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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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Cronin’s Key – N.R. Walker
NYPD Detective Alec MacAidan has always been good with weird. After all, his life has been a string of the unexplainable. But when an injured man gives him cryptic clues, then turns to dust in front of him, Alec’s view on weird is changed forever.
Cronin, a vampire Elder, has spent the last thousand years waiting for Alec. He’d been told his fated one would be a man wielding a shield, but he didn’t expect him to be human, and he certainly didn’t expect that shield to be a police badge.
Both men, strong-willed and stubborn, are still learning how to cope with the push and pull of being fated, when fate throws them another curveball.
Rumors have spread quickly of turmoil in Egypt. Covens are fleeing with news of a vampire who has a talent like no other, hell-bent on unleashing the wrath of Death.
Alec and Cronin are thrown into a world of weird Alec cannot imagine. What he learned in school of ancient pharaohs and Egyptian gods was far from the truth. Instead, he finds out firsthand that history isn’t always what it seems.
This is what Twilight should have been like had it not been so focused on that love triangle and tackled serious vampire business instead.
N.R. Walker rewrites what we know of the entire human civilization, interweaving vampire lore into human history. The majority of the book sets about world building which, although info dumpy, was highly appreciated because the questions Alec asked were what I would have asked myself. Even with the info dump, the pacing was just right, with events taking place mostly in Cronin’s posh apartment, plus sojourns to Scotland and Egypt in a span of few days. The vampire Elders, Cronin and fated pair Eiji and Jodis (he’s Japanese and can read DNA, she’s Nordic and can freeze liquids), Alec and other coven members were researching and preparing for a confrontation with Queen Keket who wants Alec. Keket was a new vampire who can resurrect the dead and in the grand tradition of villains everywhere, was hellbent on taking over the world. The battle was exciting, however, I do find the Egypt part slightly anti-climactic because the vampire queen, was defeated a little too easily. There were heart-stopping moments when a couple of the major characters had close calls but overall, this part felt rushed.
Cronin’s Key talks about the fated one, the ionndrainn cridhe in Gaelic, which explains the insta-attraction part. The experience was new to both Alec and Cronin and what I liked about it was that the two did the sensible thing, taking it slow and taking time to get to know each other instead of jumping into the nearest convenient bed despite the magnetic attraction between them. It was pretty cute how coven Elder and ancient vampire Cronin (ginger, Scottish, purrs like a cat) gets all shy and tender then possessive and growly around Alec. Alec (brilliant NYPD detective, sarcastic as hell) tried to resist but couldn’t deny what’s going on between them. Some might not be into slow burn this slow but I enjoyed the dance of want and self-denial between the fated pair. When it comes to OTPs, I’m all for delayed gratification.
History buffs, especially those into Egyptology, would enjoy Walker’s take on Egyptian mythology. MM readers would love the combination of insta-love and slow build romance. I enjoyed all of the above in addition to the humor, sarcasm, bad ass secondary characters and of course, outstanding voice acting by Joel Leslie, also narrator of Broken. Cronin’s Key was a veritable united nations of vampires but he pulled off each character really well.
And oh, Gaelic for extra kicks! To my untrained ear, it sounds like a language with a lot of rrr’s, like a lion’s rumble. Here’s my favorite part, when Alec was attacked by the Russian vampires:
Alec was pressed up against the living room wall, his heart beating so damn hard it felt as though it would stop. He was safe, he knew he was, because it was Cronin who pressed against him. His scent was like a balm, soothing and warm. Cronin’s hands pressed to Alec’s face. “Rug mi ort, rug mi ort,” he whispered over and over. It was Gaelic, though Alec had no clue what it meant. Cronin pressed his cheek to Alec’s. His eyes were closed. “Sàbhailtcachd, m’cridhe.”
Which translates to: ‘It’s okay, I have you, I have you.’ ‘You are safe, my heart.’Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Rilkean Heart
Artist: Cocteau Twins
Album: Milk & Kisses(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24830211-cronin-s-key)
