I was hoping I would really like this book, but I'm giving up on it about half way through. It's not a horrible volume. But it's not clicking with me.

First, there is the general subject matter of arcane spiritualism and its presentation as the distillation of the many and varied religions of the world. They are all seen as poor reflections of the truth as known by the narrator, street educated as he is, and his ilk. I'm not buying it. And I'm not buying the twenty-five-cent words and sentences and detailed references the guy spews non-stop.

Second, I'm half way through the book and I still don't have a real clue about who the protagonist is or why I should give a gnat's sneeze about what happens to him. He's not particularly likable. Nor does he seem particularly troubled. There are vague references to a botched ceremony or something years ago and his search for someone named Katarina. I don't get it.

Third, the subject matter addressed by the previous two paragraphs is described and ruminated and discussed ad nauseum nauseum by the protagonist and the stray police detective tagging along with him as a foil. Almost all they do is think and talk. There is bit of action in the first chapter and a little more a few chapters later. But about the only outcome of the action is that our 'hero' suffers minor setbacks in his quest and some bystanders bite the dust. Ho hum. Make something happen, already. And tell me why I should care.

All that might make it seem there is nothing to like in the book. Not true. There is some good scene setting and characterization of the area in and around Seattle and Puget Sound, including a nicely described ferry ride. The protagonist/narrator isn't all that bad to be around. The writing, while occasionally overblown, is readable and occasionally humorous.

If this is the sort of thing you like, you just might like this book. It just didn't work for me. ( )

I have a pet peeve about extended tarot card sequences in novels, but there's so much else going on in here that it is wholly forgiven.

For a lot of fantasy, urban especially, the pay off just isn't there, but the climactic climax of this was climaxful and unique. ( )

It's noteworthy that the spine of this book labels it as fantasy/horror, not just urban fantasy. There's a disturbingly dark mood to the book--all shadows, corruption, and lost souls--and therefore the gray environment of the Pacific northwest is well-suited to the book. It's also an environment familiar to me, which makes me relate to the book in a personal way.

Lightbreaker moves along fast. So fast, that it sometimes feels like the middle book of a series and not the first book, like it assumed I already knew characters and circumstances. This threw me off at first, but I soon got into the groove. The explanations felt long-winded at times, though the subject matter was interesting, relying heavily on Aleister Crowley, the Book of Thoth, and tarot.

Markham is very much an anti-hero. He feels remote, and that may be a good thing because of the darkness of his character. I wanted to understand him more and that frustrated me at times; by the end, it was clear it was written this way with intent, since Markham is just as frustrated about his own nature and choices.

I got to spend time with the author recently and that also provided me with behind-the-scenes perspective on the series. I would definitely like to read on and see how the books develop. ( )

This is a book I'd like to return to for a re-read, some day. From the author's portrait inside the front cover you'd swear that he's lightweight. Nope, deep, ceremonial magical stuff here, the bloody messy stuff with death, blood and souls here.

It starts when Markham, on the hunt for a woman who injured his soul years ago and left him to pick up the pieces, has a deer cross his path, only this deer has a passenger and that passenger is a human soul. Following the clues brings him to a bigger mess and a much messier plan. And it's all a mess. Somehow he got handed the clues to the solution and with the power that he has the responsibility is his.

It's a dark messy occult novel, the end was vaguely unsatisfying but I do want more. ( )

Well, first of all, I finished this book, so it wasn't all bad, but neither was it all good. It started with some pretty cool magic and "drifter vs. police" of a rather higher caliber than usual, I thought, and I was eager for more. But then the book veered into philosophical discussions of all sorts of mystical mumbo-jumbo (sorry, just not that interested) to an extent that I got the distinct impression the action set-pieces were designed to set us up for another exposure to the author's knowledge of (presumably) "Western magick, Hermetic traditions and shamanism," per the back of the book.

1/3 of the way through the book I was eager to buy the second book that just hit the shelves of my local store, but by the end, I had no real urge to continue on with the series. ( )