ed's love for the subject matter coming through. I don't usually get excited when a book I like gets adapted but I'd love if this was a TV show shot to look like it was from the 1970s.
Conquer gets all the stars. Now the wait for Fear of a Black Cat begins.
I'm a huge fan of Edward Erdelac's Merkabah Rider series so when I saw on Facebook that he was writing stories featuring John Conquer, described as Shaft meets Brother Voodoo, it was a no-brainer to grab this collection once it was released.
Much like The Merkabah Rider, Conquer is right in my wheelhouse. Part Blaxploitation, part supernatural, this hits all the right buttons for me. Conquer is a bad ass brother, a private detective people come to when strange shit is going on during the 1970s. In this book, he encounters a lot of weirdness, like a dead pimp haunting his old ride and a dead man shrunken to tiny size, floating inside a lava lamp.
Also like the Merkabah Rider, you can tell Erdelac did his homework. I'll have to pick his brain over what resources he use for the various magic techniques and creatures. You can feel Ed's love for the subject matter coming through. I don't usually get excited when a book I like gets adapted but I'd love if this was a TV show shot to look like it was from the 1970s.
Conquer gets all the stars. Now the wait for Fear of a Black Cat begins.
August 19, 2021
John Conquer is what you might get if you dropped Harry Dresden into a 70's blaxploitation film. Without all (okay, most) of the tongue in cheek cheese. It is outrageous, nonstop, over the top urban fantasy in and around the ghettos of Harlem, and it is totally bad ass. Erdelac's style is exciting, graphic and evocative. In a genre that can often feel stale, he brings some real creativity. Case in point, the magic "system", actually more occult mysticism, is race/faith based:
"The black man, the red man, the white man, the yellow, each had their magic given by their respective gods to enforce the internal laws of their own kind. Magic was as segregated as a Montgomery Greyhound bus."
Highly recommended to urban fantasy fans!
"The black man, the red man, the white man, the yellow, each had their magic given by their respective gods to enforce the internal laws of their own kind. Magic was as segregated as a Montgomery Greyhound bus."
Highly recommended to urban fantasy fans!
January 18, 2021
Erdelac's characters are deep, his stories are enthralling, and his style puts me right into the setting. He finds a perfect balance between history and lore that has me asking the most important question when reading fiction..."What if?" Ed Erdelac definitely is my kind of weird.
June 20, 2021
I'm not some professional book reviewer. Please don't expect some expert analysis of the book.
Conquer contains several short stories of the title character, John Conquer, and they're all quite entertaining.
Conquer is a hard working detective in New York City during the 1970s who ends up finding himself wrapped up in various dangerous occult affairs in what reads to me as an homage(?) to the Blaxploitation genre. Each short story is unique in the approach it takes to getting Conquer involved in the occult issue for that story. Without giving anything away, all but one was something new that I hadn't really heard of before in some other book, a movie or a television show.
As in Edward's previous stories and books, he has a great way of describing scenes and puts effort into researching time periods & locations, helping you picture them, drawing you in. The look of a bar, or music playing on a radio, to the general life on the street.
My only desire was I occasionally found myself wanting one or two of the stories to be a little more fleshed out by just a couple pages more. Perhaps Conquer seemed to get into the thick of it by accident, or a fight seemed to end rather quickly. Maybe it's just that I was drawn in and found myself at the end too quickly, wanting more.
Either way, I'm thrilled this says it's a series and this is just book one. I can't wait to read more John Conquer in the future.
Conquer contains several short stories of the title character, John Conquer, and they're all quite entertaining.
Conquer is a hard working detective in New York City during the 1970s who ends up finding himself wrapped up in various dangerous occult affairs in what reads to me as an homage(?) to the Blaxploitation genre. Each short story is unique in the approach it takes to getting Conquer involved in the occult issue for that story. Without giving anything away, all but one was something new that I hadn't really heard of before in some other book, a movie or a television show.
