Book Review: The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig

The Blue Blazes
Chuck Wendig
Publisher: Angry Robot
Published: May 2013
Length: 397 pages
Editions: Print, Audio, Ecopy
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Meet Mookie Pearl.
Criminal underworld? He runs it.
Supernatural underworld? He hunts in it.
Nothing stops Mookie when he’s on the job.
But when his daughter takes up arms and opposes him, something’s gotta give…

The Blue Blazes – the first in a new urban fantasy series in which lovable thug Mookie Pearl must contend with the criminal underworld, the supernatural underworld, a new drug that makes the invisible visible, and a rebellious teen daughter who opposes him at every turn.

A_TiffyFit's Review:
So! Hell exists in just the way we had all thought when we were little kids. At least the way that I had imagined it then with my friends. It's definitely below the ground I walk on! Waaaaaaaaaaay down deep in the core. And, as the famous Dante Aligheri has written, there are nine hells, too, although not in the way he had described.

There are hell monsters that are just as horrifying as you can possibly imagine. And then...there's the scarier thought of the ones that live among us.

In Wendig's THE BLUE BLAZES we learn that not all monsters are bad guys and some live like the rest of us, working and paying their share of taxes even! The Underworld that's below our feet exists and is differently and darkly magical in itself with its awfully gruesome and scary ways.

The protagonist, "Mookie," is one of those anti-heroes who is a hero nonetheless; his heroism will not be known by the surface walkers like you me, us average humans. They would never have any inclination, the people of NYC and the rest of the world, that this Mookie has saved their lives. Mookie is one of those unsung heroes who at first inadvertently falls upon the task of saving the world. He would have anyway, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because it meant securing a safe world for his "bratty" daughter whom he loves endlessly and boundlessly.

The adventures through the underworld is one that holds you tightly in its grip, anxiously needing to know what is next. The actions of Mookie are the rough & tough actions a hero is expected to be but in much more unanticipated ways. Mookie is a hero who IS rough and tough and strong enough to stand up to men and monsters. The way he overcomes adverse conditions with total disregard to physical pain is just a thing of awe. The way Mookie endures hardship after hardship, as well as physical and psychological pain is the stuff of heroes, and yet he is also a sensitive man who loves and deeply cares for his child, Nora, and his loyalty to his friends is admirable.

This novel was hard to put down. It is SO full of action that I don't think anyone would WANT to put it down! At the same time, the mystery is well kept until its end without getting lost or sidetracked on tangents. It is well woven into the plot.

Ahhhh what an adventure. I enjoyed this book immensely and slapped it on my re-readables and favorites. It was different on SO many levels. Excellent. Superb. Intense. Thrilling. I need a thesaurus to tell you more. This was better than the Die Hard movies. It would definitely show up any action film ever. Go Chuck Wendig! New fan here and I'm definitely waiting for more!