THE NIGHT DAHLIA by R.S. Belcher – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Night Dahlia by R.S. Belcher
Series: Nightwise #2
Published by Tor Books on April 3 2018
Genres: Adult, Urban fantasy
Pages: 268
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Violent, action-packed and filled with cool world-building details, this is an amped up, supernatural Pulp Fiction on steroids!

I listened to the jangled murmur of traffic on the freeway—all day, all night—it was the constant rhythm of this city. Sirens punctuated by horns, the bone-vibrating thud of bass from car radios below me. L.A. was a champagne call girl with a razor blade hidden between her knuckles. I hated this fucking city, and I had missed her like a junkie misses what his veins scream for.

R.S. Belcher is back with one of speculative fiction’s most infamous characters, Laytham Ballard, a powerful wizards in the Belcher’s magical world called the Life. Laytham is a violent son of a bitch, is addicted to smoking, drugs and alcohol, can’t keep a promise to save his life, and will just as soon kill you as shake your hand. If you haven’t read the first book in this series, Nightwise, don’t despair. I was actually thrilled to discover that The Night Dahlia works great as a stand-alone, which is good news for readers who have yet to discover the incomparable charms of Laytham Ballard. (Although I encourage you to read Nightwise when you can, it’s not necessary to understand what’s going on here, but it’s a damn good story!)

Laytham Ballard, previously a member of a secret supernatural crime fighting unit called the Nightwise, is approached one day (or rather he’s kidnapped) and taken to the home of Theodore Ankou, the powerful matriarch of the Ankou family, a fae clan hiding in plain sight in Los Angeles. Ankou’s daughter Caern has been missing for the past nine years, and Ankou has exhausted his extensive resources trying to find her. His last chance is Laytham, who despite his reputation for lying, cheating and killing indiscriminately, is a talented wizard with seemingly infinite resources. Ankou makes Laytham a sweet deal (well, as sweet as can be expected for a couple of powerful and dangerous dudes) if he promises to find and return Caern to her home, and of course, Laytham accepts. Ankou insists on sending a body guard along with Laytham, an elf named Vigil Burris, and Laytham reluctantly agrees to let him tag along.

But once they set out to find Caern’s trail, Laytham and Vigil will be forced to deal with assassins, LA street gangs, drug dealers, porn stars and even monsters from Cambodian mythology, as they search the supernatural underbelly of Los Angeles for a girl whose trail went cold nearly a decade ago.

One of my favorite aspects of Belcher’s world is that magic is EVERYWHERE, but most folks don’t know about it. The author comes up with some creative scenarios as to how magic is entangled in certain true events and how well-known people are involved in that magic. This time around he tackles Charles Manson, who actually plays a fairly big role in the story. I won’t spoil any of the details, but suffice it to say after reading this book, I’m even more creeped out and horrified by Manson than I already was. And because this story takes place in Los Angeles, my backyard, more or less, I loved running across mentions of familiar things, like one of my favorite radio stations (KROQ). Belcher infuses all sorts of things with magic, even phone apps, so be ready for lots of fun surprises while you’re reading The Night Dahlia.

Belcher’s characters are all larger than life, and although I have to give props to Laytham for stealing the show—and keep in mind he’s narrating the story as well, so you see everything from his warped point of view!—there are plenty of other engaging characters. I loved the “buddy film” vibe I got from the relationship between Laytham and Burris. When they are first introduced, they absolutely hate each other. Burris is simply trying to do his job and keep Laytham from getting killed, but Laytham is a lone wolf and wants to do things his way, by himself, so Burris is about as welcome as the plague. It was great fun watching Laytham try to ditch Burris in all sorts of creative and dangerous ways, and I loved that Burris could dish out the pain just as well as Laytham.

A few other favorite characters of mine were a couple of ex-lovers of Laytham’s, Lauren Hawthorne, better known as “the Dragon,” and a dominatrix named Anna, both of whom Laytham left on pretty bad terms. Now of course he needs them in his search for Caern, and they aren’t going to be easy to convince. I also loved computer hacker extraordinaire Grinner, who can uncover just about any deeply buried secret on the internet. As with many of Laytham’s associates, Grinner doesn’t like Laytham very much, but Laytham has an arsenal of resources to use to convince people to help him and so he usually gets what he wants.

A couple of triggers should be mentioned, for those readers who are sensitive (to which Laytham would probably tell you “Then get the fuck out!”). The Night Dahlia is violent as hell, as you can imagine when drug gangs and magical assassins are involved. But as over-the-top as it was in some places, I felt as if much of the violence was there for a reason. There’s also a bunch of swearing, especially when Laytham and Grinner are talking, so if you’re offended by that, then perhaps this isn’t the book for you.

This story is packed with characters, action scenes, and all sorts of cool details, but Belcher keeps it all together with excellent pacing. Despite everything that was happening, never once did I feel lost or overwhelmed. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: my favorite stories are ones that combine great characters, plenty of action, humorous dialog and of course, a bit of heart and emotion. It’s hard to get all these elements just right, but somehow Rod Belcher manages to do it over and over. I fervently hope we haven’t seen the last of Laytham Ballard, and I eagerly await his next adventure. Highly recommended!

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.