For What It's Worth


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Review: Those Who Fight Monsters, Tales of Occult Detectives + Giveaway

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult DetectivesGot Vampires? Ghosts? Monsters? We Can help!
Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives, is your one-stop-shop for Urban Fantasy’s finest anthology of the supernatural. 14 sleuths are gathered together for the first time in all-original tales of unusual cases which require services that go far beyond mere deduction!
Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives brings together popular characters from many Urban Fantasy paranormal investigative series, for your enjoyment.
Meet the Detectives:
Danny Hendrickson - from Laura Anne Gilman's Cosa Nostradamus series.
Kate Connor - from Julie Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series.
John Taylor - from Simon R. Green’s Nightside series.
Jill Kismet - from Lilith Saintcrow’s Jill Kismet series.
Jessi Hardin - from Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series.
Quincey Morris - from Justin Gustainis’ Morris/Chastain Investigations series.
Marla Mason - from T. A. Pratt's Marla Mason series.
Tony Foster - from Tanya Huff’s Smoke and Shadows series.
Dawn Madison - from Chris Marie Green’s Vampire Babylon series.
Pete Caldecott - from Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series.
Tony Giodone - from C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp’s Tales of the Sazi series.
Jezebel - from Jackie Kessler’s Hell on Earth series.
Piers Knight - from C. J. Henderson’s Brooklyn Knight series.
Cassiel - from Rachel Caine’s Outcast Season series.
Demons may lurk, werewolves may prowl, vampires may ride the wind. These are things that go bump in the night, but we are the ones who bump back!
Review:
Those Who Fight Monsters brings together a collection of stories from 14 of today's top Urban Fantasy writers. Each of the stories feature detectives investigating all manner of paranormal shenanigans from missing persons, to demon summoning, all with a supernatural slant.
A few were humorous and I fell right into them. Dusted – A Cosa Nostradamas Story – by Laura Anne Gilman, and Hell Bound by Jackie Kessler were two really good ones. The latter featured an unabashed bad girl succubus (Jezebel/Jesse) that really had me wanting to investigate the character further. Apparently it was a prequel story to Kessler's Hell on Earth series where Jesse is reformed (sort of). Another good story was Deal Breaker by Justin Gustainis. It wasn't action packed but it was riveting nonetheless.
Other than Jackie Kessler, I had never read any of these authors books before and it put me at a bit of a disadvantage. Although most of the stories intrigued me, I felt out of the loop. A few jumped right in without explanation of the world or supernatural elements so I didn't get the full enjoyment out of each one that I might have if I already new the series beforehand.
I would think if you're a fan of any of these authors though, this would be a great collection of short stories. All were very quick reads.
Source: Received for review
Contest time!
To win a copy of Those Who Fight Monsters (signed by Justin Gustainis)
*Fill out the Form please
*US only (sorry peeps – enter my 1000 follower giveaway of your international)
*Ends Sunday 5/15/2011 – 11:59pm ET
*Must be 18 to enter

5 comments:

  1. I'm sorry, I entered the contest and I'm not from US. Please delete my entry (Ana C. Nunes).

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds really good. I love the premise and it seems to be a good way to be introduced to some of these characters and authors. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  3. I follow a couple of the series', but it sounds good - maybe a nice introduction to a few of them (and I *love* Jackie Kessler!)

    Thanks so much for the chance to win this!

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  4. Oooooh YAY! Thank you, and I'm LOVING the cover!

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  5. So many new characters to meet, and some that I already know so well! What a great giveaway :)

    ReplyDelete