Customer Reviews

Dead Men's Boots (Felix Castor)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got very lucky a few years ago and stumbled upon "The Devil You Know" while shopping on Amazon. I ordered the book and found it to be a wonderful read exploring the trials and tribulations of Felix "Fix" Castor, a professional exorcist in a world that is a darker shade of our own. Felix practices his profession in a modern day London, but one that contains were-beasts, ghosts, demons, and zombies. Most of London toils on though paying little attention to these revenants, unless, of course, a ghost comes to haunt the place you call home or work. Whereupon Felix or one his competitors may get a call. If you haven't read "The Devil You Know" or the sequel "Vicious Circle" do yourself a favor a get yourself a copy of these books. They are simply delightful. I liked them so much I couldn't wait for Dead Man's Boots to be released here in the States and ordered it as an import.

Carey writes novels that feature complex characters, detailed and exciting plots, and some of the smoothest writing it has ever been my pleasure to read. The only disappointment in reading Carey is that even though the book may run over 500 pages, the next day you'll be blinking at the last page and wondering "how do I get more?"

I'm not generally into fiction that has magic, demons, ghosts, etc. mostly finding the genre formulaic and unimaginative. Carey blew a great big gaping hole into my assumptions and prejudices, happily showing me that this genre can be done superby well. I am a complete convert, in least as regards to his works. His books are atmospheric, even noirish, and he tells fascinating, compelling stories that sweep you breathlessly from plot twist to plot twist, tales that always end on a surprising and satisfying note.

The protagonist, Felix Castor, is an amazingly well-drawn character...likeable, smart, and dogged as he chases after the bad guys, brandishing his tin whistle. Yep, between the forces of darkness and you is a tin whistle. Castor a big guy and very tough, but we learn that because all too often Castor finds himself on the receiving end of a beating. That's what happens when you try to run with demons, loup garous, and cultists. Even though he is an "exorcist", it would be more apt to describe him as an occult private detective. There a strong elements of Marlowe and Spillane peeking through these pages. You'll love Castor because he always gets back up again and struggles on trying to do the right thing, even while saddled with mounting bills, complicated relationships, doubtful friends, and enemies that are generally a step ahead. You'll find yourself cheering him on in an "everyman' way because he isn't batman, and a tinwhistle sure isn't the batmobile.

In Dead Man's Boots, Felix finds himself trying to unravel a dangerous mystery after a friend commits suicide and leaves a few, generally unhelpful, clues laying about as to why he did it. A nebulous, but threatening group, seems to be involved and a classic "locked room" mystery is then thrown in the mix. Felix soon finds himself battling with a monstrous cabal along with some friends. Friends that bring to mind the phrase "with friends like these who needs enemies?". This book is every bit as delightful as the first two, with the same complex plotting and smooth writing that I have come to love. Carey is one of those few writers who make it onto my "A" list, meaning that anything they publish is something I am going to read with no questions asked. Indeed, anything they publish is something I am going to get my hands on as soon as possible, even if I have to order it as an import. Try this series, you will not be disappointed, even if the genre is not your normal cup of tea.

Dead Men's Boots is the third book in the Felix Castor series, written by famed comic book writer Mike Carey. Best known for his work on Lucifer and Hellblazer, Carey's series poaches creative elements from both those titles.

Felix Castor is a London exorcist. For no clearly defined reason, the dead have started to rise again - in a wide variety of terrifying forms (ghosts, zombies, werethings, etc). Worse yet, demons and devils are real - summoned by suicidal warlocks to stalk the streets. Although Carey hints towards a broad, apocalyptic metaplot, the series is skillfully composed of individual mysteries, each featuring the restless dead.

In Dead Men's Boots, Castor is hired by a unhappy wife to get prove her husband's innocence (apparently he beat a rent boy to death with a hammer). Simultaneously, Castor is unhappily bequeathed some esoteric notebooks from a fellow exorcist. The two mysteries swiftly become connected, and Castor begins to unravel a disturbing conspiracy.

Fans of Felix's friends and allies won't be disappointed. The ambitious cop Coldwood, the paranoid zombie Nicky and the alluring-but-scary demon Juliet are all involved - Juliet taking her most significant role so far. Carey also introduces a few new characters, including a horde of undead gangsters and a slightly different demon, the enigmatic Moloch.

Carey does strong work building out Juliet. Introduced as a bit character in the first book, the former succubus now has a life of her own. The author does a good job fleshing her out as an interesting, evolving character. She finds the world totally alien, but is having a good time exploring it - even as human beings (and the relationships between them) continue to mystify her.

Carey's long-time friend Pen, and their unfortunate mate Raf (possessed by the demon Asmodeus), take a step back. Although Castor encounters them both briefly, they're less involved in this particular adventure. After the focus on them both in the previous book, this is a welcome break, and shows that Carey isn't a one-trick pony.

Mike Carey has successfully made the transition from comic books to novels. Deftly balancing character and story-telling, Carey has created a terrific framing device for presenting mysteries, with a cast of fascinating characters to help tell them.

Let me start off by saying that I got into this series because I absolutely loved Jim Butcher's the Dresden Files; but I eventually needed a new paranormal/detective series and this is it! I love both, but since it takes about a year to write and publish a book you need multiple series to be interested in. I highly recommend this series, with the first novel being "The Devil You Know" and the Dresden Files which begins with "Storm Front".

Dead Men's Books is the 3rd novel in the Felix Castor novel, which raises the bar on this already thrilling series. The story opens shortly after the events of Vicious Circle, but with a decidedly more somber tone than previous volumes as Castor is attending the funeral of a fellow exorcist. It's a glamorous life he is leading isn't it?

Castor is asked to look into the death of his exorcist friend, Gittings by his wife, Carla as she doesn't believe he committed suicide. As usual Castor is also brought into another case, which somehow involves the infamous Myriam Kale, who was a mob hit woman from decades earlier in Chicago long dead. But just what the hell is a ghost doing in Chicago and how could a ghost have killed a man?

Castor is a bastard that can't admit to himself that what he does isn't for purely selfish reason. It is like he wants people to think badly of him so that they won't involve him in their lives. It seems that if he admits he cares about people his world will come crashing down. This is most evident with his dealings with Carla and Pen as he is willing to answer their calls for helps, but keeps them at arms length whenever possible. Castor is still dealing with the backlash of the Rafi and Pen story line from Vicious Circle, but the stakes are raised as Castor's nemesis of sorts, Professor Mulbridge is to her old tricks trying to pull a snatch and grab with Rafi from his imprisonment. Carey is clearly building to something big with Mulbridge and Rafi that I hope culminates in the next volume.

Carey's use of spirits is again impeccably done. In Castor's world all the supernatural elements are spirits of some kind whether they be normal ghosts/poltergeists or werewolves which are spirits inhabiting and modifying animal bodies. The sumptuous layers of intertwined cases, which has become a Carey staple never gets old. Juliet the succubus turned private investigator grows a lot and you get to see what a struggle the succubus goes through trying to "act" human. We're also introduced to a great new mysterious associate who as always is out for themselves, which also adds a bit of tension to Juliet's backstory.

Visceral, action-packed, and wholly engrossing, Dead Men's Boots is easily the best book in the series so far. I give Dead Men's Boots 9 out 10 Hats. Carey has made a life long fan out of me and I'll be checking out the other volumes in the series as he is building to something truly Epic. I heartily recommend starting with The Devil You Know to start with the series. Carey's habit of holding out is the one thing that could be the downfall of the series if the carrot keeps getting dangled further and further away. Readers will want to see more payoff in the next volume.

London exorcist Felix "Fix" Castor attends the funeral of his possessed friend John Gittings when a fancy dressed lawyer Maynard Todd arrives with a court order authorizing cremation; the widow Carla asks Fix to prevent the disinterring of her spouse's body. The spirit remains in his body's home.

Fix is at the Magistrate Court supporting the contention of Pam "Pen" Bruckner that she has power of attorney for possessed Rafael Ditko. However, Professor Jenna-Jane Mulbridge has a counter claim insisting Rafi is unsafe to free from her asylum where she researches the paranormal. Judge Runcie realizes there are two issues with his legal focus on a review panel, angering Pam and satisfying Jenna-Jane for now.

Janie Hunter wants to hire Fix to prove her husband Doug did not commit the rape and murder that he has been accused of and arrested for. She insists that American serial killer Myriam Seaforth Kale performed the deeds although she has been dead for four decades. Fix knows the MO in the brutal King's Cross rape-murder is exactly that described of Kale. So he assumes somehow the odious evil came back, but how and where she is stymies the exorcist because he fears a repeat that he wants to prevent. However, Fix's inquiry assisted by Juliet the succubus and Nicky the paranoid zombie leads him to something even darker crossing over.

This London based urban fantasy thriller contains three prime subplots that grip the reader from the moment the body of Gittings is interred and never slows down as every move the exorcist makes seems increasingly dangerous. The story line is fast-paced as Fix works his inquiries. Sub-genre fans will enjoy his escapdes and seek his previous two caseloads (see Vicious Circle and THE DEVIL YOU KNOW).

Harriet Klausner

Very entertaining but weird. I thought this book went off the rails with the crazy plot but i realy enjoyed it. Dead serial killers, trips to America, Juliet the crazy succubus as a partner, too fun.

