The Third Lucius Fogg Novel - Educated Corpses

The third, and what appears to be final, book in the Lucius Fogg series takes its protagonist, Jimmy Doyle, on some unexpected twists and turns and provides a cinematic-worthy climax to the book (and the series) that, while it leaves it open for more stories in the future, still provides a satisfying conclusion to Doyle's story.

And I still find it interesting that the series is "A Lucius Fogg Novel," yet all three books have focused on former vet turned private investigator, Jimmy Doyle.  But, author Dan Wickline has his reasons, so who am I to question it?

The series has already dealt with vampires and werewolves, as well as mad sorcerers and other creatures of supernatural myth - so it should come as no surprise that Educated Corpses brings Doyle face to face with zombies.  At the same time, Wickline forces Doyle to confront his past when a former mentor reaches out to him for help, but dies gruesomely at the hands of a re-animated gorilla before Doyle can find out why he called him.

But, as with any good supernatural story, you can't keep a good man down - or dead, for that matter.  As Doyle begins to look into the last case that his former mentor, Elias Chandler, was working on when he died (hoping it will give him a clue as to why Elias called him), he gets a surprise visit at Fogg's brownstone by none other than Elias Chandler!  It's definitely a case of dead-man-walking, but not at all in the usual way.  Wickline creates a unique story of lost dogs, greed, mad scientists, army involvement, a beautiful seductress, reanimated corpses, and - oh, yeah, just for good measure, a subplot involving a growing rebellion in the vampire community of Old Town.

And did I mention that Doyle finds himself using more and more spells in this book, to not only protect himself, but others as well?

Wickline pulls out all the stops for this final tale of Jimmy Doyle and friends.  Doyle's investigation into the reanimated corpses takes him to a university professor with a gorgeous assistant and a larger-than-life bodyguard who packs quite a punch.  But he's been knocked unconscious and thrown out of places before, so he doesn't let it deter him from his ultimate goal - finding out who is bringing the dead back to life and why.  And that fact that the new police chief has forbidden Doyle and Fogg to be involved with any police investigations under threat of revoking Doyle's P.I. licence and evicting Fogg from his brownstone, it seems Doyle will have to work his way around the police to solve this one.

But with the help of his friends - Patches, Seabass, Elias, Conrad, and Fogg's alchemist friend Claire - Doyle is sure to solve the case.  But at what cost?  As Elias reminds him, the use of magic has its costs, and Doyle has to ask himself, is he ready to pay the price?  Not everyone makes it out of this book alive (even the living dead can ultimately die), and the final showdown of zombies versus a united front of vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, and humans is the perfect pulse-pounding conclusion to a fantastic trilogy.

Educated Corpses was published in 2016, and in the author's bio at the end of the book, there's a short tagline that says Lucius and Jimmy will be back - but there is no indication of when, and I find nothing anywhere online to indicate a fourth book is forthcoming.  Which, if one never materializes, is okay, as the conclusion of this story wraps up a lot of subplots and leaves all of the characters who survive in a really good place.

Thanks, Dan Wickline for some really great reads and for adding Lucius Fogg and Jimmy Doyle to the supernatural/mystery/sci-fi world of reading!

RATING:  9 reflecting quarters out of 10 for mashing the supernatural and noir detective novels in a fresh way!

The Second Lucius Fogg Novel - Malicious Intent

Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!

Jimmy Doyle and his cohorts are back for another round of noir supernatural mystery in Dan Wickline's second Lucius Fogg novel, Malicious Intent.  Ernie, Ryan, Patches, Emma, and of course, "Sea Bass" are all back for more 1950s action as the lines between the real world and the supernatural world are blurred by the sudden appearance of Kieran Drake, an old nemesis of Lucius Fogg.

Wickline provides another winner of a mystery, this time surrounding Fogg and his as of yet undisclosed past.  We find out exactly why it is that Lucius Fogg has not left his house in 65 years and why he will never be able to leave it.  We find out that he did, at one time, have a love interest (of sorts).  We find out that Ariel was not the first caretaker that Fogg had in his house.  We find out that Fogg has some secrets that are too powerful for anyone to know ... secrets hidden in his house ... a house that harbors some very unique, very strange, and very other dimensional aspects (such as a random room that can appear anywhere in the house; a room that is a warehouse larger than some on the waterfront; and more rooms and halls that can possibly fit inside of a house that size - think TARDIS, for those Doctor Who fans out there).

Doyle is written in his typical stubborn, out to help the underdog self, as he ignores his boss' directions at times to do what he knows to be right.  It gets him bit by a vampire, attacked by a powerful sorcerer, and it ultimately leads to some very meaningful and very saddening losses in his life (I won't spoil it by saying what happens to whom, but I will say that the losses are definitely game-changing events for Doyle and his life).  I must say, I was surprised by these events, and it takes a confident writer to make such drastic changes to his main character's life - but I will say, it definitely keeps things interesting and provides a warning - nothing and no one is safe in the Lucius Fogg universe!

