Dead of Night (Ghosts & Magic Book 1)

While I've enjoyed the Divine series by Mr. Forbes, this is a disaster. The lead character is pathetic, barely functioning and just not someone to relate to. I actually kept hoping he'd get killed. I couldn't even finish the book.

I am a big fan of urban fantasy and decided to give this a try after reading the description. I won't return to this series. The world building wasn't terrible, just not very original. There has been a major shift in the world but really, nothing has changed. People and others are generally only interested in money and act accordingly. I actively like this was a boring, badly plotted mystery and the author used software to change drop in random fantasy creature names. And the description claimed fans of the Dresden files would like it. Another thing this book got wrong. The reader is not given any reason to bond with this main character. We know what motivates him to take jobs, but he really has very little moral grounding. He will kill a bystander with just a shrug of his shoulder something Harry Dresden would never do. If you like guns and random killings, this is the book for you.

Conor Night is a necromancer, a hitman, and cancer patient. The illegal treatments keeping him alive are risky and expensive. Hence, the need to do odd jobs like thievery and the occasional murder. Lucky for him, he had a great instructor, Dani, who is still around to keep him organized; and he has his corpses, some of which are more useful than others.

A few weeks ago, I listened to the prequel, Dead Lucky, and really enjoyed it. This book follows that up with even more awesomeness. Set roughly 3 years after Conor was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he’s gone to great lengths to keep himself alive. He’s not proud of all that he has done but he is dead set on providing for the family he walked away from. He was lucky to have Dani find him back then, drunk and beaten. She was already a Ghost, having the special skills and training to pull off the difficult jobs no one wants to talk about but so many have a need for. Now Conor too is a Ghost. He’s a complicated character who usually chooses the right thing to do even if it is a difficult path. Yet he is always tormented by the few bad deeds he has done.

Conor isn’t your typical hero. He’s unhealthy. He’s not some hunky hero with a good haircut and abs to die for. Nope. He’s got determination, weapon skills, a reasonable IQ, and his rough humor to carry him forward. I was fascinated by his relationship with Dani in Dead Lucky and that fascination carries over to this book as well. Toss in another potential romantic interest and we see flashes of the tender side to Conor.

The author tosses you into the action, but then provides this rich background for the characters in conversations or small flashbacks as a character mulls over a situation. The job Conor signed on for morphs into something much bigger. There’s mystery and some double dealing. Toss in a few mysterious magic users, a pack of werewolves, a touch of romance, some cyberpunkian info gathering and you have quite the ride!

These fascinating characters, several of which are multifaceted, are set in this future world populated by magical creatures – ogres, werewolves, vampires, etc. The solid plot line makes room for all of that while keeping the story moving forward. There was a very unexpected twist near the end that had me talking back to the book (mostly saying NO! and such). It was well done and it made total sense for the plot. This is an excellent addition to the urban fantasy genre.

I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

Narration: Jeff Hays was once again excellent to listen to. His somewhat gravelly voice for Connor was perfect, again. He had some coughing fits (in line with the character) that he tossed in here and there, making Conor’s illness that much realer. Late in the story there is a ghostly element that speaks with a chorus of voices and Hays did some masterful sound magic there! I swear, the hairs on the back of my neck went up when I heard that chorus! Hays also has an amazing range of female character voices. I especially like his voice for Dani, being sharp and precise and yet somewhat loving all at the same time.

On a job, Conor Night hears of another job paying two million dollars. That was a lot of money. More than his current job to kill the two men that were offered the job. After finishing his current job, Conor asks about the job. The Fixer gives it to him, but Conor has 48 hours to finish and contact him and Mr. Black or a kill team will be after him, and being a necromancer won't make a difference to them. What seemed to be a simple theft job turns out to be more, and the different powerful Houses are involved. Conor finds himself on the run while protecting another, yet fighting back against beings that shouldn't be.

I do enjoy the vast cast of voices Jeff performs in his narrations. That's the first thing that drew me to this novel, the second was it sounded like something I would read and enjoy. Jeff has not let me down with his talented voice. Not only do we get different voices but we get the muffled sounds of one talking without a jaw (you have to listen to understand) along with sounding like one is on the phone when doing so. Jeff breaths life into all the characters in a fourth dimension we don't always get in books, through voice and emotions.

