ARC Review: Soul Trade by Caitlin Kittredge

Soul Trade

by Caitlin Kittredge

(Black London # 5)

The Black, the magical undercurrent that blankets the world, is fracturing a foreboding sign of things to come, but possible apocalypse or not Pete has to feed her baby daughter Lily and Jack the love of her life and bane of her existence so hanging around a graveyard at night to look for a murderous ghost is business as usual. That is until dead men in black robes hand her an invitation for a meet with the deadly and very exclusive secret Prometheus club, their message: Attend or Die.

This is another fast paced and action packed book in the Black London series, full of zombies and creepy demon children it kept me enthral led to the very end. One of the aspects I love about this series is Ms Kittredge's writing, she manages to create a grim almost hopeless atmosphere, with Pete and Jack as the perpetual underdogs (and as a Brit, I love an underdog!) but still keep a vein of foul mouthed humour through out so it doesn't become too depressing.

This book further develops the theme of really-bad-things-still-to-come as the Morrigan tries to get her talons into Jack, and Belial, now a newly minted Prince of Hell also trying to get him on side as they believe the world is inevitably ending and all these cracks letting the big bad monsters in are just the light entertainment before the real show begins. I love that through all these world ending predictions all Pete wants is her family to be safe, she is the rock in this series as Jack makes poor decisions and she helps reel him back in.

This was a fantastic book, I loved the zombie theme, it kind of had a Shaun of the Dead vibe (if you haven't watched that film you need to get ON IT) only with more swearing and less ginger haired blokes. But what I liked most was how it ended, I cannot wait  i see what happens next! 

*ARC provided by publisher

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Review: Devil's Business by Caitlin Kittredge

Devil's Business

by Caitlin Kittredge

(Black London # 4)

Jack Winter and Pete (Petunia if you want your arse kicked) Caldecott need to escape London for a bit, after what happened with Nergal the whole of London's magical community have put Jack at the top of their to-kill-on-sight list. When Pete is all too conveniently asked to go to  Los Angeles, City of Angels, it seems the best route out of a nasty death in the bowels of London. But far from being full of angels LA is a cesspit where all the things that go bump in the night go to hide, but Nergal's escape from Hell's prison has split the cell wide open and things far older and  deadlier then demons and ghosts are now stalking LA's streets.

This was another fantastic installment in the Black London series, just as dark and gritty as the previous books this one is instead set mainly in LA. I thought the change of place would take away from the grim and foreboding atmosphere  as the Black in London is a character almost as much as Pete and Jack. I am happy to report that I was wrong, LA had a feeling of its own, not with the same impact as London, which has had three other books to build it up, but it was  interesting to see a new place for Jack and Pete to wreak havoc in.

Devil's Business was told entirely from Jack's POV, which was fantastic, Jack is one of my favourite UF heroes (I use the word hero lightly here!) he is deliciously fucked up  and completely different from any other male characters I have read. But in this book we saw him be the reluctant savior and see Jack willing to sacrifice anything to save Pete was unexpectedly sweet as you know he wouldn't bother for anyone else.

As in all the other books in this series the writing was engaging and coarsley beautiful and the plot was fast moving, bleak and threatened the apocalypse, all of which kept me riveted to the page. It also gave hints of things to come, it seems like Jack and Pete are in the centre of something big and world ending and I can't wait to see what that is! 

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Review: Bone Gods by Caitlin Kittredge

Bone Gods

by Caitlin Kittredge

(Black London # 3)

Jack has gone, dragged into Hell, and Pete is left to cope and fend for herself in the Black, the underground world of magic where the things you dream of in nightmares roam freely waiting to shred you to pieces. Pete can feel something coming in the Black, and when she is called to look at a dead man with unusual and unsettling carvings in his chest things get from bad to worse. Then Jack comes back, or has he....

What I like most about these books is that they are unpredictable, I never quite know what is going to happen, and this book proved no different. In the world of the Black there is no real Right and Wrong, just what you can live with, and what you can get way with, nothing is cut and dried. Jack is a great example of this, you know that he isn't really a good person and you know he definitely isn't good for Pete and this book underlines that; however, you can't help but like him and even understand him a little and maybe forgive him when you know you shouldn't.

Bone Gods was great, it was told through Pete's eyes again, and although I missed Jacks perspective, she was a good character to cling on to. The plot in this one brought about a direct confrontation between the Morrigan and Hecate through Jack and Pete this was filled with tension and you never really knew what either of them were going to do until they did it. The only thing I didn't really like was that the plot was quite slow, and it took a while for significant events to happen.