As in Edward's previous stories and books, he has a great way of describing scenes and puts effort into researching time periods & locations, helping you picture them, drawing you in. The look of a bar, or music playing on a radio, to the general life on the street.
My only desire was I occasionally found myself wanting one or two of the stories to be a little more fleshed out by just a couple pages more. Perhaps Conquer seemed to get into the thick of it by accident, or a fight seemed to end rather quickly. Maybe it's just that I was drawn in and found myself at the end too quickly, wanting more.
Either way, I'm thrilled this says it's a series and this is just book one. I can't wait to read more John Conquer in the future.
January 27, 2021
A fresh take on supernatural detectives: John Conquer is an African American veteran who had his life shattered by crime and after returning from his Vietnam tour, sets up as a detective who, although not averse to pick up adultery cases, is more recognized by his knowledge of the supernatural.
The book has several short stories with cases ranging from vampires (also a fresh take), monsters, and of course, the most dangerous creatures, humans.
The prose is agile and the stories entertaining, I am eagerly waiting volume two, which gets an extract that will keep you waiting.
Recommended!
The book has several short stories with cases ranging from vampires (also a fresh take), monsters, and of course, the most dangerous creatures, humans.
The prose is agile and the stories entertaining, I am eagerly waiting volume two, which gets an extract that will keep you waiting.
Recommended!
December 31, 2020
Conquer
Another great book by Erdelac. He writes so many different styles, and I love it. This one is in Harlem in the mid 70’s. Definitely a new character to follow. I recommend this, and also his other books!
Another great book by Erdelac. He writes so many different styles, and I love it. This one is in Harlem in the mid 70’s. Definitely a new character to follow. I recommend this, and also his other books!
August 21, 2024
Wow, would I love to see a Netflix series about John Conquer. The book's tagline describes him as "the supernatural brother like no other." Channeling the spirit of 70s funk and Blaxploitation movies, Conquer has come back to Harlem from the Vietnam War. He's a private eye who uses hoodoo, when necessary, to clear monsters out of the neighborhood.
I've loved the John Conquer stories when they've appeared in Occult Detective magazine. Three of those amazing stories are collected here. The collection is filled out with new (new to me?) stories of uneven quality. In the new stories, Conquer faces junkie vampires, racist cops, a pimp-haunted Chrysler, and hungry creatures from Zanzibar with the help of a Muslim religious student and an Italian detective. That last story was rough to read, but very powerful.
The text itself is magic in places: "The drums lived. They thundered and pounded like the storming heart of the universe. They carried him back further and bore more history than any book could hope to contain..." and in a story about taggers: "...this was weird, experimental shit; a mishmash of complex Abramelin ritual, obscure dark necromancy, and Thai black magic he had seen on I&I in Bangkok during the war. It was like somebody was skimming from a pretty expansive black library..."
Erdelac's done his research, both in the black library and into the Harlem of the Seventies. I'm ready to dive into Conquer: Fear Of A Black Cat, the second collection in the series.
I've loved the John Conquer stories when they've appeared in Occult Detective magazine. Three of those amazing stories are collected here. The collection is filled out with new (new to me?) stories of uneven quality. In the new stories, Conquer faces junkie vampires, racist cops, a pimp-haunted Chrysler, and hungry creatures from Zanzibar with the help of a Muslim religious student and an Italian detective. That last story was rough to read, but very powerful.
The text itself is magic in places: "The drums lived. They thundered and pounded like the storming heart of the universe. They carried him back further and bore more history than any book could hope to contain..." and in a story about taggers: "...this was weird, experimental shit; a mishmash of complex Abramelin ritual, obscure dark necromancy, and Thai black magic he had seen on I&I in Bangkok during the war. It was like somebody was skimming from a pretty expansive black library..."
Erdelac's done his research, both in the black library and into the Harlem of the Seventies. I'm ready to dive into Conquer: Fear Of A Black Cat, the second collection in the series.