Wow. This world is vast in creatures and beings and magic. There is a system to the Houses that ruled in the magical ways. And lots of ghosts, though I did get confused as to who are ghosts and not, and what ghost meant here. I'm leaving the book believing ghost isn't exactly what we think of with ghost. I think Ghost is a term used for people who are affiliated with magic, touched by it some how or for those that are hired to do theft jobs along with assassinations.

Conor is motivated by money, so he'll survive and send money to those he care(d) about. But he does have his own set of rules and morels too. Will he turn on his current employer to save his own neck? Or does he have something else up his baggy sleeves? You'll have to read to see what he'll do when put on the spot. Conor is an interesting character as he's a necromancer, and to be one you have to have one foot in the grave, so to speak. Conor is dying. That's when the necromancer ability shines along with the use of the drugs he needs to hold off the cancer from finishing it's work. He could always feel the pulse of the fields that brought magic back to the world, but that was all until he started the test drugs for his cancer.

The reason for magic being present in the world is interesting and feels well thought out. We get the descriptions are given through the book.

I think the jury is still out on this book and world. I'm just don't feel I understand what's happening in the world with ghosts and magic completely yet. We get some of the rules, but I'm not sure I understand it all yet. There is much here to see and learn, and with Conor being a hired gun or thief, there is great potential for us to see more of this powerful world.

In the end, I'm curious about this dark, magical world created. We get the complete story here but there are small openings in the world that could bring us to the series and to learn much much more about Conor and some answers he's seeking.

(Audiobook review!)
Firstly, Jeff Hays (the narrator) rocks! Such a huge range. He convincingly does a score of female voices on top of a frankly astounding range of male voices in various accents and tones. He really knows how to bring a book to life, and this one was no exception.

The only thing I found weird, in terms of general production (and I find this weird in all audiobooks in which it happens) is the addition of laughing and coughing and things of that nature. I love the special effects, like when it sounds like someone is legitimately talking on the phone, or when robots sound like robots (and the mask - gods above, the mask... just perfectly creepy AF), but laughing and coughing don't need to be used as special effects. I can understand a raspy voice if a character has just coughed (and this is done here, and well), but the laughs/coughs themselves sound forced and slightly out of place, and it subtracts a bit from the performance.

Perhaps all that is a personal preference, though. :)

As for the book itself, this was a cool premise with a well thought out world and magic system. Sort of Breaking Bad meets Harry Dresden with Necromancy. Urban fantasy is so damn entertaining sometimes, and this was definitely on par with some of my favorites.

I cared what happened to the characters (which is nice, generally speaking, lol), and I got upset when upsetting things happened to the people I liked. I got hopeful for character's futures. I was emotionally invested to a point, and that doesn't always happen to me.

Very entertaining overall. I'll definitely continue with this series! :)

(Side note: The black market surgeon cracking a HIPAA joke was hilarious. I work with medical records, you see. Also, I'm a huge dork. Boss caught me giggling, too, so I explained the joke and she giggled with me. Also, Caroline talking was hilariously done.)

I read this book through the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

I have to admit, but I did like this book. The world-building was solid and interesting and the cast of characters was pretty fun. I've seen some comparison of this novel to The Dresden Files and I would concede that if you like Jim Butcher's series, you might like to take a look at this book too.

One issue, and it is a big one, was that I can see that this book was self-published. This is not necessary a bad thing - some of the best books I've ever read were self-published, BUT there are some areas where it needs some stronger editing to make the story a bit smoother to read.

I will be reading the second book in the series and am looking forward to seeing how the characters progress.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this series. While all the usual hallmarks of a Forbes book- solid writing, thrilling action, well-formed plot, engaging secondary characters-are there, I'm having a bit of a hard time with the MC. Not his character, necessarily, but his dark circumstances. Still, I'm sure I won't be able to resist finding out what happens next to a man who has nothing to lose.

*Spoilers*

Forbes does seem to have a disturbing tendency to kill off secondary characters that I've become attached to, sometimes they don't even seem that secondary, and all too often they are the MC's best friend. This is even harder to take in a series that is already so inherently bleak!

