Cursed City (Shadow Detective Book 1)

Damned fine read. Spoiler alert.

This one starts with Mike Raven. He and his partner Skulick, a man who lost the use of his legs when a ghost had dropped him out of a third story window. He had lived but was now a prisoner in a wheelchair. Skulick, like Raven, is a man of action. He'd been fighting the supernatural for twenty years.

Skulick had been a mentor to Mike when both of his parents were killed by a demon. He had been friend, mentor and partner since that day twenty one years ago.

Right now they have a client, Celeste. She meets with Mike and tells him that her father sold her soul to the devil when she was born.

This case will send Mike Raven into a case where he learns exactly who murdered his parents and why.

So begins one damned fine read.

This one has Mike, Skulick, Celeste, a Celeste who has her own agenda, the Horne family, murder, a Mike who is taken on one hell of a ride, the Horne patriarch who has his own agenda, Morlag a demon, hellseeker, the Ring of Solomon and Mike Raven doing what he can to save who he can, destroy the undead and stay alive.

Five Stars. Fine read.

REAL RATING: 3.5

I read this with the full intention of wanting a book like Jim Butcher's series The Dresden Files. While yes this a bit like that series it is not a carbon copy. Mike Raven (goes by Raven in the book) is much more focused, not as perverted and absolutely not a wizard. He does have that annoying chivalrous tendency that gets him into trouble, but it isn't too annoying. The book starts out simple and straight to the action, as we see Raven currently on a case. We get snippets of his back story as he is hunting this baddie down. Raven is extremely open with his past and what started him on this road to hunting the supernatural, which is refreshing. This is a light read so it didn't take me long to finish it.

I will say that it is extremely predictable as to what is going to happen, however while I usually find that annoying it didn't bother me so much as I wanted to see how Raven was going to handle things. I will say I wished the book was a bit longer as the story was just a little to constant and I really wanted to get to know some of the side characters a bit more so I would care about them in case anything were to happen. However, with 8 books currently in the series I don't think it will be too much of a problem as I will be reading this series.

Not a verified purchase because I borrowed through Kindle Unlimited. That said....I love occult/paranormal books, but rarely read detective novels. I always fugure out whodunit long before the end. In CursedCity though, enough plot twists were thrown that I was surprised up until the last page. These were not "oh, let's toss in a new suspect ten pages from the end" plot twists either, but ones that happened organically and, best of all, made sense. I also loved how Raven coud not use magic (for reasons I won't discuss here), but had to rely on his own skills and knowledge. That, to me, separates this book from the Dresden novels.

The characters are fully fleshed out, with motives and reasons for their behavior, even when they're just a background bit. (Btw, Raven reminds me of a nicer Burke fromthe Andrew Vachss series). The world building is complete, with settings that, again, make logical sense.

If you're a fan of paranormal stories, give this a try. Plus, you're in luck! Book 2 shoud be out in a few days so no waiting!

As I prepared to publish and market my latest novel, War Demons, I set out in search of other, similar novels. Cursed City by William Massa quickly rose quickly to the top of my list. It turns out that male leads represent an endangered species in urban fantasy novels. Many of the books sold in the genre should actually sit in the paranormal romance category. I hold nothing against that, but War Demons doesn't fit with that crowd at all.

Neither does Cursed City. Book one of Massa's Shadow Detective series, this book packed in the fun. It's pulp as hell, and I mean that in the best possible way. Mike Raven, the hero, provides a welcome breath of masculinity in an estrogen dominated genre. Furthermore, he lives up to the primary duty of a protagonist: he's interesting.

The writing is simple and straightforward. At first, that worried me. But a few chapters in it became clear that the simple writing is intentional, in the tradition of the old school pulp writers. This kind of deliberate simple writing is actually a challenge to accomplish, and it makes the book very accessible. And if I hadn't already overcome that objection, the twists in the final act more than compensated.

A quick, thrilling read, this book started in the middle of the action and only paused for a few breaths along the way. I give it four stars out of five, and I look forward to finishing the rest of the series. I highly recommend it to fans of male led urban fantasy.

I can't believe that I"m reading an urban fantasy novel (long story...). I loved the author's writing style, it's totally perfect for me: clean and straightforward with just enough details to not slow down the pace. Also the length of the book is dead on my sweet spot. So style-wise and structure-wise everything is perfect, but how is the story you might ask. Perfect! The adventure is fast-paced, the world-building is on-the-fly and the characters are fun and well define. To sum things up, this is a crisp read done expertly by a talented author. This will be the first (and possibly only) urban fantasy series that I will continue reading.

Once you pick this book up, you aren't going to want to put it back down. You've been warned. The twists and turns are out of this world, and the pulse-pounding battles against the supernatural make this a solid page-turner. Several times throughout this novel I thought I had everything figured out, only to have the rug pulled out from under me. Can't wait to check out more of Raven's adventures! I also hope to see more of a particular antagonist in future entries to this series!

I enjoyed reading this Shadow Detective story by William Massa. It is a story of the supernatural so it has a delightful mix, but this one is dealing with demons. Raven is an eight year old boy when his mother and father are killed by a demon. He is raised by his father's partner and trained as a demon Hunter. If you enjoy supernatural stories, then I recommend this book or if you don't then still give this book a read.

