Hard Spell

Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #1

by Justin Gustainis

Stan Markowski is a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit.

Like the rest of America, Scranton's got an uneasy 'live and let unlive' relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that's when they call Markowski. He carries a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Horror, Fiction, Vampires

382 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Justin Gustainis was born in Northeast Pennsylvania in 1951. He attended college at the University of Scranton, a Jesuit university that figures prominently in several of his writings.

After earning both Bachelor's and Master's degrees, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the U. S. Army.

Mr. Gustainis currently lives in Plattsburgh, New York. He is a Professor of Communication at Plattsburgh State University.

Series:
* Quincey Morris

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I'm perusing the shelves of the half-price bookstore and happen to find Hard Spell, which I was pretty sure was on my TBR list under a special category for some reason. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember why. Was it because the author was a troll? Because a librarian said it kicked butt? Because it was the next best thing since sliced Harry Potter? I took the risk, bought it and as soon as I was home, checked my GR TBR list.

Well.

The answers were no, no, and most certainly no.

But it was fun, in a campy, Magnum P.I. sort of way. The kind of way where some of it's predictable, some of the characters are a little cut-out, and a lot of it is downright hokey, but still, enough action and fun to suck me in. Alright, I confess: I was avoiding a paper as well. But still.

It begins with a detective Stan Markowski in the Supernatural Division sloppily breaking up a demon-summoning, requiring heroic measures from rookie partner. The duo next get called to a back-alley killing where the victim has mysterious symbols carved in his head. Oh, and he's a vampire--we can tell because there are fangs when they lift the upper lip. Our hero hates vamps. I'm sure there's a backstory here that will be revealed to the new partner in due time (eyeroll). At the scene, a mysterious gentleman appears who seems to know almost everything about the case, but wants information. In order to trade, he points them in a couple of directions ("check the forensics on the wound for the type of instrument." No, really?) It turns out he's Master of the City supernatural in chief, or The Man, as our team decides to call him. (Calling the head bad guy "The Man" was a plot used in Alias, in the guest episode with Quentin Tarantino, so all I could think about it when they said it was Quentin in a suit saying "The Man wants..." ) The Man gives them almost nothing else useful (clearly withholding information), but at least he knows how to use AOL Instant Messenger to get a hold of them later (I told you it was campy fun!). Which reminds me of another silly scene: our hero going through his voicemail step by step. Yes, you read that right. Including dialogue from VM prompt lady, which is truly annoying when I have to listen to it, nevermind read it. No chuckles there, Gustainis.

Since this is a hard-boiled detective story, there's a mandatory stop in a lesbian bar to ogle a woman tell a vamp who has been putting the whammy on the clientele to lay low. They scare her off by mentioning The Man. While our heroes wonder in passing why such a hot beauty needs to use vamp hypnotism, they consider it adequate proof that The Man does in fact wield power among the supernaturals.

There is also the requisite attempts on the lives of the detectives, first by car-dash hula girl Medusa, which is the best booby (haha!) trap ever. There's a (ghoul) informant, and a source that doesn't want to share information until they save his life, for which they gratefully endanger him again (of course!). There's the required hard-ass Captain who does just about everything but asks for their shields, until he changes his mind and gives them full and unconditional support, including a magic key (well, not majick, as Richard would say, but it does open the SWAT lockers).

I confess, I loved the supernatural SWAT team, especially the hellhound and her handler. That deserved a star right there. I liked the self-referential black sharpshooter ("Don't you read the comics, man? You ever see a bunch of badass superheroes like this without a brother on the crew?") who went to Ivy League schools.

My one serious note of appreciation is how Gustainis was willing to have Stan make some hard choices with some emotional fallout. I expected one of them and was surprised by the last, so that's the kind of thing that levitates the plot a few inches above it's competition. For a campy book, it does a nice job of balancing the emotion with the action.

Although some reviews claim both sexism and vulgarity, I have to say I didn't find it particularly offensive, perhaps because this is a book that is hard to take seriously. And perhaps because Stan's kind of sexism reminds me of someone's aging dad--a little bit oinkish but ultimately scared respectful of women, as evidenced by his behavior with the female detective of a neighboring town. Likewise the accusation of vulgarity--I thought the epithets were extreme strictly for the outrageousness--it's a cop book, right? So they've got to swear.

Occasionally, I had the nagging feeling I was reading an as seen on tv! book--you know, the kind that starts life as a tv show until someone decides to make a buck extending the universe into print. I'm not really complaining, though--I'd watch this show, which I presume is a little bit like NYPD Blue meets True Blood, if only NYPD was in a small city in Pennsylvania, and no sex was involved. Okay, so maybe I'd watch the first few episodes, or at least until the network cancelled it.

And if I had a paper to write.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the city--Scranton, Pennsylvania.
It’s a good place to live and raise a family--apart from vampires, werewolves, ghouls, wizards, and the occasional demon.
Scranton’s got a “live and let unlive” relationship with the supernatural, just like everyplace else. But when a vamp puts the bit on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that’s when they call me.
My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.
Also a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.
I was never a Boy Scout, but “Be Prepared” is still a good motto to live by. Especially if you plan to keep on living.

You can hear Joe Friday’s voice from the old TV series Dragnet every time Detective Stan Markowski opens his mouth. The tough guy platitudes that are sprinkled throughout just about every conversation in this book are ones we have all heard and dare I say might be on purpose as a Justin Gustainis nod to a bygone era of pulp magazines and tough guy TV shows.


Jack Webb is Joe Friday

Markowski works for the Occult Crimes Unit Investigation department. A department that gets a lot of latitude given the nature of the cases they are asked to investigate. Anything involving Supes (Supernatural) lands on Markowski’s desk. When vampires start showing up dead by creative means and have ancient symbols carved into their bodies he is of two minds about the case. On the one hand “the only good vampire is a dead vampire”, but on the other hand there is the nagging concern that even though the undead are the victims it is still happening in Markowski’s city and he does carry the badge.

The case is messy from the start. Markowski’s partner at the beginning of book is killed by an enraged knife wielding Goblin going through the DTs of meth addiction. His new partner Karl Renfer is one of those people blessed with the ability to read people and say the right things at the right time. He handles Markowski’s mood swings from acerbic to well more acerbic with a dash of humor that relieves some of the pressures of a case that seems to be going from bad to worse.

They have to accept the help of a 500 year old vampire who happens to be a very rare species indeed. He is also a wizard. Vollman comes across as a tame, cultured creature, but when Stan pushes him too hard his true nature, that darkness that has replaced his soul, uncoils.

Vollman raised his head and looked at me. He didn’t seem to change expression, but I was suddenly very aware that I was sitting opposite a five hundred year-old monster who’s probably killed more people than I’ve had meals.

Gustainis populates the novel with characters that really give the novel a bit more depth. There is a ghoul informant that has a brother who likes to flash his weiner at unsuspecting women. Markowski offers to help keep his brother out of jail, yet again, for information. I guess in the greater scheme of things, in Scranton, a weiner swinging ghoul is the least of their worries.

There is a SWAT team an acronym for The Sacred Weapons and Tactics Unit. I can only hope that Gustainis gets this group more involved with the plot in the next novel.
They have a HELLHOUND.
Named DAISY.
How cool is that?


Nice puppy...oh what a pretty puppy you are Daisy

Karl’s cousin Heidi is a member with attributes not necessary useful to her job, but despite the handicap of “formidable breasts” she is quite capable of kicking any Supe or Human ass that gets in her way. There is a Jesuit named Garrett packing a flamethrower and Shiro Kyotake a edged-weapons specialist along with several other highly trained and specialized members that would be interesting to see utilized in future books.

