Bullets & Brimstone

by Patrick Thomas

In Baltimore, crime is hell. And in Hell crime is far worse. When a soul goes missing in Charm City, the Devil wants his due and Negral, forgotten god and Hell's Detective, comes looking. When his own methods fail, he calls on Detective Bianca Jones despite the animosity between her and his boss. Together they search for his soul. In the process, Negral unwittingly a disciple and is forgotten no longer and forced to chose between honor and power. When and old enemy manages to make Negral disappear into the inside of a locked door mystery, the pair must work the case from the inside and out before the forgotten god fades away to oblivion.

Kindle Edition

First published May 21, 2010

About the author

With over a million words in print, PATRICK THOMAS keeps busy writing the the popular fantasy humor series Murphy's Lore (which includes 8 books- Tales From Bulfinche's Pub, Fools' Day, Through The Drinking Glass, Shadow Of The Wolf, Redemption Road, Bartender Of The Gods, Nightcaps and Empty Graves) as well as the After Hours spin offs Fairy With A Gun, Dead To Rites and Lore & Dysorder. His Mystic Investigators series has grown to include the books Bullets & Brimstone and From The Shadows both with John L. French and Once More Upon A Time and the upcoming Partners In Crime both with Diane Raetz. He has co-edited two anthologies - Hear Them Roar and the vampire themed New Blood. Patrick's syndicated humorous advice column Dear Cthulhu has been collected in Have A Dark Day and Good Advice For Bad People. A number of his books are part of the set and props department at the CSI television show. He was voted Preditors & Editors favorite author of 2010. As an artist his work has graced covers for Dark Quest, Padwolf and Marietta, interiors and a cover for Space & Time magazine and comic covers for Ghostman. A mockumentary about him has recently surfaced on Youtube. To learn more, drop by his website at www.patthomas.net.

Reviews

[Wendy S. Delmater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the same world as Lore and Dysorder, this collaboration joins the adventures of hell’s Chief of Police with those of the woman who made Baltimore impervious to Satan: John L. French’s impressive policewoman, Detective Bianca Jones. Since the devil cannot see into or affect Baltimore, Hell’s Detective has to find out what’s going on in Charm City for his boss. Since his boss also hates the woman who cost him his influence in Baltimore, Negral cannot become too friendly with her lest he incur the wrath of hell. So they solve cases with overlapping jurisdictions, wary of each other but gaining a growing respect for the other “good cop” – or is he?

My favorite quote: “Who would have a treaty with hell? The government, of course.” This gives you an idea of the tone of the book, which is another set of adventures in the short story and novella length. If paranormal that mocks the darkness is your cup of tea, check this out. It is best bought as a set with Lore and Dysorder, which I also reviewed and highly recommend, as the events in Bullets & Brimstone chronologically happen part-way through that book. But it’s a great stand-alone read, and a good introduction to both Bianca Jones and Negral, and their other books.

[Elena J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bullets & Brimstone by Patrick Thomas and John L. French is a gritty, noir-fantasy fusion where divine justice and mortal corruption collide in the dark underbelly of Baltimore and Hell itself.

When a soul vanishes in Charm City, Negral a forgotten god turned Hell’s detective is called to investigate. But what begins as a supernatural case quickly spirals into a battle for existence itself, as Negral is forced to confront both human evil and the peril of divine obscurity. Teaming up with the sharp, skeptical Detective Bianca Jones, he plunges into a mystery that blurs the line between the living and the damned.

The book masterfully blends urban grit with mythic consequence part hardboiled detective fiction, part infernal fantasy. The dialogue crackles with tension, the atmosphere drips with dread and wit, and the moral questions linger long after the final page: What does honor mean when even gods can be forgotten?

For fans of The Dresden Files, Hellblazer, or Good Omens, Bullets & Brimstone delivers a wickedly entertaining descent into crime, consequence, and cosmic irony.

[Thee_ron_clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Thomas had me hooked after the first Negral book I read. When I found out that Bullets & Brimstone was floatign around out there and featured the same characters, did I really have a choice of whether to pick up a copy or not?

Bullets & Brimstone contains three short (ish) stories about Negral. Negral is a forgotten sun god who chose to serve Satan in Hell rather than to pass into Oblivion. Negral is tasked with bringing rebel souls to Hell, enforcing contracts, and other police-type tasks. He is the chief of Hell's police department.

In one story, he travels to earth to find a missing soul who has a contract whose contract is expired. He meets up with a human police detective who assists him with her own agenda in mind.

Later, Negral finds himself powerless and imprisoned somewhere in Baltimore. The same detective and his own agents work to rescue him while he tries to piece together who or what trapped him and how.

So far, Patrick Thomas is batting 1000 for me. I still have another one of his books in my possession and will be digging into it soon. I have to say, he is one of my favorite new authors.

[Claire Blind Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the cover, the story was alright and pretty funny, the characters were alright, the writing was alright. In all I started out really disliking the book then walking away indifferent. There were far too many typos in the book to make me feel like the author really cared to go through it twice. That bugged me. The story was borderline stereotypical and they could have fun with that and made it sort of entertaining at points. But in all it wasn't a great book.