Investigation, Mediation, Vindication by Chris Tullbane

Investigation, Mediation, Vindication by Chris Tullbane

I love the idea behind this novel. Multiple fantasy races live side by side with humans without humans knowing it. Occasionally these groups come into conflict with each other. When they do, they use a mediator to try and resolve the problems peacefully because when open warfare breaks out, cities often get destroyed.

 

At the start of this novel, every mediator in San Francisco is murdered except one—an incompetent PI with no practical experience and no knowledge that anyone but humans live in the world. If he fails, it is likely the whole city will be destroyed.

 

I like the main character and I really like the demigod of nightmares. This story could have been great. Unfortunately, it is at least twice as long as it should be, and that extra length really dragged this novel down. Most of its charm comes in the hero responding to the supernatural and the demigod of nightmares trying to make himself understood. The mystery at the heart of the story was transparent from moment one. Before we even learned what item was stolen to precipitate the crisis, I had identified the culprit and the culprit’s motivations. That wouldn’t have been bad if the novel had been significantly shorter, but it isn’t, and I quickly reached the point (even before we met the demigod of nightmares) where I just wanted the book to be done. Fortunately, the demigod brightened things up for a while. And the stolen item is quirky enough to be worth a couple of laughs, but it wasn’t enough to salvage things and make this book the great novel it should have been.

 

So, I give the author lots of points for a fun idea with a couple of great characters, but wish desperately that he could have found an editor to help him make the idea work.