New Tricks (A Dog Days Novel) [Mass Market Paperback]

John Levitt (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Dog Days Novel | Publication Date: November 25, 2008

Former enforcer Mason would normally be concerned with finding ghosts and vampires stalking the Castro section of San Francisco. Fortunately, Halloween provides the perfect explanation for the abundance of ghouls. But someone is trying to possess his old flame, Sarah. Now, with the help of his magical dog Louie, Mason must uncover the black magician responsible.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ace (November 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441016561
• ISBN-13: 978-0441016563
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #414,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This old dog has some new tricks, January 30, 2009

By 

K. Kroslakova (Slovak Republik) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: New Tricks (A Dog Days Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was not disappointed. I picked up the first book on a whim. I was moving to a non English speaking country and wanted to take some books. It moves right along and does keep you wondering. I kept thinking I had it figured out, so much so I would tell my husband. That's what I do so when I am right at the end he knows I was. But, I was wrong a few times if close!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable read, December 26, 2009

By 

Sassy girl "Sassy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Tricks (A Dog Days Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book , "New Tricks",second in the series,
was really a good urban mystery book. The first book is called, "Dog Days".
The characters Mason,and his Ifrit,(a dog "familiar" of sorts),Lou,
kept me in my seat till the last page.
I call this book an urban fantasy,
for it takes place in the city streets of San Francisco.
Mason, a Jazz musician, is also a man with special magical powers who gets sucked up in helping his friends get in and out of magical trouble.
There is more out there in the city, than one would think.
Make no mistake, this book is not a cozy.
This book has some grit to it.
The characters are flawed ,and not everything works out perfectly.
I jumped into reading this mystery with my eyes open
and wasn't let down with its plot or its characters.
Which covers a multitude of creatures and, just plain weird people.
This book was well written, as is his third book in this series, "Unleashed".
I hope to read more of John Levitt's books in the future.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever urban fantasy, December 8, 2008

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Tricks (A Dog Days Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

"New Tricks" has a slow, introspective pace to it that some will love (it has a nice noir-ish feel), but won't be to everyone's taste. The plot is solid and enjoyable. While I was able to guess at the culprit, there were sufficient red herrings and questions remaining that I was never entirely sure until the end. The world is wonderful---it has a smoky urban fantasy feel, with Mason's beloved jazz curling in-between the pages (I probably would have gotten even more out of the book if I knew much about music, but that lack of knowledge didn't interfere with my enjoyment). The characters---particularly the side characters surrounding Mason---have plenty of life to them.

Mason himself is an intriguing hero. His reactions to things were very much not stereotypical, particularly not young-single-male stereotypical, and that made him a fantastic lead character.

Unfortunately, my one real complaint is that the villain didn't fare so well at the end. Which is odd, because there were plenty of indications of depth before that. Somehow at the end most of those dimensions dropped away and we ended up in cheesy villain land. This doesn't stop me from recommending this book, however, as the majority of it is quite good!