Gypsy killer who rules the spirits of the dead

Several readers seem to have been put off by the fact that this is a horror novel when they are used to de Lint's stories of magical realism. I love horror, so what disappointed me the most was that this kind of story has been done many, many times before - Graham Masterton has practically made a career out of it - and better. Mulengro is a murder mystery revolving around a figure from Romany mythology, but it isn't very satisfying either as a police procedural or as a horror story. It's also one of de Lint's earlier works, so it's also not his best writing. Fortunately, he eventually realized this sort of thing wasn't his forte. If you like b-horror authors like Richard Laymon or Ray Garton (but without the sex) then this might be enjoyable; otherwise, skip it. ( )

** spoiler alert **

It took me a long time to complete this book. Usually I smash books out in a week. I have been very very busy and distracted for a few months now, since the holidays.
Though I enjoyed this book, I found the entire subject was divine and mysterious, it still was just not my favorite. I did not run home each night to tear into it. which is sad, I am verrrrry fond of Gypsy! I reserve 5 star ratings for my favorite.
While I found only the 2 main characters are memorable, Some of the characters were one dimensional, nothing to feel sad about when they dropped like flies. I was like, OOps, oh well hes dead. thats ok. Who Is next. I really didn't care much when they died. Meh. That's never a good feeling!
The plot was not unique. It was very much, "here comes the big bad magical guy and lets poof him away with magic". But I wanted to know more about this big bad guy. I wanted to know when and why he became a villain, what is his backdrop? what makes him so unique that he cannot die and he is pretty much immortal?

This had to be one of DeLint's first books. I read a later book of his and loved it soooo much, it was chock full of character and detail.
While this was such a desirable subject, and a really fun read, it left me wanting more, rushed and incomplete. 4 stars ! ( )

3.5 stars. Gypsies are being murdered in Ottawa and both the police and the gypsy community are working separately to stop the murders from continuing.

de Lint originally published this book under a pseudonym, Samuel M. Key, so readers would know that it's a darker tale than most of his fantasy works. I quite liked it, and would enjoy reading more of "Key's" books. de Lint did a lot of research on the modern day (well, it was written in the 80s) gypsy culture for the book as well, so there's some extra information there. I certainly didn't know anything about them, but I'd be interested in reading more of that, too.

The book follows many different characters throughout the book, but it was never difficult, nor did it take long to figure out, which character he switched to. I kind of liked that you got to see perspectives of things that were happening at the same time from different characters. For some of the characters, it does take a bit of time to see how they are connected, though. Not a bad thing, I just wanted to point that out. ( )

This man writes the best fantasy books ever!! ( )