Hard Spell (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jun 24, 2011 Mrs. Badass rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, werewolves, arc-s, netgalley, witches, horror

This was a fast paced, interesting novel. It reminded me a lot of Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher, which was a good thing as I love Harry. It's not that Stan reminded me of Harry per say, just the way the novel was written. Justin has a very loose style of writing. It flows naturally out of the MC. There are not a lot of Male protagonists--written by a man-- which was I requested to read this novel from Angry Robot via Netgalley. I'm glad I did!

Stanley is a Sergeant with the Scranton, PA Supe Squad ...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Kaity rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, owned, vampires, law-enforcement, for-review-from-author, wizards

Review originally posted on Bitten Books and given 4 stars.

Stan Markowski, as one of the detectives on the Occult Crime Unit, has seen his fair share of supernatural crimes. He carries a gun loaded with silver bullets and always has a stake on hand, just in case. When a bust goes wrong and Markowski suffers a haunting loss, it's just the beginning of terrible things in Scranton. His latest case is a lot more dangerous and could mean the death of some of those closest to him as well as those of t Review originally posted on Bitten Books and given 4 stars.

Stan Markowski, as one of the detectives on the Occult Crime Unit, has seen his fair share of supernatural crimes. He carries a gun loaded with silver bullets and always has a stake on hand, just in case. When a bust goes wrong and Markowski suffers a haunting loss, it's just the beginning of terrible things in Scranton. His latest case is a lot more dangerous and could mean the death of some of those closest to him as well as those of the whole city.

I've read a lot of urban fantasy. I love the genre and what it brings to the table. When I picked up Hard Spell I was expecting the usual elements and formula that I know and love, I definitely wasn't expecting any surprises, good or bad. Gustainis managed to shock me not only once but several times. It turned out that it was absolutely wonderful experiencing something new. One of these surprises involved an aspect of Stan Markowski that you simply never ever see in urban fantasy. It blew my mind and I loved it. I don't want to spoil anything but I also want to make it clear what it was. It was a relationship thing. I was caught completely off guard by it not only because I've never seen it in urban fantasy but also because it was meant to be a complete shock. I think it added a really interesting and complex twist to his character, especially when I thought I had him completely figured out.

Hard Spell has a gritty, almost noir feel and tone to it. I really enjoyed that because I haven't come across it in urban fantasy before despite detectives being a prevalent theme. I couldn't help but picture Markowski in a trench coat and fedora with a cigarette... and everything was in black and white. There was violence, a lot of it and it wasn't overly graphic but it was enough that if you have a weak stomach, you'd probably want to steer clear. It wasn't violence for the sake of violence though, again it had a noir quality about it that made it more like a cynical detective sharing the hard truths of his everyday life.

The beginning of Hard Spell, while I enjoyed it, is much slower and more information/background based than the rest of the book. It's a fairly long introduction period too and is not a good representation of the meat of the book. I was actually unsure if there was even going to be a main plot at first because the summary didn't mention one and I wasn't familiar with Gustainis' writing. Never fear, however, because there very much is a plot, a very dark and ominous one. Once I was introduced into the true storyline, I couldn't stop reading (and not just because there aren't chapter markers, that took some adjusting to). The ending, once you get past the gory, cringe-worthy bit, was utterly perfect. Loved it, couldn't have imagined a better ending for Hard Spell. It fit perfectly. I can't wait to see what the sequel brings us.

Hard Spell is the police procedural of urban fantasy, not a case and some fantasy elements used to lightly veil a romantic plot. There's often a fine line between paranormal romance and urban fantasy, this is without a doubt a true urban fantasy. ...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Steph rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series-book1, author-유, series-ongoing, arc-netgalley, year-read-2012

Hard Spell is the first book in an urban fantasy series set in an open-world where humans are aware of the supernatural who live among them. The supes are now governed by the same laws as humans. Detective Stan Markowski and his partner, Karl Renfer, work in the Supernatural Crimes Investigations Unit where they investigate crimes committed by and/or against supes. Supes of all sorts are making their way to Scranton because of the ley lines found there. And, with them comes trouble.

The story is ...more

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Feb 14, 2016 Mari rated it did not like it

Love this series. It is like the Better version of the Jim Butcher books. Markowski is a totally believable cop. I love him! He is joined by a vampire partner, a squad full of great women and men in blue, who are all diverse yet cop like. The books are HILARIOUS, but tight adventures. I van not wait to read the last book I ordered, Known Devil. I went through this and Evil Dark in one night each!

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