Rachel Proctor is a witch employed by the department. Markowski, out of leads, convinces her to help him raise the spirit of one of the dead again vampires to find out who killed them. This has disastrous results when she is taken over by the spirit of a malicious, vindictive wizard vampire. Markowski packing plenty of guilt from his life already, stacks on a bit more.

There are a pair of Inquisition loving preachers who are moonlighting as witch hunters. If I had been Markowski I would have introduced that duo to Daisy.


Creepy witch hunting preacher x 2.

There is a Lacey Brennan an occult crimes detective from nearby town that is brought into the case. She is not only gorgeous, but also shows a decided interest in getting to know Markowski more intimately. She starts every conversation with a stale joke along the lines of How many vampires does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

I was never bored. Gustainis keeps the pages turning and has built a world with potential to just keep getting better and better with each new novel. This is an Angry Robot book, the second I’ve read in about a month. With a compelling plot, a nice array of window dressing characters, and a world that I wouldn’t mind spending some time in as long as I have my .9mm, my crucifix, my wooden stakes, and maybe for just a little extra insurance Buffy Summers as my travelling partner.


What review isn't improved with a picture of Michelle Gellar? My Scranton traveling companion of choice.

I will definitely be checking out the second book in the series. Recommended for a stress reducer, or if you are fighting the flu, or if you just want a break from an unpleasant task.

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The city of Scranton, Pennsylvania abounds with supernatural beings of all sorts – vampires, werewolves, ghouls, wizards and the occasional demon. Of course, with all this magic out in the open, the ‘live and let unlive’ policy the city is so proud of doesn’t always work out very well. There are witches who use black magic, a vampire is likely to bite an unwilling victim (especially if he thinks he can get away with it) and goblins have developed a liking for bank robberies and meth. The Occult Crime Unit, where only the best and the craziest detectives can find their place, was formed to deal with such cases.

My name is Markowski. I carry a badge.

When a wizard turned vampire gets killed in the most gruesome way, detective Stanley Markowski and his new partner are called to investigate. Normally Stan wouldn’t lose much sleep over a dead vampire or ten, but this case feels like the beginning of something much larger and far more dangerous. As it turns out, the vampire was the keeper of an incredibly dangerous book called Opus Mago. Here’s how the leader of the supernatural community explains it: Making use of the spells contained in the Opus Mago would be similar to what a friend of mine once said about studying the work of the philosopher Hegel: one must be highly intelligent in order to do such, and profoundly stupid to wish to. It would seem that one such person has arrived in Stranton and it’s now up to Stan and his partner Karl to stop him or her while there’s still time.

Whenever I discover an exciting new urban fantasy series, I feel like a child on Christmas morning. Thanks to Justin Gustainis, I’ve opened my presents early this year! I have to be honest here: I was a little skeptical when I requested Hard Spell. I thought it might be ok at best, but I never even considered the possibility that it would be this good. A male author and a male protagonist are very uncommon in urban fantasy – that’s why the quality of this book makes me even happier. Gustainis did everything right: his world is just dark enough to make you worry about the characters, there are enough funny moments to break the tension, and the plot doesn’t drag for a second!

I’ll probably reread this book some day.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine a supernatural stereotype. You can probably find it here. I thought I'd like this more than I did.

I have to try very hard to think of characters from other books that talk more than these do. A reader needs an explanation? Two people start talking about a thing even though they both know about it. World information? There is a small flood of info-dumping in the beginning, but it is later spread equally throughout the book (conversations, Markowski's inner thoughts and so on). They are in a hurry? An inner angel and demon argue about stuff.
There is a big bad trying to do something horrible? More talk, of course.

As I said there are many, many stereotypes in the story. It might not be a bad thing if in the obvious attempt to mock them, the story doesn't go overboard with it. It crosses the line a bit, so parts are kind of boring.

Why a higher rating then? Well, a couple of moments in this book made me want to read the next book hoping the stuff that annoyed me in this one is gone.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little stressed....ambivalent about the rating here. had we half stars I'd have gone 2.5. On the other hand I didn't want to go a simple 2 as that means (for me) that it's verging between almost dislike and dislike. The book itself is pretty good but there are things about it that truly bug me.

First just so you know some of what I don't care for comes from my own pet peeve list. I'm reading the book(s) (at least the first couple) but I really don't care for "sympathetic" vampires. I subscribe to the Dracula/Nosferatu (even Buffy the Vampire Slayer) school of vampires. In short that vampires are not the people they look like but "other creatures" residing in the dead body of the person the turned. NOW NOTE: THAT IS NOT THE TEMPLATE OF THIS BOOK. HERE VAMPS ARE APPARENTLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED AND THEN SOMEHOW BECOME UNDEAD AND NOW CONSUME BLOOD. THEY CAN BE BAD OR GOOD.

So, know that going in. There are a lot of books out there with good, friendly, romantic even...sparkly vampires. This series will join that group.

So what have we got? Our hero is a cop who works the "Supe Squad" (Supernatural Squad). He and his partner investigate crimes against "supes" and by "supes". Here they catch a series of murders of vampires. The thing is they don't seem to be you simple run of the mill vampire murders (that is if there are simple run of the mill vampire murders). They aren't even victims of a "simple run of the mill serial killer of vampires (see above note). No, these may..."may" be part of something, more.

This is a "pretty good" book. It's got some flaws in the writing, though not many. I have the audio book from Audible and the reader is again "okay" not great. There are some odd "voice" choices.

I'm a Christian and we get a couple of stereotypical religious fanatics. Our reader chooses to give them a "hick southern accent" even though they are from New England. That did bug me a little.

Still all in all not a bad book. I bought the first 2 so I'll move on to the next. If it runs about equal to this one I doubt I'll spend more (or use another credit) on them, so the verdict is still out on the series for me.

I'd say give it a chance and see for yourself. Some of you will like these much better than I do I'm sure.

[Jennifer Estep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis is the first book in his Occult Crimes Unit Investigation urban fantasy series.

Stan Markowski is a detective in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who's responsible for policing all the things that go bump in the night, like vampires, werewolves, goblins, wizards, and other supernatural creatures, aka supes. In fact, Stan is on what's known as the Supe Squad (the Occult and Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit). Stan has his hands full with his job, and he has some other issues too -- namely, being assigned a new partner after his old one is killed in the line of duty and his strained relationship with his daughter. But when someone starts brutally torturing and killing supes, Stan's determined to catch the perp before he strikes again ...

I have a fondness for detective books and noir fiction, and the thing I liked best about this book was the noir feel and world-weary narration of Stan. He's very wry and almost deadpan throughout the whole book, and I liked his voice. As I was reading, I could almost hear someone like Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon saying Markowski's lines.

The plot is entertaining, and it's interesting to watch Markowski piece together the clues about what's really going on. There are also a couple of nice twists with Markowski's daughter and his partner. I won't spoil them here, except to say that Gustainis introduces some plot elements/backstory throughout the book, then ties it all together nicely at the end.

One other thing to note is that there aren't any chapters, per se, in this book -- just scene breaks.

Overall, if you like books with hard-boiled feel to them, you should check out this series.

Note/disclaimer: I was asked by the author to give a cover blurb for this book, which I did. My blurb is: "A winning mix of urban fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction."

