Evil Dark (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation, #2)

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Evil Dark (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #2)

by Justin Gustainis (Goodreads Author)

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 214 ratings · 43 reviews

My name's Markowski. I carry a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.

A series of seemingly motiveless murders of supernatural creatures points to a vigilante targeting the supe community. Markowski wouldn't normally have much of a problem with that, but his daughter may be next on the killer's li...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Angry Robot (first published January 1st 2012)

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Science Fiction & Fantasy Titles for 2012!

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Jun 26, 2012 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-sheila

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Suspense driven, crime stopping, sarcasm slinging detective duo out to stop an unprecedented supe-human war.

Opening Sentence: The City is Scranton.

The Review:

Evil Dark, the second installment in the Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series, continues to follow the overworked and underappreciated detectives, Stan Markowski and Karl Renfer. Their caseload is high, their sarcasm strong, and all their interagency cooperation mojo is running out q...more

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May 31, 2012 Ruth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: spec-fic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 17, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-5-stars

Plot: 4.5 Stars
I love the balance between cop procedural and the paranormal in this series. Stan and Karl are a part of the Occult Crimes Unit, and its no different from any other police unit, except for the paranormal creatures. On any given day, Stan and Karl are tring to solve numerous cases involving werewolves, vampires, goblins, witches, and any of the other supernatural creatures that are living in Scranton. If this series was made into a tv show, it would be something like Law and Order:...more Plot: 4.5 Stars
I love the balance between cop procedural and the paranormal in this series. Stan and Karl are a part of the Occult Crimes Unit, and its no different from any other police unit, except for the paranormal creatures. On any given day, Stan and Karl are tring to solve numerous cases involving werewolves, vampires, goblins, witches, and any of the other supernatural creatures that are living in Scranton. If this series was made into a tv show, it would be something like Law and Order: Paranormal Victims Unit.

Pace: 4.5 Stars
This novel was non-stop Paranormal cop drama/action. From the very first page, I was sucked right back into the author's gritty world. This time around I already knew about the no-chapters-only-page-breaks thing, and I didn't even notice. My favorite part about this novel was that Stan and Karl has other cases to work around the big case that was the main focus. These cases filled the spaces between twists and turns, which meant there was no downtime for my brain to wander. This was a fast-paced, gritty Urban Fantasy that I didn't want to put down.

Characters: 4.5 Stars
Although I enjoyed learning more about Stan and Karl, I was really excited to learn more about Stan's daughter, Christine. Between Karl and Christine, Stan's opinion of Supes, or supernatural creatures, has been turned upside-down. It's forced him to face some hard truths, and even get into a couple of arguments. It was also nice to see more of Rachel, a witch that the precinct hires as a consultant for cases. There were also a couple of FBI agents that were introduced, and it was very interesting to see how they interacted with the cops within the precinct. There were also numerous characters introduced as Stan and Karl made progress in their cases, with a few surprises mixed in.

Cover: 4 Stars
If you put this cover next to its predecessor, there's no mistaking that the two go together. The main image of the cover is a bit grainy, like its an actual crime scene photo. Which fits considering the image is a crime scene straight out of the pages of the novel. The bold fonts and font colors draw your attention, while the detailed crime scene keeps it. I liked that a little bit of yellow was used in this cover, since it was so prominent in the first cover. But the addition of red for the title was a great idea, considering how much blood is involved in the cases within the novel.

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this novel for my own reading pleasure. (less)

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May 09, 2012 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

EVIL DARK
Stan Markowsky, Book 2
Angry Robot
USA Mass Market Paperback 384 pp. April 24, 2012
UK B-Format Paperback 416pp May 3, 2012
Also as E-Book

ORIGINAL REVIEW FANGS WANDS AND FAIRY DUST: A HUMAN JOE FRIDAY ON THE SUPE SQUAD

INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY MAY 20 (giveaway ends May 25)

“My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge. Also a crucifix, some wooden stakes, big vial of holy water and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.”
ANGRY ROBOT

In this second adventure of Stan Markowski and the Scranton Polic...more

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May 04, 2012 Karen Ranney rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is going to be an odd review, so you've been warned.

I'm emotional about books. I'm passionate about ones that I like.

I LOVED Justin Gustainis's first book in this series. (This is the second.)

