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John Patterson thinks he damn well earned his pension. He survived more than twenty years as a police forensic wizard, tracking down and fighting the worst that criminal magic could throw at him. If he could only retire the nightmares, as well.Some of those nightmares feature Albert Kratz, alias Albertus Magnus, a psychopathic criminal mage Patterson trapped in a burning building years ago. So why is a dead man leaving his unique magical signature on the grisly "artistic" murder of a diplomatic courier?Detective Sergeant Nef Cash recognizes that crime scene from old file photos and drags Patterson out of retirement to fight a deadly enemy one more time. Cash has her own motives besides police work, and her move will turn his personal life inside out.… (more)
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Magic is real in
One day one of those, his last trainee, a young native american woman Nef Cash, turns up at his office requesting his help. For all that she can tell a killer called Kratz is back on the case again perfecting his artistically arranged murders. But she knows that John and his teams last acts was to trap Kratz in a burning building from which they were sure he'd not been able to escape. Please can he aid the force this last time - with a badge if he wants - and just make sure Kratz is really put away for good. John despite being old bald and fat can't say no to a pretty woman, and has bad memories of Kratz, so he'd really like to think he's away for good.
It's just good. A believable set-up, and well thought out implications, magic system that puts a lot of strain on it's users for not a lot of result - so it doesn't have to be excused away from situations. Legal and illegal use is not determined by some secret cabal of Grand Inquisitors, but through the laws of the land like everything else. There's great characters, John is a perfect PI, gruff, and caring, basically a good guy, trying to do the right thing in a complex world, no more hypocritical or self-serving than he has to be. The 'bad guys' are good too with some clever motivations,a few good twists, moral ambiguity all around. Perhaps the only thing I didn't like was that John became a bit of a babe magnet with five women throwing themselves at him during the course of the book. I did like that he didn't know how or why they did so and very much didn't take it for granted. The women do all have their own lives to live, they aren't just there for John, and trade secrets off -stage, which worked very well.
It is I think a standalone - although there is perhaps scope for others to be written. So although I can't immediately get the rest of the series, I will certainly see what else the author has written. An immediate hit.
But even with all that good, I gotta say - the narrative devices didn't work. The detective tells us at the beginning that he's conflated cases to protect identities, he's out-right lied in places, he's not telling the story as it was but in a way that still gets it off his chest. Fine. Cool. Good to know. But the detective often breaks the fourth wall to remind the reader of that fact (and other things, too) and IT IS SO DISTRACTING. It took me about a week to read this book because I kept getting thrown out of the story by the narrator. The main character (and his unlikely sex god status) was CLEARLY wish-fulfillment and made it pretty darn obvious this book was written by a middle-aged white dude. This was also something that constantly threw me out of the narrative and the narrator's fourth-wall breaking humble brags (In the vein of: "I know what you're thinking, it's totally unlikely that a fat, balding, retired cop would gather all these women to him, but I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS THEY JUST THROW THEMSELVES AT ME!") just made it worse. Each of the last four chapters felt like it should have been the ending, but there seemed to always be more chapters. !!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!! The author clearly tried to be inclusive, but the only diverse characters all DIE and one of them *entirely* unnecessarily - oh, and she's PREGNANT ('woman's death is more tragic because she is pregnant' is the most disgustingly over-used trope and I hate it and it should die). Also, the reveal of why these crimes were committed was so pathetic and tired and trope-tastic, it made me shout in anger.
In short: the book tried really hard, but ended up being VERY problematic.
C-: Plot was interesting, magic system well-developed and unique; trope-heavy, clichéd, and non-functional narrative devices.
Signatures is written in the style of a classic noir mystery with urban fantasy elements. The author even has the main character make references to noir mysteries in a tongue in cheek way. I enjoyed the sarcastic humour of the main character. I found the magic system and the role of magic in society interesting. I figured out the mystery fairly early on, but still enjoyed continuing to read the story as Patterson solved the mystery and stopped the villain. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy urban fantasy such as the Dresden files.
A
I hope there are more books coming from this author, especially more in this series.
Slow at the beginning, maybe too wordy setting it up. Got way better a third of the way in.
I won a copy of this book from Library Thing in exchange for a review.
