My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Aconyte Books for an advanced copy of this book of horror and excitement set in France during the 1920's.

Thought the Old Gods seem to enjoy the comforts for New England, spending most of their time haunting the environs of Arkham, Massachusetts, evil is international, their reach infinite crossing the globe, other worlds, other times and even the land of dreams. The city of lights, grown dimmer as Paris, France becomes the latest front in the war against those from beyond, when a human takes the lessons learned in World War One could lead to dominion over those that feast on the dead, and their eldritch masters. Shadows of Pnath: An Arkham Horror Novel, by Josh Reynolds moves the adventures of stalwart heroes against the darkness to Europe, mixing familiar characters, new sects and organizations, and lots and lots of evil.

Countess Alessandra Zorzi has a new mission, a new companion, a new locale, but a lot of old enemies. Zorzi, was, well still is the best acquirer of magical artifacts, though now she does it for Miskatonic University to atone for her early thieving ways. An old enemy sets a trap for Zorzi in Paris, trapping not the the thief but her new companion and trainee Pepper Kelly. Zorzi is made a deal, find a book that Zorzi once stole from him, along with his heat, not literally but I should make that clear since this is Arkham, and bring it back to him in three days or Ms. Kelly will suffer a fate worse than death. Soon Zorzi is making new friends, joining with semi-acquaintances, in pursuit of a book that has more than one group eager to possess it. For in the shadows, creatures are stalking the Countess, creatures that feed on the dead, and will not be stopped.

Another fantastic entry in a series I look very forward to, by an author who has traveled up my list of favorite writers in quite a few different series. Reynolds has a real gift in making topical references that fit the ear, can mix humor, action, quips, and disgusting imagery, sometimes in the same sentence, and do it well. The characters are all well sketched, good, bad, or just minor. An antiquarian bookseller is given more of a backstory in his two chapter appearance, than most major characters get in 700 pages. Reynolds knows his Lovecraft and his Cthulu lore, dropping names, places and storylines from other works to fill things out in his story, and to add to the unease of the story. The plot is good, moves well, with lots of icky, lots of thrills and lots of fun. The pulp sensibility in this whole series is quite enjoyable, and I really look forward to these books.

Recommended for those that play the game these books are based on without a doubt. Also for fans of Cthulu, horror, and people who just want good stories that are fast paced and well written. I really enjoy the works of Josh Reynolds, and can't wait to read more.

I found myself really enjoying this book when reading it. It made me want to read other books like this. I’ve already recommended it to 3 people.

Shadows of Pnath is an adventure full of horror. Adventuress Countess Alessandra Zorzi is a master thief, a compelling mix of Catwoman and the Tomb Raider. There is not an artifact she cannot nab but a past theft has her in hot water. An ex beau and a mark steals Alessandra's sidekick Pepper and demands the book back she stole in exchange. The Countess embarks on a mission that will leave her torn between opposing forces as shady government agents and real monsters sneak out of the woodwork trying to lay hands on a life altering book. Horror and adventure combine in a tale that embraces the supernatural. for a page turning, pulse pounding read. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

a fantastic story from start to finish, I can't recommend this enough. the combination of supernatural horror in the roaring 20s was a combination I had never seen before and one I wanted to see again.

Yet another worthy addition to Josh Reynolds's ever-growing bibliography, this was my first time reading one of his Arkham Horror books(which is odd because I'm a huge Lovecraft fan), I had read the vast majority of his other titles, and I found the characters pretty engaging with me wanting to know more about the Countess and the various factions on display in the novel. I especially liked his characterization of ghouls within the book. It left me wanting to pick up his other Arkham books to see some more about these already-established characters, I thought it was pretty cool the reference to the black chamber. Also very intrigued to see where that storyline is going with Pepper, I found her quite amusing, and I loved the use of bygone colloquialisms. Interested to see things come to a head between the various occult factions on display.All in all a really fun book!

Shadows of Pnath is a books from an already established series. A darker Indiana Jones except told from a tough girl power perspective. Love the apprentice in this occult thriller adventure. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

I read an e-ARC of this on Net Galley, so thank you to Net Galley, Aconyte books and Josh Reynolds for letting me read this.

I’ve read a few Arkham Horror books and this was a particularly good one! I started reading these because I like the board games (Arkham Horror but also Unfathomable and Mansions of Madness).

This book was Incredibly cinematic, this could almost immediately translate to film. It’s not a particularly long book, but the author conveys setting and atmosphere very well and very succinctly. I liked the precision of the language as it kept the pace of the book running really quickly. As this book takes place over just a few days and is a race against time, this really helped to keep the tension up.

I really liked the range of female characters, very different interests but they still manage to form shaky alliances. Alessandra Zorzi is just awesome. There are four core female characters, Alessandra, Pepper, Trish and Bera. They all have very unique voices, personalities and motivations. Alessandra is just so cool! She’s a former thief who is so calm under pressure, so elegant and composed. Pepper is a former cabbie who Alessandra has been mentoring for the last year. I won’t say too much more about the characters to avoid spoilers.

While reading this there were a few times where it felt like this followed on from another book with Zorzi in so I checked this and there is The Wrath of N’kai. In no way did not having read the earlier book stop me from understanding or enjoying the story. I’ll definitely go and read that one, but because it sounds interesting rather than because I felt something was missing. I’ve read the Arkham Horror short story collection ‘The Devourer Below’ and that did have some crossover which was fun to look out for, although again, definitely not a prerequisite to read this book.

This book raised some interesting questions about what a monster really is. It doesn’t do this directly, it more just opens the door for you to ponder this yourself. There are ghouls in this book, but their morality isn’t black or white. Conversely there are human characters who do have very questionable motives.

This does have horror elements but it wasn’t so frightening that I would raise caution. It has a few moments that are very tense or quite creepy, but it’s more on the action side of horror. It helps that the female characters are not passive at all and are constantly looking for ways to improve their situation, rather than just being helpless victims.

I thought this was a really exciting, tense novel and a great addition to the Arkham Horror world!