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard Spell isn't the best thing I've ever read, but it was fun -- fairly typical in some ways, for urban fantasy, but still, compelling enough that I finished it and have grabbed the second book from my TBR pile. There's a lot of male gaze-y stuff going on, with a couple of blatant male fantasy characters, but there are some surprises too -- the main character starts with some prejudices pretty well fixed, but he's able to change with the circumstances, which makes for a pretty satisfying end.

Overall, the plot is nothing new, but the writing is solid and it avoids shoehorning in sex and romance as the most important thing, which other urban fantasy can fall afoul of. In fact, that's not a thing at all here -- the leading lady in Stan Markowski's life is his daughter, Christine, if anything. He does have a tragic past, etc, which all sets up how the story works out, but at least that all hangs together coherently. There's some cool world building done on the premise that supernatural creatures are a part of the world for good -- SWAT teams exist, but mean something else entirely, for example...

This is a pretty ambivalent review, I know. It's pretty much a "hey, Gustainis, better impress me next time" kind of review.

[Contrarius · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was nothing actively wrong with this, aside from repeated references to every female characters' breasts, but it was mostly pedestrian and forgettable with relatively flat characters. Vamps and cops solving crimes, the usual schtick. The narrator, Peter Brook, read so slowly that I had to speed it up to 1.3x, even though I normally hate to increase the speed on books -- and I was really irritated by most of his secondary character voices. The climax was a bit better than the rest, and the alternate history excuse for the supernatural being out in the world interested me a little, but nothing about it really grabbed me and I probably won't bother with any more of the series.

Compare this with a bazillion other UF to easily see where this one is lacking -- for instance Dresden, Rivers of London, Alex Verus, or indies like Daniel Faust or Dustin Graves. Those have vivid characters, gripping drama, and good humor. This one, not so much.

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original review posted over at Book Lovers Inc

I always say that you should try all kinds of genres and books that are out there, but do I follow it? Not really and that is why I wanted to try this book. It is urban fantasy but not the kind I am used to. No kick-ass woman in leather and sexual tension between her and whoever alpha hottie that is around. Instead we have an older guy, a detective in this more old school detective novel with supernatural elements. I am thinking of that more hardboiled fiction (well ok not that violent) but you get the general idea. It’s just the general tone of the book, and I could so well see this in black and white on the screen. With that in mind I started reading.

Hard Spell is about Stan, a detective who works investigating crimes done by and to supernaturals. Together with his partner he gets a hard and messy crime to figure out. Someone is killing supernaturals and if they can’t stop that person, all hell will break loose. He is struggling with a new partner, his own past and his dislike for vampires. It’s not a good day in Scranton.

Yes Stan is certainly not like the main characters I am used to. His is a lot older and he has seen a lot. He is quite serious too at times and just hard on the edges. But I like him because he took his job seriously and he is good at it. His partner Karl is more a newbie on the force and they work together well. New and old, a good team. Karl also brings in a bit of humor, even if we get it through Stan’s sarcastic eyes. But it is all fun.

It’s a bloody and dark world; they are cops so they see the worst things the city has to offer. If you like cop shows then you will like this book and if you like your UF with a more detective theme and without any romantic entanglements then this is the story for you. Though I as the eternal romantic do have a woman in mind for Stan, because he is not blind and he has checked someone out. So who knows if he will find a good woman at the end.

I did like the book because it was fast paced, I wondered if they would catch the bad guy and if Stan would soften up a bit (you will just have to read and find out). But is it my kind of genre? Perhaps not, I do need tiny flicker of romance to root for and I will just stick to my normal UF. But that does not mean that I cannot enjoy a book like this. Because in the end it is a good book.

[Mrs. Badass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast paced, interesting novel. It reminded me a lot of Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher, which was a good thing as I love Harry. It's not that Stan reminded me of Harry per say, just the way the novel was written. Justin has a very loose style of writing. It flows naturally out of the MC. There are not a lot of Male protagonists--written by a man-- which was I requested to read this novel from Angry Robot via Netgalley. I'm glad I did!

Stanley is a Sergeant with the Scranton, PA Supe Squad. Supes are everywhere, and have converged on Scranton due to it's ley lines. Most are pretty bad, but occasionally you find a supe with an honor code.
I like that Stanley wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and he owns up to them and tries his damnedest to make them right.

When a series of gruesome torture murders shows up on the grid, Stan and his partner Karl, set off to investigate.

There were a lot of surprises in this novel. One was Christine the other was his wife. I felt for Stan, I really did. He had it rough for a while.

Hard Spell is a fairly dark and gritty book. It has it's gruesome moments, along with some funny lines. I love books that combine horror and humor. You need that balance sometimes.

There is no romance in this novel. (Bummer, no sex!)

Below slight ending spoiler: Read at own risk

I'll admit to being surprised at the end. I thought Stan was asking Rachel to do something different when He asked her to bring Karl to Christine.

Overall, if you are a fan of Male Leads, and Harry Dresden type novels, then you will most likely enjoy this novel.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Social networking in action! This one has had quite a buzz on Twitter and I was eager to try it. It lived up to the rep, I enjoyed it very much. It has a neat style, coming across primarily as a sort of cool police procedural, with lots of rough language, dry with, very old cop show style. Plus vampire and witches and goblins and many more supernatural things. And taking place in Scranton, PA, a departure in and of itself. It started off a bit, well, not slow by any means, it was interesting throughout, but it wasn't exactly a page turner in the beginning, it just wasn't that kind of story at first. At the beginning we were introduced to the characters and the interesting investigation was rolled out. I enjoyed seeing how all of the pieces of the puzzle were appearing and learning about the characters as we went along as well. But as the investigation built momentum an element of jeopardy was introduced and it became a real page-turner as well. 

Anyone who likes CSI or police shows should really enjoy this book, as well as anyone who enjoys smart and well-written urban fantasy. 

[Ken B · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hard Spell" was a great introduction to "new to me" author, Justin Gustainis.

Gustainis' detective, Stan Markowski, operates in a world where vampires, ghouls, trolls and werewolves are common place. Markowski's job on the Scranton Police Department's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit has him investigating crimes that cross into the supernatural (supe) community or often where the supe community and the human world collide. He walks a philosophical tightrope, balancing the intricacies of his personal life, his long-held beliefs and his professional experience while trying to make the streets of Scranton safe for the good guys, regardless of where they fall as a supe or non-supe.


4 STARS

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine being a detective is difficult enough without specializing in the supernatural. It probably helps that in Justin Gustainis’ alternative world, the existence of supernatural beings from vampires to ghouls to witches has been public knowledge since after World War II. So at least you don’t run into the common problem of everyone thinking you’re crazy. Still, solving mysteries is difficult enough when you don’t have to worry about failure meaning the end of the world as we know it.

Hard Spell takes the path less travelled in urban fantasy and lets the supernatural out of the closet. In fact, Gustainis rewrites the twentieth century to include them, and this was a source of fascination and frustration to me. Fascination, because it means Gustainis—and therefore the reader—can have fun with the laws, precedents, and policies put in place to deal with supernatural threats and crimes. Frustration, because I can’t help but think that if we lived in a world where the supernatural had been more apparent since World War II, then it would somehow be even more different than the one Gustainis portrays. Markowski essentially lives in “Scranton, with monsters”. In alternative history, changing one thing should ripple forward in a wave, not a straight line. The world shouldn’t be “the same, with monsters”. It largely is though.