John Patterson is a retired detective turned private investigator. He’s also a wizard, one of the many found working for
Nef Cash was Patterson’s last trainee on the force. She knows Patterson is likely the only man who can solve the city’s latest homicide, and she visits him in his office to ask for his help. The murder has the markings of the killer Albert Kratz. The victim’s organs are arranged artistically outside of his body. Kratz’ murder scenes were always one-of-a-kind works of “art.” But Kratz is supposed to be dead. He was burned alive in a building fire set by Patterson and his partner. Yet, his signature is at the scene. Patterson can taste him. He can smell him at the scene, then later outside his apartment. His office. But how did Kratz not die in the fire? And why did the latest murder seem like a clone of one of Kratz’ other homicides instead of the originals for which he was known? Patterson is determined to figure it out.
There’s no doubt that Hetley’s “Signatures” will appeal to both urban fantasy and noir mystery fans alike. The wizards, witches, and magic they use will delight those who love urban fantasies. The gritty and gruff Patterson as the narrator will remind noir mystery fans of their favorite 1960’s pulp fiction novels. “Signatures” doesn’t straddle the two genres without fully immersing itself in one or the other like some other books attempt to do. Hetley has written a novel that readers of both genres will enjoy. He may even create noir mystery fans from urban fantasy lovers– and vice versa. If they manage to read the entire book, that is.
Hetley's use of italics to put emphasis on words spoken by the narrator gets tiresome early on. Despite the fact that both the narration and dialogue are strong and capable of carrying the reader through, Hetley seems to disagree. He italicizes words frequently throughout the novel. Although he clearly meant to help the reader “hear” the story, he ends up creating distraction after distraction instead. There’s nothing like becoming immersed in a story, then having the author yank you out of it. Yet, it feels like that’s exactly what Hetley does throughout the book.
“Signatures” has the potential to be a reader favorite. It has the potential to garner endless five star reviews and top at least a few bestseller lists. However, it’s not quite there yet. “Signatures” needs another edition, one where Hetley’s obvious talents as a fiction writer aren’t overshadowed by his attempts to also be a director.
Secondly, I'm disappointed by the narrator's permanent repetition about his ability of witchcraft, his failures or what he has already mentioned earlier. It makes me asking: Is he thinking if we readers are stupid or are suffering from Alzheimer's?
Review: This was really interesting. Much of the characterizations were significantly different from descriptions of wizards other writers embrace. The mystery was well constructed with sufficient clues to keep the reader's interest, but without giving away the ending. I'm hoping that this isn't a 'one-off' and that the characters will continue in further stories.
The world building was interesting. I loved the idea that magic users need to have bulk because using magic takes energy and they can lose weight rapidly by doing a complicated spell. I also liked that wizards, like forensic wizard John Patterson, our book's protagonist, can smell things about other magic users...not just their unique "signatures" (hence the title of the book), but also other aspects of their personalities. That was a unique idea, and becomes a salient point in the mystery because John can smell the signature of the killer and it's one he recognizes, except that the person he associates with that smell is supposed to be dead. Patterson gets called in by Detective Sergeant Nefertiti Cash (love her name!) because she recognizes unique and horrific elements of the crime scene from old photographs she'd seen of a killer from 20 years back...a killer that Patterson was after when he was still a cop himself...a psychotic magic user who murdered in horrible ways. Except Patterson was there himself when that killer was trapped in a burning building, and he knows that he didn't come out because Patterson was there guarding the only escape route, making sure it stayed closed. So how could Albert Kratz, alias Albertus Magnus, dead psychopathic mage, suddenly appear back from the dead to begin murdering again? Not only was the crime scene identical to his work, but his "signature" was all over it...Patterson can't forget that smell. He can taste him, feel him. The reader hears his thoughts, his fears, his worries. Sometimes the narrative can become overly distracting and make the story drag a bit. I found myself having trouble concentrating at times, and having to go back and re-read parts, but overall I think it does a good job for the type of style of detective story it's going for. It's believable, gritty, horrific. The writer does a good job of pulling the reader in enough to feel the emotions that Patterson feels...his horror and fear at recognizing the signature of one of the scariest magical psychopaths he's ever met, despite his years of experience on the force. I would definitely look to read more in this series.
Very similar to the Dresden Files
I received a review copy of "Signatures" by James A. Hetley (Book View Café) through LibraryThing.com.