Take a photo of a barcode or cover
thatbookhoarder's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
mrstommyshelby's review against another edition
4.0
A little bit scary with a pinch of gore, this was a really enjoyable novella featuring a pair of paranormal hitmen, one dead and one not.
codeliusthe2nd's review
4.0
“The Pale House Devil” is a short, but very fun, read. It follows an entertaining duo as they recover from a job gone awry, meeting an adversary unlike anything they had seen before. It’s definitely a story that was out of the realm of what I typically read, but it was nice to read something new and fresh. There are sections that feel extremely rushed throughout, and it would have been nice to flesh things out a little more. Still, I found this to be a highly entertaining read in the end.
schroederius's review
4.0
I was excited to read a new Richard Kadrey book! Just enough fantasy twists to be a fantasy book, but essentially a buddy investigator mystery at its heart. Looking forward to his next book.
jayburding's review
3.0
Strong start with interesting characters that fell flat once the plot kicked in. This is a book that could have been much longer to dwell properly on all the horrors it introduced, but instead they came and went so fast they never had a chance to land properly. Also it takes some doing for the only female character to fuck up the action three times in a row, but she needed something to do I suppose.
rschwendau's review
3.0
Quick read by all means but just fell flat at the end for me and caught a lot of editing errors?
Tilda seemed to act more like she was 14/16 than a grown woman the entire time. Enjoyed the guys' friendship, though.
Definitely not scary, more spooky comedy.
Tilda seemed to act more like she was 14/16 than a grown woman the entire time. Enjoyed the guys' friendship, though.
Definitely not scary, more spooky comedy.
catsbooks_uk's review against another edition
5.0
I'd not heard of Richard Kadrey before seeing this novella, but the plot drew me in. I suspected another urban fantasy, with magic mixed with rough city-scapes and cynical gumshoes romancing the dames.
This is SO much more!
We have two detectives, one mortal and one less so. One kills the undead, the other kills the living. Like the Witcher's swords, but with more snark.
I was immediately reminded with 'Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased', but in its own world. The setting is roughly America, roughly now, but unique enough that it seems ageless. The two men likewise - they could be the comedy pair from 'Some Like it Hot', but MUCH later in life (and death).
We have a buddy-detective story then, with the blackest of humour, full of classic noir and a genuinely engaging story. The back-and-forth between our leads is a clear highlight, which made me thank the author via social media as I requested more of their... adventures? Not quite. Shenanigans? No. Bumming along together, perhaps.
The story itself seemed akin to an episode in a wider series, and I do hope that's the case. The logic of the mystery was smart, the side characters well fleshed-out (ahem), and the resolution very satisfactory.
I read this in one sitting, and then went to look up the author's back catalogue, which I am now enjoying likewise. How did I miss his work?! Now on the auto-buy list.
A smart, fun detective noir with snarks and magic. An easy recommend.
This is SO much more!
We have two detectives, one mortal and one less so. One kills the undead, the other kills the living. Like the Witcher's swords, but with more snark.
I was immediately reminded with 'Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased', but in its own world. The setting is roughly America, roughly now, but unique enough that it seems ageless. The two men likewise - they could be the comedy pair from 'Some Like it Hot', but MUCH later in life (and death).
We have a buddy-detective story then, with the blackest of humour, full of classic noir and a genuinely engaging story. The back-and-forth between our leads is a clear highlight, which made me thank the author via social media as I requested more of their... adventures? Not quite. Shenanigans? No. Bumming along together, perhaps.
The story itself seemed akin to an episode in a wider series, and I do hope that's the case. The logic of the mystery was smart, the side characters well fleshed-out (ahem), and the resolution very satisfactory.
I read this in one sitting, and then went to look up the author's back catalogue, which I am now enjoying likewise. How did I miss his work?! Now on the auto-buy list.
A smart, fun detective noir with snarks and magic. An easy recommend.
catsbooks_uk's review
5.0
I'd not heard of Richard Kadrey before seeing this novella, but the plot drew me in. I suspected another urban fantasy, with magic mixed with rough city-scapes and cynical gumshoes romancing the dames.
This is SO much more!
We have two detectives, one mortal and one less so. One kills the undead, the other kills the living. Like the Witcher's swords, but with more snark.
I was immediately reminded with 'Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased', but in its own world. The setting is roughly America, roughly now, but unique enough that it seems ageless. The two men likewise - they could be the comedy pair from 'Some Like it Hot', but MUCH later in life (and death).
We have a buddy-detective story then, with the blackest of humour, full of classic noir and a genuinely engaging story. The back-and-forth between our leads is a clear highlight, which made me thank the author via social media as I requested more of their... adventures? Not quite. Shenanigans? No. Bumming along together, perhaps.