January 31, 2023
I just finished the first story in the CONQUER book and I loved it. I love the short story format of this book. It made me feel like when I read the early HELLBOY stories way back when Mignola was in his prime and did the whole book himself. I've never cared for the time period of the 1970's (even though I spent the first 4.5 years of my life there) or many of the things that inspired this collection and so I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this offering from Erdelac. I was proven wrong during the first story alone.
February 28, 2022
I received this product for free in return for providing an honest and unbiased review. I received no other compensation. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Conquer is the story of a Black mystical detective named John Conquer (a reference to John the Conqueror) and a homage to 70’s detective fiction and Blaxploitation films. It’s fun, well written, and full of creepiness, including a fetus monster haunting an abandoned subway station and a man shrunk down and boiled alive in a lava lamp. I greatly enjoyed the book, but like most Blaxploitation, it wasn’t without its problems.
It’s important to point out that Erdelac is a White author writing a Black story (something not uncommon in Blaxploitation). I usually prefer to promote “own voices” books, and stories by cishet White men are a rarity on this blog. After all, folks with privilege do not have the best track record when it comes to writing marginalized groups. As Irish author Kit de Waal said, “Don’t dip your pen in someone else’s blood”. Take American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. They’re both terrible for numerous reasons including, but not limited to: not doing enough research, using the White Savior trope, watering down their narratives to make them palatable for White audiences, cultural appropriation, speaking over marginalized voices, etc. That’s not to say White authors shouldn’t write BIPOC characters at all. Not having any diversity in your story can be equally problematic. It just needs to be done carefully and respectfully. Very, very carefully. Yes, I know that can be a fine line to walk, but if an author can research what kind of crops people were growing in 1429 to make their book more accurate, they can research American Indians and people of color. Besides, that’s what hiring sensitivity readers and using resources like Writing with Color is for. Of course, there’s also the problem of White voices being given preferential treatment by publishers and audiences over BIPOC trying to tell their own stories.
To his credit, Erdelac has done an impressive amount of research to make his book feel authentic. John Conquer wears a dime around his ankle for protection and a mojo hand (another name for a mojo bag) for luck. His name is a reference to High John de Conqueror, a Black folk hero with magical abilities. Conquer also has one of the most accurate representations of Vodou I’ve ever seen in fiction. Hollywood “voo doo” is a pet peeve of mine, so I appreciate Erdelac’s dedication to portraying the religion and loa/lwa (the powerful spirits Vodou practitioners worship and serve) accurately. He also doesn’t try to portray an idealized version of 1970s NYC. There’s racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and cops and criminals spewing slurs. And while it’s jarring, it does make the story feel more authentic. The police are racist and homophobic and there’s tension between the many communities that make up 1970s New York. John Conquer’s Uncle Silas was disowned by his family for being gay, and when John is asked to solve his murder, he has to confront his own homophobia and transphobia. That doesn’t mean it always works, though. There were definitely a few times I side-eyed and wondered if a certain line really needed to be in there.
My favorite part of the book is Eldelac’s excellent world building. White vampires go up in smoke when exposed to sunlight, while vampires with more melanin are protected from the sun’s rays. Vampirism also halts a corpse’s decay, but all that rot catches up to them when they’re finally killed. Each culture has their own magical practices with distinct rules, and magic doesn’t cross cultural lines. For example, only Vodou practitioners can become zombies, and non-Christian vampires are immune to crosses. Conquer is especially powerful because he’s learned many different traditions and practices, but the catch is that this opens him to a wider variety of spiritual attacks. Street gangs utilize black magic to wage wars with each other. His work is clever, original, and something I could really get into. But…having White authors tell BIPOC stories still feels problematic to me when White authors are still so heavily favored by the publishing industry. I’ve reviewed books by White authors before, but because Conquer is based heavily on Blaxploitation it feels, well, more exploitative than those I’ve reviewed in the past. I’m still going to go ahead and recommend Eldelac’s work because—in the end—it is well written and interesting, but I can also completely understand if some of you want to skip this one.
