Book Review: Blacklight

By Sandy Amazeen Nov 12, 2011, 2:25 GMT

If you have a supernatural problem that won\'t go away, you need Buck Carlsbad: private eye, exorcist, and last resort.Buck\'s got a way with spirits that no one else can match. He was normal, once. Until Something Horrible killed his parents and left him for dead.Buck has spent years using his gift to trace his family. It\'s his only hope of finding out what happened to them-and what made him ...more

Other then knowing his birthday, Buck Carlsbad is missing all memories from before the age of six when his parents were murdered. Growing up at the Institution, Buck pulled his first mark from a night orderly and discovered his calling. Not only is Buck capable of ingesting and disposing the worst of the worst, malevolent spirits, he can use those angry spirits to access a place known as the Blacklight. While in the Blacklight, pieces of history, often his own is tantalizingly revealed in little snippets but always at a cost. As Buck seeks to learn about his parent’s murder, a groundbreaking train called the Jaeger Laser is slated to cross a place known as the Blacklight Triangle. It was there that his parents met their end and against all survival instincts, Buck knows he must return to the Triangle. As dignitaries line up to ride the high-speed train, Buck must use his gift to avert a horrible disaster at a time when trust is a rare commodity and death may be the only reward.

This unusual, gritty urban fantasy draws you in from the first chapter and does not let go until the very end. A fast pace combined with an imaginative, well executed plot and compelling characters make for one of the better new thrillers currently on the market. If you don’t read any other books in the genre, read this one, it will surprise and delight.