This one complain aside, Hard Spell is the fairly standard urban fantasy/mystery story. Instead of a hardboiled private investigator, the main character is a Scranton PD detective by the name of Stan Markowski. I really like Gustainis’ portrayal of Markowski and his colleagues. The first-person narration has that somewhat weary, wise-cracking tone one might expect from a detective novel, but Gustainis never overdoes it. Markowski has his biases and his problems, but he genuinely cares about people—even the supernatural ones—and he’s definitely a good cop. Most of the other cops Markowski works with are the same way. This is not a book full of stereotypes of the lazy cop, the racist cop, etc. Every character has their flaws—I found Markowski’s chauvinistic attitude difficult at times—but few of them are bad people. In fact, I would argue that Markowski is remarkably well-adjusted considering how much he has experienced.

A vampire-wizard wants to make himself invincible and able to walk in sunlight. To do this, he needs to sacrifice five vampires to a Sumerian god. The last of those vampires? Stan’s daughter. So aside from, you know, preventing the world from ending, Stan has a very personal stake in this conflict. So does his sometime-ally, Vollman, the local Big Vampire on Campus. Whereas Christine is the victim, her captor and would-be killer is Vollman’s own son. After centuries of trying to reconcile with his estranged offspring, Vollman has finally come to terms with the fact that his son has to die to save the world.

These parallel progeny-related plot points are cool, but not as cool as Stan’s vampire ally. Gustainis walks the middle ground between the happy-shiny vegetarian vampires of that other vampire novel and the dark and brooding, terrifying vampires of Buffy and Stoker and Rice. In general, I lean towards the latter when it comes to fulfilling my government-mandated quota of vampire fiction—but it’s good to know that some authors can do benign vampires well. Granted, Vollman isn’t necessarily a happy-go-lucky “I love humans” kind of guy—but he doesn’t have the same sinister, “I will turn on you at any moment” vibe that a lot of reluctant vampire–human team-ups do in other books. He is a potential antagonist but not necessarily a villain, and I like that.

These shades of grey pervade the mythology of Hard Spell. In addition to vampires that aren’t straight-up evil, Gustainis populates this world with black, grey, and white magic. Witchfinders don’t care about the difference, but the law does. Although magic and witchcraft is only a small part of this book, I enjoyed seeing the various gradations at work, from the grey necromancy that Rachel does at Stan’s request to the out-and-out black magic wielded by Sligo in his quest for apotheosis. In the end, Gustainis avoids the trap of making magic the solution to everything—though I do take issue with how some things are resolved.

Consider Karl’s fate: his injury is near-mortal, and will likely be fatal because the emergency response time at an abandoned pumping station in the middle of nowhere is terrible. Meanwhile, Christine is has only just survived her near-sacrifice at Sligo’s hands, but his use of silver prevents her from healing herself unless she feeds. So Stan, too weak to do much himself, gives Christine permission to feed on Karl and make him into a vampire. He gets not to die (well, he undies, I guess), and she lives (well, unlives). Sounds like a fair deal, right?

Judging from the voiceover-style epilogue we get, Karl doesn’t seem to mind this transition from life to unlife. So I suppose I’m getting outraged over nothing, but … I hate that Stan did that without even asking Karl. He already did it once, with Christine, and now Karl? This could become habit-forming, dude. It’s great that it turned out to be everything Karl had hoped for, but to do it without even asking for his go-ahead seems callous. One would think the Supernatural Crimes division would have some kind of vampiric-transformation clause in their contract, like an organ donor card—initial here if you’re OK with becoming the undead in the event you’re mortally wounded in the line of duty.

Similarly, I’m kind of disappointed that Kulick surrenders Rachel’s body in such a straightforward way. Rachel herself seemed convinced Kulick had a more sinister ulterior motive, but when Stan has no choice but to summon him, Kulick quickly fulfils his end of the deal with no compunctions. What’s up with that? In the best urban fantasy novels, nothing goes right for the protagonist. Here, he has a wizard/vampire and a wizard’s ghost going to bat for him. That’s called stacking the deck, Gustainis, and you’re supposed to do it for the bad guys. It’s no fun if the protagonist wins because he brings superior firepower. Stan didn’t even have much of a plan!

So I’m of two minds about this book. On one hand, it is an exciting adventure in the tradition of urban fantasy mysteries. On the other hand, the story, and in particular its resolution, lacks a certain complexity and sense of challenge that I need in my fiction. I wouldn’t call Hard Spell a great book, but it seems like the beginning of something good—something that could, hopefully, aspire to greatness. Until then … I mean, it has vampires and witches and hardboiled cops saving the world. That has to count for something.

My reviews of the Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series:
Evil Dark →

[Ежко Таралежко · Rating 4 out of 5]

Сигурно е кофти да си детектив от окултния отдел в град Скрантън, САЩ. Има феи самоубийци, огрета с наистина лошо пиянство, гоблини наркомани а и превърналия се във вампир поради твоя грешка партньор постоянно те залива със саркастични забележки. A, да, и фанатична християнска секта се опитва да запали повсеместна междувидова война.

"You want to know more about being a vampire? It really sucks sometimes"

Първата книга на Джъстин Густанис от серията "Екип за разследване на окултни престъпления" има всичко което е нужно за едно добро ърбън фентъзи - добре разработен свят, интригуващ сюжет, свеж хумор и достатъчно секс и насилие за да те държи буден, без да се превръща в гротеска. Светът си е като нашия - имало е втора световна, Тръмп е президент на САЩ, Стайнбек е написал "За елфите и хората", бойците за социална справедливост са оплюли анимацията "Шрек" защото поставя огретата в незавидна светлина, Форд "Екзорсист" е добър вариант за семейна кола...
Добре де, не точно като нашият. Но добре описан, звучащ достоверно (за фентъзи) и забавен, а идеята за ноар роман в него е страхотна. За цялостната оценка помага и образа на главния герой, детектив Стан Марковски, изграден по един доста Марлоуски тертип - изтъкан от ирония, мрачен реализъм и крайна умора. Фактът че има тийн дъщеря с не-мъртви проблеми също не помага за доброто му настроение.

Силно препоръчвам книжката, и тайно се надявам някое родно издателство да обърне внимание на поредицата - било то и за да покаже, че в категорията "ърбън фентъзи" не влизат само пасквили включващи бледна тийнеджърка и произволен митологичен звяр със сексуални апетити.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent."

OK, I know, that's from "Dragnet."

That was my first take when I started reading this book.
I was hearing Joe Friday in my head.
"This is the city - Scranton, Pennsylvania." - Stan Markowski-Police Officer-Occult Crimes Unit
Get it?
I think Gustainis did.

First disclosure: I received a copy of this book/series from the author requesting an "honest review."
Mr. Gustainis hit me up in the comments section of one of my reviews for one of my favorite "Anti-heroes," "Sandman Slim." Similar genre and one of my favorite genres so...OK, I'll bite.

Second disclosure: The first time I had received such an offer from a different publisher/author I was not impressed and I gave that "honest review." [Title undisclosed here] I am guessing, much to the chagrin of said author/publisher. This is to say-getting a free book does not mean I will speak kindly about said book.

Third disclosure: I enjoyed the hell out of this book (pun initially unintended, but once discovered left in). First ten pages-I thought I was not going to like it. By page 15, I was hooked. Read it in a flash and loved it.

For those of you who regularly read my reviews, you know I tend to not summarize the book and regularly note-'that is better left to dust-jackets.' I like to write about the writing, how the book made me feel, my relation to the characters...did it turn me on.
For the purposes of this review and how I came upon this book, I feel compelled to add a little narrative detail.