Conquer is the story of a Black mystical detective named John Conquer (a reference to John the Conqueror) and a homage to 70’s detective fiction and Blaxploitation films. It’s fun, well written, and full of creepiness, including a fetus monster haunting an abandoned subway station and a man shrunk down and boiled alive in a lava lamp. I greatly enjoyed the book, but like most Blaxploitation, it wasn’t without its problems.
It’s important to point out that Erdelac is a White author writing a Black story (something not uncommon in Blaxploitation). I usually prefer to promote “own voices” books, and stories by cishet White men are a rarity on this blog. After all, folks with privilege do not have the best track record when it comes to writing marginalized groups. As Irish author Kit de Waal said, “Don’t dip your pen in someone else’s blood”. Take American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. They’re both terrible for numerous reasons including, but not limited to: not doing enough research, using the White Savior trope, watering down their narratives to make them palatable for White audiences, cultural appropriation, speaking over marginalized voices, etc. That’s not to say White authors shouldn’t write BIPOC characters at all. Not having any diversity in your story can be equally problematic. It just needs to be done carefully and respectfully. Very, very carefully. Yes, I know that can be a fine line to walk, but if an author can research what kind of crops people were growing in 1429 to make their book more accurate, they can research American Indians and people of color. Besides, that’s what hiring sensitivity readers and using resources like Writing with Color is for. Of course, there’s also the problem of White voices being given preferential treatment by publishers and audiences over BIPOC trying to tell their own stories.
To his credit, Erdelac has done an impressive amount of research to make his book feel authentic. John Conquer wears a dime around his ankle for protection and a mojo hand (another name for a mojo bag) for luck. His name is a reference to High John de Conqueror, a Black folk hero with magical abilities. Conquer also has one of the most accurate representations of Vodou I’ve ever seen in fiction. Hollywood “voo doo” is a pet peeve of mine, so I appreciate Erdelac’s dedication to portraying the religion and loa/lwa (the powerful spirits Vodou practitioners worship and serve) accurately. He also doesn’t try to portray an idealized version of 1970s NYC. There’s racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and cops and criminals spewing slurs. And while it’s jarring, it does make the story feel more authentic. The police are racist and homophobic and there’s tension between the many communities that make up 1970s New York. John Conquer’s Uncle Silas was disowned by his family for being gay, and when John is asked to solve his murder, he has to confront his own homophobia and transphobia. That doesn’t mean it always works, though. There were definitely a few times I side-eyed and wondered if a certain line really needed to be in there.
My favorite part of the book is Eldelac’s excellent world building. White vampires go up in smoke when exposed to sunlight, while vampires with more melanin are protected from the sun’s rays. Vampirism also halts a corpse’s decay, but all that rot catches up to them when they’re finally killed. Each culture has their own magical practices with distinct rules, and magic doesn’t cross cultural lines. For example, only Vodou practitioners can become zombies, and non-Christian vampires are immune to crosses. Conquer is especially powerful because he’s learned many different traditions and practices, but the catch is that this opens him to a wider variety of spiritual attacks. Street gangs utilize black magic to wage wars with each other. His work is clever, original, and something I could really get into. But…having White authors tell BIPOC stories still feels problematic to me when White authors are still so heavily favored by the publishing industry. I’ve reviewed books by White authors before, but because Conquer is based heavily on Blaxploitation it feels, well, more exploitative than those I’ve reviewed in the past. I’m still going to go ahead and recommend Eldelac’s work because—in the end—it is well written and interesting, but I can also completely understand if some of you want to skip this one.
July 26, 2025
This book is a lot of fun--a great blend of grit and pulp. The episodic nature of the stories works well for introducing John Conquer's background, and the monsters are fantastic. Erdelac takes on something that could have gone very wrong, but he does it right in almost all respects. I'll be reading more Edward Erdelac.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews