This just needs to be said: Felix Renn kicks ass.

I'd previously read about half of this book through the first three Felix Renn chapbooks published by Burning Effigy. Temporary Monsters was fun. Ash Angels was bleak. And Black Eyed Kids was scary as hell. There's one particular scene that scared the shit out of me, and there's really only a couple of times a story has done that to me. The only other time I believe I was as scared as I was with BEK was when Danny Torrance met the woman in Room 217 in The Shining.

So this time out, I got the excellent introduction by Mike Carey, a short story called My Body and the centrepiece of this collection, The Brick. Only Ian Rogers could make a brick a partner to a PI. And not only does he pull it off, he absolutely smokes it. I loved the longer form story format for this one, as it allowed Rogers to roll in additional characters and locales while building to an unforgettable climax with the monster of the piece, the Whyver, which is just brilliant.

If you haven't read anything by Rogers, then do yourself a favour and grab both SuperNOIRtual Tales from Burning Effigy Press and Every House Is Haunted from ChiZine. You won't be disappointed. ( )