Books › The Devil You Know
The Devil You Know
480 pages
A gritty, sarcastic descent into a haunted London where the ghosts are dangerous but the living are worse.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into a rain-slicked, shadow-drenched alleyway in a London that hides monsters behind every dumpster. It moves at a brisk, hardboiled pace, blending the cynical, world-weary attitude of classic noir with the terrifying stakes of supernatural horror. The narrative voice is sharp and dripping with dark humor, anchoring you to a protagonist who would rather be anywhere else but is too stubborn to quit. The atmosphere is thick with gloom and a creeping sense of dread, yet the constant barrage of wry observations keeps the tone from becoming entirely suffocating. It is a perfect fit for readers who crave gritty urban fantasy where magic is a dirty, dangerous job and the heroes are just as flawed as the villains they hunt.
- Mood
- shadowy
- noir-ish
- gloomy
- atmospheric
- dread-tinged
- Tone
- cynical
- wry
- hardboiled
- sarcastic
- gritty
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- moral ambiguity · urban decay · the cost of survival · burden of knowledge · reluctant heroism
- The writing
- Sharp and hardboiled, laced with biting dark humor and vivid, gritty descriptions of a haunted metropolis.
- The arc
- The protagonist moves from weary, cynical detachment to a grimly determined acceptance of his dangerous responsibilities.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love their urban fantasy steeped in noir, featuring trench-coated exorcists who rely on sarcasm as much as magic.
Content notes
- violence
- gore
- demonic possession
- profanity
- substance abuse
About the book
Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stamping ground. It may seem like a good ghostbuster can charge what he likes and enjoy a hell of a lifestyle--but there's a risk: Sooner or later he's going to take on a spirit that's too strong for him. While trying to back out of this ill-conceived career, Castor accepts a seemingly simple ghost-hunting case at a museum in the shadowy heart of London-- just to pay the bills, you understand. But what should have been a perfectly straightforward exorcism is rapidly turning into the Who Can Kill Castor First Show, with demons and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize. That's OK: Castor knows how to deal with the dead. It's the living who piss him off...
Description from Open Library.
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