This is a promising first venture and I look forward to reading the next two books in the series.

Broadly it falls into the "urban fantasy" genre, but mixes elements of cyberpunk and marginal postapocalyptic stories in, and does so to the greater good. This is NOT one of the many cookie-cutter urban fantasy series out there, and instead mixes in a lot of provocative concepts on how the special flavor du jour (necromancy) works in a setting where magic was clearly thought out well by the author. Likewise, the main character Conor is sympathetic and interesting without being a Mary Sue, and is noirish enough that while he could sit down at a table with Harry Dresden and Phillip Marlowe, he's clearly his own animal in his own world.

PROS
- Interesting setting
- Scratches the itch for noirish caper-based storytelling
- Characters are sympathetic without being martyrs, funny without being obnoxious, smart without being omnipotent.
- Pacing is nice and smooth; everything major ties into the central plot and its consequences.
- Fun take on how magic works; similar without being derivative, and bravo for an interesting take on necromancy

CONS
- Conor's origin feels vestigial; it's mostly there because a protagonist needs an origin, but doesn't seem particularly well-fleshed-out; this is a relatively minor beef because it doesn't come up as a major point in the story, and otherwise the setting is set up in such a way that we don't really need to know Conor's background.
- The "world's magnetic poles shifted" trope is as good as any "pull the origin out of a hat" explanation for why magic now exists, but for sci-fi fans it might be a little jarring in its zeerustic retro fiction explanation. Thankfully this is the only major downside of the background.
- Combat choreography might need a little work; Conor isn't a combatant and since the story's from his perspective that might be why the combat isn't patterned out overly well

Mostly I gave it a 4 out of 5 because I couldn't give it a 4.5 out of 5. The only flaws I found were relatively minor rather than intrinsic flaws of the author's ability or some inherent weakness to the setting. I really enjoyed this fun romp of a book and I'm happily looking forward to devouring the next book.

I received this book from the narrator in exchange for a review.

I absolutely loved the narration. It sounded like a book being read by Christian Bale's batman, which is always a good thing. The only downside was the weird laugh track that was often inserted, like someone would hit the laugh (or whatever) sound on a keyboard.

Also, a lot of the female voices sounded similar. Still, I really enjoyed the narration and would totally listen to another one.

As someone who listens to a ton of Urban Fantasy, I have to say this story is just great. The detail is good, and I really found myself rooting for Conor. I laughed out loud more than a few times, and I loved the slow build of the world.

I swear, this is like steampunk dystopian urban fantasy with a hot Asian chick who rides a futuristic motorcycle, a crazy necromancer, and a lovable Fat guy who has plenty of surface area to hide guns.

It had leanings that made me think of Ready Player One or even Neuromancer which was great. Just great. I feel like I geeked out all over the place.

I even went out and liked M.R. Forbes' Facebook page and I never do that. Then I went and tried to find out how many books are out because I'm definitely listening to them all. It was that good. Apparently, there's only three, which makes me sad because I'm already on the second one and soon I'll be out of them.

The Dead of Night is a contemporary Urban Fantasy with a Shadowrun feel. Conor, a necromancer in a world turned upside down by a magnetic shift, is dying from his gift but that’s not the worst of his troubles. Getting mixed up in a deal to steal from one of the most powerful wizards, set up as a patsy to take the blame, he fights back to try to preserve the life he has left. Necromancers might be pariah but by the end even the most powerful House will need his help if it wants to survive. The book grabs you from the first page and doesn't let you go. Equal parts Dresden, Constantine, and Doctor Strange the story and the characters were exciting and compelling. The book was also well edited which is sometimes a challenge for self-published works so misspellings and poor grammar aren't an issue. I thoroughly enjoyed it (and devoured it in one night!) and am now anxiously awaiting a sequel!

I really want to like this book, because there are a lot of good things about it. The characters and story are entertaining, the world and atmosphere are good and all in all it did a good job of being Not Shadowrun, which is a setting I personally love. But it really needed more editing and proofreading. There are too many sentences that are clunkier than they need to be. Too many conversations were I got confused who was saying what, and at least one outright typo I picked up on. Scaling up, the flashbacks were a necessary and expected part of the story but they weren't worked into the flow of the narrative well. They kept cropping up at jarring moments when I was excited to read what happened next in the present.