Our protagonist's name is Stan Markowski.
A little gruff. A little weathered. Mostly unflappable.
He works as a detective who investigates crimes that involve the supernatural or "supes" as he calls them.
This is introduced straightaway as the reader will see mention of Werewolves, Vampires, Wizards and other. I started to get turned off by Gustainis' overuse of his own colloquialism, "supes," but as time went on I forgave.
What happened next was what brought me in.
Gustainis infused known history with his "supernatural history."
Dr. King was mentioned, as was Kennedy. I began laughing out loud when McCarthy stopped persecuting "Commies" and turned his attention to the "Supies" and, I quote the asking: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a coven?"
I see you snickering.
I take it back. That was page five.
Hooked in then and kept running.

What happened from there, after initial introductions and scene settings, was a pretty decent plotline surrounded by entertaining subplots.
The main line focuses on the hunt for a stolen tome of power called the "Opus Mago" (Not Mr. Magoo, Opus Mago).
The person or persons who had stolen said tome have dastardly plans some of which you have seen in other stories, but it does not feel derivative.
The language is strong, but appropriate and not overused.
The characters are well-built, likeable and quite 'real' as odd as that may sound in this constructed, 'unreal' setting.
Markowski is entirely relatable and I found myself caring.
Once an author has you 'caring' that author has you for the lot.

Where the writer loses marks: As noted-overuse of the cliché and constructed conventions.
There are some scenarios in which we read what should be some detailed brutality. Where the author does not shy away from using "blue language" he shirked his responsibility to me, as the reader, to properly describe the scenes.
I kept reading about how "awful" the mutilation was or a reference to large quantities of "blood," but the book lost some power here as these tableaus were not fully rendered. I admit, my stomach for such is strong, but while the gore was implied it was rarely depicted. A character would look or not look/vomit or not vomit. That was about it. One scene in particular comes to mind towards the end of the novel. You'll know it when you read it.
The author also indulged himself a few times too many in areas that this writer feels an editor should have told Gustainis to omit.
One scene written with a "devil" on one shoulder and an "angel" on the other went on for about two to three pages when it should have been about four lines. One scene depicted a battle as envisioned going through a time-sequence that passed through far too many a century.
You get the idea.
All such transgressions against the reader were far and few as well as forgivable in light of the quality of the rest of the book.

If you are a fan of "Urban Fiction" with your "Pulp" intact, I recommend you read this book.
If you are a Richard Kadrey fan (Sandman Slim), a Mike Carey fan (Felix Castor) or a Jim Butcher fan (Harry Dresden) then you must read this book.
It is quite good.
Highly entertaining.
Well-written.
Funny where it should be and fast enough to get through in a night if one were so inclined.
Before writing this review...I'm already 35 pages into book #2, "Evil Dark."
I hope that tells you something.

Enjoy

Namaste~

(Twitter: @camuspam)

[Trekscribbler · Rating 4 out of 5]

HARD SPELL Ain't No 'Hard Sell'

“My name is Markowski. I carry a badge.” And so it begins, the continuing saga of Scranton PD’s Occult Crimes Unit lead detective, Stan Markowski, as detailed by author Justin Gustainis in the Angry Robot imprint, HARD SPELL.

To be fair, this is the second book I’ve read off the Angry Robot imprint. The first one? Well, let’s just leave it at it was written by another author, and I found it so confusing that I didn’t even write a review. HARD SPELL, on the other hand, has its own charm … enough charm, in fact, that I’ve no doubt that it can fuel a series of novels featuring the lead detective, his partner, and his department.

The story? I’m glad you asked.

Flash forward to a time wherein vampires, witches, and warlocks on not so much things of myth, but they’re real, so real that they’re required to be ‘licensed’ or, at least, ‘aware’ of by the local police department. Into this world comes a hybrid – a possible vampire/sorcerer – and you’ve got something that spells trouble with a capital T. It’s a good thing that Stan’s on the case because – before this is all over – it may well spell the doom for all of mankind … or, minimally, Scranton, Pennsylvania. To say more? Why, that’d spoil the surprise. Let’s just say it all goes to heck in a handbasket – with Markowski even holding a high personal stake in the whole bloody affair. Anything else would contain spoilers, and that’s a no-no.

In all seriousness, Gustainis does a terrific job keeping the pace here. He gives his ‘occult procedural’ its own science in its own reality, and, for the most part, all of it works to great effect. The only overwhelming impression I can share that won’t spoil the fun is that ‘the fun’ as it is – Gustainis’s heavily established ‘sense of fun’ in narrating this contemporary spin in a hard-boiled world – is that ‘the fun’ kinda/sorta comes and goes pretty quickly from section-to-section of the book. Clearly, this is told from Markowski’s point-of-view; in the early pages, it’s all done very tongue-in-cheek, but that disappears a few sections in (the book contains no traditional chapter breaks). After that, that same tone re-emerges sporadically throughout the tale, giving the book an oddly uneven feel at times. Am I supposed to find this funny? Clearly, not all of it, because there’s some obvious violence – with blood, guts, and splatter involved – and he presents that with the requisite grimness. Am I supposed to take all of this seriously? Clearly, that’s not the case, either, as lead Markowski has some fun with the particulars at his own expense. It’s finding that balance – knowing when to pull the tongue out of the cheek – that could use some polish in the novels ahead for writer Gustainis. I’ve no doubt that, once he does that, he’ll have a winning formula to fuel his success … and excess! I enjoyed the book more when it dabbled in that sense of fun than I did some of the more serious moments, but it’s still a world I’d be happy to revisit in future adventures.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Fans of noir might find some prose to get jazzed about here as the author explores some of his dark world’s seedier elements. Fans of the more hard-boiled detective genre will get an occasional kick of out Markowski, a tough guy with a soft spot he’ll always keep away from vampires and their ilk. I’m not sure that ‘urban fantasy’ purists will be excited about it, mostly that’s because I’ve read very little ‘urban fantasy’ to date, but it mostly fits with what I’ve seen elsewhere. Casual readers should find it just good, gory fun.

Justin Gustainis should be commended for launching his own tent-pole book – a franchise he can build upon in the years ahead.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing that drew me to Justin Gustainis’ Hard Spell is the cover. The layout, title and art style are all explicitly designed to mimic that of Hard Case Crime, itself a recent imprint (founded in 2004) whose covers are known to mimic pulp covers of the 40s and 50s. Always on the lookout for clever use of the fantastic combined with pulpish fun Hard Spell quickly jumped to the top of my read list. While Gustainis has written several other novels in the Urban Fantasy vein this is my first foray with his work.

Hard Spell takes place in the supernatural mecca of Scranton, PA (apparently a major nexus of ley lines) and features Detective Stan Markowksi of the Scranton PD’s Supernatural Crimes department. It’s Markowksi’s job to investigate crimes by and against the “supe” community; it’s not a job he always likes but come hell or high water he will get the job done. The novel is narrated in his delightfully dour voice that expertly mimics the tone of a noirish voice over. There is a sort genuine delight in reading Markowski’s wry, sardonic narration that manages to stave off any difficulties with the exposition heavy introduction. There is a certain humor to Markowski’s run down of US history in the supernatural infused world of Hard Spell. I was particularly taken with the brief section oregarding Dr. Martin Luther King:

There was a rumor going around that J. Edgar Hoover had a tape of King “entertaining” a vampire, but I don’t believe that. No human as good as Dr. King would mess around with a vamps. Probably. But nobody’s ever explained why the bullet that killed him was made of solid silver.

