“Fallen” is unlike any Urban Fantasy I have read before. You have a world populated by classic high fantasy creatures—elves and orcs just to name a few—plus humans in a modern-day Boston. To top it off, the Christian mythos with angels and heaven are real in this world, even if church goers don’t believe a literal angel when they meet one. I thought that contrast was the most interesting of all, but I’m getting ahead of myself. We follow Cassiel, a fallen angel, as she learns to navigate a world she’s never been to before, as she has been tasked with guarding the gates of heaven for her whole existence. No one believes her when she tells them who she is, which allows for the reader to learn about this version of our world through her eyes. It’s not until a murder in the church she is taking refuge in kicks off a series of events with demons and drug dealers that people truly start to believe Cassiel when she says she is the only weapon capable of facing off against this threat—even wounded as she is.

I am a big fan of blending science fiction and fantasy together in the same book. Even more so when you have a cyberpunk-esque science fiction setting and magic plus some magical creatures for added measure. And boy does this book deliver on all those fronts! The book itself is like Storage Wars but with, you know, magic in a city literally alive with power and gods for pretty much every little thing you can think of. We follow Opal, who is desperate to pay off her debt and does so by basically buying apartments of people who fail to pay their rent. She may be a mage, but she prefers work as a Cleaner; on the hunt for treasure in these foreclosed locations. I really enjoyed the premise of that; Opal may be a magic user, but she is not the most powerful, well, anything and her magic isn’t necessarily unique. It made the world of the DFZ both magical and grounded, with the author taking the reader on an action filled ride from the lowest levels of this magical version of Detroit, to its glittering dragon consulates, because of course there are dragons now.

“Verena’s Whistle” is an urban fantasy adventure that is steeped heavily in Slavic folklore. We follow our main character, Verena, who finds out very quickly that her families dwindling magical talents are needed in order to close a portal that has allowed monsters from another place and time to enter our world. Verena’s family has always known that they are the last line of magical defense should this very thing happen, so there really isn’t much of a secret there. But Verena’s particular talent manifestation comes as a surprise, especially as their magical strength has been dwindling over the centuries. But while the synopsis claims there are secrets and Verena must decide if she’s capable of leading, you’d never know that by reading the book.

I love a good, dark twist on classic fairy tales, and on that front, “Second Hand Curses” definitely delivered. Our main characters (Jack, Frank, and Marie) have formed a mercenary band that tackles the jobs that are deemed “morally grey” by the Narrative—which is this land’s more active god figure, swooping in to help princesses and good guys in danger. In this land, beings like the Blue Fairy are not good, where their boons are curses (usually barely in disguise) and our mercenary trio will not stand for that. So, tell me why then, when you have a story that sounds like it should be an exciting, twisty adventure that’s read by a group of great narrators, was I not having more fun?

“Small-time” is the story of the smaller operations of the mob. Not the big New York families we’ve all seen the documentaries for, but the smaller organizations in the little towns. Mostly centered on gambling operations as well. Sure, these arms of the mob would report back to the bigger organizations, but they ran things primarily on their own. It sounds really intriguing, right? To get that closer look at a side of the mob rarely talked about, and from an almost first-hand perspective from someone who lived it! What could be better? Except that this family memoir delivered more on the family drama, than the involvement with the mob.