I was fully prepared to love this one. I even pre-ordered it, and you have to be good for me to pre-order a book.

There was so much to love about this book. I love the character development. But the end totally ruined the book for me.

SPOILER TERRITORY

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Please, I just want to bop the author...more

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May 08, 2012 Mieneke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, 2012, fantasy

I seem to be developing a taste for supernatural police procedurals. After discovering and loving Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Moon over Soho last year and Scott Sigler's Nocturnal last month, this month it was Justin Gustainis' Evil Dark and its protagonist Stan Markowski's turn. I had a tremendous amount of fun with this book. Its writing and tone of voice hooked me from the first page and by the end of the book I was disappointed that it was over so soon, as I would have happily...more I seem to be developing a taste for supernatural police procedurals. After discovering and loving Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Moon over Soho last year and Scott Sigler's Nocturnal last month, this month it was Justin Gustainis' Evil Dark and its protagonist Stan Markowski's turn. I had a tremendous amount of fun with this book. Its writing and tone of voice hooked me from the first page and by the end of the book I was disappointed that it was over so soon, as I would have happily spent another three hundred pages with its characters.

The atmosphere Gustainis creates with his writing is fabulous. From the first page you get a feel for not only who Stan Markowski is, but also in what kind of town he operates. While some of the characters were archetypal, the fact that I thought them so might be due to the fact that I've read and watched a lot of police procedurals. There is the rugged, older main character, with his younger, slightly goofy partner, the gruff squad captain with his heart in the right place and the sexy, sassy female cop love interest among others. And naturally, the cops and the FBI have a hard time playing nice with each other. But archetypal or no, these characters are definitely a bit different, as they are part of a police squad that deals with occult crimes, that means crimes involving or committed by supernatural creatures ranging from vampires to ghouls and goblins. In fact, Stan's partner Karl and his daughter Christine are vampires themselves. Not having read the first book in the Occult Crimes Unit series, I'm not sure about much of Stan, Karl and Christine's back story, other than that it involved getting Karl and Christine turned into vampires to save their lives – or undeath, such as it is – but we do see Stan having mixed feelings about this change in his partner and daughter. There is a lot of hidden depth to Markowski's calm exterior, which makes him interesting to read about, even if a lot of that depth remains unilluminated, though I can't be sure whether it's truly unknown or things revealed in the previous book. Karl, with his James Bond obsession and his rather unique perspective on their case, is a good foil for Stan's serious demeanour and their verbal exchanges are some of the highlights of the book.

The different supernatural creatures found in Evil Dark are a natural part of the story's world, not monsters hidden from human society, but integrated and every day. In fact, I loved the alternate world Gustainis has created. His Cranston is a place unlike our own, but at the same time it could still be the next town over from ours. The supernatural creatures aren't just an everyday part of life; they even have their own history, such as ogres and goblins being distantly-related. They have even penetrated popular culture; there is a website called Drac's List, where vampires can meet potential 'donors', James Bond starred in From Transylvania with Love, Steinbeck's bestseller is Of Elves and Men and Stan buys his daughter something special for dinner at Sup'r-Natural Foods or the local Vlad-Mart. The little details Gustainis manages to drop into the narrative in this manner are awesome and add up to a very convincing alternate reality.

In this very real supernatural environment, we are presented with a frightening case which Stan and Karl get handed by the FBI; there are people making supernatural snuff films, not the urban-myth kind, the real deal. With such a big case on their plate, Stan and Karl get busy, but it seems that every day sees more cases added to their workload as the unit is inundated with cases. Gustainis manages to make all of the cases fit together in a way that leads to a surprising conclusion, one I very much enjoyed.

Evil Dark was a terrifically entertaining read, which kept me invested in its characters from beginning to end. Now I want to read Hard Spell, just so I can spend some more time with Stan, Karl, Christine and the rest, after which I'll eagerly await the as-yet untitled third book. A fun, fast read centred on an interesting case to solve, Evil Dark is a recommended read for anyone who likes police procedurals or the supernatural without sparkles or tramp stamps and leather pants. Meanwhile, I think I need to find myself some more supernatural police procedurals, to see if they are a temporary craving or a lastingly acquired taste. Any suggestions?

