Review: Dead Man in a Ditch

Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The conclusion of our two-part Luke Arnold double feature.

"I don't believe in second chances. I don't believe you can undo what was done. But if I didn't believe I still had it in me to do something good, I would have jumped out the Angel door a long time ago."

In the sequel to Luke Arnold's debut novel, he writes the story I would expect and then slaps me in the face for getting too cocky. And this after I wrote his parents that lovely letter!

For his first novel I was caught up in the joy of reading it but for this read-through, I took tons of notes and kept analyzing what was written and working out where I thought the story was headed. Despite my best efforts, I turned out shocked, then furious, then uncertain, then a whole range of other emotions as things transpired that were entirely out of my control and not in the least how I pictured the story going. The last fifth of the book strapped me to a BMX bike and said "Here, good luck!"

Well, damn.

Which isn't to say the other eighty percent of the book is predictable. I was being very critical and going "Wouldn't it be nice if..." 

Is it his background in movies and television that taught Luke how to tell a story in this manner? Dead Man In A Ditch is a perfect complete package. If I was a teacher I would give it an A++. 

You can't have a title like that and not have a worthy body count. What a delivery. After taking a one-off job for a friend, Fletch is called upon by the police department to investigate a murder that appears to be accomplished with the use of magic. Between the two novels, rumors have sprung about that Fletch is the go-to guy for magic related investigations. They say he is on a quest to bring magic back. Fletch is still in the position we last left him in, so as readers we know he isn't misleading when he says he doesn't believe he can be much help. Magic is gone from this world. 

But Magic isn't always the answer.

Where in the first book Luke Arnold wrote about a world post-magic where inhabitants are struggling to find their places in the unnatural order of things, Dead Man in a Ditch introduces us to what could technically be referred to as an industrial revolution. It is mostly behind the scenes until it's not, but Humans have been busy since the events of the Coda. Fletch takes on a multitude of cases which ultimately put him in the midst of a battle that never truly ended, just changed forms. 

Last time, we viewed the aftermath of the Coda with a grittiness. The relationships we develop this time around or interactions we witness have a deep emotional quality to them. The suffering and loss which I mostly disregarded from the first book hit home here. The part with the Faeries has me still asking questions. I'll avoid spoilers but I wish we revisit this in a sequel. 

Somewhere in Luke Arnold's house is a very worn copy of a Mythical Creature Encyclopedia or else he has a very questionable browser history. I was excited to see a Goblin have a big role that didn't involve berserker rage or banking. Then came the Succumbae who do extreme body modification and steal every scene they're in.  There's also a Unicorn used unconventionally in a scene that brings the desperation we all felt when watching *that* moment in Neverending Story. It's not what you expect. And here I cackle like a madman. 

The majority of our supporting cast is back. Warren, Ritchie, Simms, Baxter, and others. I did notice an omission who gets name dropped at the very end of the book but had no role here otherwise. It was once I sat down to write this review that I realize books one and two are distinctly different. I don't know what type of contract was signed for the series. If it's write-as-you-go or if there is a planned three to seven book saga we are journeying on.  Outside of setting up Fletch with rumors of what he investigates, certain events from book one have no other connection to this story. Which is both a relief and a curiosity. On one hand, this allows us to branch out and explore the world without being stuck with one group of creatures over another. On the other hand, it means some people are out there running around doing who knows what. We don't, but it's not important. The bigger story does carry over and it really threw me. 

I knew what the stakes were, but what a way to break a man. 

Dead Man in a Ditch takes us to the seedier parts of Sunder City. On a job about a missing person, Fletch winds up at a casino and brothel where us readers are taught a new card game. I don't know our equivalent but it sounded fun, the rules are all there, and I anxiously want to play it. I'm making the call right here: Orbit should give Luke Arnold his own author page dedicated to the series and have a playable version of the game online. You can play against other fans, take which fantasy creature are you quizzes...the internet goes crazy for that stuff. Join the Opus! Join the Army! Join the Resistance! Join the Sunder City PD! Join the Library is what my badge would be. Geeze. 

What's up with all the Werecats? 

I googled it and according to Wikipedia: Werecat folklore is found on all continents EXCEPT Antarctica and Australia and is generally based on wild felines native to the area. Did Luke watch a lot of Thundercats as a child? 

Actually, correction incoming. What I thought was Wikipedia is a website called Wiki Fur which is ahem: the free encyclopedia written by and for furries. What dark hole did the internet drop me down to come up with that one? Well, you know what, that's google's top website on the creature so they would be the experts. 

Dead Man in a Ditch takes Fletch's past and brings it guns-a-blazing into the present. The momentum is explosive. When all the pieces fall into place it is a radiant, head spinning, page-turner of a novel. But what does it mean? What does it MEAN? 

It means when we aren't looking that the rug is going to get pulled out from under us. It means not everything that was lost is completely gone. It means there's hope. While some things will never be the same again, there is still a world. There is still a city. And however it will take him, there is Fletch Philips. 

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Review: The Last Smile in Sunder City

The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In Part I of a two-part Luke Arnold double feature, we take a trip to Sunder City. 

