4.5 Stars – Damn Close to Perfection
Plot Summary: Hiram Grange is an army of one against all of the supernatural baddies that threaten humankind. He’s kind of a pervert, he’s definitely a drunk, and it’s a miracle that he keeps bouncing back from these suicide missions. After a particularly brutal battle, Hiram’s frosty boss sends him to Krakow to confront a rusalka, a water spirit who seduces men to death, but it turns out that he knows this woman, and she’s helped him in the past. His orders are to eliminate Gabrysia Kedra, but he’s in no shape to confront someone who is both deadly and desirable. It appears that she also wants him dead.
(THE HIRAM GRANGE CHRONICLES: BOOK 5)
I must have a thing for dirty, broken-down anti-heroes, because reading about Hiram Grange’s messed up life was the best thing I did all weekend. I just loved this supernatural horror novella, and my only regret is that it went by too damn fast. The Hiram Grange Chronicles are each written by a different author, and this is the fifth and final installment (final for now at least). The stories are loosely connected, but written so that readers can start at any installment without a problem. Sadly I haven’t read the previous books, but if they’re anything like Hiram Grange and the Nymphs of Krakow, then I need to backtrack and start at the beginning. It was a wicked good ride through some dark, twisted avenues with a demented savior.
What’s great about Hiram is that he doesn’t have any special powers, unlike the monsters he faces each day, and his addiction to booze is no joke. His graveyard humor in moments of great peril was just about perfect, and Hiram stayed true to character the whole way through. I don’t often enjoy novella-length stories because it’s so much harder to write a fully-fleshed story within a limited length, but Richard Wright proved that it can be done, and done well. This one entertained me beautifully, and it had it all; it was a gritty and sexy balls-to-the-walls adventure. If you’re a fan of dark urban fantasy like me, then you’ll rejoice upon finding this treasure trove.
My review copy was digital, but I can see that these books are going to be gorgeous. There are three killer illustrations inside (the kind that had me stopping mid-story to show my husband) by Malcolm McClinton, and all the woodcut artwork showed an attention to detail that most publishers don’t even strive for anymore. These are the kinds of books that are worth collecting and keeping.
This title will be released on July 10th, although there might be some slippage with that date, so don’t hold me to it.
Note: I received a free electronic copy of this book courtesy of the author.
This book takes place in my favourite city and it uses into Poland’s folklore (mind you that is not how I remember rusalki from my childhood stories). Sold right there. Then you give it 4.5 stars? I don’t care for novellas but I will have to read this one.
Hi Edyta – I think you would like this one, a lot. It’s as good as a novella can be, given its length. Truly, my only criticism is that it did end too fast. I would have loved to experience this story as a full-length novel, but we take what we can get. I’ll have to collect the other books so I can keep reading about Hiram.
Rebecca, thanks for the insightful review. I’ll pack up hardcopies of the rest of the series and send them to you today.
Hi Tim – Many thanks! I’d be happy to review them.
[...] in a deliciously sordid way? While this installment is not my favorite one so far (book five, Hiram Grange and the Nymphs of Krakow has that distinction), it was a good introduction by Jake Burrows. The Hiram Grange series is the [...]