This book was provided for review by the publisher.(less)

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Mar 21, 2013 Otherwyrld rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal

I really must stop looking at reviews of books I am about to read. The spoiler I accidentally caught almost ruined it for me, the dread of what I knew was going to happen dragging the rest of the book down. When I actually arrived at the last two pages, it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might have been, but the book certainly lost 1 star because of it.

It's a pity too, because otherwise the story was pretty good. It was a lot darker than the first book in the series, with both demonic snuff...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Krycek rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, urban-fantasy-paranormal-whatever, crime-fiction, series-out-of-order

The cover caught my eye at the local library. It reminded me of those old mystery paperbacks from the fifties and I hoped that the story inside was just as cool as the cover. Happy surprise, it was. Timely, too, since Dragnet reruns have been on the TV lately. This is a supernatural Dragnet, but with more violence and swearing.. This thing's been done before, sure, but it's done very well here.

All in all, a neat bit of UF without all the romance stuff, which isn't really my thing. Actually, the...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Gregory Litchfield rated it 5 of 5 stars

If a book about a cult that is using a demon to torture and kill people, and then making snuff films from them can be considered fun, than this is that book!

This is the second novel in Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series, featuring Stan Markowski, who is an aging beat-down detective very much in the Chandler mode. Of course what makes Stan's job different than every other detective novel is that he works for a division of the police that works cases involving supernatural beings - or "supes"...more

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May 18, 2012 Ami rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy-with-male-protagonist

There are several cases that Stan and his vampire partner, Karl, are dealing with in this book. First, a case of torture-snuff films, where demon is called to torture and to murder human. Then, there is a case in which witches are being burned and other supes (werewolves and vampires) are killed. Other than that, they also must deal with 'side-cases', like saving a fairy from killing himself or a drunk ogre that take a human hostage in a bar.

I postponed reading this because of a not-so-good revi...more

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May 05, 2012 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs, urban, fiction, dropbox

EVIL DARK hit the spot, both as a police procedural and UF. The dry police banter, methodical exploration of crimes, and a story and world that were easy to jump into make this great introduction to the series as well as a satisfying stand alone. I love how these crimes prove that not all supernatural crime is exotic, arresting an ogre that smashed up a bar or talking a wingless faerie off a ledge were excellent counterpoints to the heinous violence of the demonic snuff films.

Markowski and Kar...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Star (The Bibliophilic Book Blog) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Evil Dark, the second book in the Occult Crimes Unit Investigation Series, does not fail to deliver action, suspense, and dark humor. I am enjoying this series very much and Evil Dark brings us further into the alternate world where supes and humans live side by side. Supes are being killed and it's looking more and more like a "humans only" group is behind the killings. I love the main characters and the secondary characters stand up to scrutiny as well. I also enjoy the alternate history humor...more

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May 14, 2012 PopcornReads rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, detective-story, fantasy, fiction, family, fairies, demons, horror, justin-gustainis, magic, mysteries-thrillers, noir, paranormal, relationships, suspense, urban-myth, vampires, witches

I loved reading Hard Spell, Book #1 in the Occult Crime Unit Investigation series, so much that I could hardly wait for Evil Dark, Book #2, to come out. Justin Gustainis has created a fun paranormal crime/mystery series featuring a snarky detective who I get a real kick out of. I believe Evil Dark will work well as a stand-alone novel. This one is likely to appeal to anyone who likes hard-boiled detective stories, mysteries, paranormal novels, and/or a blend of all three. Read the rest of my rev...more

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May 13, 2012 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: april-2012-hotp, reviewed-by-julia

Neither as hard-boiled as most police procedurals, nor as arcane as pure urban fantasy, EVIL DARK is a blend that does justice to both genres without taking either too seriously. The dry police banter, methodical exploration of crimes, and a story and world that were easy to jump into make this a great introduction to the series as well as a satisfying stand alone.

I enjoyed the casual humor and camaraderie between Markowski and Karl. These two swing from good-natured jockeying to bad puns and di...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: great-cover, magic-users, mystery, elves-fae, fantasy, series-reminder, urban, vampire, paranormal, read-in-2012, zombies-ghouls

A very enjoyable traditional police procedural with a hardboiled cop, tempered with a nice touch of warmth and wry humor.I always like the tone of this series, it rings very true to me. He just feels very real to me as a detective, from the opening with his curiosity making him stop to help the elf when he knew he shouldn't, to the tension with the FBI agents, to his relationship with his partner, everything just felt right. The mystery was high tension and interesting and held my attention thro...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Berrendsci rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I like this detective who is punny, but not too much, and a bit rumpled in his life: Kojak, Columbo. I like too tht he must deal with being responsible for both his daughter and partner being turned vamp. (previous book's events, outcome now being felt). Supernaturalas aren't romanticized or demonized in this wold--they just are...I appreciate that view.

