Book Review: Fablenoir by Vic Sinclair

Reviewed by Peter Hassebroek

In contemporary New York City, characters from fables are living their not-quite happily ever after.

After observing the police department’s apathy to a sordid criminal case involving presumably abducted women, Detective Jackson Slade feels he has to get involved. But he’s been deliberately confined to lesser cases by his police chief. Chief Cole, descended from a giant, may hold a personal grudge since Detective Slade is actually Jack of the Beanstalk, slayer of the chief’s kindred fifteen years earlier.

The chief is corrupt and so is much of the force. Not that Slade is a model officer himself. He disrespects his peers, drinks too much, and is addicted to magick beans, an illicit stimulant that heighten his sensory inputs, useful for overhearing conversations among other things.

When Slade confronts his boss, he’s rebuffed, but it’s evident his exclusion goes beyond personal or office politics. The chief has a stake in the investigation, and just by asking Slade has put his career and possibly his life at risk. Fate intervenes when, while sullenly wandering the streets, he hears a woman scream for the police. Slade responds by following a stench that leads him to the shattered corpse of business tycoon Dick Dumpty:

“I stepped up to the dead thing. A yellow liquid was trickling toward my boot, a line of it filling the cracks in the road . . . Mr Dumpty’d had a great fall.”

This dryly hilarious passage succinctly demonstrates the integration of fantasy elements in this Gotham. Dumpty’s demise also launches Jack’s involvement with the missing women case. Now he’s embroiled in a world of betrayal and corruption, in which he’s compelled to rely on the likes of the resourceful outlaw Goldilocks, someone he’s officially obligated to arrest.

Together, with mostly aligned aims, Jack and Goldilocks embark on a harrowing adventure that alternates between flight and pursuit. As the dangers and violence spiral, they encounter humans and non-humans, some out to help, others to obstruct and kill them. Distinguishing enemy from ally requires snap decisions, sometimes with horrifying results.

The primary strength of this novel lies in its cohesiveness. Particularly how the realism and fantasy elements are seamlessly interwoven, simply by not drawing attention to them. For instance, the non-human characters are a surprise to the reader on first encounter, not to the characters. As in the excerpt above where Slade is shocked it’s Dumpty—but not because Dumpty is an egg. This ensures story and action remain front and center.

And there is plenty of action with enough plot surprises to satisfy anyone. It’s enhanced by a strong first person voice, as well as immersive scene setting. So much is going right here. Descriptions are vibrant and thorough, touching on all the senses, and this establishes an environment that’s antithetical to what one encounters in fables.

The intensity is balanced well by characters from nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Each encounter is intriguing, initially upon recognition, then inciting curiosity about how their happily-ever-after landed them in this not so idyllic Fablenoir world. This is delved into for Jack for whom the beanstalk claim to fame is not entirely a blessing and also for Goldilocks.

There are moments when backstory inhibits the momentum of the present story, but the book (especially the revelation at the end) is still a nice, compelling set-up for the series’ future books.

Fablenoir is creative, fun, and relentless—an urban fantasy that doubles as a riveting action thriller within a colorfully dynamic world.

Thank you for reading Peter Hassebroek’s book review of Fablenoir by Vic Sinclair! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post Book Review: Fablenoir by Vic Sinclair appeared first on Independent Book Review.