‘I fell into this job quite by accident, when I discovered that I possessed the ability to see the preternatural world. There are a handful of people with similar abilities, and part of my job is to locate them, since Government Services and Infrastructure Canada like to keep track of these things. Don’t ask me why’. There’s a malevolent force in town, and it’s quite literally Valerie Steven’s job to determine who’s behind it and why they want to destroy the world, starting with Calgary. She’ll have help, in the form of her best friend (now more or less a zombie, unfortunately), a powerful dwarf troll, and the ghost of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (but he goes by ‘Bill’ these days). But that’s not all – Valerie has some tricks up her sleeve and, she hopes, luck on her side. Oh, and her boyfriend, Dave. He drives a dump truck.

Shade Fright by Sean Cummings
March 1, 2010
Urban Fantasy
Paperback, 416 Pages
Snowbooks
Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: “I drive a dump truck.” Dave said, sourly. “It’s more glamorous than driving a front end loader, you know.”

Why I read: Sean Cummings asked for the review, and the blurb caught my attention. Plus I am in love with the cover.

Valerie Stevens is an alchemist living in Calgary, Canada and can interact with the departed. When young, she realized she could see paranormal things, while the general public has no idea things like that even exist. Her job is to find these paranormal beings and keep things under control so it stays a secret to the public. She has some magical ability, including a satchel that holds not only Tupperware, that always comes in handy to collect samples, but always offers a little boost to whatever evil thing she is fighting.

Valerie works mostly on her own, yet she has a very mortal boyfriend who understands her job and is often there for support. He has a mustache (swoon!) and likes opera – Valerie knows and appreciates she landed herself a great man. Often she is visited by the ghost, Fifty-Dollar Bill, otherwise known as William Lyon Mackenzie, Canada’s tenth prime minister – (his face is on the fifty dollar bill, hence his name.) Bill can be a somewhat annoying friend, but is very loyal and loves to be useful in Valerie’s investigations. Her other friend is Caroline, a zombie that is in desperate need of a new body. Although her eating habits gross Valerie out, they make a good team when the going gets tough.

Valerie gets called by a farmer, who has a missing a very large grain bin. There are no tire tracks or footprints and Valerie’s suspicions immediately go on alert. After dropping a rock in the very deep hole to estimate how far down it really goes, the rock shoots back up with great force – Valerie is certain there is something evil in the works, especially when the hole shoots back bones as well.

Valerie also notices trees and vegetation dying throughout Calgary. After much research, she starts to think a shade is behind the attacks. But why and what does this shade want? With the help of Fifty-dollar Bill and Caroline, they have a lot of investigating to do.

Shade Fright introduces us to a world filled with zombies, trolls, and ogres – many paranormal creatures, all hiding from the public eye. Valerie is a solid heroine – smart, independent, and not one to take her responsibilities lightly. At home she is already in an established relationship with Dave Webber, dump truck driver and all around great guy. He keeps her domestic life simple while she is out fighting the evil beings. I like that their relationship is easy and she doesn’t have problems in the romance department. Her love for Dave is uncomplicated which offsets her complicated work life nicely.

The world is built in Canada and I think this is the first book I have read where it is entirely set there and it is a nice change. You get a lot of history and background about the country and along with that we get the character of Fifty-Dollar Bill, Valerie’s ghost side-kick. And yes, I looked him up on Wikipedia and it seems he was just as eccentric in real life as he is in the book. He is witty and charming and just a bit off his rocker. A great side-kick for the more serious Valerie. He really made the book for me and is a very well written character.

My biggest complaint in the book is sometimes the pace dragged to a standstill. Valerie goes from creature to creature investigating this mysterious shade, and each creature would go on and on about different magical history and lore. There is so much information thrown at you in this book, that it really takes away from the pacing. The characters are well written, and I liked the plot and the reasoning behind the shade, I just wanted to make things happen a little more quickly.

Shade Fright sets up a fun world and I am looking forward to another adventure from Valerie – as long as Dave doesn’t shave that mustache off and Fifty-Dollar Bill is along for the ride.

Rating: 3.5/5

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Sean Cummings will be back tomorrow to chat about Shade Fright, writing, and Canada ;)