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REVIEW: The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz
The Shabti – Megaera C. Lorenz
Can you flimflam a ghost?
It’s 1934. Former medium Dashiel Quicke travels the country debunking spiritualism and false mediums while struggling to stay ahead of his ex-business partner and lover who wants him back at any cost. During a demonstration at a college campus, Dashiel meets Hermann Goschalk, an Egyptologist who’s convinced that he has a genuine haunted artifact on his hands. Certain there is a rational explanation for whatever is going on with Hermann’s relics, Dashiel would rather skip town, but soon finds himself falling for Hermann. He agrees to take a look after all and learns that something is haunting Hermann’s office indeed.
Faced with a real ghost Dashiel is terrified, but when the haunting takes a dangerous turn, he must use the tools of the shady trade he left behind to communicate with this otherworldly spirit before his past closes in.
For readers who enjoy A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, and Malice by Heather Walter
I totally loved the premise of The Shabti, a historical paranormal romance by new-to-me author Megaera C. Lorenz.
Think of The Masked Magician but for psychics! Also, a book about ancient Egypt by an actual Egyptologist!
Dashiel Quicke is a reformed pseudo-psychic, now doing tours as a spiritualist debunker, exposing tricks used by so-called psychics. This didn’t endear him to his former group, led by his old mentor, Reverend Maude Fink. Also, a former partner, Porfirio, shot him in the leg, and Dashiel is doing all he can to avoid his old cohorts.
In one of his shows, he met Professor Hermann Goschalk, who hired him to investigate the weird happenings surrounding an Egyptian artifact called the shabti. The shabti is that figure on the cover, and they are known to be connected to the dead.
At first, Dashiel could explain and show that the weird occurrences resulted from mundane things, like a broken pipe or noisy radiator. Later, even more strange things happened which Dashiel and Hermann saw right in front of them, and Dashiel had no choice but to acknowledge, he was facing the real thing.
The book is an entertaining mix of spooky and cozy. The ghostly manifestations were spine-tingling! Tried as they might to contain it, the accursed shabti could even manifest from out of a photo from a book!
I also loved the part where Dashiel, the fake medium, had to use the skills he was taught to channel an all-too-real spirit. And I was super amused at their WTF reactions when they learned what the spirit’s millennia-old grudge was. It was stupidly petty!
Interwoven with the horror part is the endearing friendship and romance between the two MCs. There were many warm domestic scenes, with the fat orange tabby Horatio adding his adorable self to make these moments even cuter.
The more Dashiel spent time with Hermann, the more he couldn’t help falling for the man. Hermann is in his 50s, your quirky, bumbling professor, and a confirmed bachelor. He’s a sweet, charming man who, for some reason, sees the good in Dashiel. He had that kind of unshakeable faith in Dashiel that Dashiel couldn’t help but try to live up to.
Dashiel is around 45 years old, cynical, and morally grey. Most of his life was spent playing the medium with his partner and ex, Porfirio. Our formerly dastardly con man wants to start over and live a normal, honest life, but ghosts from the past started coming after him, trying to drag him back to the fold.
I loved both MCs! Dashiel, in his 3rd person POV, was a compelling narrator, and I just adore Hermann! Extra points for the older MCs.
The pacing isn’t consistent, and the plot could have been shorter (we could do without Dashiel’s half-baked plans to run away), but overall, it’s still an engaging book. The writing had a spark of humor, rich Egyptian lore, and an immersive atmosphere.
If it wasn’t mentioned in the blurb that this is set in 1934, I would have a hard time pining down the era. The time-markers used, like certain political movements, Hollywood actors, and sports personalities, might not be familiar to a non-American audience a.k.a. I was too lazy to Google.
The climax is a bombastic showstopper of a seance! The author pulled no punches when she wrote the scenes, cleverly incorporating Dashiel’s debunking with his parlor tricks, portraying the horror of spirit possession and the resulting chaos and mayhem when everyone realized they had an actual spirit in their midst.
It went on for a tad too long but it was one of the most fun and satisfying climactic scenes I’ve read! The letter Hermann wrote to trigger the spirit was as ridiculous as the spirit’s grudge. I can’t believe Porfirio’s damned boots were part of it!
The Shabti is a story of ghosts and redemption. A fabulous blend of Egyptology, queer romance and horror, it as scary and thrilling as it is sweet and cozy!
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Spirits
Artist: The Strumbellas
Album: Hope
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THE SHABTI: Kindle I Audiobook
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RELEASE TOUR: Roustabout by Morgan Brice (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE: Scandal by T. Ashleigh
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: The Mad Monk and The Christmas Pie by Mark Lesney (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Conned by Kim Fielding
Bureau: Conned – Kim Fielding
World War I veteran Thomas Donne is new to San Francisco. Always a stoic man, shell shock and a lost love have nearly turned his heart to stone. No matter–a private eye has no room for softness. Almost broke, he takes on what appears to be a simple case: finding a missing young man.
As a magician and medium, Abraham Ferencz cons his audiences into believing he can cheat death and commune with their dearly departed. Although his séances are staged, the spirits are very real, and they’ve brought him almost more pain than he can bear.
When Donne’s case becomes complicated and the bodies start to pile up, he and Ferencz must fight their way through a web of trickery and lies. The truth is obscured by the San Francisco fog, and in their uncanny world, anyone can catch a bullet.
Bureau is a series I’ve been diligently following since the beginning. Six books in and it’s still giving us lovable characters and enjoyable stories with magic and heart.
Conned is the latest installment. Private detective and former Londoner, Thomas Donne was hired by a rich and dubious wannabe politician named Herbert Townsend to find a young man. Townsend was decidedly non-specific about the details but was willing to pay good money.
Thomas’s investigations led him to magician and conman, Abe Ferencz. Abe has been employing the young man as his assistant. A series of deaths led the PI and conman to work together to uncover the killer’s identity. All the victims were known to Abe. He could be next.
Ghosts and spirits aside, this is the most spiritual of all the books. Religion played an important role with Abe’s Jewish background being a crucial part of his character. The story put emphasize on how it anchored him to his true self.
All the books in the series has always been, for a lack of better word, vague about the definitive presence of a god. I liked how the world-building didn’t limit itself to the usual religious concepts. Instead, it had a more general and inclusive ethos which makes a lot more sense in a world where literally anything can exist
Townsend explained the Bureau‘s mission something to the effect of the lines of good and evil, friends or enemy are porous and it’s their job is to nudge those lines gently until they are in the right place. It’s about protecting “everything that’s valuable in people and not just human people“.
Our heroes, Thomas and Abe, were men who had seen enough deaths to know not to waste life in regrets. So I could understand how they want to grab life by the balls and jump head first into a relationship in just a matter of days. I liked how the author executed the romantic development. She did it in such a way that you feel the strength of their connection and not how short the timeline actually is.
While I liked the pacing of the romance, I did feel the drag in the first half of story. This was the part where they found the dead bodies one by one. There was the going-around-in-circles feel to it. Thankfully, the story picked up upon the appearance of Agent Crespo.
Also, while I liked the general world-building, in this story, the paranormal elements were kind of confusing and a bit scattered in its presentation. Maybe it helps if the reader is more familiar with Judaism than I am.
The book is set in the late 1920s. There’s a great sense of time and place with a noir vibe. It was an era of cloches and speakeasies, a time I’m fascinated with but don’t want to time travel to because, wow, people smoke and drink like there’s no tomorrow.
This is a prequel of sorts to the entire Bureau world. The agency was only less than a decade old. We also meet Townsend before he was the West Coast Chief.
I’m happy we finally get a backgrounder on the Chief. He is always present but mostly in the shadows, wielding his considerable influence and power, nudging various characters towards the best outcome. There were hints of his paranormal nature throughout the series. Here, we get his origin story. It’s definitely worth the wait especially with how it was related to a key secondary character in the story.
Conned might not be my favorite book in the series (that honor goes to Creature) but it was a great addition, nonetheless. It certainly answered some burning questions I had and getting a look at the early days of the agency is a treat. You will meet men brave enough to catch bullets. You will see what a true mensch is capable of. And learn what it is about all along.
A game.
A very long game.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Artist: Radiohead
Album: The BendsP.S.
The books can be read as standalones but I recommend starting at the beginning where a half angel and a captive demon discovered their cosmic connection. There will be a holiday-themed book about them soon.
Reviews of Bureau books below:
Corruption
Clay White
Creature
Chained
ConvictedPosts on Kim Fieldings works here.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to get your copy of Bureau. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
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COVER REVEAL: Conned by Kim Fielding (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian
The Turner Series: The Lawrence Browne Affair – Cat Sebastian
An earl hiding from his future …
Lawrence Browne, the Earl of Radnor, is mad. At least, that’s what he and most of the village believes. A brilliant scientist, he hides himself away in his family’s crumbling estate, unwilling to venture into the outside world. When an annoyingly handsome man arrives at Penkellis, claiming to be Lawrence’s new secretary, his carefully planned world is turned upside down.
A swindler haunted by his past …
Georgie Turner has made his life pretending to be anyone but himself. A swindler and con man, he can slip into an identity faster than he can change clothes. But when his long-dead conscience resurrects and a dangerous associate is out for blood, Georgie escapes to the wilds of Cornwall. Pretending to be a secretary should be easy, but he doesn’t expect that the only madness he finds is the one he has for the gorgeous earl.
Can they find forever in the wreckage of their lives?
Challenging each other at every turn, the two men soon give into the desire that threatens to overwhelm them. But with one man convinced he is at the very brink of madness and the other hiding his real identity, only true love can make this an affair to remember
This book ticks a lot of boxes: classy cover, adorable dog (hugs to Barnabus!), slim, slender good-looking MC (Georgie reminds me of Locke Lamora only gay), dual POV and lots of humor and fluff. The MCs really brought the best out of each other. Love this book!
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfect(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30226770-the-lawrence-browne-affair)
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