Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I was instantly hooked by this impressive story set in a dark, gritty alternate reality. I wish I had read the previous 2 books beforehand as I think it would have helped the flow of the story and character backgrounds. Although it was a perfectly good standalone. A mixture of Sci Fi, alternate history and a dark underworld that made a really compelling read. 4 stars

I wasn't a big fan of Night Call, another novel set in this world, but I liked this one. It's twisty, gritty and gripping. The characters are fleshed out and the plot kept me turning pages.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This book was enormously entertaining. I only wish that I had read the earlier books to add a bit of context. Overall, it was well-written and innovative. Love Brenden Carlson.

Dark All Day is the third Walking Shadows SF-noir alternate 1930s timeline PI murder mystery by Brenden Carlson. Released 14th March 2023 by Dundurn, it's 392 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is an engaging book in a much beloved subgenre. There's a clearly and precisely wrought noir vibe. The androids and their often fraught interactions with humans are drawn (mostly) sympathetically and believably. The darkness (often literal) and desperation of the Lower City of NY is a brooding and distinctive presence throughout which adds tension and some dread. There are a lot of Philip K. Dick and Asimov nuances floating around and it's an engaging and immersive read. With that being said, the book is not entirely unproblematic in places. There are several aspects I found myself struggling with. There is -so- much gratuitous violence. The main (human) protagonist Elias Roche murders witnesses, thugs, and various bystanders, willy nilly. He's a super dangerous guy. Frank Castle (the Punisher) would be well served to cross to the other side of the street if he sees him coming. I get that it's part of the gritty noir vibe, but in my opinion the author does a superlative job of calling up the mean streets of New York without the almost comically superfluous body count. There are very few females mentioned in the entire book (the female director of the FBI makes an appearance in the story), there are some mentions of whorehouses, former love interests, and various secretaries but not much substantive. Again, the author is adept enough that the omission is certainly intentional to better call up the 1930s noir vibe, but it seemed unnecessary in context.

Other reviewers have done a good job of providing a precis of the plot which is well built up with a fairly large cast of characters and a lengthy and complex back story/setting. The language is rough overall (and somewhat anachronistic - I'm pretty sure 1930's cops didn't drop the "f" word nearly as often as occurs in this volume). I enjoyed the characterizations (especially Roche's android partner, Allen). I really really enjoyed the vibe (pitch perfect!). It's not flawless, but it certainly is well written and diverting.

Four stars. I would recommend it unhesitatingly to fans of unredacted Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain. Readers should keep in mind that this is the third book in an ongoing, relatively complex, series and it doesn't work particularly well as a standalone. Strongly recommended to read the books in order. The first book in the series, Night Call, is available in paperback and ebook formats from the same publisher.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Content Warnings: PTSD, Gore, Hallucinations, Dismemberment, Blood, Medical Scenes, Intense Violence, Drug Abuse

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is book 3, please go read Night Call and Midnight first!

After I read book 2, I tweeted about how much I loved it and Brenden responded with “Here's hoping book 3 doesn't traumatize you”. Going into book 3 with this in mind still did not prepare me for the pure insanity this book contains.

This isn’t really another detective book in the same vein as the first 2 novels. There is a mystery through the book, but it mainly adds on top of all the unanswered questions and threads from the previous books and looks to solve those. The core setting of this book is a new war, a snowballing of all the consequences that have built up to this point.

At first, I was a bit unsure of the sudden shift in both writing style and general direction of the book. The new writing style with multiple POVs was a bit confusing and a few times left me unsure on who’s POV I was reading until like, halfway through the chapter. The general direction felt like such a drastic shift at first but once it got into the swing of the story it felt right at home and a natural continuation after book 2’s ending. Chaos has erupted, characters have entered their hells and society is crumbling.
The writing style, while having some issues like the small clarity problems, was outstanding by the finale. There’s SO many details in just the writing style alone which helps to flip everything on its head by the end and it’s just glorious. I have never read a book that achieves something like this before.


I love this series. I didn’t really have any expectations going into it, but somehow it quickly rose to one of the best book series’ I have ever read. I really hope the series continues in some manner, though I’ll be keeping an eye out for any future projects from Brenden!

One final very very minor spoiler in terms of “this isn’t explored in this book”: <spoiler>I really wish Roache’s sexuality was explored a bit in this one as a contrast to Allen’s sexuality in book 2. I get this all was so… chaotic and fast paced, but I did feel like that was missing a lot unfortunately</spoiler>

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was, unfortunately, a DNF for me. I couldn't get into the story, the writing felt jumpy and all over the place, and it just didn't suck me in fast enough to hold my attention. I'm sure this would be a great read for some, but it just wasn't for me.

This series held so much promise for me, but it just wasn't it.
I was not invested, I did not care about anyone.
The atmosphere is A+ though. I could easily imagine the world the author was describing here. The vibe I got from the writing was a really good representation of what it must be like in the story.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Dundurn Press for an advanced copy of this book of speculative and alternative history fiction about robots, crime, and private eyes.

