The Devil You Know

Felix Castor is an exorcist who's fallen into some hard times after an attempt to remedy a friend's possession went horribly wrong. Out of the blue comes a simple ghost removal, which seems fairly simple. However, while attempting to get a feel for the ghost's nature, he runs afoul of a crooked pimp, a lycanthrope with an attitude, and an elder succubus who's been summoned just to kill him. Felix is forced to use his wits to not only bring peace to the mute ghost, but to save his own skin in the process.

Up until this novel, I was only familiar with Mike Carey's comic book work, primarily Lucifer and The Unwritten (both excellent titles, by the way). This is the first prose novel of his I've read, and coincidentally the first novel in the Felix Castor series.

While Felix comes off a bit like John Constantine (Carey also wrote some issues of Hellblazer), the uniqueness of Castor's universe allows you to look past a lot of the familiar occult detective tropes. Carey comes up with creative origins of the various supernatural types, some of which are refreshing takes on otherwise tired concepts. Combine that with some snappy dialog and excellent pacing, and you end up with a book that's an absolute blast to read.

If you're looking for something both fun and new, this is definitely a book to check out. Highly recommended.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Title: The Devil You Know
Author: Mike Carey
Year: 2006
Pages: 501

Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice

Detective Tony Chu is a cibopath, meaning he gets psychic feedback from anything he eats. This means he feels the life of any animal, plant, or anything else he ingests. Well, except for beets. Why? Who knows, but at least he can eat something guilt-free.

In a world where poultry consumption has been outlawed due to an outbreak of avaian flu, Chu is hired on by the Special Crimes Division of the USFDA to use his talents to solve otherwise unsolvable crimes. Teamed with a hulking mass of a man named Mason (who is also a cibopath), Chu is assigned to the most bizarre of cases, including a reporter who's food reviews make people physically ill, an Arctic outpost with a seemingly pointless assignment to audit their spending, and a Yakuza chicken smuggling operation. All the while, clues emerge that question the government's poultry ban.

Fans of bizarro fiction are likely to enjoy the sheer weirdness of the plot, while those used to more conventional stories may not appreciate the storyline. John Layman does a great job establishing the state of this world and makes the characters as believable as possible, considering the absurdity of the conspiracy and nature of Chu and Mason's powers.

The over-the-top artwork by Rob Guillory helps drive home the quirkiness of Chu's world. Chu is drawn relatively straightforward, while those around him are exaggerated caricatures of the traits they represent. It also helps that Guillory doesn't seem to be afraid of backgrounds, which often have little "Easter eggs" if you're paying attention.

All in all, a pretty good read. Check it out if you'd like to add a little strangeness to your diet.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Things From Another World

Title: Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice
Author: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Year: 2009
Pages: 128