I’m a big fan of The Bureau books, this one is a bit of a prequel to the series and as an aside, gives a glimpse into who Herbert Townsend (head of the Bureau of Trans-Species Affairs) is, but it doesn’t need to be listened to first.
In typical Bureau fashion, this book asks “who is the monster” – the non-humans or the humans who are capable of appalling things. I found myself completely invested as two flawed men dealing with ghosts of their past (both metaphorical and physical) team up to solve the case of a missing young man, restoring missing pieces of themselves along the way.
Joel Leslie does a stellar performance capturing the “feel” of San Francisco in 1928, the war weary detective that is Tom and the confident (but still damaged) showman, Abe. His ability to capture each character’s personality, bring forward their emotions and build the suspense of the story in his performance brings Kim Fielding’s world vividly to life and I look forward to more from this Author/Narrator duo.