It's definitely worth reading, but I hope the next book is an improvement.

Having read & enjoyed 3 of Mrf other series I happily added this 4th to that list. What I have liked especially about his stories is his ability to create totally different characters from one series to another. This was no different in that it is completely different from the 3 other series I have read. And did not disappoint. Hard to say but I think this was my favorite so far and am hoping he adds a 4th book to this series, yesterday ! Meanwhile I will move on to his 5th, see you there!

The is a good book and fun series if you like fantasy and/or urban fantasy. It reminds me of Dresden Files, where the hero is either somewhat unreliable or even almost at time an anti-hero. The author's voice shares that same sardonic, dry wit that you find in Dresden, although in this case it's not quite as good.

Even so, being "almost as witty as Jim Butcher" is still a complement, and where this book shines is the world the author built and the theme. The idea that the main character is a necromancer, but that death magic only works for you if you are in the process of dying, makes for a great setting.

All in all, a really fun read and got me into the series. Just finished book 3!

Forbes is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. He covers such a wide range of sci-fi fantasy that you would think the characters would be similar to one another from one series to the next. Forbes proves us wrong with yet another hero (anti-hero) with this series. Such a deviation from the norm makes it quite enjoyable. Thanks for the great work!

This story takes place in the here and now but with a few changes in history that explain why magic and magical beings are with us. The pace is quick and there are enough surprises to keep the pages turning fast. So many urban fantasy stories have a "young adult" feel to them, but this book definitely does not, thankfully! I'm really looking forward to reading the others in this series as well as others by Forbes.

In Dead of Night, Forbes took polar reversal, tweaked it, and produced a vivid environment in which technology and magic combine, giving us a realistic idea of what could happen if magic suddenly sprouted within our own reality. New viruses, fantastic and terrible creatures, power plays more devastating than anything we would see with science alone.

The world Forbes created is incredibly dark, and life is tenuous.

Aside from a feeling of emotional disconnect during a single scene, the ebook was virtually flawless. It was vivid, high paced, and real. I would definitely recommend this, and I'll be keeping an eye out, waiting for the second installment to be published.

(This is a truncation of my original review on Undiscovered Tomes.)

I have to start with the dice. Name you target and roll to see how they die. I saw the last roll coming, it was just a matter of time.

The book has the best explanation for how magic exists in an urban environment I've read yet. Satisfying conclusion to the story while leaving plenty of room for sequels.

You didn't know you wanted a Dirk Gently novel written by China Mieville and read by one of the greatest voice actors out there, but here it is anyway. If Colombo were capable of manipulating the dead, and that story were read by Charlie Sheen, it would be compared to this as the standard.

The story is engrossing, the universe fun and fast and complex and action packed and the characters all enjoyable, even the slovenly or the dead.

Where male readers fail so often is female voices, and here, it literally sounds like it's being read by multiple people. Just astounding.
Get this, and then, like me, pray more of them are made!

This book is very well written, with a great cast of characters, from the Doomed Protagonist to the supporting cast. Not a light and airy fantasy but a very morbid one, what would you expect from a Necromancer? The Doom and Gloom adds nice atmosphere to a very fast paced book filled with action with Nasty critters everywhere. I am looking forward to the next one in the series.

Man has amazing and unique power to raise the dead and a disease that requires a secret relatively expensive medication to keep in check. He could raise historical figures and charge universities and historical societies for the truth behind famous events. He could work for insurance companies investigating accidents ending in death for culpability. He could work for the FBI raiding victims to name their killers. He could charge families for the ability to seek closure with lost love ones. He doesn't do that. Instead he works as an assassin risking his own life to eek by and uses this amazing talent to raise up the dead to a) lift heavy things and b) shoot people with guns. He does use animals for recon work. But instead of investigating the truth behind his secret medication he uses it to steal a magic McGuffin. I made it about 40% through the book.

I think they do the book a disservice by calling him a small town thief. He was a surgeon. Forced into this life. It makes him a way deeper character.

