Pandemonium: a twilight dimension of nightmare creatures, mythical beings, the undead, and everything in between. To Dead Jack™, it’s hell sweet hell. In the first book of the series, the tortured, drug-addicted detective stumbles upon his most dangerous case yet, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Can the zombie P.I. and his associate, the homunculus Oswald, save the day? It won’t be easy. The duo must face rogue leprechauns, ghost pirates, a sex-obsessed shark woman, sycophantic ghouls, an insecure fire demon, and a goateed maniac who calls himself the Duke of Pandemonium. Good thing Jack’s getting paid in a ton of fairy dust!
This had been described as “Deadpool meets Harry Potter”…to me, it’s more like Skulduggery Pleasant meets Harry Dresden meets Sandman Slim, with an additional dose of weirdness. Dead Jack is gritty, irreverent, sarcastic, full of a cast of weird and wonderful beings, and…well, a bit of a rollercoaster ride of a plot!
Essentially, Jack’s got to save the world…or possibly hell…or possibly a weird baby-demon…or possibly his associate Oswald. Anyway, it involves a lot of fast talking, some fast shambling, definitely not eating anyone, and the help of a whole bunch of witches, pirates, demons, goblins and…well, general chaos.
Oswald’s possibly my favourite character, followed by the shark-woman with one thing on her mind. Jack himself is smooth-talking (some of the time), sarcastic (most of the time), and drug-addled (when he can get his hand on dust or, failing that, leprechaun calf). The rest of the cast is amusing, scary, and definitely unique; and I certainly liked the baddy!
I did enjoy this; it’s a fast-paced, exciting read in a weird world, and everything is unexpected – which lends a nice “now what?!” feeling to every page. However, in all honesty, I prefer the Sandman Slim series for gritty mysticism, and Skulduggery for the PI side. Dead Jack feels flighty and too-fast; I can’t get a feel for the world or the characters while the plot races forward. There’s a lot of hooks and hints in here, one of which is brought out at the end as the lead into the next book – and while I really want to know the background, it’s frustrating to have so much crammed into the first one that doesn’t get followed. It’s drama-filled and witty, but we don’t have time to pause for breath before the next chaotic event happens.
Despite that, because it’s the first in a series I’d definitely keep reading, and I hope the next books will take some of the background and run with it. I’d certainly like to know what on earth (or in hell) Oswald is, and what Jack’s going to do about his soul!
So, if you like grit, sarcasm, weirdness, detective PIs and zombies, definitely give this a go – and keep reading the series!
© Kate Coe, April 2017
Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device by James Aquilone
Published November 25th 2016
http://deadjack.com
Review copy courtesy of the author
236 pages
