Wicked Gentlemen

Title: Wicked Gentlemen
Author: Ginn Hale
Publisher: http://www.blindeyebooks.com
Genre: Paranormal GLBT (M/M)
Length: 217 pages (print)
Rating: 5+ stars out of 5 DIK

THE BLURB

Belimai Sykes is many things: a Prodigal, the descendant of ancient demons, a creature of dark temptations and rare powers. He is also a man with a brutal past and a dangerous addiction. And Belimai Sykes is the only man Captain William Harper can turn to when faced with a series of grisly murders. But Mr. Sykes does not work for free and the price of Belimai’s company will cost Captain Harper far more than his reputation.

From the ornate mansions of noblemen, where vivisection and sorcery are hidden beneath a veneer of gold, to the steaming slums of Hells Below, Captain Harper must fight for justice and for his life. His enemies are many and his only ally is a devil he knows too well.

THE REVIEW

This debut novel is told in two parts and it’s first of all about the search for and apprehension of the culprits responsible for multiple gruesome murders, including Captain William Harper’s sister, and the deal that Harper made with his own personal demon, Belimai Sykes. The story is also about religious extremists who make up a corrupt authority that will stop at nothing, including torture, to achieve its ends – to terminate Belimai and as many of the Prodigals as possible, in the most horrible and painful way.

Belimai is a much maligned Prodigal who is hunted by the Inquisition which is guilty of heinous crimes. He is a drug addict who cannot live without ophorium, the drug to which he became addicted when members of the Inquisition pumped his body full of it to get information. His back story is gritty and violent and I suppose his survival had a lot to do with the fact that he was a demon. Harper is a member of the Inquisition and his conflicting priorities and loyalties, given his relationship with Belimai, make the storyline even more complex.

The story is told from different perspectives: Belimai’s and Harper’s. Harper’s story is narrated as an insider with the Inquisition and it soon became clear how difficult it was for the members of this priesthood to be anything but evil or at least enablers of the Inquisition’s objectives, despite good intentions. Belimai is an enemy of the Inquisition and he doesn’t trust anyone associated with them which makes the dynamic between him and Harper a writer’s dream.

The characterizations were phenomenal and I was amazed at the writer’s world building. I can truthfully say that to date I have never met protagonists like Belimai or Harper. All of the characters were compelling and original and the members of the Inquisiton were totally evil and without scruples or humanity.

Usually when a book is as lauded as this one has been I’m skeptical because I think it can’t be as good as most people say it is. In this case I was wrong. Wicked Gentlemen exceeded all of my expectations. The story was innovative and unusual and the secondary characters were as well drawn and three dimensional as Belimai and Harper. The locations described in the book are also indicative of how ironic Ms Hale could be – Hells Below – so dark and sinister which is comprised of such “pretty” places as Cold Heavens, Pitchfire Parish, Drowning Ward etc., all of which are places where many Prodigals lived in ghettos and eke out their horrible, meager existence.

If you’re looking for a book that has all the elements that make up a truly extraordinary adventure you can’t go wrong with Wicked Gentlemen. There are no real heroes in the book – Belimai has many secrets and so does Harper and neither one trusts the other not to betray him. However, their lovemaking is tender and while their first encounter might have started out initially more as a case of proximity or necessity than anything else, our two protagonists do grow on each other and in the end ….. well you have to read the book to find out how it all coalesces.

I have never read a book like Wicked Gentlemen and I was totally blown away because the concept was so original. This story is a wonderful dark fantasy with all the elements I look for – devils and demons and magic as well as totally corrupt humans – which combine to make this complex story really scary. The book is relatively short (217 pages in print) and proves that a blockbuster can be contained within the pages of a very slim novel. Ms Hale is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the future.

The ending left a number of loose ends so I assume there will be a sequel to this story and I’m really looking forward to reading it whenever Ginn Hale puts pen to paper

This book contains scenes of extreme violence and may not be suitable for everyone.