“You move on. You move back. On because you're always getting older, back because there's always a set of habits and routines to catch you and suck you back in when your guard is down.” I loved Mike Carey's writing style, it's sublime - colorful, poetic flow, funny when it's supposed to be, dramatic when it's supposed to be. Not all of the British terminology is familiar, but I adore the British writing tone as long as it's not bone dry. And hey, learn something new every day?The protagonist Fel...

This is a reread for me, huge fan of the Castor novels so the next little while will be loads of fun while I revisit that world. They are brilliant. So this is less a review and more a "read them - read them all!"

To be honest I cant be bothered to write an extensive review on this. Sometimes readers and books just don't click. I started reading this in the hope of lining it up as my next urban fantasy series as I am running out of Dresden books but the plot was too slow, the characters bordered on boring and it was too light on the fantasy elements.

4.0 stars. This book was much better than I had anticipated it to be which was a very pleasant, if UNEXPECTED, SURPRISE. I thought this was going to be a decent, but somewhat cheesy Urban Fantasy knock-off of the Dresden Files. While certainly these two series share many basic themes (as most UF does), this was a TERRIFIC READ. In fact, in two very important respects I thought this book was actually SUPERIOR to the Dresden books. Given that the Dresden books are the current “standard” at lea...

This was excellent, darker than I thought it would, but better for it. I will definitely be continuing with this series.

It's extremely tempting to give this book five stars simply because this is easily one of my favorite series of all time. The writing, however, is a bit rough and it definitely has the feel of a book where the author is setting up his world and character rather than just telling a story.It may be a bit flawed, but man this is such a great book. I love Felix, I love the supporting characters, I love books that involve supernatural aspects anyway, as long as those aspects are not vampires and were...

Solid three and a half stars. I'm rounding up in Carey's case, because I think his hero is suffering from comparison to Carey's own Constantine, and Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. I too thought of Harry Dresden while I was reading, but I found Felix Castor to be more likeable, and the overall story more enjoyable. It is clearly a "first book in a series," meaning that there is a great deal of world building. I felt it was worthwhile, and not excessive to me, but I enjoy a well-thought out world an...

Yay, this was on my Kindle for a long time, and since my romance-kick has cooled, I picked it up. VERY HAPPY I DID! Felix Castor is an exorcist in an alt-London, attitude-y and very enjoyable. This is a non-romance-type paranormal, so it was a nice break from my usual, and I really loved the mystery aspect of the book, it was well done. In addition, it kinda creeped me out, so I had to check the closet twice before bed-time. Ghosts can be creepy even in print!Jim Butcher fans will like this seri...

This was a solid 3.5 stars but I'm rounding up for series potential. There was a ton to like here I just felt it bogged down a little in the middle but for a series book the ending was really good.

I'm seriously supposed to write down "what I learned from this book"? (I am not impressed by this review form but as this is my first review I should probably curb my disdain a bit.) Very well then. What I Learned from This Book: I learned that I very much enjoy books about ghosts and other supernatural creatures that have infested our modern world. I learned that I especially like books of this nature when they are narrated by sardonic and somewhat seedy male narrators who make their livings pe...

Despite like 20 people I know having read (or wanting to read this), I'd never heard of it until discussing the best Urban Fantasy books and series... And then, because I'm half-demon myself, this one stood out from the crowd and sounded like it'd be something I'd really enjoy. To be quite honest, I'm a little tired of the vampires and the werewolves and whatnot, so demons and ghosts seemed like a nice change. And it was. I really enjoyed this book. I've been in a bit of a slump lately, and so i...

There's something about all detective novels that provide a very nice pace for the prospective reader, a gentle lulling between beatings and the solving of murders, and this is only enhanced by the inclusion of ghosts and Succubi. I only learned later into the reading of this that he's the author of other Constantine stories, so my initial connection made perfect sense. Hell, I like Constantine, so this is pretty much perfect for me.I know I'm going to like the rest of the series, if this is a g...

Great urban fantasy (Urban Fantasy?) but man does it move slooooow. Also, it's one of those books where the main character does a lot of thinking and explaining to the audience and I'm left wondering what the other characters are doing when he's taking 10 minutes to explain demons or whatever. Playing All Hail the Queen [*headdesk*] God Save the Queen with their armpit? Making a trip to Burger King? Summoning their own demon?However, it was quite nice to a have a different type of Rosa (a charac...

This book was a major disappointment :( I’m a huge fan of Mike Carey’s work for DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint, and I thought he did a masterful job crafting new tales for characters created by Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore. So when I heard he was working on a series of novels, I was eager to see what he could do with a world of his own creation. Sadly, the answer turned out to be…not very much.The premise of following the exploits of an exorcist-for-hire sounds promising, but Carey just doesn’t do eno...

4.5 StarsThe Devil You May Know by Mike Carey is the first book in the Felix Castor series. I have to confess that this is a series that is made for my guilty pleasure. This is a story and a series about an exorcist named Felix. This is an urban fantasy and a detective noir twisted together. Like all great urban fantasy it takes place in a world very much like our own.This was a great start to the series and I felt that Felix did an okay job at carrying the weight of the book. I am always lookin...

~4.5 (Original first read rating was 4.)Despite the etymology of his name, Felix "Fix" Castor feels anything but happy or lucky. In his altered world, in which the dead have risen and now pace the streets as zombies and ghosts, Felix's skills as an exorcist are at a premium. After a terrible accident in which he helped to bind a friend's soul to a demon, Felix is trying to take early retirement from the ghostbuster business. With money tight and fear on the rise, it's just not that easy for Feli...

I have so many conflicting feelings about this complex book I don't know where to begin. The overall feeling of the book is sadness and loneliness which works really well but still left me feeling sad myself at the end. the next book is much less depressing which is good. The protagonist is believable and multi-layered and I really liked him. The bad guys are really bad but still not flat. The good guys are regular people. All of the characters feel real to me. The plot is good and had me guessi...

The tone of this novel is bleak, saturnine, and wry. Shades of horror and dark urban fantasy blended into a noir mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I love when a writer is able to pull all the elements together that he introduces to me, from beginning to end. And that's what Mike Carey does here. Tight plotting and subtle characterization. Even the characters that would seem stereotypical have depth and intensity.Felix Castor gets added to my roster of male lead urban fantasy go-to cha...

Okay, I picked this up on the strength of a recommendation that if I liked Jim Butcher's Dresden series, I'd probably like these. I can't say that. There is a huge difference in this character, the world he functions in and the overall "feel" of the book. When I say the world is different I'm sure some thought (or said aloud) well of course the world's different, did you expect it to take place in the same world?No. My meaning there was that the world is a much darker more negative place. "Fix"

Cover: 3/5Story: 5/5Action: 5/5Writing: 5/5Favorite character(s): Felix, Rafi/Asmodeus, ScrubMost annoying character(s): Juliet, Gabe, Rich, DamjohnLoved this book. However, I'll take away 1 star because of the bad ending. Seriously? (view spoiler)[Juliet wants to be his apprentice or whatever?? (hide spoiler)]4 stars! This big expert on paranormal phenomena is doing a lecture tour of the UK, and he gets to Aberystwyth on a Friday night. And he goes into the hall, and it's packed. Shuffle...