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The Last Smile in Sunder City

Book One in the Fetch Phillips Archives: a fantasy set in a world where the magic has disappeared...

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The Last Smile in Sunder City

By: Luke Arnold
Narrated by: Luke Arnold
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Summary

 The Last Smile in Sunder City is a brilliantly voiced contemporary fantasy for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Rotherweird or Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and the debut novel from high-profile actor Luke Arnold.

Fetch Phillips fought on the wrong side of a war between humans and magical creatures, and his actions helped to drain the world of enchantment. Now he works on the streets of Sunder City, taking what odd jobs he can while trying to help those whose lives he ruined.

His first case is to find a missing teacher. Professor Rye is a four-hundred-year-old vampire with a heart of gold in a husk of a body. In a world without magic, most vamps have already crumbled into dust, but Fetch is happy to go looking for some dirt with pointed teeth if it gets him his drinking money. Then, when a young siren disappears, Fetch finds out that this dark world still hides some monsters - and he'd better clean up his act before they come into the light.©2020 Luke Arnold Action & Adventure Crime Fiction Fantasy Mystery Private Investigators Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Fiction Paranormal Funny
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One Foot in the Fade cover art
One Foot in the Fade By: Luke Arnold

Critic Reviews

This off-piste detective story set in a magical world, now in meltdown, has verve and charm in abundance and a rough diamond hero with quite a story to tell.In short, an actor's dramatic voice has found a pen which can write
Sunder City [is] an evocative creation, it has echoes of Ankh-Morpork, but also a broken melancholy all of its own
This book was a marvellous noir voice; Luke Arnold has captured the spirit of the genre perfectly and wrapped it around a fantasy setting with consummate skill
[A] standout debut . . . winningly combining the grit of Chinatown with the quirky charm of Harry Potter, this series opener is sure to have readers coming back for more
The first instalment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and Dashiell Hammett
All stars
Most relevant
Loved it and Luke has a very soothing voice. He does good character voices. 👏

Great!

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Like the previous reviewer at first I felt like it was yet another already done story. But as it wove on the surprises hit and it became so much more. I’m a complete Fetch fan now, this is so well written and well performed by the author. Give him a chance, it takes a while to reveal itself, but it’s so worth the listen.

Incredibly well done!

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I’ve never heard of Luke Arnold before, as an actor or an author and this was a pleasant introduction.

I’m always weary of urban fantasy; I’ve found only Jim Butcher does it justice. This novel wasn’t really urban fantasy, but something adjacent. And the Arnold hit the noir stylings perfectly. There was a bit of backstory and world building to do in this novel, but it didn’t slow proceedings down too much.

I think the series is well positioned to be highly entertaining. Fetch Philips, man for hire. I like him. And look forward to joining him in more cases.

I hope Arnold continues to narrate his own work, too. The delivery was perfectly dry. Like Nicholson in “Chinatown”, Selleck in “Magnum, P.I” or even the unfairly maligned Deckard in one of the many cuts of “Blade Runner”.

This series has legs. Give it a go if you love 40s style noir with a solid shot of fantasy for kick.

A promising beginning

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What an amazing tale! The voices of the characters was a highlight. Can’t wait to follow the next step of Fetch’s journey.

Immersive world, captivating characters

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Luke Arnold dose himself proud as both author and performer.
I usually steer clear of audio books, particularly fiction, performed by their authors. In my experience they generally showcase the writers over estimation of their skills as a narrator, the narrators over estimation of their skills as an author or, all too often, both.
This is one of the occasional refreshing exceptions to that pattern.
What we have here is a playful salmagundi of genres, engaging characters and an author who has fun with language.
All presented by a genuinely talented voice actor.

A pleasant surprise!

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