I really enjoyed this installment, her writing is excellent and the characters some of the most interetsing I have read and I can't wait for the next one, especially with how she has left it hanging!   

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Review: Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge

Demon Bound

by Caitlin Kittredge

Black London #2

The story continues on from Street Magic the first book in the Black London series. Jack has been keeping secrets and this secret is about to come back on him after 13 years; his time is finally up and a demon has come to collect what is owed him. But Jack has found something to live for, someone who needs him and he won’t be dragged down to Hell without a fight.

I thought this book was brilliant, like the previous book it was dark and gritty with the magic of the Black like smog over the book. I really like how Kittredge portrays magic as dark, violent and treacherous, not a world you really want to get dragged into. The Black is like another character in the book, it hangs over everything and unless you can leash it, it leashes you, it felt like you were permanently walking over a tight rope just waiting for a malevolent gust of wind to knock you off. This is the sort of world that has shaped the main character of Jack Winter.

This book was told from Jacks POV so you get a closer look at his character and he is definitely a one. He is selfish, a liar, a murderer, a junkie, and a sarcastic sod with a foul mouth, but really you can’t help but like him as, although he is all those things he is also more complicated than that. His most redeemable feature being his protectiveness over Pete and the fact that you know he hasn’t fighting because he cares what happens to him, rather that he needs to stay alive so he can guard Pete and mentor her in the Black.

The story was fast paced and always left you on edge, you never knew quite what was going to happen and even to the very last page you weren’t assured a happily ever after, or even a happy-for-a–while-until-something-else-horrible–decides-to-kill-me. This was a dark urban-fantasy and I imagine that the next book Bone Gods will continue on in the same vein. But this book was again well written and in Kittredge’s distinctive style; very poetic and descriptive. She manages to get the feeling of an abstract concept/entity like the Black across very well and writes the characters and all their flaws and facets excellently.

I really like how this series this series is coming on and I can't wait to read the third book Bone Gods as the story of Jack and Pete continues. 

Review: Street Magic (Black London #1) by Caitlin Kittredge

Pete Caldecott was 16 when she thought Jack Winter died. She unwittingly helped him summon best left dead and he died from it, and she has been denying what she saw that day every day and night since. 10 years later she is an Police Inspector, working on a case where children are getting snatched. This leads her to Jack, who says he can tell her where the missing children are. But the supposedly long dead Jack is not how she remembers, he is 10 years older, a heroin addict and living on the streets. But he does help her, bringing her into the world of the Black, where the line between the normal and the magical is thin and the dark things in the corner of your eyes are waiting for a chance to ensnare you.

I can't state how much I loved this book. It was dark and gritty and nothing was ever quite as it seemed. The world of the Black, was a nightmarish place, things were always on the look out to rip your throat out and take your power. In Jack Winters world it was kill or be killed. The whole book had a sense of foreboding and darkness about it that made it a fast paced and exciting read.

I have seen Jack Winter described like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I think maybe appearance wise that may be the case, but I think Spike would be a pale shadow next to Jack. Jack was an interesting and absorbing character, he was selfish, remorseless, and utterly charming, but also a complete bastard at the same time. He was neither truly good, nor truly bad, he isn't the kind of character that would always do the right thing, but rather the right thing for Jack Winter. Having said that you could see especially towards the end that he cared for Pete a lot, she gave him a reason to live. Pete was also a good character, although she didn't have Jacks twists, turns and contradictions, she was still interesting. We saw the book through her eyes, and so was introduced to the different elements of the Black through her. What I liked about their relationship was that in most cases it was Pete, the female protagonist, coming to Jacks rescue. She was a fierce protector, even when trying to save Jack from himself. Although there isn't really a romance per se between the two, you can see that Pete loves Jack, and probably has since she was 16, but it isn't said out right, it is more a feeling you get from the actions and thoughts that she has, as for Jack I think he also felt the same. I imagine that the romance element will grow through out the series.

The writing style might not be to everyones taste, I thought it quite lyrical, it uses a lot of metaphors and can be quite abstract, but for me how she wrote this was wonderful and absorbing. I think that it adds to the air of being somewhere out side the normal world and helps to create this shroud of darkness and ambivalence that surround not only the Black, but also Jack's life.

So I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, and for those who like their books dark. Also people who like dangerous heroes will also find someone truly dangerous in Jack Winters.

I actually got this book from the library but it is one that I am going to buy as for me it is definitely a keeper.