Early Review – The Dead Take the A Train (Carrion City, Book 1) by Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Horror/Dark Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Release Date: October 3, 2023
ASIN: B0BQGJRBQR
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Carrion City duology
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Julie is a coked-up, burnt-out thirty-year-old whose only retirement plan is dying early. She’s been trying to establish herself in the NYC magic scene, and she’ll work the most gruesome gigs, exorcize the nastiest demons, and make deals with the cruelest gods to claw her way to the top. But nothing can prepare her for the toughest job yet: when her best friend, Sarah, shows up at her door in need of help. Keeping Sarah safe becomes top priority.
Julie is desperate for a quick fix to break the dead-end grind and save her friend. But her power grab sets off a deadly chain of events that puts Sarah – and the entire world – directly in the path of annihilation.”
Series Info/Source: This is first book in the Carrion City duology. I got a copy of this to review on ebook through NetGalley.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this a lot. It has a very Nightside (by Simon Green) feel to it. Lots of crazy eldritch horror stuff going on here and many intriguing characters (that aren’t exactly likable but are very intriguing). The book has Kadrey’s grittiness with Khaw’s horror elements; the characters are all flawed but fun to read about.
The book follows Julie who lives hard and does ample drugs and alcohol. She is trying to make a living taking out all the magical nastiness but keeps getting screwed over by people. Then her best friend Sarah shows up and Julie gets drawn into some true eldritch horror craziness.
I did get an eGalley of this for review and noticed quite a few editing errors; like mixed up word order, missing words, and mixed up punctuation. Hopefully those will be fixed in the final book.
I liked the gritty tone to this and the quirky characters. The plot takes some seriously weird turns, so you never know what to expect and I like that. I found the “magic system” somewhat confusing and was a bit confused by what magic was actually being practiced here. Then there are angels and demons involved along with other strange eldritch powers and it’s a little tough to follow how it all fits together. However, if you just sit back and accept all the weirdness it’s a fast-paced and fun ride.
I really enjoyed the characters; they have a quirkiness similar to Green’s Nightside series but I found them to be more engaging and personable. They all have intriguing histories and good depth to their character. I liked that Julie grew throughout the book as well.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I really liked this. There were some rough edges both in technical editing, and things like the magic system and plot being a bit hard to piece together and make sense of. However, I think all of this was more than offset by the quirky characters, intriguing world, and fast-paced craziness. If you are looking for a urban fantasy horror with some eldritch weirdness and odd characters that are surprisingly easy to love and engage with, I would highly recommend this. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