There is (to my sense anyway) something of a wry smile and a wink in that delivery. Or later when Markowski states that he and his partner were looking into “fairy-bashing” there is something of a wink in that sort-of play on words. It isn’t the most elegant of introductions but Markowski’s voice makes it work. (Note: Because I need to mention it, I love that SWAT stands for Sacred Weapons and Tactics, and has volunteer trained clergyman on it.)

The opening, eventually involving Goblin meth heads holding up a liquor store, also does a great job at laying out one important fact: while the perpetrators or victims might be supernatural in origin the crimes are the same.

Markowski is often played as the typical tough guy with a voice and dialogue straight out of a cop drama. However, over the course of the novel Gustainis carefully doles bits of information about him that help round him out some. Despite he seems an individual defined be his job, the reason for which is revealed in the novel, and there is some hope at the novel’s end that we might see Marksowksi evolve into a more dynamic character as the series progresses. However, Hard Spell is very much a procedural; a format not known for rapidly evolving character beyond their start mode.

Hard Spell is an exciting entry into the urban fantasy genre and is one of the first in a long time to really embrace the noir and crime fiction parallel in a meaningful way. Gustainis has developed a fascinating world that closely resembles our own but is just different enough to prove exciting. His clever insertion of supernatural aspects into the everyday lives of humanity is welcome change from the all-too-frequent shadowy underworld aspect. I look forward to seeing more of Markowski and crew in future cases of Occult Crimes Unit Investigation.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a real honest to goodness Detective story! When I first got this book in the mail, one look at the cover and the voice of Dan Aykroyd from Dragnet (1987) popped in my head - and THAT is the voice of Stan :)

This book is awesome! It starts off explaining the way the Supernatural’s (Supes) came to be known to the world (when Vamps and Were's came home from WW II ) and now living in an everyday life with the rest of us plain old humans .

Stan Markowski is a human - and he's a Decective - but he keeps the peace between the Supes.

The book starts off with Stan and his partner going into a local liquor store - nothing strange, just a couple of goblins hyped up on Meth with 2 hostages trying to rob the place.
*note* these Goblins are really cute :) Little green furry guys who speak very little English - so hearing Stan speak like Tarzan is really funny :)
Everything seems to be going well, until they notice the third goblin that was hiding from them...

A few weeks later, Stan and his new partner Renfer... Karl Renfer (He's a big James bond Fan :) Anyways - they get a call and head out to an old abandoned warehouse - Karl stays in the car while Stan checks it out - inside he finds 13 witches calling forth a demon - which is considered black magic - and black magic is illegal. SO when Stan jumps in to interrupt, things get a little crazy.

A few months later ... they get a call to a Supe's house - where they find a man tied to a chair after he was tortured to death. At first they didn't understand why they were called out - looked like a normal human's death - something for the police to get involved in, only this guy had a mark of a wizard on his wrist - which meant the crime was for them to get involved in.

For 5 full nights - Stan and Karl came up empty handed with no leads as to why this Wizard was tortured - and what was stolen out of his safe (They left the money, so obviously something of more value was in the safe)

Stan finally had about all he could handle and decided to call in a favor. Rachel Proctor is a witch - and she knows how to perform Necromancy - Only Necromancy is black magic, and she just doesn't do that stuff. But with the court's ok - making it Police business, it turns into Grey Magic - black magic used for good.
Against all of Rachel's better instincts, she agrees to it.
It takes her a full day of non-stop preparations for this type of thing. When She and Stan get to the graveyard to set up, everything was going perfect... Until something goes wrong.. very very VERY Wrong…

The plot thickens when we find out what was stolen out of the safe and Stan and Karl are forced to work with Vollman "The Man" of Vampires who happens to be a Wizard as well. He knows a lot of things that is going on. and when the strange and bazaar killings start to accrue, Vollman starts keeping little important things to himself. So Stan decides to broaden his search and find information himself. He has a lot of good contacts :)

It was a lot of fun reading this book :)
For the record, this isn't a romance book - Rachel was just a friend, and he has a couple of other female friends in the book, too but nothing but a few flirtation remarks accure. and I Love Stan's Humor - He's got a LOT of funny come backs (in his mind)

All and all this is a great book :) Glad I got the chance to read it :)

[jD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard Spell was so much more than what I expected. I have not read any other work by Justin Gustainis but I can tell by this offering that he is a talented writer.

The hero and main character is Officer Stan Markowski. He is a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. In Markowski's world supernatural beings such as weres, vamps, gobblins, witches, and nightmare creatures are real and have civil rights. I purchased this book earlier in the summer shortly after it's release but did not get into it because Markowski was just an ordinary human. It did not take me long to overcome this and every hesitation and preconceived notion I subscribed to.

Stan tells the story so we only have his perspective and what a hoot that perspective can be at times.

Stan's typical narration:
A hundred feet or so ahead, a black cat was just starting to lead three of her kittens across the wide street. I'm fond of animals, so I figured I'd better speed up a little - that way, I'd be past them and be gone before they reached my side of the road. I could've just slowed down and let them go first, but that would mean a black cat - hell, four of them - would be crossing my path. I'm not superstitious or anything, but I still thought that was a bad idea.

Another example of Stan's mind:
"Well, I'm grateful to you both," Prescott said. "Thank you for saving me. Thank you very, very much."
Strokes sometimes change people's personalities. If that's what happened here. I figured I was going to like Prescott 2.0 better than the original version.

Stan narrating another scene:
I slowly pushed my sport coat back and reached for the Beretta on my right hip. A second later, I heard the soft click as Karl thumbed back the hammer on the Glock he carried.
"What're you packing?" I asked softly.
"Silver, cold iron, and garlic-tipped lead, alternating," he said, "You?"
"Straight silver," I told him, "but it's been blessed by the Bishop."

I could go on and on. There was never a boring moment in Stan's delivery of the events surrounding the supernatural case involving demons, vampires, wizards, witches, and wiz/vamp hybrids. There are plenty of other undead and unnatural beings, too many to list here. The editing was on point. The story is full length with no cliffhanger. There were a few things that irked me, after all nothing is perfect. I didn't like that I could not grasp Stan's age or that of his daughter. He was north of 30 maybe even past 40. I did not have any idea what he looked like so I didn't know if he was a muffin shaped cop or built like a Greek God. That matters to me. I am very visual and need to see in my mind's eye what a character looks like. The cover doesn't provide any help.

I highly recommend this to readers of Dresden Files and Nightside. You will be surprised by what a mere human can do to survive a jungle full of supernatural predators. I believe it would be fine for YA UF fans as there is no sex or foul language, just violence. Overall, I Loved It!

[Shera (Book Whispers) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Urban Fantasy

The first 20 to 30 pages of this book were an utter fail for me. The potential was there, but the book kept jumping around all willy-nilly. To me a good book doesn’t need to throw things out randomly at the beginning to build the story and the world, the author reveals it bit by bit through the eyes of the character. Despite this terrible start, Hard Spell pulls out beautifully and delivers a fantastic investigative story that gives readers a gritty insight to being a Detective. Not just any detective but a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit.