Its a great story, I am not sure I care how the 'magic' works, as this is a little dystopian, and there is a great deal of chaos in its creation. The book is interesting, and not too sentimental about the characters.

a very entertaining story. im looking forward to reading the sequel. the one thing i got to say bad is its not a happy story. i know what your thinking, of course its not happy its about a necromancer. but trust me on this, the M.C. really has some crappy luck in life.

Again - so tired of books being compared to the Dresden series in an effort to sell them. My bad for falling for this kind of bait and switch tactic - again. I got to chapter 30 (an Audible book) and just had to stop. The book was probably almost over but it just couldn't hold my attention and I really didn't care if I finished it. I went and bought another Sookie Stackhouse book just so I had something to listen to that wouldn't make me want to drive off the road.

3 things this book did have in common with the Dresden books was the name of the main character's daughter, Molly (like Dresden's apprentice Molly Carpenter), the name of his wife - Karen (like Dresden's cop partner Karen Murphy) and the story starting out in Chicago. Really? With thousands of names out there and a multitude of cities the author couldn't be a little more inventive. Oh, and lets not forget in this book there is House Black and House Red - like the Red Court Vampires and the Black Court Vampires? Puhleease! There's also similarities to other well established series like government agencies that govern supernaturals. In my mind this book is a melting pot of other author's ideas. And I'm plumb mad that it's being touted as good as Jim Butcher's work.

The main character is supposedly dieing but despite the fact that he's constantly coughing and wheezing (which is an annoying sound effect Audible listeners get as a bonus) and that he's weak and tired, he still manages to come out of physical altercations no worse for wear. It's a turn off for me. Like watching the movie Cliffhanger except that the movie's unrealistic mountain climbing was at least brilliantly unrealistic. I'm not going to be giving this series another thought.

Bought this for a plane ride. Instead, finished it the night before the trip and finished the second book in the series on the plane.

Excellent vision and detail of the dystopian future that is Shadowrun. Ok, this version of the world is ruled by magic houses instead of mega corps. Still a great ride.

Please write more.

I was quite surprised, this got on my radar from a facebook ad (which is normally enough to make me shy away, honestly), but I got the sample... liked it pretty well... got the kindle book, now looking forward to more (and getting the rest of the related series).

This book grabs you and pulls you with it. The action sequences are creative and the author makes great use of the main characters abilities. We are never far away from the main characters neurosis about death or his close relationship to it. Thank you to the author.

Dead of night is action packed from the first chapter, so be ready to jump in! The story combines the creativity of True Blood with the darkness of Underworld. At times, it can be gruesome - this might be my personal preference, but I found myself listening during my afternoon commute much more often than AM commute. The narrator made the writing flow...he spoke with confidence and you could easily mistake the narrator for the writer him/herself. The plot-line keeps you thinking with sensationalist (and interesting) dilemmas. Five stars says enough.

This is an absolutely excellent urban fantasy novel, with some fascinating characters. I appreciate that it is told in first person and that the main character is unusual, almost an antihero, compared to many other main characters in similar books.

One of the gems I've stumbled across while searching for good urban fantasy books on the store. Like others it reminds me of Dresden files while being obviously original. Actually I'd say as far as comparisons go it feels almost Dresden Files and Shadowrun had a blessedly awesome love child. I found it highly enjoyable and have immediately grabbed the next one to start reading as well.

Almost never review books but this one absolutely fantastic a whole new look at a magic system that I never imagined before and made you feel for a type of magic user that usually is hated upon I absolutely adoreD it. Cannot wait to the next one

Reminded me a lot of a slightly less developed version of Butcher's Dresden but as a necromancer and with a more...unique take on magic and the supernatural. The mask and dice and their power was just an awesome damn concept. And like Butcher, Forbes made his character a badass who wasn't top of the food chain yet also wasn't a pushover as well as being someone who would walk into the dark and do what he saw as necessary to kick his enemies' teeth in. All in all, an awesome story.

Beware the F-bombs! As a high school teacher I spend a good part of my day asking students to not use certain words. My personal stance is that I will not pay to hear or in the case of books read these same words. S poo, as much as I enjoyed other books by this author I only made it to page 5. Wish I could get my money back.