Titan's Day by Dan Stout ( Carter Archives # 2)
With Titan's Day, the second book in the Carter Archives, Dan Stout takes us back to the gritty town of Titanshade. It's an absolutely stunning sequel to his debut, Titanshade - that was one of the most refreshingly original urban fantasy noir that I read (earlier this year actually, prepping me up well for this superb follow-through on the Carter archives) - building up and adding more depth to our cynical scarred cop-hero and of course, the superbly crafted world of Titanshade.
It's been six weeks to the events that transpired in Titanshade, when Carter and his new-in-town Mollenkampi cop-buddy partner Ajax discovered a treasure-trove of Manna, underneath the drying oil fields on the outskirts of Titanshade. Carter is now a local hero, is missing two fingers and is also on desk-assignments and routinely due for medical check-ups to ascertain the after-effects of such massive exposure to the magic thingy. So, finally out on his first 'street' assignment, Jax and he stumble upon a badly mutilated corpse of a Jane Doe, an artist who was perhaps new to Titanshade. Gruesomely murdered out on the streets. Carter, curiously also develops a feel for something 'magical' in the air that possibly feels like manna but he isn't sure. The discovery of a broken vial of 'snake oil', another hallucinatory object used on the streets and a second murder close by in one of the neighbouring buildings, right on the heels of the first homicide discovery, further complicates matters. Because the second murder being investigated by a centralised unit, akin to say, FBI, pitches Carter right into the middle of twisted political machinations by the different local mafias and powerhouses. A local sopranos-like crime family vying for a political seat out to win a local election that would happen right after the biggest local festival in town, known as the Titan's Day. In their path of course, is the devious Ambassador Paulus from the Assembly of Free States who never tires of gathering power and pawns to herself.
As bodies start piling up, Carter's predilection for this new 'magical' affinity related to all the victims, leads him down a rabbit-hole, from where there's no coming back. With old allies, old enemies and a LOT of new ones hot on their tail, Carter and Ajax are as usual, neck-deep in shit, mired in conspiracies way taller than what their pay checks should allow them to be a part of, way out of their depths. But Carter is a tenacious old dog, determined to get justice for his 'Jane doe' with whom he feels a strange kinship and a dogged sense of duty that leads him to trouble. Classic Carter, really.
This second instalment in Carter Archives is a much slower book compared to the first book. With lesser action, the focus is a lot more on the cerebral brewing up of a well detailed police procedural. But frankly, it doesn't really suffer so much for that. The pacing probably takes a hit but the mysteries are entwined deliciously in each other, complications nesting down together to form a dark viper's pit, luring the unsuspecting readers in. Carter's personality shines through the muck thrown at him. He's a tenacious dog, determined never to let go of a juicy bone, this first case that he's on after a long desk duty cooling off his heels. His exaggerated sense of duty to bring justice to the 'down-trodden', especially outsiders who get chewed up in the larger political machinery that keeps a dark town like Titanshade running, is fully activated. Despite being a grouchy old bag with a love for the booze and a general distrust of humanity, Carter has a solid core of gold inside him. His relationship with Gellica is also examined in a greater amount of detail in this book, which was a refreshing change. Talena, his adopted daughter, who was a focal point of the narrative in the last book, comes only fleetingly. There's also an angle where Carter tries to mend his relationship with one of his cop buddies, who had lost her partner in an outing when she was helping out Carter's investigation. So there are signs that Carter's stone heart may be thawing a bit here.
And then, there's Ajax. The polite college-educated Mollenkampi who's the perfect foil to anti-social Carter with his non-mannerisms to glide along in this human society. Still charming as ever, sharp as a surgeon's scalpel and in totally great form, giving able support to Carter. There's a nice little detail about Jax's history as well woven into the investigation. Absolutely love this guy!
The investigation takes us behind doors, to the political activism that's brewing out on the streets, fuelled on by power-hungry gangster families like the CaCuri twins with their own vested interests, the gambit being the elections coming around the corner. The angle about the sort of mystery 'magic' that Carter is experiencing, is also an interestingly written bait, for the readers to follow. The world building that Dan mixes easily into the plot, is absolutely top-notch. We explore newer facets of the gritty town, that survives because of the sacrifice of this Titan, in whose memory the festival called Titan's Day is celebrated. The technology is retro, with round-dial landline telephone booths, pagers, cameras with flash bulbs. A delightful touch to the grim proceedings.
Dan ties things off nicely, revealing hidden hands that manipulate and pull strings, and leave that pile of bodies in their wake. A frenetic burst of action with Carter and Ajax, thick in the middle of it, the backdrop being the mad festival celebrations on the streets. There are still parts of the town that are unexplored, mysteries am sure waiting to be solved in this gritty nightmare of a town. What's the deal with all that Manna underground? And there's the tantalising will-they-or-will-they-not, between Carter and Gellica. And what is the endgame of vicious Ambassador Paulus? The Carter Archives has to be the most fun I have had, in the urban fantasy genre. A wholly original KO punch of delightfulness, mixing up gritty action, noir and fantasy headlined by this scarred, cynical hero-cop in a hellscape of a town, superbly crafted out. Highly recommended!