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May 19, 2012 Kevin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Uninteresting story. plodding plots. I think the main character was channelling the ghost of Mike Hammer, it was just an awful derivative pulp book. The dialogue was terrible, it was just cliché after clichéd word or deed. In fact, cliché is far too fancy a word to use to describe the trite rubbish I read; hackneyed is the word that sums Evil Dark up!

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Jul 16, 2012 Morgan rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 28, 2013 Gail rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that starts out okay and then crashes and burns in the last sixty pages. And then the last few pages made it so very, very much worse. It is also the last book by this author I will read, as it is not the first of his books I have been underwhelmed by.

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May 19, 2012 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars would be ideal, but there's not option for that (come on Goodreads!). Fun, pulpy, not terribly original but just a nice piece of escapism. The setting of Scranton, PA is always interesting and I do like the depiction of Jesuits in Mr. Gustainis' novels.

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Apr 02, 2013 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Toyota Lycans, Ford Exorcists, Sacred Weapons and Tactics (SWAT!)teams...whats not to like?! A great, campy detective book! Don't take it too seriously and enjoy!! Oh and I never saw the ending coming on this one....;-) Looking forward to the next installment from Gustainis.

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Apr 23, 2012 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I just can't get into Mr. Gustainis' other series, although I have tried. Having said that, I enjoyed the first book in this series and can say without hesitation that this, the second book, is even better.

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Nov 14, 2012 Brandt rated it 5 of 5 stars

9/10

The perfect mixture of suspense, fantasy and humour.
Like the previous its build like a police procedural and we follow cop Stan Markowski during a course of days as he deals with the supernatural crimes in his district.
I think Gustainis is onto something really golden with this series, the tone he has hit with Stan Markowski is great and there is a lot of personality emanating all the banter and smart-assery.
I enjoyed it a lot..

I recommend it to fans of The Dresden Files, Twenty Palaces,...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Ubiquitousbastard rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: cops, crime, states, urban-fantasy, vampires, fiction, serial-killer

[Waves arms wildly in the air] IT'S THE PROTESTANTS! Oops, was that a spoiler? No, it wasn't. Because if you read the first book, then you probably guessed from the first page of this one that it was going to be, yet again, the Protestants. At least I did. What a surprise that I was right. Then we get our beloved Larry Stu protagonist and his ability to attract EVERY GIRL!
And Deus Ex Ending which was oh-so-shocking. I think the best character is the sun, at least that has the capability of killi...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Jeffrey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nice follow up to Black Magic Woman. Cop/Detective story set in World where magic is real. How can you not love a book with meth addict goblins.

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May 03, 2012 Teawench rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, done

I love this series. It's dark. It's gritty. There's a liberal sprinkling of some awesome swearing. This is how I like my UF. None of that PNR crap. I can't wait for the next book.

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May 19, 2012 Lori Mason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: x2012, dark, fantasy, crime

The cover reminds me of pulp fiction, but the story is very engaging. Maybe like fantasy noir?

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Nov 13, 2012 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012challenge, borrowed, fantasy, mysteries

Enjoyable and well written. The ending is a "whiskey tango foxtrot" ending, but OK.

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Nov 28, 2012 Lisa Keipp rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent story every time, Can't wait for book 3.

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May 15, 2012 Mel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, crime

Great fun - full review to come!

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About Justin Gustainis

Justin Gustainis was born in Northeast Pennsylvania in 1951. He attended college at the University of Scranton, a Jesuit university that figures prominently in several of his writings.

After earning both Bachelor's and Master's degrees, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the U. S. Army.

Mr. Gustainis currently lives in Plattsburgh, New York, with his wife, Patricia Grogan. He is a Professor of Comm...more

More about Justin Gustainis...

Books by Justin Gustainis

Hard Spell (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #1)

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives

Sympathy for the Devil (Quincey Morris, #3)

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Evil Dark (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #2)

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