An interesting tidbit was that when Doyle and Sea Bass went to the newspaper to follow up on a potential clue, a couple of names of the reporters stuck out to me - "Batson" and "Kirby."  Batson, for comic fans was the last name of Billy Batson, a/k/a Shazam!  And Kirby, well, I think anyone who's ever read comics knows about the "King," who created the Newsboy Legion back in the day.  Not sure if it was Wickline's intention to have those recognizable names or pure coincidence, but I personally would like to think it was a nice nod to them.

The one problem I did have with this book was with the actual printing of the book itself, not with the plot or actual writing.  I was reading along and as I finished chapter 26 and started chapter 27, I noticed that the 27 opened exactly the same way that 26 opened.  And the more I read, the more I thought to myself, "Didn't this just happen?"  So I went back and started comparing the paragraphs and pages of chapter 26 with chapter 27 and discovered they were exactly identical!   So I went on to read chapter 28, but immediately realized there was a jump here - meaning that somehow my copy of Malicious Intent did not have a proper chapter 27 - so whatever material was meant to be there, I did not get - instead, I simply go a repeat of chapter 26 and completely missed out on the real chapter 27 (which I'm guessing, based on later chapters, that chapter 27 gave the inside scoop on what the first gem held....).

However, that one flub did not take away from my thorough enjoyment of the story, and I am definitely looking forward to reading the third (but hopefully not the last!) book in this series.

8 seductive sirens out of 10 for having the guts to tell a great story with love, loss, vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, and a gumshoe detective willing to sacrifice everything to do what's right!

The First Lucius Fogg Novel - Deadly Creatures

I honestly can't remember how I fell upon this series.  Perhaps I happened across it while browsing Amazon, or maybe it was one of those "recommendations" that shows up on my Facebook page from time to time, or it could have even been a series someone mentioned to me somewhere.  Regardless of how I found out about it, I am glad I did.

What's interesting about this book (and possibly the series - won't know until I read the next books) is that although it is toted as a "Lucius Fogg novel," Mr. Fogg is not the protagonist.  Rather, Fogg's assistant, Jimmy Doyle, is the main character in the book.  Described as "an honorable man who took a bullet for his country," Doyle returns to New York City and becomes a private investigator.  Through various circumstances, he has come into the employ of the enigmatic Lucius Fogg and discovered a world beyond that which every day people like you and me see.

Author Dan Wickline creates an instantly likable character in Jimmy Doyle.  He is part pulp-detective, part hired-gun, and part occult-investigator.  He takes the strange goings-on around him in stride, although admits that when he first came to work for Fogg, it was all a bit overwhelming and hard to accept.  He genuinely cares for those around him, as is evidenced when he actually leaves Fogg's employ to chase justice for a client who was killed.  Lucius Fogg, on the other hand, is mysterious and reserved, and the reader only gets hints and teases as to who and "what" Fogg is.  He never leaves the house, and he only meets with clients after 9 p.m.  Is he a vampire?  A ghoul?  A cursed soul?  Wickline keeps the mystery of Fogg's identity under wraps for now - in some ways, it reminds me of the mystery surrounding Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in the opening years of Dark Shadows - she hadn't left the house in 18 years, and no one quite knew why.

 This first foray into the world of Lucius Fogg, Deadly Creatures, starts with an odd mystery involving young women who are being murdered by men who have never owned a gun, never fired a shot in their life, do not know the women they are shooting, and afterwards cannot explain what they have done.  The police are stumped, and for the first time, Detective Sebastian "Sea Bass" Lee comes to Fogg and Doyle for help.  Within the first 70 pages of the book, this mystery is resolved by Fogg, revealing demonic possession created by a man who became jealous of his best friend (love interest?)'s sudden involvement with a mysterious woman.  Doyle and Detective Lee have a showdown with the man and his demon, and ultimately, they take him down.

But that's not where the story ends...

Doyle can't shake the feeling there is more to the story.  And there is.  It turns out that one of the richest men in New York, and one of the most powerful, is hosting tournament fighting, but instead of normal men, he is utilizing werewolves.  There's only one problem - all of the night creatures, including werewolves, reside within Old Town, and they are protected under a pact made many years ago. So, then, where is Ravenstorm getting his fresh meat for the fights?  When one of Doyle's clients is turned into a fighting wolf, and then killed, Doyle has to seek justice, even if it means he has to give up his job with Fogg.  The stakes are high, a woman is involved (isn't there always?), and Doyle sacrifices his humanity to mete out justice for his fallen client.

Wickline provides a fast-moving, intricate web of deceit story where everything is not always what it seems, and those who may seem villainous at first may not be as bad as one initially thinks.  There are moments where you are not quite sure whether you should like a character or hate him/her, and then Wickline surprises you by suddenly proving your thoughts on the character wrong.  A number of supporting cast members have definitely been set up in this introductory story.  I particularly liked Tiny, who was a bouncer for a particular vampire club in Old Town.  If you read the book, you'll understand why.

I know Wickline has currently published three books in this series, and I hope there are more to come.  Definitely a series I would recommend for fans of the supernatural and mystery genres!

RATING:  9 messenger crows out of 10 for opening up a whole new world of supernatural mysteries for me (and others!) to enjoy.