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The Shadow Over Portsmouth #1
City of Ports
Life’s been a real mess since you died, Hannah. I lost my job on the police force trying to investigate your mysterious death. They think I'm a crazy lady with an agenda. It took months of therapy to get my life back together and put you in the past. But an anonymous caller just promised me the truth about your murder—if I look into a new corpse that's connected to your case. Just the ticket for plunging back into insanity… how could I resist? To find the answers I need, I'll have to deal with the corrupt cops I used to work with, FBI agents investigating the supernatural, and—oh yeah—a secret cult opening doors to other universes. I might find closure. Or I might run into unspeakable monsters and die a horrible death. Either way, my world will never be the same… If you love urban fantasy and kickass heroines, don't wait another second -- check out City of Ports, the first book in the thrilling new series The Shadow Over Portsmouth! Praise for City of "Wow, nice job, man! That's a really fun read." — Sci-Fi Saturday Night podcast
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 3, 2018
10 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Deck
18 books50 followersJeff Deck is a fiction ghostwriter and editor who lives in Maine with his wife, Jane, and their silly dog, Burleigh. Deck writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, and other speculative fiction.
Deck's work includes the urban fantasy / mystery series "The Shadow Over Portsmouth" (Book 1: "City of Ports," Book 2: "City of Games," Book 3: "City of Notions").
He is also the author of the supernatural thriller novel "The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley" the sci-fi gaming adventure novel "Player Choice," and (with Benjamin D. Herson) the nonfiction book "The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time" (Crown/Random House).
In 2008, Deck took a road trip across the U.S. with friends to fix typos in signage and nearly wound up in federal prison. He enjoys reading speculative fiction, exploring New England with his family, playing video games, and plundering from the past and future.
Deck's work includes the urban fantasy / mystery series "The Shadow Over Portsmouth" (Book 1: "City of Ports," Book 2: "City of Games," Book 3: "City of Notions").
He is also the author of the supernatural thriller novel "The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley" the sci-fi gaming adventure novel "Player Choice," and (with Benjamin D. Herson) the nonfiction book "The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time" (Crown/Random House).
In 2008, Deck took a road trip across the U.S. with friends to fix typos in signage and nearly wound up in federal prison. He enjoys reading speculative fiction, exploring New England with his family, playing video games, and plundering from the past and future.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 2, 2018
This is my book. Of course I'm gonna give it five stars! Hope y'all enjoy it as well.
August 29, 2018
What a fun read! Right from the get go, the action grabs you; hard not to read in one sitting. As another queer + first generation American, I so appreciated Divya's background and attributes, but also loved how her character was more than just her skin color, gender, and sexual orientation. I find not many female protagonists are written with something like an anger problem, it really made her more human and relatable. It's so interesting to explore the places I know and love in Portsmouth through this sci-fi lense, and I appreciated a lot of the social commentary. Very excited for part two!
January 11, 2019
The writing was alright, but the book took quite a bit to really get going, and I felt that the first few chapters read much like any regular old crime novel. This made it difficult to push through for me, and it felt like I was completing a chore and hoping for a reward. I’m also really done with dead lesbians being used as plot devices, especially by authors who are men. Not an accusation of true bigotry, just of clichè and insensitivity/unoriginality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2019
City of Ports is a fast-paced, gritty, cop-based sci-fi number. It follows Allard, a disgraced cop, as she investigates several suspicious deaths in Portsmouth, which all seem to be linked to a shady and difficult to infiltrate group called the Tenacious Trainers. Allard soon finds herself mixed up in some strange supernatural goings on, stuck right in the middle of the Portsmouth Police Department and the FBI, both of whom have hidden motives of their own. Allard battles through a night of progressively more strange occurrences, including murder, mayhem and even parallel worlds.
City of Ports is very different from my usual (romance / fantasy) kind of read, but even so, I really enjoyed it. The pace is rapid and the first person narration gives a deep insight into the main character and her personal struggles. It’s well constructed, with a bit of a twist at the end, and it’s fun, so much so that, given the premise is so outlandish by real world standards, it sometimes feels like it’s bordering on comedy. My only critique would be that it finishes abruptly, at a moment where we’re learning some great new juicy stuff, and I would have liked a few more reveals before the end…although of course these are being stored up for the remainder of the series.
