Imagine an acid trip having a baby with a Fellini movie during a blood drive after the lights go out. That's how I sum this one up quickly. It's gory, full of amoral characters, uber-odd monsters, and magic, with a most flawed protagonist. All of it works quite nicely, but don't forget to look under the bed before turning the lights out. ( )

There aren’t actually any NYC subway scenes in this book, sadly, which features an evil law firm in the vein of Wolfram and Hart with just a little bit of the Laundry Files (yes, we support eldritch horrors, but the ones that eat us more slowly than the other kinds). Julie, the protagonist, starts out dissipated with drugs and alcohol but sobers up quickly as her friend/crush Sarah arrives in town with an abusive spouse on her heels; meanwhile, Tyler, Julie’s evil ex, is trying to use her demon-slaying talents to rise in the law firm’s hierarchy. It ends too rapidly and with lots of sequel fodder, but it was fine while I’m waiting for more Stross. ( )

So good! Really looking forward to the second book. ( )

Ummmmm Awesome/Grooooossss!! This is an action-packed, gore riddled, Magically Realistic, New York City-centric Fantasy... one that I went into blind and boy did I get a surprise... absolute carnage!! I can not stress enough how very graphic the butchering is!! There is gore galore... a bevy, a cornucopia, a smorgasbord of icky/gooey/stomach turning Yuck... and I mean that Yuck in the nicest way possible!!

This story is interesting, gripping, and steeped in Human, monster, Gods (??) & Other viscera/pulppy bits. After coming out of this story in one piece and sated, it feels weird to admit my appreciation simply because of its disturbing nature. I never thought I'd be one to enjoy such brutal barbarism yet here we are... I truly enjoyed this book... gore and all! It was so engrossing, the havoc ended up being tolerable even for me, a relative newbie to the Horror genre. I can 1000% see this being someone's cuppa, but for me?? It's a mixed bag. The underlying premise and execution were both addictive and deftly crafted BUT the overwhelming amount of gorey adverbs, verbs, and adjectives were nearly too much to digest.

Overall:
I listened to this audiobook via Audible (not a sponsored ad), and the whole time I sat there both enmeshed and simultaneously fighting the urge to puke. I'm not kidding at all... some of the absolute vilest details this book gifted us with had me dry heaving. If you like your prose rich, descriptive, with an extreme helping of ewwwwwwww, you'll love this disturbingly graphic tale!! Also, I have been a huge fan of the narrator, Natalie Naudus' work for a while now and she absolutely did not disappoint with this one!

I have read on GoodReads that this is labeled as Cosmic Horror. I have zero qualms with that label... it is both about Cosmic beings and, after reading my ranting review thus far, you'll agree that I would 100% classify the rest as Horror... yucky, stomach roiling, descriptive, elaborative, loquacious Horror. I not only tolerated the grim and gross, I truly enjoyed myself to boot. I'm now on the lookout for book #2... bring on the blech!!

~ Enjoy ( )

I received a free copy from Tor in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wild, gory, swear-filled adventure and I'm here for it. I'll say, I typically don't read books with a lot of gore or body horror - it's not my thing. I did not realize this book was going to be so friggen disgusting. That said, I think it really worked in the world Khaw and Kadrey created. I was cringing and saying "ew" outloud though, so just be warned if, like me, this usually isn't your thing.

Even with the detailed descriptions of nasty shit, I was having a great time. Julie is one of those "down on their luck, morally grey" protagonists, which I love to see. Sometimes you want to smack her, sometimes you're cheering for her - it's great. I also usually enjoy books that incporate magic/monsters/demons into our modern day life, so this checked another box for me. The opening scene takes place in a club, with a bachelorette party, and it hooked me immediately. Unexpectedly, this book also focuses on the...corporate side of making deals with demons. I can't recall reading anything quite like that before and I feel like a lot of thought went into the design of how a corporation would make deals with and make use of demons. There's also magic that humans have access to, which I would love to learn more about in the second book.

I'm really excited for the next book, even though this one just came out. I honestly hate that I have to wait! But I will definitely be re-reading this book before I dive into the sequel and, despite the gore, I'm looking forward to it. ( )