Reviews: Bottle Demon

Sharpe is to Flashman as Dresden is to Carter.

https://www.stephenblackmoore.com/bottle-demon-eric-carter-6

Bottle Demon by Stephen Blackmoore is a book that I tossed into a bag at the library book sale then left on a shelf for a year. Yesterday I picked it up and read it through. This book embraces its noir vibe and Flashmanesque anti-hero unapologetically.

Eric Carter wakes up after a blackout with a hole in his memory. The world around him is a mess and he has to put some things to rights and deal with the consequences of a lifetime of choices.

Simple enough premise but things get complicated fast.

This book was published a few years ago so there are plenty of reviews on the story itself, so I want to discuss elements that I need to keep me from tossing a book into the “take back to Odyssey Books” bag.

Things I look for in a read:

1. Character based momentum: This was a plot heavy book, which is fine. I jumped into the middle of the series and the author was kind enough to summarize the important bits and managed to do so in a way that didn’t feel like I was slogging through a backstory swamp. Eric Carter and (more importantly in my opinion)the rest of the cast felt as if they had personal motivation for all of their actions. Blackmoore did an excellent job of brush stroking in even the minor players and left me wondering if they would show up again in further novels.
2. Good plotting: I don’t want to know the end of the story three pages in. There was a lot of plot in this book. A lot. This worked in the story’s favor as it allowed some variability to the ending. While I wasn’t surprised by the last chapter, I cared enough about the character to stick around.
3. Narrative Voice/Writing Voice: I love a first person present tense book that slips into second person occasionally. I love the Noir feel. The narrative voice snapped up my attention in the first sentence and rarely dropped it. The first chapter is a delight to read as an example of first chapters.

Stuff I shy away from

1. There was some graphic violence. I don’t tend to read books where the main character is wantonly killing humans, but that is central to the character here. While I cringed a couple of times, the actions had emotional weight and consequences and didn’t feel gratuitous.

As a long time Dresden Files reader I am happy to have a new series to delve into that scratches the modern supernatural detective itch.