Wrath of N’Kai by Josh Reynolds

One of my last ARCs from Netgalley, for reasons only beknownst to me. As per usual, all opinions are my own, although I can’t guarantee that since my recent COVID vaccination. Anyway…

Who doesn’t love a bit of Lovecraftian writing? Yeah, well what would you know? I digress. This is a new entry into the Arkham Horror series by the ridiculously prolific and rather good Josh Reynolds, who fires out novels faster than I can write 500-word reviews. I’m not jealous, just lazy. 

Disclaimer – I read this in September, so forgive me if I’m a little hazy on some of the details.

So, what’s it all about?

Anyway, this is a noiresque story, with a most excellent femme fatale, Alessandra Zorzi, a thief who steals eldritch objects because the suckers who hire her pay big bucks. When she is hired to steal a recently found artifact from a collector in Arkham, she jumps at the chance. When some creepy goings-on begin and Alessandra gets caught in the middle of the town rivalries, she begins to wonder if this will be her last heist.

The Arkham mention definitely gives it away. Arkham generally evokes one of two things – Batman or Lovecraft. While Alessandra does her fair share of sneaking around, she’s not quite the Dark Knight, so we’re definitely in Lovecraft territory. However, while this isn’t the standard mythos, it’s about as Lovecraft as one can get, with insane secret cults, unearthed monsters, and cynical heroes about to be woken up. If you like weird fiction or horror, step right up.

Is it any good?

As mentioned earlier, Reynolds is ridiculously prolific, so he knows how to spin a yarn or two. Allesandra is the typical Lovecraft hero – she doesn’t believe the artifacts she steals have any real value other than what her sucker clients are willing to pay, allowing her to live her lifestyle as a countess. She’s sent to Arkham to steal a corpse but gets more than she bargained for. She is under constant assault from cultists, local mobsters, the cops, college professors (gasp) and she’s having bizarre dreams that affect her grasp on reality. She’s fun to follow as she interacts with all of the above, as is her loyal cabbie who risks all to come to Alessandra’s aid on occasion. The setting is very authentic – think prohibition era – and the other characters, while cliché flash a little depth. The monster is quite cool, if dead for most of the book, and Alessandra’s bad dreams are messed up. There are also a ton of nods to the mythos and even some other media such as Taxi.  I’m not sure if we’ll see Alessandra again in the Arkham Horror series (there is room for more action), but I like the concept of the cynical hero getting a wake-up call. I guess a sequel would have to forgo this aspect. 

Verdict

A fun, Lovecraft-esque tale with a noir vibe.

• Format: E-Book
• Obtained from: Netgalley
• Print length: 336 pages (pb)
• Publisher: Aconyte Books
• ISBN: 9781839080111