It’s a quick read too, as it’s fairly short, so good for anyone wanting to rack up some early numbers towards their 2019 reading goal!
All in all, a fun, well thought through, well-structured read and for me it gets 4 stars.
City of Ports is very different from my usual (romance / fantasy) kind of read, but even so, I really enjoyed it. The pace is rapid and the first person narration gives a deep insight into the main character and her personal struggles. It’s well constructed, with a bit of a twist at the end, and it’s fun, so much so that, given the premise is so outlandish by real world standards, it sometimes feels like it’s bordering on comedy. My only critique would be that it finishes abruptly, at a moment where we’re learning some great new juicy stuff, and I would have liked a few more reveals before the end…although of course these are being stored up for the remainder of the series.
It’s a quick read too, as it’s fairly short, so good for anyone wanting to rack up some early numbers towards their 2019 reading goal!
All in all, a fun, well thought through, well-structured read and for me it gets 4 stars.
August 16, 2018
While I don’t usually get into series for this type of book, this one is worth it. Great protagonist with a basketful of troubles, right from the start. She’s going to have to fight herself before she takes on the threat from the outside. But threat there is, and the city police seem either incompetent or part of a conspiracy to hush things up. But what exactly is going on? Bodies turn up, and then the mystery comes into play. We slide into the science fiction gradually, until we see just how messed up things are.
The author has a love for Portsmouth, and it shows all through. The setting is part of the whole. With such a basis in reality, we easily accept the premise when things go outside the norm.
Plenty of suspense and action as our heroine tries to cope with what’s happening. Things heat up fast, and are the folks from the government here to help, or hinder? In a book like this, you just don’t know who to trust. There are good echoes of other science fiction classics, enough to keep you going to the end. Only trouble is, you want the next part, so the author better get writing!
The author has a love for Portsmouth, and it shows all through. The setting is part of the whole. With such a basis in reality, we easily accept the premise when things go outside the norm.
Plenty of suspense and action as our heroine tries to cope with what’s happening. Things heat up fast, and are the folks from the government here to help, or hinder? In a book like this, you just don’t know who to trust. There are good echoes of other science fiction classics, enough to keep you going to the end. Only trouble is, you want the next part, so the author better get writing!
October 9, 2019
This is how series should be launched!
I try to keep my reviews non-spoilery, so I’ll just say that above all other things here, Deck has taken the concept of parallel worlds to a level that is uniquely his own. I grew up watching shows like Sliders and reading tons of books dealing with adventures to other dimensions, so this isn’t exactly new territory for me (in fact, I write about these things myself), but after going into City of Ports expecting more of the same, I was delighted with the dark spin Deck put on a genre that is not so much tired but in need of some tighter stitching to keep it together. This isn’t easy territory to navigate, but Deck pulls it off masterfully. His style is tight, almost stripped-down, offering little in the way of fluff as he crafts worlds that draw you into the grit of Portsmouth, New Hampshire alongside characters so deeply fleshed out that they left me feeling more introverted than usual!
On to book two!
I try to keep my reviews non-spoilery, so I’ll just say that above all other things here, Deck has taken the concept of parallel worlds to a level that is uniquely his own. I grew up watching shows like Sliders and reading tons of books dealing with adventures to other dimensions, so this isn’t exactly new territory for me (in fact, I write about these things myself), but after going into City of Ports expecting more of the same, I was delighted with the dark spin Deck put on a genre that is not so much tired but in need of some tighter stitching to keep it together. This isn’t easy territory to navigate, but Deck pulls it off masterfully. His style is tight, almost stripped-down, offering little in the way of fluff as he crafts worlds that draw you into the grit of Portsmouth, New Hampshire alongside characters so deeply fleshed out that they left me feeling more introverted than usual!
On to book two!
