Initial Thoughts
I like weird books and this one definitely fits that description. The story started out with a bang and I was hooked. The story did meander a bit in the middle but the story still held my attention. I liked our flawed protagonist, Julie, and was eager to see how she would possibly come out ahead with so much stacked against her. The story was violent and gory at times so it may not work for all readers. I listened to the audiobook and thought that Natalie Naudus did an amazing job of bringing this book to life.

ARC provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.

Julie has been trying to establish herself in the NYC magic scene and she'll do what it takes to get to the top. Full of magic and desperate for her career to take off, she ends up getting the attention of an eldritch god seeking revenge. She ends up setting off a chain of events that is deadly and puts everyone in grave danger.

The Dead Take the A Train was not at all what I was expecting but in the best way possible. I was fortunate enough to receive this book as an audio ARC and I could not stop listening. The narrator did a phenomenal job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed it so much I immediately purchased a physical copy on publication day. Julie's character felt so real to me and if I were to imagine up a demon hunter, she would be it. The writing is ridiculously descriptive that my imagination was going WILD and I cannot wait for book two! If you are looking to work out your imagination, I highly recommend this one. Out now!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and the chance to listen and review it honestly.

Happy reading!

I could not get interested in this story. I was confused from the beginning. I love horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, but this was not for me.

I didn’t realize the New York magic scene would be so brutal, action packed and oftentimes hilarious. Now I know.

Unfortunately I only made it 50 pages in before I found myself not really invested in this book. The writing was so good and I think the story was a good one, but for me I just was not into it.

I really liked the narration.

The Dead Take the A Train was a lot of fun! A bit more out there than what I usually read, but if you're into creepy and gory, I think you'll be into this. I honestly don't know how to describe this book, and I truly think if you see this cover and think you might be interested, you probably will be. This was gross but not over the top - I am notoriously anti-body horror and I was able to handle it solely by making some gross faces while listening. This book has so much going for it, and the only negatives I have are things that are merely personal preference. For example, I don't love urban fantasy, but I know a lot of people really loved New York City as the setting for this book.

Natalie Naudus is fantastic, yet again. I love her work so much - she is so good at giving each character their own voice that very much matches their personality. Plus, she is easy to listen to at faster speed for those of us audio speed demons. If you're an audio person, I recommend this one on audio.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this audio ARC!

Cue my obsession with Kadrey & Khaw and me searching out all of their past works. I listened to The Dead Take The A Train as an audiobook and Natalie Naudus nocked it out of the effing park as well. She voiced each distinctive character to perfectly match their personalities, especially the main character, Julie.

Julie is a hunter of the supernatural variety. Have a ghost you just can’t shake? Need an exorcism? Are you being stalked by something slimy that goes bump in the night? Julie’s your gal (as long as she can fight through her current hangover and generally keep herself alive!)

This book honestly had it all - horror, comedy, eldritch elements, evil corporations. I will 100% be purchasing a copy of this for my shelves, and you should too! I highly recommend this as an audiobook as I don’t remember my commute to work last week at all, lol.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this incredible title!!**

I knew I was going to love this book but boy did I LOVE it! The humor, the horror, the atmosphere frankly everything was perfect and made this book work perfectly. I adored the characters even the ones who you were supposed to hate. Maybe it's because everything felt so real. I felt like this is exactly what would happen if the world was full of this kind of magic and evil. Overall this was an amazing book and I can not wait for the next one!

I admit that I was drawn to this book because of this gorgeous cover, and the fact that the audiobook is narrated by Natalie Naudus, and didn’t really think about the genre. This is a dark urban fantasy / cosmic horror, featuring a self-destructive main character and a whole lot of snark.

I did like Julie and I liked the blend of snarky banter and really gruesome descriptions. I think that’s a combination that takes a lot of talent to blend well because it can so easily become too much. That being said, I couldn’t tell you what happened in this book. It was definitely one where I started to get lost and reread some passages in hopes that I could trust the authors to pull it together in the end and for me personally, I didn’t really work. I liked the commentary on capitalism and the weird Wall Street alien situation, and like I said, I really enjoyed Julie as a character, out of the side characters, and I have conflicting feelings about the romance.

Well, this didn’t 100% work for me I enjoyed the listening experience, and I think it’s meant to be a duology, so I would be interested in seeing how the story wraps up.

The Dead Take the A Train by Richard Kadrey and Cassandra Khaw
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Julie Crews has been trying to claw herself from the bottom rung of the NYC magic scene for years. One bad night and a plea to revenge-filled god later, she's left wondering if maybe she's made a mistake...and how she's going to clean up her mess. This is the perfect horror read for fall filled with gore, satire, and fantastical characters at every turn.

Read this book if you like:
- gory and horror filled but in a funny way
- no nonsense female lead
- fantasy NYC setting
- surprise monsters
- multiple converging plotlines

The Dead Take the A Train will be released October 3rd and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book was fun and silly -- not too deep, but then again, I don't think the author meant for it to be. It was a lighthearted - at times, cheesy - book that kept me interested and made me giggle. It had a nice story and decent characters.

It's the kind of book that plops you down right in the middle of the action. There's no slow-build or anything else. You open page 1 (figuratively speaking since I listened to the audiobook) and WHAM! The action hits you like a ton of bricks from the first sentence.

I enjoyed it, and I would definitely pick up future books in the series.