The writing style is a bit strange it's narrated in first person, and has a noir feel to it but is too fast for that but the story is very good.
Mike Raven has been hunting demons and other creatures of the night for years his parents were killed by a demon, their best friend Skulich helped train him to follow in his fathers footstep as a monster hunter.he
The first part of the book deals with him defeating a witch woken by accident, the rest of the book deals with what happens when he is taken in by a pretty face and a sob story but everything is not as it seems.
Raven depends a little too much on his magic weapon Hellseeker and a ring with the Seal of Solomon on it for defence perhaps in later books the will be different artifacts used

Decent read. Predictable and cliché. Checks all the loner wolf hero boxes. The repetative mentioning of the car got pretty annoying. I get it, awesome muscle car, no need to name drop it every time a car is mentioned. Lot's of room for improvement. I'll read the next book but if writing didn't improve not sure how far I'll take the series.

This is a gritty fast paced action packed book and I loved it. It reminded me of a "Blade" type action book with twists and turns galore to keep the avid reader like me thoroughly engaged right until the end. Really enjoyed this non-girly plot & character driven book and can't wait to read the next one! Bring it on!....

William Massa ROCKS!! This book has twists and turns that really sets the pace of the story, which is fast and heart pounding. It has been a long time since I read a book all night, but I found it hard to put this book down. The ending smacks you in the face, you never see it coming!!!!

I didn’t know what to think going in but the story kept me turning the pages and wanting to know how the story ended. In the end I fell in love with Mike Raven and wanted to know more about his adventures. What more can you ask of a book??

Book revolves around the exploits of a demon hunter called Raven. A little clunky story line but their was some creativity. Would have been nice if the protagonist had some supernatural powers. Raven took too much of a beating for a human which made some of his exploits less believable.
Overall a good read.

This seems like a twist on the Dresden files and Constantine, it is a dark urban fantasy and does keep you guessing with the plot twists. Demons, occult and death keep coming, Good character development along with a good storyline keeps you reading, I will continue reading the series.

William Massa doesn't disappoint. I've grown to love his twists on sci-fi and urban fantasy, and as a fan of Butcher's Dresden Files and, of course, Massa's work, I felt right at home in this one. It reads with a really noir feel to it following PI Mike Raven. The world and lore associated with the supernatural are rich--such as Raven's Hellseeker handgun. Everything's got a bit of a history behind it that makes you wonder what else Raven's world has in store after solving Celeste's mystery. Massa's not just a good storyteller, but his filmwriting credentials bleed into this one as well. The descriptions ("the sky above was the color of melted lead") and details surrounding Raven and his environment add to the suspense, making it feel like you're actually watching one hell of a good detective film with a supernatural twist.

Definitely an awesome blend of dark fantasy, action and horror. It was a mixture of Constantine and occult assassin which is another great book series by massa that I highly recommend. Can't wait to read book 2 in this exciting series.

Well worth a look! Some writers do the "work" and others clearly love the craft. Massa is clearly in the latter group and it shows, not just in the clear quest for original storytelling, but also in the easy flow of his prose. Recommended.

Raven and his mentor/friend, Skulick, fight demons and other supernatural villains. It starts with
a 'vengeance driven mass murdering witch. The remainder of the book is about demons and conspiring evil humans.

William Massa creates a complex and interesting character in Mike Raven: as can be expected, he's a supernatural bad ass but, surprisingly, not afraid to admit he's scared or out of his depths. This book was marvelously entertaining: an unexpected gem from an author I had not read before. Cursed City gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me and I will definitely be reading other books by this author!

This is an action packed series of books that doesn't fail to deliver!! Unlike some book series, each one holds its own! Exciting plots, characters that you'll actually care about and a good dose of supernatural spookiness!! If you love urban fantasy then you need to read this book and you'll soon be reading the whole series.

Another fantastic new series by William Massa. It is fast paced and full of twists that was able to kept my attention till the end. There are well developed characters that I want to see more of in the next books. Best of all it has my favorite things...lots of magic and mayhem!

Massa's first book in his Shadow Detective series, Cursed City, could best be described as an urban dark fantasy with a touch of horror. I'm definitely in for its continuing ride with paranormal investigator/ anti-hero Mike Raven and his mentor/partner Joe Skulic.

I enjoyed this fast paced book...a good afternoon read. The author gave enough info on the characters and environment to make it interesting. The story line kept its pace through the whole book...no extra fluff. Personally I don't like it when a story starts off in 5th gear and then suddenly spends 3 chapter in reverse. Definitely looking forward to following Mike Raven on his next adventure.

Aside from a couple divergent theories from what I now call Butcher Lore, this story was great and I can not wait to see what else Raven comes up against! Smooth writing and plausible reactions just added to a good story and immersive world. Looking forward to book 2!!

Story line was good, and the character interactions were adequate. I did not quite reach the "I can't put it down" stage. I will read book two and see what happens with Raven and Skulick and the other actors.

This is an action packed series of books that doesn't fail to deliver!! Unlike some book series, each one holds its own! Exciting plots, characters that you'll actually care about and a good dose of supernatural spookiness!! If you love urban fantasy then you need to read this book and you'll soon be reading the whole series.