William Schlichter

* I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. *

This is a clever and inventive novel about a dwarf detective who operates in Prohibition-era New York. Dragons and mages occupy senior government positions, and the fae have just won the vote. Blackmane is dragged to a crime scene by Edgeangel, a mage FBI agent, to discover that the victim is his human partner Mason. Edgeangel tasks Sirgrus with solving the crime, which very quickly leads him into contretemps with both a dragon-born rum-runner and his human competitor. Sirgrus has just two days to solve Mason's murder, and pacify both crime lords, or lose his life too.

This could have just been an enjoyable romp, but Schlichter lends it a weightier tone. Sirgrus served with Mason in the trenches of the Great War; dwarves were assigned to human units to assist with digging the trenches. They fought together against orcs allied with the Germans in a series of bloody pitched battles. Sirgrus is prone to horrific flashbacks of his war experiences. These war scenes lift the novel above being just a hard-boiled crime caper, and make it a more serious read.… (más)

It's the 1920s. Prohibition is in full force and the mob are making millions from moonshine. But the rumrunners are elves and dragons, and the dodgy part of town is controlled by fairies.

Sirgrus Blackmane: Demihuman Gumshoe isn't your typical noir crime thriller. For a start, Sirgrus is a dwarf. And he has PTSD from fighting in World War One -- against the orcs. Aside from that, he has all the ordinary problems that a private detective has: his partner has just been murdered and he has three days to solve it or he'll find himself swimming with the fishes.

I really enjoyed this noir thriller with a twist. Mixing historical fiction with fantasy works well in this universe. Sirgrus Blackmane is a typical cynical gumshoe with a deeply-buried heart of gold, but the addition of elements from his Dwarfish culture prevents him from becoming stereotypical. In fact, most of the stereotypes of elves, fairies and dragons are busted in this world.

The depictions of Sirgrus' PTSD started to seem a little repetitive after a while, but this reflected the obsessive ruminating that comes along with the disorder, so I feel they were excusable. There were a couple of twists I didn't see coming which made the story more fun and kept me hanging on to the end. The subtitle of the book seems to imply there might be more on the way, and I do hope that's the case!

Would I read more by this author? Definitely!

Please note: this book was provided for me to read and review by
LibraryThing's Early Reviewer programme. You can rest assured however,
that this is (as always) an honest review!… (más)

A support group for serial killers? In this era of self realization, this may not be as far fetched as one might think. In this book, a group of serial killers meet regularly in secret places to talk about their crimes, their drives to commit them and how they plan to control their desires. Problem is, one member of the group is not what he claims to be and this leads to complications.
The author definitely has a vivid imagination when it comes to descriptions of murders. Some of them are particularly gruesome. Each individual killer has his or her own special method of selecting victims and then killing them. As unlikely as a self-help group for this crew might be, it does allow the author to explore the nuances of those with "unusual" desires.
If there is any weak spot in this book, in my opinion it was the ending. I felt that it was a bit too rushed and abrupt - that there was more to tell. Perhaps there will be a sequel. If so, then the ending might make more sense. Nonetheless, this is a good read.… (más)