Book Review: A Numbers Game by RJ Dark


4/5 stars. The first book in a new mystery/thriller series by fantasy writer RJ Barker, writing under the pseudonym RJ Dark. This story has an interesting mystery featuring local gangsters and the Russian mob in the northern part of England, but the best part of this story are the characters. In particular, the two main characters who are investigating the mystery, Malachite Jones and his friend Jackie Singh Kattar, make for an unusual friendship. Mal is a recovered addict. Jackie is former military and currently an independent ‘businessman’ running protection for the local community, and perhaps much more. They are friends from their youth, growing up in the Edge, a low-income community rife with crime.


Mal is a paranormal investigator, a ‘psychic’ who helps clients through their grief. His newest client is a local woman whose husband recently died in a motorcycle accident who hires him to find her husband’s missing lottery ticket worth millions. Unfortunately for Mal, both the local gang boss and the Russian mob want possession of the missing ticket.


The mystery and its solution become intricate, and we get some backstory about Mal, Jackie, and other people of the Edge. I look forward to reading more of this series. I recommend checking out this book and this series. This book releases on August 18, and the second book will be released in January 2027.


Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC. #ANumbersGame #RJDark #DaturaBooks

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: Faith of Beasts (The Captives War book 2) by James S.A. Corey

Image
4.5/5 stars. Corey has authored a well-plotted story that follows the research group from book one into their various new roles working for the Carryx. We follow Daffyd, Tonner, Jellitt, Jessyn, Campar, and Rickar after Daffyd’s revelation to the Carryx about the conspiracy by the humans to revolt. We also learn more about the Carryx themselves and how the structure of their society determines their roles in it. We are also introduced to more moeities that the Carryx hold prisoner and control, and we learn a little more about the deathless enemy that the Carryx are fighting. With so many POV in this story, there are lots of actions and events taking place with the research group. Daffyd is struggling to be the liaison between the humans and the Carryx while also plotting some form of revenge. There are some interesting surprises in this novel but there are also moments of profound hope and connection between humans and the other moeities. This is a good continuation of the story, an...
Read more

Book Review: The Book of Fallen Leaves (The Autumn Empire 1) by A.S. Tamaki

Image
  4/5 stars. The Book of Fallen Leaves is the debut novel by Mr. Tamaki. It features multiple points of view from three families that make up the ruling class of this Japanese-inspired world, with the focus on a disgraced brother (Sen) and sister (Kai) whose father tried to overthrow the emperor, and a girl (Rui) from their father’s household servants who was saved with Sen on the night of their father’s death. We drop into this world on the brink of another civil war that will directly involve these two siblings and Rui. At first, I struggled with this story, primarily because of names – I struggle with Asian names and have a challenging time keeping characters straight in my head initially. Once I got the names organized in my brain, the story flowed along nicely, with outstanding prose, and the last hundred pages were an absolute whirlwind of battles, action, and significant events. In addition, we meet demons and gods along the way and discover some interesting reveals about ou...
Read more

Book Review: No Man’s Land by Richard K. Morgan

Image
4.5/5 stars. Duncan Silver and other British soldiers from The Great War arrived home in the British Isles to discover that the Fae have magically regrown the forests of England and have taken over much of the land mass of the islands, destroying less populated towns and farms throughout the country. In addition, these evil Fae have also begun kidnapping children, and Duncan has taken it upon himself to travel into the woods and rescue these children from their captors. This new novel from the author of science fiction stories about Takeshi Kovacs, beginning with Altered Carbon, and Grimdark fantasy novels in the Land Fit for Heroes trilogy, returns to Grimdark fantasy with an alternate British history that is well-written and filled with strange, but intriguing, characters. Morgan is one of the most unique writers working in SF&F today. This is his first novel in seven years, and a story that has been well worth the wait. Some people might be disappointed that he has moved away ...
Read more