Believe it or not, this is one of the few noir-style detective fiction books in a fantasy setting I've ever read.* That translates as: I'm not an expert on Noir in general. I grew up with my Grandfather who lived and breathed the genre. I didn't pick up too much from him there. I understand it from a stereotypical perspective which means an office and a sultry woman who comes needing help. There's no sultry woman here. What we have is Fletch Phillips: Man for Hire. He is a human in a world that was once filled with the fantastical. We don't know that quite yet.

The use of a sex education/your changing body video to introduce us to the fantasy world was brilliant. Up until that point, the book is a generic detective noir based on my limited understanding. Fetch receives a phone call in his office and goes to the school to meet the Principal who will offer him a job. Nothing at all prepares us for the essence of the story until we watch this film and find out the bodily changes consist of fangs for the girl and stumps growing out of the boy's back. It's then revealed this is a school for fantasy creatures. The Principal himself was once a wizard. But there's no magic and being a fantasy creature is meaningless. This is also explained in the video.

You see before our story starts there was an event known as the Coda. The Humans, including Fetch as a soldier, go to the source of magic to try to harness it themselves. They fail. What they did achieve is to cause the river to crystalize, suddenly cutting off all magic in the world. Wizard's spells were useless. Dragons and Wyverns fall from the sky. Elves age hundreds of years. Vampires no longer are thwarted by the sun but they also are no longer sustained by blood. Creatures lose everything that made them what they were. Now they were, even with different bodies, on the same level as humans who are the true minorities in this world but it doesn't feel like it.

If fantasy creatures were sprinkles, this book would be very crunchy ice cream. There are Sirens, Gnomes, Dwarves, Kobolds, Ogres, Trolls, Demons, Witches, Vampires, Elves, Dragons, Werewolfs, Werecats, Wizards, Banshees, Necromancers, and more. I am not sure what possessed Luke to throw almost every possible type of creature in there but wow. At the same time, the book doesn't feel crowded by all of this. If Luke was any bit of a novice writer I would be dismayed at interaction after interaction. It sounds like too much. Luke finds a way to populate his world without choking us.

I'm sorry. I can't continue this without writing a letter to Luke's parents.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Arnold,
It's common knowledge that you are well acquainted with Classic American movies. But are you acquainted with the classically American movie known as The Waterboy? It has a young Adam Sandler, Fairuza Balk being Fairuza Balk, and Kathy Bates does a dance routine in the background of the final Football game. It's well worth it. Towards the end of the movie, Ron Howard's naturally ugly brother Clint gives a speech to Adam's Waterboy character about how he is an inspiration to people who weren't born with natural talent, charm, or a fully functional brain. This is how I feel knowing your son is in the world. Clint breaks down crying but I will hold myself together. It is staggering that someone with this much capability and skill exists. You guys did a great job raising him.
Ever and Always, Alexander.

The detective plot revolves around a missing Vampire who is a professor of the school, and later a Siren who went to the Vampire for additional lessons. Fletch weaves through a changing cast of characters trying to solve this puzzle while also giving us insight into his background and why people react to him the way they do. He seems to have a history with almost everybody. He actually does. Without revealing it and spoiling the book, I will say that Fletch has a bigger hand in the loss of magic than is initially mentioned. His existence is one of atonement. He's not perfect. Addicted to painkillers. Hanging out in darkened bars. A little cocky and do-what-needs-to-be-done. I kept imagining Luke as Fletch. That's the benefit of having an actor for an author. He'd be perfect for it.

Of course, the mystery of those missing soon reveals a larger plot that will carry us through to the rest of the series.

In one museum scene, Fletch muses "A good man is made through a lifetime of work. Great men are made by their monsters." I love this line. He was referring to how the men who made history usually came in sets. Someone who does great deeds may or may not be remembered. Who cares about someone that does a decent or flawless job? If two enemies engage each other, they are recorded for all time. Think about it in our terms. FDR versus Hitler. Who was the president before FDR? Who rules Germany before Hitler? Who cares. It's the men in conflict we are interested in. And yet why I loved this line is because it made me think of Fletch himself. As I said, he isn't perfect but he is trying to do his best in a world that doesn't believe it needs him. At the same time, Fletch is his own monster. No matter who he faces off in future books, guilt and regret are his biggest adversaries. Men are made by their monsters.

Along with that, one of the central themes of this book is hope.

"I was fine with having nothing. Nothing to hold onto and so no reason to do anyone else any wrong. But give me a little hope and I'll show you who I really am."

"Maybe nobody gets better. Maybe bad people just get worse. It's not the bad things that make people bad, though. From what I've seen, we all work together in the face of adversity. Join up like brothers and work to overcome whatever big old evil wants to hold us down. The thing that kills us is the hope. Give a good man something to protect and you'll turn him into a killer."

See, it's the promise of hope who drives the narrative. In a world without magic, is there a chance it will come back? And what would you do in order to obtain it?

Luke Arnold, everybody. Again, wow. I had to seek this book out as I've had its sequel sitting in wait for me as I kept reading other books in my never-ending pile. When I learned who wrote Dead Men in a Ditch I decided to grab the first one. It's inconceivable how good this is. Top five of the year. Stick around for part II as I cover Dead Men in a Ditch next!!! 

*The other, of course, being the Bobby Dollar books by Tad Williams. They are Urban Fantasy Noir. The series is about the angel Doloriel who investigates as souls mysteriously go missing instead of ending up in heaven or hell. Book two has the greatest imagining of Hell that I've ever read.       

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