This is gonna come as a complete shock to you all, I know, so brace yourselves, gang…but I love this series.
We’re 11 books in now (eight novels and three short story collections), and it’s time to take a long hard look at it and see if this series is an old school Romero zombie barely shuffling along and hoping to pick you off sadly and unaware that needs to be put down or a speedy rage virus freak that still has some meat on the bone and can get your ass movin’.
So gather ’round now, you little creepers, it’s time for some dick work…wait that sound fucked u
***SPOILER ALERT***, you’ve been warned!
Damn, cutting me off like that sure was rude.
Anywhoooo, this time out the gates, unsurprisingly, Dan and Co. have a whole host of problems to deal with, including an interspecies couple that got caught in the wake of an evil wizard, who then turned good and undid all of his evil deeds, and in doing so screwed up the budding romance of said couple a wayward spell initially caused.
Oh yeah, and there’s a dead unicorn, a returning character or two, a swampy spa that has major littering problems (amongst many others), an evil teacher (redundant, I know), and a horn headed wittle puppy wuppy to contend with.
Ya know, those old clichés!
This installment gets a little weird, I ain’t gonna lie to you good folks, but not weird in a way that is shark jumpy.
It’s weird in that we see a new area of the UQ that takes it from feeling like a small town to a Tardis-esque “bigger on the inside” city that keeps expanding with a fantastical medieval section of town with a whole royal family and the works.
Though this door was slowly cracked open in a story in Stiffs & Stones, it is a bit jarring at first.
But it slowly settles into a good groove and smooths out eventually.
Despite that initial off-kilter feel, KJA does do a damn good job of weaving the stories together in this outing.
The formerly evil wizard connects to two of the other stories directly and eventually gets roped into the others to some degree as well.
That makes this really feel like a day/week in the life of a P.I. in a living breathing town rather than disparate cases shoehorned together.
We’ve hit the point where it feels like enough of the universe has been built out that you could make a satisfying open-world game to really dig in and happily explore for hours on end.
Now, we need to talk about Alvina.
Given my low level of tolerance for kids, especially around her tween age, I should hate her.
But something about brings out a great soft side to the ensemble around her that makes me like her, she really does bring a great new dynamic to the group.
My only complaint about her would be, despite being a hallmark of the series, her vampy punnage comes off a bit too cutesy at times and makes her feel a little too clever for her own good.
Let’s be honest, we all knew which way the wind was blowing for this book.
The chances that I would hate it were slim to none, at worst.
As I have said before, it’s Scooby-Doo for an adult audience, it’s Rockford Files meets The Munsters, who wouldn’t love that?
As always, I was sad to close the book for the final time when I finished it, because this is pretty definitively my favorite book series at this point, gang.
The more things change, the more they stay the same…which, in the Unnatural Quarter, is fuckin’ weird, man.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below, share this post around the net with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview, or hit up our LinkTree to find where else to connect with us.
Check out our books, with our original horror short story collection, The Camping Trip And Other Stories, our non-fiction book, Doomed: The Collected Essays And Reviews Volume 1, or our collection of original Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories, Brimming With Adventure: Thrilling Tales Of The Nerd Blitz!
Hungry for more of that great Nerd Blitz content?
Head over to Patreon.com/NerdBlitzPod and join at the $5 level to get instant access to numerous Podcasts, Reviews, Audio Dramas, and so much more!
And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
