Book Review – Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk by Wayne Turmel

Blurb

Johnny Lupul is riding high. He’s got a PI license, a concealed carry permit, his first big payday and a monster of a secret. After rescuing a bookie’s daughter from Russian mobsters, the newbie PI catches the attention of a rich, mysterious client.

At first, it’s easy money. After all, magic isn’t real and those “occult” objects have to be fakes. But while chasing an ancient relic, an obsessed enemy from his past emerges. Johnny learns that the world is much stranger—and more dangerous—than he ever suspected.

Malignant forces dwell in Egyptian artifacts, Romani superstition is fact, and being a werewolf may be the most normal thing he has to face on this case.

My Review

Heeerrrreeee’s Johnny! Only slightly less scary being a Lycan rather than a madman, though at times it’s a close-run thing. I got the feeling he doesn’t like being called a werewolf.

So, Johnny’s scraping by doing the odd job, this one for an ex-employer who reads as legit as a nine-dollar bill (or nine bob bit if you’re British and of a certain age). Anyway, he wolf’s out and scares the girl he’s trying to save, injures one bad guy and bites another, believing that he’s killed the pair, he releases the girl Meaghan and gets out before the cops arrive with bad questions.

Then Johnny gets an offer he can’t refuse, as it comes with a $100,000 annual retainer. His limping best friend/landlord/accountant is happy. Not much makes Gramma happy, but she’s a special.

The new boss is certainly interesting and if the old guy wants a piece of meaningless, can’t really be magic brass, who’s Johnny to say no? Well, to be honest, if Johnny said no, he’d be a wise man, but frankly, that ain’t Johnny. He’s the muscle, not the mind kind of lycanthrope.

Only there’s a figure stalking him, headless rats turning up and the brass is so much more than brass. Oh, and it seems there’s another lycan out there, one that Johnny is responsible for.

This is a grimy reality PI novel, quite noir, but pacier than the 1950s/60s noir, and its paranormal.  I loved it.