It's been six weeks to the events that transpired in Titanshade, when Carter and his new-in-town Mollenkampi cop-buddy partner Ajax discovered a treasure-trove of Manna, underneath the drying oil fields on the outskirts of Titanshade. Carter is now a local hero, is missing two fingers and is also on desk-assignments and routinely due for medical check-ups to ascertain the after-effects of such massive exposure to the magic thingy. So, finally out on his first 'street' assignment, Jax and he stumble upon a badly mutilated corpse of a Jane Doe, an artist who was perhaps new to Titanshade. Gruesomely murdered out on the streets. Carter, curiously also develops a feel for something 'magical' in the air that possibly feels like manna but he isn't sure. The discovery of a broken vial of 'snake oil', another hallucinatory object used on the streets and a second murder close by in one of the neighbouring buildings, right on the heels of the first homicide discovery, further complicates matters. Because the second murder being investigated by a centralised unit, akin to say, FBI, pitches Carter right into the middle of twisted political machinations by the different local mafias and powerhouses. A local sopranos-like crime family vying for a political seat out to win a local election that would happen right after the biggest local festival in town, known as the Titan's Day. In their path of course, is the devious Ambassador Paulus from the Assembly of Free States who never tires of gathering power and pawns to herself.
As bodies start piling up, Carter's predilection for this new 'magical' affinity related to all the victims, leads him down a rabbit-hole, from where there's no coming back. With old allies, old enemies and a LOT of new ones hot on their tail, Carter and Ajax are as usual, neck-deep in shit, mired in conspiracies way taller than what their pay checks should allow them to be a part of, way out of their depths. But Carter is a tenacious old dog, determined to get justice for his 'Jane doe' with whom he feels a strange kinship and a dogged sense of duty that leads him to trouble. Classic Carter, really.
This second instalment in Carter Archives is a much slower book compared to the first book. With lesser action, the focus is a lot more on the cerebral brewing up of a well detailed police procedural. But frankly, it doesn't really suffer so much for that. The pacing probably takes a hit but the mysteries are entwined deliciously in each other, complications nesting down together to form a dark viper's pit, luring the unsuspecting readers in. Carter's personality shines through the muck thrown at him. He's a tenacious dog, determined never to let go of a juicy bone, this first case that he's on after a long desk duty cooling off his heels. His exaggerated sense of duty to bring justice to the 'down-trodden', especially outsiders who get chewed up in the larger political machinery that keeps a dark town like Titanshade running, is fully activated. Despite being a grouchy old bag with a love for the booze and a general distrust of humanity, Carter has a solid core of gold inside him. His relationship with Gellica is also examined in a greater amount of detail in this book, which was a refreshing change. Talena, his adopted daughter, who was a focal point of the narrative in the last book, comes only fleetingly. There's also an angle where Carter tries to mend his relationship with one of his cop buddies, who had lost her partner in an outing when she was helping out Carter's investigation. So there are signs that Carter's stone heart may be thawing a bit here.
And then, there's Ajax. The polite college-educated Mollenkampi who's the perfect foil to anti-social Carter with his non-mannerisms to glide along in this human society. Still charming as ever, sharp as a surgeon's scalpel and in totally great form, giving able support to Carter. There's a nice little detail about Jax's history as well woven into the investigation. Absolutely love this guy!
The investigation takes us behind doors, to the political activism that's brewing out on the streets, fuelled on by power-hungry gangster families like the CaCuri twins with their own vested interests, the gambit being the elections coming around the corner. The angle about the sort of mystery 'magic' that Carter is experiencing, is also an interestingly written bait, for the readers to follow. The world building that Dan mixes easily into the plot, is absolutely top-notch. We explore newer facets of the gritty town, that survives because of the sacrifice of this Titan, in whose memory the festival called Titan's Day is celebrated. The technology is retro, with round-dial landline telephone booths, pagers, cameras with flash bulbs. A delightful touch to the grim proceedings.
Dan ties things off nicely, revealing hidden hands that manipulate and pull strings, and leave that pile of bodies in their wake. A frenetic burst of action with Carter and Ajax, thick in the middle of it, the backdrop being the mad festival celebrations on the streets. There are still parts of the town that are unexplored, mysteries am sure waiting to be solved in this gritty nightmare of a town. What's the deal with all that Manna underground? And there's the tantalising will-they-or-will-they-not, between Carter and Gellica. And what is the endgame of vicious Ambassador Paulus? The Carter Archives has to be the most fun I have had, in the urban fantasy genre. A wholly original KO punch of delightfulness, mixing up gritty action, noir and fantasy headlined by this scarred, cynical hero-cop in a hellscape of a town, superbly crafted out. Highly recommended!
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