Review: The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death
by Charlie Huston

Format: Hardback, 319 pages
Publisher: Ballatine Books
Cover Design: Christopher Sergio
Release Date: January 13, 2009
ISBN-10: 0-345501110
ISBN-13: 978-0345501110

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is a new fiction thriller by author Charlie Huston, well known in SFF for his Joe Pitt novels. Webster Fillmore Goodhue is a lazy bum with no job and an acerbic attitude. When his only friend tells him his freeloading days are over, he takes a job as a trauma cleaner. Trauma cleaners are a largely unregulated industry that handles just about anything that needs to be cleaned up from a dog hit by a car to a decomposing packrat. Web quickly finds he is well suited to the work.

Web’s life changes when he and his team clean up after a suicide by handgun and he encounters the deceased’s bereaved daughter. They don’t exactly hit it off like a couple in a bar, but there is a certain something there. This is increased when she asks him for help in another cleanup and pulls him into the middle of a smuggling operation gone bad. The smugglers kidnap the girl and put both of their lives in jeopardy.

This is my first of Huston’s non-fantasy books I have read and while it’s quite good, it does seem a little familiar. Plotting, pacing, and style are all consistent with the author’s work. One thing Huston is good at it are gray, gritty characters. Web comes off as a super asshole that alienates everyone he meets. Frankly, I had a hard time identifying with the character, as he is very hard to like, though that is half the point. Web had a very traumatic moment prior to the events in the book and of course everyone reacts differently to tragedy. By the end of the book however, the character changes considerably and his evolution is handled quite well.

A good stand-alone book, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is not Huston’s best work, but it works well as an introduction to the author. Recommended.

Rating: 8/10.
 

Half the Blood of Brooklyn

Joe Pitt is now the head of security for the Society. He’s not happy about it but it keeps him in money and blood, two things he needs for his dying girlfriend. But something is happening in the no-man’s land of the boroughs. Savage Rogues and clans are being driven across the river and Joe is sent to discover the cause. Instead he clashes with a long lost tribe carving out a kingdom in the suburbs. And he still has to decide how to help his girl. His choice will either save her or doom them both. 

Man, I loved how this book ended. The main plot was pretty standard Joe Pitt stuff: he gets in deep trouble, kills a bunch of people, gets in more trouble with his own allies, and faces a reckoning. However, the resolution of the girlfriend angle means that future developments will be a bit different, albeit just as bloody. I admit that I did not see this one coming. Granted, Joe has never gotten along with the Clans and has always wanted to be his own man, but I certainly didn’t expect the climax to happen the way it did. I’m glad Huston refrained from any kind of fairy tale ending. I’m also glad he reminded the readers that all the various elements in the series have their own agendas no matter how they interact with Joe. I must say, it’s a good thing Joe has an independent streak.

It was nice to see the Evie angle set up in book one finally come to a head. Anyone who has watched a loved one suffer from a terminal illness knows what Joe is going through with his HIV-infected girlfriend. Huston gives just the right amount of agony for a man who can cure his loved one but is uncertain of the right course of action. He also explores the moral issues of infecting someone with the Vyrus and also whether it’s something to be cured. Huston handles the issues well without seeming too heavy handed. 

Strongly recommended. When does the next book come out? 

Rating: 8.5/10. 

No Dominion

In the second Joe Pitt novel, Joe hasn’t had a decent job in months, the result of the fallout in Already Dead. Then he witnesses first hand the effect of a new drug circulating among the new vampyres, a drug so powerful it can cause a vampyre to freak out. Joe doesn’t like such open questions, or running low on money and blood, so he takes a job with the local clan to follow the drug to the source. The trail takes him on the subway clear across Coalition territory to the Hood where he finds the answers he seeks as well as a lot more. Power is being flexed, strings are being pulled, and Joe Pitt must finally choose a side or face the rising sun.
One thing I failed to adequately mention in my review of Already Dead was that Huston has done a superb job building his background and his world of a vampyre New York City. He’s put a lot of thought into the politics and realities of the vampyres. The clans and factions have been very well thought out. I’ve found that thinking of such detail ahead of time is always a sign of a good author.
Huston also has a knack for convoluted plots. The plot of the first book was good, albeit nothing earth shattering. In No Dominion, the plot didn’t seem near as convoluted until all the behind-the-scenes machinations were revealed and explained. It was simply staggering. It’s very near the level of the political intrigues of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, which is by far some of the best I’ve ever seen.
Another good Joe Pitt novel and definitely recommended. Hopefully, I can get on my hands on the third book soon.
Rating: 8/10.

Already Dead

(Amazon, Barnes & Noble)

I didn’t hear about this author until last December when RedEyedGhost from the ASOIAF message board starting talking about him. Then Amras of A Slight Apocalypse and Graeme of Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review both did reviews raving about how much they loved this series. I love the Dresden Files so I’m always on the lookout for new urban fantasy, particularly about vampires.
Joe Pitt is a local tough and occasional unlicensed private investigator in Manhattan. Oh, and he’s also a Vampyre. In the city, vampyres cannot survive unless they align with one of the clans that run the city’s underground, but Joe somehow manages to play the opposing clans and remain independent. His latest case involves tracking down a shambler, a zombie infected with a flesh-eating virus and goes around trying to feed on human brains, and find the source of the disease. He also has to find a runaway teenager for a powerful Manhattan family. He must find the girl and the shambler, fend off the clans, and somehow keep enough blood on hand to keep the Vyrus from taking control; it’s a tough job even for a vampyre.
This book reminds me quite a bit of the Dresden Files, if told from the opposite side. It definitely has it’s own style however. For one thing, Huston’s book is quite a bit grittier, which is to be expected when the protagonist is a member of the city’s underworld. Also, things are not as clear-cut, not as black and white in Pitt’s world. While Joe is definitely a vampyre, he is not “evil” simply because of what he is. The vampyres are more like humans, with their own motivations for their beliefs and actions. I like how Huston makes his vampyres as realistic as possible. Joe tries to survive as a vampyre, while being his own person and keeping a girlfriend to boot. Huston also does a little explaining about the vyrus and how vampyres relate with humans. I certainly hope he expands on this in later books.
Only two things really bothered me about this book. Huston often uses terms and locations unique to New York City so I didn’t always understand what he was talking about. The other thing is that I found it hard to suspend my disbelief on how Joe was able to pay for things. It seemed to me he didn’t make enough money to throw money around, have two apartments, and afford a girlfriend.
I was surprised by the lack of chapters. Huston makes use of spaces and asterdisks but other than that there aren’t any breaks. The book is short enough so I suppose it doesn’t make any difference. Huston’s style of dialogue wasn’t hard to get used to at all.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit and I’ve already picked up the next Pitt novel. Definitely recommended.
Rating: 8/10.