Stan Markowski is said detective. He’s seen everything from Goblins hyped up on meth holding a liquor store up, to grizzly scenes that give senior officer nightmares. He’s not the standard lead for an urban fantasy read (unbearably hot and dominating, with all the ladies falling all over the place). Stan is middle aged and waving good bye to his prime. Stan’s sly wit on a case and flashy comebacks balance out the darker side of him. He’s suffered and it’s not of that dramatic stuff that ladies woo over. It’s hard core real world loss that makes you get a little teary eyed.

Justin Gustainis has created an authentic world where monsters and mankind coexist. Being human doesn’t always equal being good, and the true monsters aren’t always the things with fangs. The paranormal have always existed alongside humans. When World War II occurred troops returning home came back “changed” and with the advancement of technology the paranormal creatures could finally immigrate to the USA. From there Gustainis has merged his history and world together well, the religions and how it’s affected the people. (Not to say there aren’t a few gaping questions.)

We can’t forget the crime fighting forces! It’s so fun finding out what an author has chosen to name their versions of the FBI, CIA, and so on. My favorite for Hard Spell was the SWAT (or Sacred Weapons and Tactics unit). Let’s just say even if this book was a fail, I’d still push onward just for more information on the SWAT team.

After the terrible beginnings there is a rainbow! In Hard Spells case there’s an amazing mystery, heart pounding action, and enough twist and turns to make a reader feel like they’re the ones getting beaten to death instead of the characters. Stan Markowski is a refreshing male lead in a genre where male leads are sparse and poorly written. The cast of characters are ones a reader can care about and look forward to meeting up with in the next book. In all honesty, there's no excuse to not get this one!

Sexual content: Some sexual humor and such. There is some gritty talk about “working” women on the streets. On the whole pretty clean.

Rating: 4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

Originally posted at Book Whispers.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly, I am about to "date myself"by referencing a TV show actually older I am! Stan Markowski, the Detective Sergeant who wrote the How to Recognize a Vampire Guest Post yesterday is a lot of Dragnet's Joe Friday and a lot of CSI or another modern police procedural drama. Now, Dragnet's Joe Friday, played by the shows creator and producer, Jack Webb, would start each episode off by describing a person and a crime then he would say, My name is Friday. I carry a badge

This is a good example of Urban Fantasy mixed with Police Procedural. There is no sex, although body parts are referenced, but there is violence. It is on a level with the Anita Blake series.

I enjoyed the story. It is well written and there were a few times I had to look a word up in a dictionary. One regionalism is used that I found in the Urban Dictionary: Haina is a word common in the Wyoming Valley where Scranton (the books locale) is located. It derives from, and means, Ain't It. At first I thought it was Hawaiian.

The characters are well-defined. Some are straight-forward and some we don't know much about except salient facts. Stan is a Joe Friday character—a cop's cop. He has a hard side but knows when something has to be let go. Recovering from the loss of a partner, he is a little wary. His new partner Karl Renfer is also partner is young, interested in the job, and he and Marklowski suit each other well as they share an an equally dry sense of humor. He usually knows what to say to turn Markowski's head around. Karl, I believe, is a sensitive, I mean in the psychic sense. That sense makes him perceptive and allows him to haul Markowski's fat out of the fire a couple of times. Interesting but not overpowering details are given for several incidental characters. Such detail helps place Stan in a community; and I really felt he was part of this Alternate-Scranton. This adds to the "realness" of this Urban Fantasy. That seems to be a gift the author brings to the story.

The story is interesting, and very creative. The prose is well written and droll, which especially suits the cops. The interactions between the cops is realistic banter at times and serious at others. Gustainis makes the impossible believable partly through that important comic acting skill, not acting as if you are acting funny. In this case it would be don't act like you know how much disbelief is being suspended, and on the other hand there is a definite time before which the regular humans didn't know these things that go bump in the night are really here and are very bumpy. Sometimes the language is crude, especially in reference to women by male officers and by one female officer to, as far as I could tell, everyone.

The books pace was good. The story had enough twists to make it unpredictable. It was fun and nostalgic, a bit edgy but not enough that I wasn't able to put it down. I recommend the book and think it may be a book men enjoy as well as women.

[Jennie Ivins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis is the first book in the Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series. Its first person narrative follows Detective Stan Markowski as he and his partner Karl Renfer try to solve a series of gruesome murders.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book as I knew nothing about it until I received it in the mail (I won it in a contest done by the publisher, Angry Robot Books). The back blurb reminded me of the old cop series my sister and I used to watch on TV growing up and the story itself did not disappoint.

The setting for the story is an alternate version of present day. In the book’s altered history, supernatural elements from Europe (i.e. werewolves, vampires, and ghouls) were brought back to the States after World War II. While initially despised, supernaturals, or supes, were eventually granted equal rights with humans during the American Civil Rights movement. Now supes are everywhere, and just like humans some are law-abiding citizens and some are, well, less law-abiding.

Stan Markowski is the typical hard-boiled detective whose job is working on cases where either the suspect or the victim is a supe. He’s good at his job and bad at dealing with his family. He has skeletons in his closet, but is trying to do the right things in life. He’s not a super-genius but he is very streetwise and always knows when he’s in over his head, even if it’s too late to do anything about it. And in this world were goblins do meth and True Blood is a documentary, Stan is just trying to keep his town safe and do his best to keep his partner and himself alive one more night.

This was a really fun story to read. It wasn’t very deep and if you ever seriously watched cop shows on TV there won’t be a lot of surprises. But the whole concept of a world where you call 911 in case of emergency and 666 in case of a supernatural emergency is just cool in my mind. My favorite thing about this story is its flavor. Unlike some of the other urban fantasy I’ve read, this is a place where otherworldly things are no longer mystical and seeing a werewolf at the grocery store is something that most people take for granted. Overall it was an interesting take on the genre, fun read if you like cop/detective serials, and I give it 4-1/2 stars. And for myself, I will definitely be picking up book two! :)

Hard Spell is due out in the US on July 26th and is available now in the UK and in ebook format. The sequel, Evil Dark, will be available in April 2012.

For disclosure purposes, I won an ARC copy of Hard Spell from the publisher in a giveaway contest, but chose to review it on my own. Winning the book did not influence my opinion in this review. :)

Read the complete review on Fantasy-Faction.

[Leiah Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My name’s Markowski, a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD’s Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. I carry a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets." - Markowski, Hard Spell

Death is when the monsters get you. - Stephen King

Scranton, Pennsylvania fifty years after WWII is a different place than one might expect. When millions of Americans poured into Europe to fight in the war, they picked up a little something extra to bring back home besides war wives and interesting STD's. Quaint little things like cases of werewolves and vampires and zombies (oh, my!) Needless to say, it changed the way life is lived in the good ol' US of A. Instead of McCarthy going after 'Commies' he gets to do real, honest-to-goodness witch hunts - for real witches. . .

There is a lot to like about Hard Spell. There is humor and a great deal of creativity that I got a kick out of. Gustainis writes an engaging tale with a strong noir flavour which reminds me quite a bit of the feeling I get from the Nightside stories by Simon R. Green - one of my favorite series of all time. There is a feeling of reality in the very unreal situations of the book, which was pleasing. However, the role of women characters in the book was, well, I hesitate to say "demeaning" but it comes very close to the razor edge of treating women as lesser beings - something that I found less than enjoyable. Even the female SWAT team member was portrayed in a less than admirable manner - something that irritated me to no end. I wanted to shake the author and remind him that "noir" doesn't equate with "testosterone poisoning."

