The Curse Merchant

There’s nothing quite so clarifying as a gun to the head.
After Dorian Lake manages to disarm his disgruntled ex-client, he takes a long, hard look at his life, and he doesn’t like what he sees. Ever since he broke up with the beautiful Carmen, it’s as though he’s been in a fog. He has lost touch with his friends, avoided his club, neglected his tenants, and let his main business--charms and hexes-- collapse into decay. Dorian is determined to reinvent his life, starting with a brand new wealthy, influential, and highly political client. But when a woman stumbles up to his door after selling her soul to a necromancer, Dorian suddenly finds himself bartering with necromancers, being tracked by the Presidium, and considering some seriously dark roads that he promised himself he’d never take.

One of the dangers of reviewing books about snarky supernatural detectives--and one I’m always happy to fall into-- is comparing every urban fantasy to the Dresden Files.
In this case?
Alienated mentor who died in a peculiarly gruesome fashion? Check.
Constantly over-exoticised seductive Hispanic love interest? Check.
Clear-cut in-universe distinction between “good” practitioners and “bad” ones? Check.
Self-important, self-righteous, vaguely threatening governing magical body? Check.
Shop selling magic, operated out in the open within a masquerade world? Check, although I don’t think it’s in the phone book.
But The Curse Merchant really isn’t just yet another Dresden Files clone.
Plus, the story takes place in Baltimore. A charmworker in Charm City? Priceless.

Although the story may start out like any other such urban fantasy, it soon swoops into rather new territory, at least in my experience. In Dorian’s world, there are two main forms of magic: “karmic”-powered hexes and curses, and the even darker arts of Netherwork. Netherwork, magic derived from ancient and malevolent beings that Dorian refers to as the Dark Choir, is paid for in a variety of ways, including human souls. And thus the gentle art of soul-mongering, with which Dorian is about to become all too familiar. When you dig too deeply into Netherwork, the shadows start hunting you.

Dorian Lake isn’t quite the standard protagonist. For one thing, he’s a complete dick. Although he fulfils the standard impoverished supernatural detective schtick, he was born an upperclass silver spoon twat, and he hasn’t lost his snobbery. He can be demanding, jealous, and needy, and he cries at the drop of a hat. Despite his self-righteous complacency, I found his particular brand of magic to be downright low-level evil. Personally, I think the whole “karma” and “Cosmos” business is a crock. In the opening scene, we discover that he, with the help of karma and the cosmos, gave a woman an eating disorder at the behest of her ex-boyfriend. His main business consists of such unsavory hexes, yet he still considers himself to be a “good guy.” Like all self-proclaimed “good guys,” he’s a pretentious, self-righteous prick, and I experienced a somewhat Schadenfreude-laced glee as his karmic kicks start coming. All the same, in a weird way, I rather liked him. I definitely enjoyed his narrative voice, and my disapproval of Dorian only heightened the relish of his situation. In my view, Dorian is a bad guy, but he’s an interesting one.

Despite the upperclass protagonist, The Curse Merchant really captures the heart of hardboiled/noir. It’s rather like a Lawrence Block novel garnished with supernatural shenanigans. However, the book also reflects some of the less savory aspects of the genre. The few non-white-male characters tend to be casually stereotyped and exoticised. Carmen, Dorian’s ex-girlfriend, is constantly exoticised, her personality and choices often labeled by gender and race, e.g. “her Latina pride” or her “typical pissed of Latina posture.” The Arabic and African-American characters are as heavily stereotyped as the rest.

The Curse Merchant is a romp, an adventure, packed with deliciously ironic twists and turns. It’s not precisely introspective, and it’s not going to leave you with any deep thoughts to ponder, but it’s a fast and fun read. Best of all, it terminated with an ending that I definitely didn’t expect, and it left me cackling.

So, Dorian, even though I think you’re an asshole, even though I pretty much think you deserve everything you get, count me in for your next adventure, because I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Excerpted from my review on BookLikes: http://pagefault.booklikes.com/post/1036256/welcome-to-charm-city Cross-posted on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1084076290

The Curse Merchant, J.P. Sloan Review from jeannie zelos book reviews Genre: Sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal Dorian, he has this kind of careworn, cynical front going on, but as we get to know the man behind the facade we see he’s really a genuinely nice guy, he’s ready to help people – not just because it’s his job and they’re paying him, but because he really wants to make their lives better. He stays on the side of “clean” magic, that which depends on the goodness or otherwise of the user of his charms, and he’s very anti the Dark side, the type which carries great power but at the cost of his soul. I loved the description of his charms and hexes, and the way he explained how they were tailored to the user. He seems to have been letting things slide though in both his business and personal life over the last couple of years, and it comes to a head when he’s threatened at gunpoint by an angry lady. It proves a catalyst for change, and he starts to look at how he’s living his life, and begin picking up his work again. That brings him to the attention of a local Netherworker. Dorian knows he’s far more skilled that Osterhaus but is shocked by how much of his work the man has picked up. Never the less he’s back now, and not stepping down. Then some things happen that lead him into danger and the temptations of Netherwork – his old girlfriend Carmen needs his help, and he still feels bad about their acrimonious breakup. Its a fun read, full of interesting snippets of the history of magic interwoven with descriptions of the spells used. Its not a fast paced novel, and takes the time to thoroughly embed in the scene the various characters that we’ll meet in later books. I’d rather it be that way than a series start with a fast pace that leaves reader wondering “what? who? how?” A solid foundation works well, and the roots for a great series are here IMO. I love the whole idea of magic being attainable by study and not just a few select people with talent. Dorian makes for a great lead, and the side characters of Abe his tenant, Ben from the club, Osterhaus his business rival, Julian from the Mayor’s office are all people I hope will be in future reads. I’ll be looking for more from Dorian and JP Sloan. Stars: I’m hovering between four and five...Four and a half it is. ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers