While I mainly read crime fiction and non-fiction, I
occasionally stray outside of my comfort zone. Poison City is an urban
fantasy/horror and when I saw it on Netgalley I was drawn to it for a number of
reasons. First off, the hero Gideon Tau, is part of the Delphic Division, a
sub-section of the South African Police Occult Investigative Division. As a
former current affairs journalist I have come across the Occult Investigative
Division, which really did exist (I'm not sure if it still does) and was tasked
with investigating the spate of ritualistic and multi murders that plague that
country. So I was intrigued. The second reason was that Poison City, dealing
with the occult as it does, reminded me of Simon Unsworth's work. Simon wrote
The Devil's Detective, a hugely impressive novel set in Hell, and so I decided
to give Paul Crilly a go.
Crilly is an established children's and YA author but
apparently Poison City is his first book aimed squarely at adults. From the
outset I was hugely impressed. The book is a blend of modern day life - we have
the Internet, the wonders of modern technology - with magic and the occult. But
this is no Harry Potter. While the latter Harry Potter novels were more adult
in their themes, none approached the darkness of Poison City. Demons, vampires,
avenging Angels and much, much worse fill these pages and Crilly has a way of
bringing this all to life in a way that might well rob the reader of sleep.
Crilly's writing is as fine as can be, he really brings
locations to life. I've never been to South Africa, let alone Durban, but I
really felt like I had after reading this book. The smells, the sounds, the
sights; close my eyes and I was there walking those streets. And like the best
crime/noir/horror it makes the reader want to visit the location, however
wretched. I've read that since The Wire there are tours of the inner-cities of
Baltimore, similarly since Breaking Bad there are tours of Albuquerque. Well
having read Poison City I want to visit Durban, however insalubrious it might
be.
Most impressively about this novel, and something I've
noticed other reviewers have mixed feelings about, are the religious aspects.
This comes to the fore towards latter half of the novel and forces the reader
to ask serious questions as to what they believe. Without giving too much away
he forces the reader to confront the contradictions at the heart of the Judeo-Christianity,
how God can go from vengeful spite in the first testament, to forgiving
peacenik in the second. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a religious book, please
don't be put off whatever your faith or none, but as a lapsed Catholic I have
to confess to finding some of this uncomfortable stuff.
If I have one criticism of Poison City, it's that Crilly
perhaps tries to fit too much into one novel. There are just a few too many
characters and just a few too many strands to the plot. That said, this is a hugely
impressive novel and one that I heartily recommend.
4 out of 5 stars
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