I listened to the book - the Audible edition. As much as I enjoyed Gustainis' work, I cannot say the same for the narrator. He was, in a word, completely irritating. What narrator worth his salt cannot be bothered to check pronunciations?!?! The guy STINKS at pronunciation! Come on - you don't know how to pronounce "were" as in "werewolf??" Weer (like a Bostonian we're) is not even close to correct, Peter. It is rather insulting to the author that you can't be bothered to take a moment to learn pronunciations. Especially for such common terms.

Overall, I knocked a full star off for poor narration. Another half star for some problems with trite characterizations (especially the handling of Markowski's first partner) and with his tendency to treat his characters with something less than respect. Overall, however, this was a completely bad introduction to the series. I hope to find a more well rounded volume with the next in the series, Evil Dark: Occult Crimes Unit Investigations, Book 2 - though I won't be buying the Audible edition. Five more minutes of Peter Brooke and I may have been forced to throw my reader across the room. . .

3.5 stars

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little stressed....ambivalent about the rating here. had we half stars I'd have gone 2.5. On the other hand I didn't want to go a simple 2 as that means (for me) that it's verging between almost dislike and dislike. The book itself is pretty good but there are things about it that truly bug me.

First just so you know some of what I don't care for comes from my own pet peeve list. I'm reading the book(s) (at least the first couple) but I really don't care for "sympathetic" vampires. I subscribe to the Dracula/Nosferatu (even Buffy the Vampire Slayer) school of vampires. In short that vampires are not the people they look like but "other creatures" residing in the dead body of the person the turned. NOW NOTE: THAT IS NOT THE TEMPLATE OF THIS BOOK. HERE VAMPS ARE APPARENTLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED AND THEN SOMEHOW BECOME UNDEAD AND NOW CONSUME BLOOD. THEY CAN BE BAD OR GOOD.

So, know that going in. There are a lot of books out there with good, friendly, romantic even...sparkly vampires. This series will join that group.

So what have we got? Our hero is a cop who works the "Supe Squad" (Supernatural Squad). He and his partner investigate crimes against "supes" and by "supes". Here they catch a series of murders of vampires. The thing is they don't seem to be you simple run of the mill vampire murders (that is if there are simple run of the mill vampire murders). They aren't even victims of a "simple run of the mill serial killer of vampires (see above note). No, these may..."may" be part of something, more.

This is a "pretty good" book. It's got some flaws in the writing, though not many. I have the audio book from Audible and the reader is again "okay" not great. There are some odd "voice" choices.

I'm a Christian and we get a couple of stereotypical religious fanatics. Our reader chooses to give them a "hick southern accent" even though they are from New England. That did bug me a little.

Still all in all not a bad book. I bought the first 2 so I'll move on to the next. If it runs about equal to this one I doubt I'll spend more (or use another credit) on them, so the verdict is still out on the series for me.

I'd say give it a chance and see for yourself. Some of you will like these much better than I do I'm sure.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun paranormal detective story. Nothing deep and about what I expected, but at least it wasn't "woke".

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Set in Scanton, Pennsylvania, a veritable hotbed of paranormal activity, Stan Markowski and his new partner, Karl Renfer, race the clock trying to find out who ritualistically killed a powerful vampire magician. When a spell goes seriously awry, Stan is unwittingly responsible for putting another close friend and colleague in terrible danger.

The uneasy, untested relationship between Stan and Karl was realistic and believable. As their partnership gained cohesion there developed between them a comraderie and trust that felt very natural. Adversity and occasional set-backs only further cemented their partnership. This book combines nail-biting suspense and contemporary forensic science with a magical element full of twists resulting in the creation of a story that is totally captivating and difficult to put down. I hope this is but the first in a series and there are more escapades in store for us in future installments. Reminiscent of Jim Butcher’s, Dresden Files series and P.N. Elrod’s, Vampire Files, but with a decidedly darker, snarkier tone, this is an author to keep on your radar screen.

Thanks so much to Net Galley and Angry Robot who provided this book to me in return for my honest review.

Laurie-J

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to be a Law & Order junkie. I watched every incarnation of the show. As soon as I started reading this book, I had to laugh, as it immediately struck me as Law & Order detectives investigate the paranormal. The voice is thick and heavy, abounding with profanity and dry wit, with a gravelly noire feel. Sure, it's a cliche, but one that has some truth to it from what I've seen. Plus, why mess with a good formula? You have a cop who recently lost his partner. You have the new partner, who you're not sure about trusting yet. There's the boss who's about as prickly as a porcupine. Family drama. A loathing of vampires, and yet a case now where the vamps are the murder vics--so you have to set aside your prejudices and do the damn job.

Really, the fun of the book is because it does follow the cop show tropes, yet subverts them with paranormal twists every so often. Like the acronym SWAT: Sacred Weapons and Tactics Unit. They bring along holy water, silver bullets, a cop with samurai swords, a flamethrower, and a minister, rabbi, and Jesuit to pray together and nullify any nasty black magic.

I read a lot of urban fantasy. I can be jaded about the genre at times. This one is fresh and fun. It reminds me of what I loved about Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander, where a nurse works the hidden paranormal wing of a hospital.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world where the paranormal is just another dark part of normal, cops will surely need a specialized crime squad to deal with magic and myth. Author Justin Gustainis provides just the team, with Detective Stan Markowski , who carries badge and crucifix, wooden stakes and more. SWAT team takes on a whole new meaning (Sacred Weapons and Tactics) but works the same way, and violence and politics continue their underhand agreements, just as in the real world. Just read the Scranton Times-Tribune and see.

The (imaginative) swearing will either offend or amuse. But the story will keep any fans of the Dresden Files or other urban fantasies happily engaged in a well-drawn world, with well-timed secrets, convincing narrative voice, and a gleeful mix of mystery, detective work, modern gadgets and spiritual powers.

Hard Spell is a fast-flowing story with great characters, cool scares, and an enjoyable depth. Tongue in cheek, stake in heart, gory disaster and pleasing hope—it doesn’t dwell too long in any one place, but pulls the reader on through the streets of Scranton to a place where the whole world might change. I can’t wait to read more.

Disclosure: The author kindly gave me a free ecopy and I love it.

[Ladiibbug · Rating 5 out of 5]

#1 Occult Crimes Unit Investigation - Urban Fantasy

Strong 5 stars! Superb hard boiled UF, exceptionally well written, outstanding complex plot, fast moving, characters sharply described -- BRAVO!

Highly Recommend to UF fans.

Kicking myself for having this on the shelf for so long.

Stan Markowski and Karl Renfer are with Scranton, PA's Occult Crime Unit. "America has an uneasy 'live and let unlive' relationship with the supernaturals. The OCU steps in when the a witch casts a forbidden spell, or a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim" (back cover).

The book takes off like a Bat out of Hell, with Stan and Karl dispatched to deal with a domestic dispute, involving an angry wizard with a charged wand, then on to hunting down goblins on meth. *No Spoilers* but gorier crimes occur involving "supes", and even the OCU's witch get involved to head off a supernatural catastrophe.

Loved the various mentions of "supes" -- trolls, ogres, fairies. You name 'em, they probably are part of the plot, or we learn intriguing, often humorous, tidbits about them.

#2 Evil Dark should arrive any day!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick and engaging read that spins far closer to cop-noir than the typical urban fantasy.

It struck me as the cops' end of Law & Order with vampires and assorted horror types...and I could easily see the POV cop played by Jerry Orbach.

Well worth the time to read if you like urban fantasy and police procedurals. No major surprises but a fun melange of elements that make for a fast read.