[Review] Shade Fright by Sean Cummings

I have a new review up at the Book Smugglers for my monthly feature there: A Dude Reads PNR. I have to say that I cheated this time by reading Urban Fantasy [Shade Fright by Sean Cummings], but I could not resist it. Here is my explanation on why that is:

‘I fell into this job quite by accident, when I discovered that I possessed the ability to see the preternatural world. There are a handful of people with similar abilities, and part of my job is to locate them, since Government Central and Infrastructure Canada like to keep track of these things. Don’t ask me why’.

There’s a malevolent force in town, and it’s quite literally Valerie Steven’s job to determine who’s behind it and why they want to destroy the world, starting with Calgary. She’ll have help, in the form of her best friend (now more or less a zombie, unfortunately), a powerful dwarf troll, and the ghost of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (but he goes by ‘Bill’ these days). But that’s not all – Valerie has some tricks up her sleeve and, she hopes, luck on her side. Oh, and her boyfriend, Dave. He drives a dump truck.

FROM THE REVIEW:

Shade Fright caught my attention with its cover. You know, Urban Fantasy has trademarked the leather-clad, semi-men’s-magazine chick with a weapon. It’s enough to see a different art decision to realize I’m dealing with a different book. I was right! Boy, ain’t I always. I dealt with a Canadian book. Say goodbye to the dark and gritty American cities and say hello to the great Canadian outdoors, though technically Valerie lives in one of the bigger Canadian cities. Out with the cynicism. In with good-natured humor and sarcasm that works. It’s one of the few Urban Fantasy novels to stray away from the UF formula: Violence, Forbidden Love [or at least frowned-upon love], Leather, Sex, Dark Everything, Dramatics [due to the Dark Everything].

For the rest, click on the link above.