The future that I always pictured growing up was all rocket cars, powered by our home nuclear reactors, hover skateboards, for those to young to drive rocket cars, and robots to do all the work so that my parents could stay home read books and watch movies about the future and how wonderful it would be. The reality is humans can't drive cars on the ground, forget rockets or the air, electric cars with a famous inventor's name are blowing up on roads around the country so forget the reactors, hover skateboards would be a legal nightmare in accident claims. That leaves robots, who are currently getting knocked over delivering food in Los Angles, or being armed to serve as robotic police or replace humans in jobs, and pay, hence the arming of robots. So it is kind of refreshing to read about an alternate history where technology was a little bit more advanced, a time when robots, or automatics work with regular Joes and gangsters all looking for their slice of the pie, and worrying about the future. Dark All Day by Brenden Carlson, is the third book in A Walking Shadow Series, continuing the adventures of an all to human man, his friend an automatic and their travails in New York City in 1993 against cops, gangsters, corporation, and their own secrets.

Elias Roche has been a soldier, a cop, a mob man, and a guy with two hands. Now he is a private eye with a a mechanical hand, and a lot less belongings since his apartment has bombed in the last book, trying to turn a new leaf. Roche is offered a case to find a man, who wants to stay missing, which could have serious repercussions for Automatics in this world, as a robot has been accused of murder, and the all of the Automatics will have to pay the price. New York is closed to exploding with a gang war amongst the criminal factions, problems with the wealthy class and as Roche investigates more and more secrets are coming out, some involving his Automatic partner Allen, and some secrets that many people, and Automatics don't want to see revealed.

This is the third book in a very good series in the alternative history vein. Carlson has a lot of good ideas communicates them well, sharing and slowing revealing rather then telling. Being the third book there is some backstory and a little bit of a learning curve, but that shouldn't be a problem as Carlson reiterates what is needed. The point of view does change between Roche, Allen the automatic, and Simone Roche's kind of girlfriend. That can be a a little jarring, especially if one doesn't know that is is coming, and takes a bit to get used to, but the story more than makes up for it, and the narrative keeps the story moving well. The characters are all good, the history makes sense, any anachronisms are because of the technology, and this is avery interesting world worth visiting. I would include the other two books in the series also.

Recommended for steampunk fans, and alternate history readers who like the idea of what a little bit of technology could do to the planet Earth, and especially when. A very good series, and I'm excited to see what Brenden Carlson has planned next. Hopefully something with rocket cars.

When I picked this up, I didn't realize it was the wrap up of a series. Still able to keep up with everything and definitely still fun. This is full on hard boiled detective noir, but with robots. It's a genre mashup that shouldn't really work, but the characters are charming enough to make it the parts click together.

This mashup of science fiction, alternate history and mystery wasn't a good place to start this series. There were a number of viewpoint characters including and automatic named Allen, a war veteran turned cop, turned mob enforcer, turned private investigator named Roche, and a woman named Simone who called herself Midnight and was maybe an assassin or maybe an investigator.

Chapters were told from one or the other of these viewpoints which only served to confuse the story for me. I'm not sure what was really going on. There was a missing scientist and there was war between the various mobs. And all of the characters seemed to have divided loyalties.

I liked the noir setting and was curious to know more about the world that was created. My problems came with trying to follow the mystery elements of the story.

Fans of alternate history, mystery and science fiction might want to begin with book one of the trilogy.

[Blurb goes here]

It's 1933, robots and humans have been working together for years. Elias Roche, a private investigator, has a new case to solve. He has to find a man, but he's not the only one looking for this person. The mob is also after the guy, along with GE—a megacorporation.

A mob war is coming to Manhattan's lower city, while people from The Plate, a city for the rich and powerful above Manhattan, live in blissful ignorance...that is, until a murder in the upper city turns everything upside down. A capek has killed a human, not just any human: the owner of GE is dead.

While Roche discovers a link between the missing person and the murder, Allen (an automatic), Roche's good friend and cop, is trying to keep the mob from killing Elias, doing odd jobs for them as payment for Roche's safety.

Simone, who once wanted to watch the city burn, now works as a hitman for Marazano, a mafia boss that looses territory to The Eye with every passing day.

The intricate conspiracy will soon reunite Elias, Allen and Simone. If they don't work together to untangle the growing conspiracy, all could be lost.

Carlson's rich descriptions and fleshed out characters give this alternate history of the gangsters' era a unique feel. Each individual is "alive," be it friend or foe, making this read all the more delectable. There's a lot to unpack here, this is no "point 'A' to point 'B'" adventure. It's a complex and multi-faceted book that will keep you on your toes until the very end.

While this is the third book in the Walking Shadows series, it could very well be read as a stand alone story. I did, and never was at a loss for not reading the previous installments.

There's one, almost insignificant detail that I loved, the word capek is thrown here and there as a derogatory term for robots, probably taken from Karel Capek, the Czech novelist who coined the modern concept 'robot' in the nineteen hundreds. This little tidbit is just the tip of the iceberg that is Dark All Day.

This mystery thriller is one you shouldn't miss.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

This is well written entertaining fantasy, the third book in a series. The narrative between characters is very tight, and reads like one of those dark mysteries movies where the private investigator(s) struggling to solve a case they’ve been thrown in to at the deep end with everyone having secrets and motives of their own. An alternative ‘futuristic’ Manhattan in the ‘Gangster’ 1930s with automatons. Some of these are AIs. The story is set around the struggle for power between the automatons, gangsters, police. There is a back story which left me struggling to catch up on the story at the beginning of the book, and I wish the chapters had headers for which character was being written about in first person as this changes chapter to chapter; this again took me a while to come to terms with. But I soon settled down to be entertained in the fast paced story. Thank you to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views are all mine, freely given.