Tuesday, 18 March 2014

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Shambling Guides 2: The Ghost Train to New Orleans - Mur Lafferty

Release Date: 04/03/14
Publisher:  Orbit

SYNOPSIS:

COULD YOU FIND A MUSEUM FOR A MONSTER? OR A JAZZ BAR FOR A JABBERWOCK? Zoe writes travel guides for the undead. And she's good at it too - her new-found ability to talk to cities seems to help. After the success of The Shambling Guide to New York City, Zoe and her team are sent to New Orleans to write the sequel. Her career isn't all that brings her to New Orleans. The only person who can save Zoe's boyfriend from zombism is rumoured to live in the city's swamps, but she's out of her element in the wilderness. With her supernatural colleagues waiting to see her fail, and rumours of a new threat hunting citytalkers, can Zoe stay alive long enough to finish her next book?


REVIEW:

Mur is an author that I came across with her original Shamblers Guide novel and one that not only appealed to me with the character but brought together a mismatched myriad crew that circumstances, alongside modern living, has created not only a wonderful mixing pot but one that demonstrates in an almost comical way how alternate states of being need help in finding their way in a modern world.

The Guide Books are wonderfully fresh and when added to various cities alongside misadventures for all within, generate a tale that not only entertains but one that will have the reader clamouring for more.

Having lost some old friends in the previous outing, this title more than makes up for their loss with a whole host of additional cast members that the reader will come to love and whilst some are highly misunderstood, they all have their place on the team. Back this up with an author who’s cracking sense of humour works its delightful charms throughout the title alongside a principle character that you’ll just love and all round it’s a book that I couldn’t put down until I’d turned the final page. Magic.

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