Rating: 4 out 5 stars
Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense…except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there’s something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.
Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.
This was a spooky tale that drew me in from beginning. This is set in the same world as the Simon Feximal stories and takes place a bit down the road time wise. Randolph is good friends with Simon and Robert’s adopted son Sam who is now grown up. The time period is the 1920’s and the author does a very good job with the world building and setting up the imagery of what’s going on in this society. The end of the first world war has recently happened and the country is going through numerous changes. In addition there has been a supernatural war that occurred alongside the world war. All of the characters have suffered loss in one way or the other as a result.
I enjoyed both Saul and Randolph as main characters. I found their banter very entertaining. They exasperate each other during their first few meetings but soon they can not fight the attraction they feel towards each other. This author always does a good job with the hurt/comfort trope and this story was another example. Saul has a lot of emotional pain and really no one he can turn to in his life. This relationship with Randall not only gives him love, but it gives him a group of people who accept him and offer him friendship. It was a touching thing to watch unfold.
There’s a lot going on in this and there are multiple legends and paranormal creatures that are introduced. Some of the things I had heard of before and others I had not. I’m not sure if that is because the author made them up or if it is because I am from the US and may not know the UK legends. Either way they were entertaining and I can not wait to see what happens with this new band of friends and their quest to keep the city safe from paranormal activity.
Cover by Lexiconic Design: I really like the cover and I think it perfectly fits the time period of the story and sets the atmosphere of what’s to come in the story.