August 8, 2018
I greatly enjoyed this fast-paced sci-fi/mystery hybrid. It had many great ancillary characters that I'd love to see fleshed out in future books/stories, and the pacing was terrific. At first I was worried that the protagonist's trifecta of diversity (female, minority, queer) would be awkward at times, but Divya just feels like a normal human, and a very relatable one as well. I sympathized with her and was "rooting" for her throughout the novel, even when her choices were questionable. Her resolve and strength were expected, yet satisfying nonetheless, given the ever-present threat of descending into madness. It's not a long book, but even so, I was suddenly surprised that I had finished it. The ending surprised me as well, but left me eager to read future volumes/episodes.
I am a friend of the author's but had nothing to do with the preparation of this book.
I am a friend of the author's but had nothing to do with the preparation of this book.
August 7, 2018
This book was a quick and engaging read. I'm already a fan of this genre, so part of the fun of reading it came with seeing the inventive ways Jeff Deck is able to surprise the reader. I thought the unfolding of the mystery was well-paced, and the way the book ends is enough of a teaser to make me want to read Book#2. I'm also familiar with the setting (Portsmouth NH) so it was fun to imagine these events taking place there. I didn't love Divya Allard, the narrator - she seemed a bit like a cliche, if a gay woman of color cop can be a cliche - but I still found the book a great read. Would recommend!
September 3, 2018
I work in Portsmouth, and have also spent a good deal of my free time in the downtown area. For that reason, I enjoyed the spot-on descriptions of the city, and that definitely painted a very clear picture of the story in my mind. Unfortunately, the plot didn't stand up to the beautiful detail in which the author described the setting. I found it repetitive and slow moving, and by halfway through I was forcing myself to read it solely because I enjoyed the aforementioned references to Portsmouth. Overall, I wasn't impressed.
March 21, 2019
I followed Divya Allard through the streets of Portsmouth and was intrigued. Where will she go? What otherworldly beings will she encounter? Who will she become? What new magic will await her beyond the void? This first book is only the beginning of her adventures. I’m curious to know how far she’ll travel and what she’s willing to risk in order to find justice.
March 19, 2020
Great series starter
Deck offers up exactly what great first book in a series should be: a compelling and complete-in-itself yarn that just happens to set up oodles of possibilities for figure installments.
Deck offers up exactly what great first book in a series should be: a compelling and complete-in-itself yarn that just happens to set up oodles of possibilities for figure installments.
January 11, 2019
Super fun book. Great intro to interesting characters, and a larger world.
April 9, 2019
Good Read.
This is a murder mystery story with a touch of sci-fi / fantasy aspects. Interesting conversation as internal monologue. Enjoyed the book.
This is a murder mystery story with a touch of sci-fi / fantasy aspects. Interesting conversation as internal monologue. Enjoyed the book.
May 7, 2019
Re-Kindled appreciation for fiction
As someone who's been emersed in business books and the world of personal development for several years, this book reminded me of how much I enjoy fiction (sci-fi in particular).
The author does a fantastic job of building characters and a plot in familiar locations. The dash of sci-fi made it a fun read for me- looking to book 2!
As someone who's been emersed in business books and the world of personal development for several years, this book reminded me of how much I enjoy fiction (sci-fi in particular).
The author does a fantastic job of building characters and a plot in familiar locations. The dash of sci-fi made it a fun read for me- looking to book 2!
August 6, 2018
Whilst the book does take a few chapters to really get going; taking its time to flesh out the protagonist and provide necessary backstory, once you get to the meat of the story, you’ll be hard pressed not to finish the book in one setting.
This is definitely an urban fantasy/sci-fi book, although be forwarned, it will take awhile for this to become apparent. Persevere and you will be rewarded with an incredibly smart book, which has the potential to become a wonderful series.
The book ends with a satisfying conclusion to the events that occur, whilst clearly setting up events for future books in the series.
This is definitely an urban fantasy/sci-fi book, although be forwarned, it will take awhile for this to become apparent. Persevere and you will be rewarded with an incredibly smart book, which has the potential to become a wonderful series.
The book ends with a satisfying conclusion to the events that occur, whilst clearly setting up events for future books in the series.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews