I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
"Newford Spook Squad"
by
Charles de Lint
urban fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by Triskell Press on November 29, 2022 and has 31 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Dreaming Place, Juniper Wiles, Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls
A short story, I see it as 20.5 in the Newford urban fantasy series. The focus is on the squad’s formation. I read this in the back of Juniper Wiles an d the Ghost Girls 2 (22), and it can also be found in Odder Jobs.
My Take
De Lint says that he wrote “Newford Spook Squad” after he wrote Juniper Wiles, and that said, I’d put “Newford Spook Squad” before the first Juniper Wiles for chronological reasons.
“Newford Spook Squad” is an odd blend of the squad’s origin and one of its first?? tasks with a hardboiled man in charge.
The formation of the squad has its reason, a very real world reason, with citizens concerned about image and money.
The story is also “real” with its very real feel with Cray skeptical about the whole thing — and wondering why he’s being punished. Then Sweet lists the latest incidents that have no basis in reality, and when Cray expresses his thoughts, Sweet lets Cray in on who these complainants were. Sigh. The true weight of where law enforcement concerns lie.
Cray is not the most diplomatic guy, although that childhood memory of being Tom Sawyer and fantasizing about Journey to the Center of the Earth was cute. We learn about all this from first person protagonist point-of-view from Cray’s perspective.
Ya get a whole new perspective on Hellboy as Cray describes what he’s seeing and trying to relate it to the world he has known.
There’s a lot of thought going on with a bit of action when Hellboy dives into the water. The prose is easy to read and very much policespeak.
The best of it is its introduction to readers with that fill-in of back history on Cray, although there is more in Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls.
The Story
Water and Sewer workers have disappeared and the Spook Squad, along with Hellboy, Liz Sherman, and Hal Jones, have been tasked to find out why.
The Characters
Newford Police Department Paranormal Investigations Task Force is . . .
. . . also known as the Spook Squad, which was created six days ago. Fifteen years a cop, Detective?? Sam Cray is put in charge. His officers include Chad Waller, who is tough but openminded, and Judita Ramirez, who is one tough cookie.
Bill Sweet is the police chief. Captain Monroe is with the Special Investigations Squad. Alfred Ricker is obsessed with collecting data on unexplained phenomena.
The misfits, er, advisors, for the new squad include an alcoholic priest who claims he talks to angels and demons, the owner of The Good Serpent Club who claims to be a voodoo priest, a Christy Riddell who writes books, Dr Bramley Dapple with an expertise in mythology and folklore, and at least two people who do phony oracle schticks.
Hellboy and Agents Liz Sherman of the thousand-yard stare and Hal Jones are with the federal Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Abe.
Stafford is with Water and Sewer.
Lela Searle had been a cop and Cray’s fiancée. Bobby Cairns is a crack dealer. The Taggart Street Runners had been led by Frankie Chestnut. Newford itself has a past, for there was a quake decades ago that dropped the Old City underground.
The Title
The title is succinct, as this all about the formation of the “Newford Spook Squad”.
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