The story itself seemed akin to an episode in a wider series, and I do hope that's the case. The logic of the mystery was smart, the side characters well fleshed-out (ahem), and the resolution very satisfactory.
I read this in one sitting, and then went to look up the author's back catalogue, which I am now enjoying likewise. How did I miss his work?!
A smart, fun detective noir with snarks and magic. An easy recommend.
I was kindly sent an advance copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinion is entirely my own.
This is SO much more!
We have two detectives, one mortal and one less so. One kills the undead, the other kills the living. Like the Witcher's swords, but with more snark.
I was immediately reminded with 'Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased', but in its own world. The setting is roughly America, roughly now, but unique enough that it seems ageless. The two men likewise - they could be the comedy pair from 'Some Like it Hot', but MUCH later in life (and death).
We have a buddy-detective story then, with the blackest of humour, full of classic noir and a genuinely engaging story. The back-and-forth between our leads is a clear highlight, which made me thank the author via social media as I requested more of their... adventures? Not quite. Shenanigans? No. Bumming along together, perhaps.
The story itself seemed akin to an episode in a wider series, and I do hope that's the case. The logic of the mystery was smart, the side characters well fleshed-out (ahem), and the resolution very satisfactory.
I read this in one sitting, and then went to look up the author's back catalogue, which I am now enjoying likewise. How did I miss his work?!
A smart, fun detective noir with snarks and magic. An easy recommend.
I was kindly sent an advance copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinion is entirely my own.
miskatonia's review against another edition
dark
funny
5.0
This needs continuation desperately. A series!
e_read_books's review against another edition
2.5
This is very much a TV pilot dressed up as a novella, and suffers from wonky pacing and an overreliance on dialogue as a result. But there are still some good ideas in here which kept me engaged.
The dynamics of the main duo was pretty enjoyable and I liked the glimpses we got of Neuland's history. I would have preferred to see more of their relationship together rather than introducing Tilda as the newcomerwho by the end of the story ends up prepared to move across the country to become part of their team, even offerring up her services as their almost secretary/administrator. One of the guys even makes a joke about them being her dads, which is just... like, come on.
The antagonist was almost cartoonishly evil, which I don't have a particular problem with in terms of his attitude towards Tilda and the main duo (people like this actually exist, obviously), but his "plan" was overly simplistic and very much followed that TV pilot format.
The monster was a cool concept and I liked that there were some chapters from it's perspective. The chapters were a little too simple and not very horrific for a horror story (a little bit gross I'll admit, which is something at least).The last chapter from it's perspective even seems to try and garner sympathy for the monster, bizarrely. I think in an attempt to, again like a TV pilot, hint that there are bigger, badder monsters from the Otherworld the team will face as the series continues. We don't even get to see the thing die properly, almost like the budget couldn't stretch that far so we can only imply it, or the Never Found the Body trope, so the same monster can come back later more dangerous than before in a later season twist.
I feel like I'm overly dunking on this, but mostly I feel this was in the wrong format. If I had seen this same story as a TV pilot for a longer running series, I would have enjoyed it for what it was setting up and been intrigued enough to see where the actual story of the season went. But I also would have loved it more as a standardly formatted novel with more time put into the relationship of Ford and Neuland and more description and action into the Pale House and fighting the Devil within it. If/when we get another entry in this series, I'll revisit if I want to continue.
Also, I was quite disappointed to find multiple errors in the text. For it to be so noticeable in just over 100 pages, that's just not on, Titan Books.
The dynamics of the main duo was pretty enjoyable and I liked the glimpses we got of Neuland's history. I would have preferred to see more of their relationship together rather than introducing Tilda as the newcomer
The antagonist was almost cartoonishly evil, which I don't have a particular problem with in terms of his attitude towards Tilda and the main duo (people like this actually exist, obviously), but his "plan" was overly simplistic and very much followed that TV pilot format.
The monster was a cool concept and I liked that there were some chapters from it's perspective. The chapters were a little too simple and not very horrific for a horror story (a little bit gross I'll admit, which is something at least).
I feel like I'm overly dunking on this, but mostly I feel this was in the wrong format. If I had seen this same story as a TV pilot for a longer running series, I would have enjoyed it for what it was setting up and been intrigued enough to see where the actual story of the season went. But I also would have loved it more as a standardly formatted novel with more time put into the relationship of Ford and Neuland and more description and action into the Pale House and fighting the Devil within it. If/when we get another entry in this series, I'll revisit if I want to continue.
Also, I was quite disappointed to find multiple errors in the text. For it to be so noticeable in just over 100 pages, that's just not on, Titan Books.