I have listened to the first 3 books in the series on audio - they were excellent. I have been waiting for over a year to get the next 2 books, but it doesn't look like they will be released on audio. I was going to buy the whole series on Kindle for a friend of mine for Xmas, but they only have books 1,2,4 and 5 on Kindle - not 3! How messed up is that? It must be hard to maintain a strong fan base if you can't release them in order, or even in the same format

"Dead Men's Boots" is Mike Carey's third novel starring free-lance exorcist Felix Castor. As with his first two books in the series, this novel opens with Felix in a rough spot. One of his fellow exorcists has died after unsuccessfully seeking Felix's help. Felix's friend Rafi, who has a demon trapped inside of him, is about to be kicked out of his care facility and turned over to a not-so friendly medical researcher. And finally, a woman wants him to prove that her husband isn't guilty of murder and that a long-dead serial killer is. This book takes place a few months or so after the events in his second novel "Vicious Circle."

I don't give plot spoilers in my reviews of fictional work, so I'll give my impressions of the book. The key element of how Castor's universe differs from our own (besides demons, ghosts, zombies, etc., being real) is that in the book, ghosts and zombies are becoming more populous and are noticed by mostly everyone, to the point that legislation is being considered that would afford the dead some rights and protections. Not everyone who dies returns, but many are, and no one knows why they are becoming more and more frequent.

Unlike his first two novels, which jumped out of the gate and quickly grabbed your undivided attention, the first half of this one is not as tightly written and wanders a bit. It could be just me, but it felt like that Felix was just running from place to place without the tension appreciably building up. However, about half-way through, everything started to come together, and then like the first two books in the series, the story became enthralling, and I had a tough time putting the book down at decent hours in order to go to bed. The overall writing is excellent, and the plot is outstanding, with no major logic holes. One thing I don't like, though, and it's more of a personal preference than a real problem, is that Mr Carey "over-writes" some scenes, and the book can occasionally feel a little ponderous as a result. But that's really a small personal nit.

While I liked the first two novels a little bit better, this one is still a great read, particularly once you get into the second half of the book. The author makes plenty of wry observations and has some laugh-out loud humor generously sprinkled throughout the book. While you might be able to read this one without having read the first two novels, you really should read them in order, so as to better appreciate the characters and recurring parts of the story line. Four Stars.

The third Felix Castor novel (following The Devil You Know (Felix Castor), and Vicious Circle (Felix Castor) respectively) has all of the elements that I love about the character - dry wit, self-depreciating interior monologue, non-plussed attitude, and a "noir-ish" feel to the stories, with the return (figuratively speaking - Castor is, after all, an exorcist) of some old characters. Added to this there is a confidence in Carey's writing that suggests he is getting a rhythm of his own as he writes character and dialogue. In this mystery, Castor is hired to exorcise the ghost of a fellow "spiritualist" who has "gone geist" - his restless spirit is destroying his old house and making life miserable for his widow. Concurrent with this plot, his colleague "Juliet" is seeking his professional assistance with a haunting in a church.

The pacing of the story is a bit uneven, as Castor moves from place to place: out of his room with Pen, across "the pond" to Alabama, in and out of court ... and so on. I understand Carey is seeking to build tension, dropping red herrings and otherwise leading us through the investigative process. The interwoven plot lines (that of polergeist John Gittings and that of the church) is becoming a bit tried - I loved it the first time, thought it was clever the second time, but a third time it is becoming a bit worn.

Still, the resolution to the mysteries totally caught me off guard, and the climax of the story kept me up past my bedtime it was so exciting. Carey is clearly developing as a writer, and this installment is not without its problems. Nonetheless I tremendously enjoyed the story and will be back for more. Recommended.

The intrepid exorcist, Felix Castor, returns under the skilled writing hands of Mike Carey, and this is his biggest adventure yet! After ignoring calls from a fellow exorcist, John Gittings, he finds his friend dead, an apparent suicide and feels guilty. He agrees to work with the wife in putting her husband to rest, along with dealing with a slimy lawyer who's trying to execute Gittings will to be cremated. At the same time Castor is brought onto a case about a man who's been brutally raped and murdered. As Castor begins putting the facts together it's starting to look like a dead female serial killer may somehow be behind it all. Joining up with his quasi-friend and succubus-turned-exorcist, Juliet, and importing some help from his zombie friend who always has answers, Nicky Heath; Castor will have to travel to Alabama to get some answers and put the case together. Dead Men's Boots continues in this third book in the excellent series that just gets better with each new release. If only the US could get the books published as fast as the UK, which already has the fourth book out, with the fifth due out in the fall.

Originally written on June 10th, 2009 ©Alex C. Telander.

Originally published in the Sacramento Book Review.

For over 500 book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to [...].