An excellent tale of creatures & coffee

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an honest review.


So Harlan is back and, after his experiences with spooky paintings and ghosts in the past, he has continued to attract unusual cases but nothing could have prepared him for what fate had intended for him when a bedraggled young man walked into his office seeking protection.


First I wanted to say that the thing I've liked most about the Harlan Ulrich books is just how likeable, well rounded and believable Ambrose Ibsen's characters are. Everyone from the coffee-shop proprietor to an insane Herpetologist feel and speak in a wholly realistic way and I continually felt a sense of worry about how some of them may not survive the dangers that the new case invited. Once again Kyle Tait brings his A game with the cast and regardless of gender, age of station they all feel unique, identifiable and alive. 


And on  that subject, I have to say that the risks were substantially higher this time with a more dangerous and nefarious being to challenge our intrepid investigator besides a disgruntled housewife. Chapter one did a fabulous job of introducing us to the new 'being' and did so in an extremely visceral way but this brings me to one point I'm having trouble reconciling.and that is the actual genre the book is aiming for. 


Book1 felt like a ghost story through and through and yet I can't decide if this is a horror story, a detective tale or an adventure story as the horror elements do feel secondary to a lot of the plot except a few moments.I think the fault was my own, as the opening chapter set a tone I thought may be present throughout the book but it was in keeping with book 1 and is more about interesting characters than violence or gore. So for me, it's kind of an adventurous, investigative horror with black comedy moments and I'm sticking to that.


So again, Mr Ibsen has done a great job of giving us likeable characters, an interesting story and solid moments of horror and I for one and looking forward to Ulrich's next foray into the unknown.