The author of the Johannes Cabal gothic-fantasy series veers off in a new direction with this contemporary mystery with supernatural overtones. Daniel Carter was a homicide detective until a serial-killer case ended spectacularly badly. Now he's running a bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island, which he inherited under rather confusing circumstances, and locking horns with his new employee, Emily Lovecraft, who's descended from the great horror and fantasy writer H. P. Lovecraft. Soon, Carter begins to suspect something odd is going on in Providence a series of strange deaths is a pretty big clue and then, more ominously, he begins to wonder if Lovecraft's tales might not have been simply made-up stories. Howard brings the fine writing and attention to detail (character, dialogue, environment) that he developed in the Cabal series to this new book, and his fans should follow him to Rhode Island. Those unfamiliar with the Cabal books, especially readers with a taste for modern-day urban fantasy, should also be pointed in this title's direction.--Pitt, David Copyright 2015 Booklist

Inheriting a bookstore in Providence, RI, is a peculiar but welcome windfall for struggling private investigator Daniel Carter, even if he's befuddled as to why his benefactor chose him for the bequest. Emily Lovecraft, the former owner's niece, also wonders why Carter inherited the shop she's been running, but agrees to work with Carter when he makes her a partner. Emily is the last living descendent of horror master H.P. Lovecraft, so perhaps it's no surprise when people start dying around her and Carter in bizarre fashion. A mathematician has found a way to access other dimensions, and Carter and Lovecraft might be the only ones who can stop what's coming through from other worlds. VERDICT Providence (including its more imaginary pockets of cosmic wrongness) comes to life in this pleasant mix of mystery and eldritch horror from the author of the "Johannes Cabal" series. The two engaging protagonists could easily ground an ongoing series of otherwordly whodunits. [Optioned by Warner Bros. TV.-Ed.]-MM © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A former cop delves into the supernatural when he's teamed with one of H.P. Lovecraft's descendants to solve a crime. Detective Dan Carter's biggest case is his last: his partner blows his own brains out after they've apprehended a serial killer. Unnerved, Dan leaves the force and turns private eye. His eminently predictable caseload is dominated by assignments to follow cheating husbandsuntil a lawyer turns up and tells Carter that someone named Alfred Hill has left him a bequest that turns out to be a bookstore in Providence. Carter finds this strange, since he's never heard of Alfred Hill. The bookstore is staffed by Hill's niece, Emily Lovecraft, whose other ancestors include the master of supernatural horror. Emily, who hasn't seen her uncle Alfred for seven years, certainly hasn't anticipated an ouster from her place as owner-in-absentia. No worries: Dan takes a shine to Emily and promises to share bookshop responsibilities with her, though he soon gets wrapped up in a local case of his own. A college professor seems to have drowned in his car without a drop of water in sight. Stumped, local police are ready to write it off as an idiopathic asphyxiation. But Dan can't stop thinking about it, especially because the last number the professor's phone called was his own. He'll have to open his mind to a world beyond what's in front of him if he hopes to solve the professor's murder. Fans of the original Lovecraft will have their rewardsCthulu (spoiler alert) makes an appearancebut this series debut from Howard (Nightclubbing, 2015, etc.) shines brightest when keeping to his characters' easy banter and creepy deaths. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This refreshingly original novel updates the eldritch horrors of H.P. Lovecraft for the 21st century. Dan Carter, a New York cop turned PI, heads to Providence, R.I., to claim a windfall inheritance from an unknown benefactor. That inheritance includes Hill's Books, an antiquarian bookstore run by Emily Lovecraft, a descendant of the great horror writer. (Her African-American heritage may be a sly nod to recent discussions of Lovecraft's racism.) Shortly afterward, Dan and Emily cross paths with William Colt, a student at local Clave College, whose mathematical savvy has given him access to the Twist, a perceptual portal to the Lovecraftian otherworld of cosmic horrors. Their confrontation proves to have been engineered by master manipulators with their own cosmic agenda, which Howard (the Johannes Cabal series) reveals gradually through the intercession of members from one of Lovecraft's quasi-human families. Howard sometimes makes explicit ideas that Lovecraft more effectively suggested, but his novel shows a thorough understanding of Lovecraft's conceptual horrors and features an ending that cleverly bears out those concepts. Agent: Melissa Chinchillo, Fletcher & Company. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.