NYPD detective Sal Brooks is rudely introduced to the magical underworld when her brother becomes possessed after opening an old book. To save him, she joins a Vatican task force of eclectic heroes. Together, they travel the globe capturing magical objects, destroying evil demons, and protecting the world. The plot may be familiar (see: the television show The Librarians), but the inspired character development and the breakneck action set this briskly written, hefty volume apart. The title was originally published online serially in text and audio form, like a Dickens novel, and each episode ends on a cliff-hanger. Though the chapters were written by four different authors, the volume is a strong, cohesive whole. The 13 episodes of the second season of Bookburners are already available for purchase online. VERDICT Highly recommended for urban fantasy fans (think: Cassandra Clare's City of Bones combined with the "Indiana Jones" movies) and readers of engaging, thick books.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Det. Sal Brooks is always there to bail her brother out of trouble. This time he has been dabbling in dangerously magical books and is possessed by a demon. Luckily, a team of experts from the Catholic Church are there to help Sal contain the book and the evil spirit. She then agrees to join them, traveling the world to track down supernatural texts and store them in a Vatican archive where they can do no further harm. Originally released as an online series by digital publisher Serial Box, this first episodic novel is a collaborative work by four authors: Gladstone (Four Roads Crossed), -Margaret Dunlap (TV's Eureka and The Middleman), Mur -Lafferty (Six Wakes), and Brian Michael Slattery (Liberation). Gladstone is credited as the creator of the project: think The X-Files with its combination of large arc and monster-of-the-week stories. The next "season" of stories is already in progress for this high-octane urban fantasy. -VERDICT Each cast member of the Bookburner crew gets a moment to shine, as does every contributor, offering a different take on the individual characters and their plights. [See Prepub Alert, 8/1/16.]-MM © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This perfectly fluffy urban fantasy yarn, a compiled "season" of 16 serial "episodes" (all published online by Serial Box as both text and audio), begins with NYPD detective Sal Brooks rescuing her brother, Perry, from demonic possession with the unexpected aid of a team from the Vatican Black Archives: cool ultra-warrior Grace, hunky master hacker Liam, magic-dabbling archivist Asanti, and doubt-tormented moral lynchpin Father Menchu. Perry remains in a coma, so Sal joins the team on their mission to confiscate the books that demons use as portals into our world. The action jumps around the globe, with side trips to other dimensions, while the writing briskly slides between vividly horrific and flippantly camp. The plot becomes agreeably complicated as Sal and her friends frantically tamp down fresh outbreaks of magic even as experience blurs their notions of good and evil. Reading all 16 episodes in one go is as much fun as binge-watching a full season of a Showtime series. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This volume collects the first season of the online serial fiction project Bookburners in print format, consisting of 16 episodes, with each episode being written by one of four writers. The use of television terminology is appropriate not only for the structure of the book, but also for the overall content and feel of the series. The story follows a team of occult investigators tasked by the Vatican with fighting demons as well as collecting and containing magical artifacts. The focus on characters' personal relationships as well as the ways in which these demonic threats range from the abstractly sinister to the slightly comedic will make comparisons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its many television descendants almost inevitable for readers. However, Bookburners has all of the positive qualities of a good television series, such as a fun narrative and engaging characters, and the print format allows for visuals well beyond the constraints of a television budget. This collection (and the series as a whole) is recommended for those looking for a breezy, entertaining, and exciting fantasy read.--Keep, Alan Copyright 2016 Booklist