Hard Spell / Justin Gustainis
“A cool mix of cop show and creature feature. Gustainis had me at ‘meth-addicted goblins’.”
Marcus Pelegrimas, author of the Skinners series
“A magical mystery tour of a murder case rife with supernatural suspects. Sit down for an enchanted evening of otherworldly entertainment!”
Laura Resnick, author of Unsympathetic Magic & Vamparazzi
Meet Stan Markowski of the Scranton PD’s Occult Crimes Unit
“Like the rest of America, Scranton’s got an uneasy ‘live and let unlive’ relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that’s when they call me.
“My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.
“Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.”
Hard Spell is the first Occult Crimes Unit Investigation. The sequel, Evil Dark, is coming April 2012.
HARD SPELL
An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation
Urban Fantasy
Cover: Timothy Lantz
UK
7 July 2011
416pp B-format paperback
£7.99 UK
ISBN 978-0-85766-114-2
US/Canada
26 July 2011
416pp mass-market paperback
$7.99 US $8.99 CAN
ISBN 978-0-85766-115-9
eBook
7 July 2011
£5.49
ePub ISBN 978-0-85766-116-6
More praise…
“Hard Spell deals with hardened professionals looking for supernatural things hiding under rocks, and then dragging them out and giving them a good kicking. The cops act like real cops, the vampires act like real vampires, and the monsters aren’t messing about. The plot twists and turns like a twisty turny thing, and moves like a weasel on speed. The real things feel real, and the supernatural things feel like they might be. The prose is a joy to read, and the whole thing was more fun than is probably legal.”
– Simon R Green
“Punchy dialogue, a fun alternate history, explosive action, and a hero whose monsters haunt him even beyond the job… Gustainis has given us a fantastic supernatural cop story that just dares you to put it down!”
– Chris Marie Green, author of the Vampire Babylon and Bloodlands books
“I enjoyed every page of Hard Spell. If Sam Spade and Jack Fleming were somehow melted together, you’d get Stan Markowski. I can’t wait to see what Gustainis does next.”
- Lilith Saintcrow, author of Night Shift and Working for the Devil
“A winning mix of urban fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction.”
- Jennifer Estep, author of the Elemental Assassin series
“The plot bounds along faster than Usain Bolt being chased by a rottweiler. It doesn’t pull any punches either and puts the protagonists through seven levels of Hell before the story plays out to the powerful and rewarding ending. 5*****”
“The blurb does not do this book justice. Hard Spell is actually too good for words. This one made me laugh out loud, made my heart skip a beat and sometimes I even felt like crying. I can’t wait for more.”
“Hard Spell is an easy to read blood-fest with a heart. Lovers of good Urban Fantasy are in for a treat.”
“Whoa. Justin Gustainis has given us a fast-paced, brutal and bloody urban fantasy that kept the hits coming. It was a downright fun read that tied up all the loose ends in this arc, while laying down several directions the characters could go in later books.”
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