As for the audio format, it was good. The narrator had a great grasp of the characterization and voices, and the audio itself was crisp, clear, and easy to listen to. I kept it on 1.75x speed, I think, but it wasn't necessarily too slow. I just like to listen to books on rapid speeds so that I can finish them quickly and read more. :-p

This is the craziest book about it girl he can do magic who’s also addicted to drugs and gets in the most insane situation she wants to be one of the best but in order to get a little you have to give a little boy does she! Anyone who loves the English language will love reading this book I myself listen to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a stellar job with a definite five star performance if you love the fun the crazy and the insane with monsters you’ll definitely love the Dead Take The A Train. With some of the best descriptions in any book anywhere your imagination will be tantalized while your interest will be totally engaged I absolutely am over the moon about this book I want to think McMillan audio in NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I had a lot of fun with this one! There was never a dull moment in this one and it combined some crazy magic, compelling characters, some corporate intrigue. I listened to the audiobook and thought it was done very well and was easy to follow despite everything being so crazy! Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one!

I just have to say before getting into this review that if this were a movie it would most definitely be rated R for gore, violence, and drug use. That being said, The Dead Take the A Train is absolutely fabulous! While I must admit I’ve only begun to readCassandra Khaw in the last year or so, but I’ve been a huge fan of Richard Kadrey for at least a decade now. Them working together on this book…pure magic. Twisted and gruesome for sure, but magic nonetheless.

While Julie Crews is the ‘hero’ of this story, she’s more anti-hero than anything else. She’s a sarcastic, tough as nails freelance magic user who seems to hate authority almost as much as she loves her drugs. And her friends, who she’ll do anything to protect. And what a wonderfully odd group of friends she has! There are multiple connected storylines going on here (one major one with world wide implication and one very personal) with Julie playing a major role in them all. Without getting too spoilery the main storylines revolve around: (1) an eldritch god is on the rise, with plans to remake the world…throwing a party where much of the human race are to be the or devours, (2) a dear friend of Julie’s is on the run, trying to escape from an abusive relationship. And if you hadn’t already guessed it, Julie soon finds herself in the middle of the action. The cast of characters in this book are incredible: weird, wonderful, and some just downright evil incarnate. I loved them. There are few you’ll just absolutely love to hate. The story is wonderfully twisted, with some seriously extreme gore and violence. This one is definitely not for the squeamish or faint of heart so it won’t be for everyone, but if you’re someone who enjoys quality eldritch horror, buckle up for a wild ride. I cannot wait to see how Kadrey & Khaw follow this up. Natalie Naudus does an absolutely superb job with the audio narration. I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced audio version of The Dead Take the A Train.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1OZJWWYENPNRR/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This book was absolutely bonkers! Urban fantastical elements paired with extravagant drug use and corporate greed? This definitely had the signature gore I’ve come to expect from Cassandra Khaw. I actually liked the overall story, although all but 2 characters were absolutely unlikeable. For me the story had excessive drug and alcohol use, which I’m not against but also didn’t really serve the story at all. I think this book will be a hit with lots of urban fantasy fans, and audiobook lovers will be delighted by the narrator, Natalie Naudus.

This was such an amazing blend of genres, horror, gore, and humor. This felt along the lines of Gideon the Ninth, but set in a world more similar to ours with awesome design and complex characters. A wonderful audionook, too!

Magical horror meets dark humor in this delightful novel. If you’re looking for a good spooky season read, look no further, this book has it all. Angels and demons, action and over-the-top gore, dark magic, a love story, and some seriously dry and twisted humor. I quite enjoyed kicking off October with this one.

Natalie Naudus did a perfect job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Any man named Tyler is clearly there to cause problems.

I have sat with it, I have dissected it, and yet I still have no idea how to describe this book. It's an oddball of a good time. It's a little bit romantic, a little bit queer, a little bit mystery, and a whole lot gory and monstrous. The characters are intriguing, their relationships rich, and the monsters are very out there and enjoyable to consider if downright creepy to imagine. I've only read past work from Khaw so I'm not sure which author influenced what, but I can confirm that this was super well written and engaging from start to finish.

Please do not ask why I spent the entire book waiting for them to actually take a train. My brain ignored the "A" and took that title literally.

While it did feel a little all over the place, the threads of each subplot and character do link up at some point, however subtly. What really kept me from liking this was Julie. As a rule, I never enjoy characters who make their entire personality drugs and alcohol and it got very tedious when everything that happened is followed by a line and a drunken night.

It's interesting to know that this is the first in a series. The story felt more like a standalone so I'm curious to see where the rest of it goes!

This is everything. It is romance and creepiness and horror all at once. It is bittersweet.
I don't know if I can describe it. It is everything. Julie's bestie comes to stay with her, she is in love with her, and then homegirl's husband shoots Julie and a neighbor and then he is murdered and there are apparitions and spooky things and people who work in evil corporations.
And a fake evil book and it needs destroyed.
It is like 100 different stories woven together to make a beautiful tapestry. It all fits and it all works.
The narration is wonderful! I could listen to her all day every day.

I have previously loved books by Cassandra Khaw so I was eager to read this collaboration with Richard Kadrey, an author I needed to read.

I liked this one but I will admit that cosmic horror is not a personal favourite of mine. I thought this one was well done, but not the kind of story I tend to love.

The characters were very adult and snarky in a way I didn't particularly care for, which is hard in a story set dependent on caring for these individuals. New York City also acted as a character in this one, but as an outsider I didn't get as much out of the story.

This is a case where I liked the idea more than the story itself. I think readers more familiar with New York City or those that love cosmic horror will get more out of this one.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.