. . .with Tallow Jones.
What a fun adventure this was to listen to. This comes into play in the era where everyone has a wizard detective running around in a series. This is one Urban Fantasy that has a wholly different feel to it than all the others. It really has an urban feel to it, and is rooted pretty firmly in the real world. When you read Dresden you get an overload of magical creatures and beings making the world less and less real. Here though, there are magical creatures and spells, but the monsters show up with much less frequency, but are all the more terrifying for it when they do pop up. The Basilisk, for example, is creepy as all get out, and is not a monster you will soon forget. Tallow is interesting enough that you won’t mind when he isn’t casting spells.
Cooley creates an interesting cast, from Tallow’s nephew and his kids, to the people his nephew works with on the police force. Every character has depth and an emotional validity that is hard to find in the written word. You really care about these people. He also does a masterful job of constructing a mystery, and breaking it down in the proper stages. Most times you know what is going on long before the characters ever do, but here the mystery unfolds in front of you, and you learn everything as the story moves ahead. You do not see the overarching scope of what is happening until it is upon you. Except for Mr. Niceman, I knew he was a jerk the moment he walked on stage.
I was not awed by Andrew Tell’s narration. Don’t get me wrong, be does a fine job. He has a pleasant voice and has incredible pronunciation powers, but his voices all tend to blend. You more or less get a rhythm for who is talking instead of recognizing a different voice for each person. That is to say, they are not distinctive. His male and female voices vary just enough in pitch to recognize a gender change, but that is about as dep as it goes. As I say, he did good work, just not outstanding, but I will happily listen to another few dozen books about Tallow with him as the narrator.
My only real complaint is the cover of the book. It literally does nothing to draw you in. It tells you nothing about the story, and makes Tallow look like a smug pompous pric . . .um, jerk. Seriously, if the cover didn’t say Wizard Detective you would have no idea of what the book was about. The smoky cane doesn’t even make sense from the story. I really wish Cooley had gone another direction with the art. This is what draws a reader in, not the title, not the blurb. The cover has to catch your eye. Plus, it looks like the cover of a book from the 70’s. I don’t add or subtract points for covers, so this did not affect my rating, but I hope Cooley reads this and understands that his sales may not hit a happy point just because of the cover of his book.
As it stands, this is an amazing first book. I sincerely hope that we get to see more of Tallow Jones in the future. The best part of this book is the extreme characterizations that he instills in his people. They are real, believable, living folks who just happen to exist in print form. I cannot tell you how fun this book was; it was refreshing, engaging, humorous, and exciting. Get in on the ground floor of a great new series and character.
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