Known Devil: An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation

*Note – I was given a copy of this novel for the purpose of reviewing it.*

3.5 Stars

Normally, I don't give a synopsis of a novel in a review. Publishers and authors do well enough telling what a story's about (or at least what they wish it was about). In this case, a description is warranted because what is provided, while unique in it's brevity and format, isn't enough to sustain a review.

So, a quick breakdown: Paranormal beings (vampires, werewolves, ghouls) have been a known commodity in the world for around 50 years. They're accepted, apprehensively, as part of the community. Some more than others for sure, but they aren't hunted for their fangs, pelts or ectoplasm.

In this novel, old school gangsters start a turf war for control of Scranton, PA ... and, really, who can blame them? Joe Biden is proof the place is worth at least a lifetime of speechcraft gold (which is a lot like Bitcoins if in the right hands [mouth]). Who knows what other riches one might find? There's also a new drug on the streets that only effects supernatural beings. This is the first time any drug has worked on supernaturals ... if you don't count goblins and their fondness for methamphetamine. Personally I don't. I've met my share of meth addicts. They all seem goblin-like to me.

Also, there's a political party building up steam for the local election. The Patriot Party thinks internment camps for the supernatural citizens of Scranton, PA isn't such a bad idea. Poor tiny elfs (think Santa, not LotR). Poor gnomes (think flower gardens, but without the conical hats). To top things off, certain important Scrantonites (Scrantonians?) start turning up dead.

Who can save Scranton from all these nefarious ne'er do wells? In steps our protagonist, Sergeant Detective Stan Markowski and his undead, vampiric partner, Karl of the Scranton P.D.'s Occult Crime Unit.

This book snuck up on me, in a sense. I picked it up expecting something heavy on the paranormal with a police procedural/follow-the-clues vibe to move the action and main character along. I was dead wrong and it took me a quarter of the book to reorient myself to what kind of story was actually being told. This was mostly my fault.

I suffered a bit from not having started with the first two books that preceded KNOWN DEVIL. I dove into this novel (#3 in the Occult Crime Unit Investigation series) and expected to swim along. I should have figured out the river's current first so I wasn't struggling upstream for so long. There are characters and back stories galore from the previous novels. Knowing them would have been helpful ... but it wasn't absolutely necessary. In fact, it might be the best way to ensure readers will pick up the other two books, HARD SPELL and EVIL DARK.

At it's core this is a police mystery. The paranormal aspect is a twist that adds to all facets of the story. There's more mystery, a larger pool of possible criminals and motives. And there's also the creepy factor that's constantly at work. Add to this the easily forgotten lesson of history; regular, ordinary people are every bit as capable of monstrous acts as any supernatural entity one can imagine.

Overall I enjoyed the main character, who was fleshed out very well through the author's use of showing him to the reader rather than telling us about him. Unfortunately, so much time is spent on Stan that very few characters get their fair share of the spotlight. Maybe I missed their moments in the sun in the first two novels. In the very best of books, it's the secondary characters that often provide the greatest entertainment. Authors tend to let them ramble in and out of scenes and they take on their own unique characteristics. I didn't get the feeling that the secondary characters were rambling or wandering anywhere. They were orbiting Stan.

Stan and Satellites ... a name for a middling garage band maybe?

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of the story for me was the new drug that shows up on the streets ... of Scranton!

I've been to Scranton and stayed their for a few weeks. I currently live in Memphis, where the crime rate makes Scranton seem like a nice park that gets a little seedy with devil-weed smoking hippies at night.

When Stan learns of this new drug in Scranton, he, his partner and his boss don't question its point of origin or history. Their reaction would have been a tad more realistic if they'd said, “Whoa, we better call Philadelphia or NYC or Trenton and ask someone about this.” Instead, they call it a game changer and go about trying to track down where it's coming from inside the community. This would be great detective work if Scranton existed in a vacuum ... but it doesn't. I'm pretty sure Scranton P.D. would be looking for outside help ASAP if an actual new drug seemed to pop up in the city from nowhere.

At times Gustainis writes with a mystery noir feel to the storytelling. When he does, it is absolutely great. Sometimes though, this style seems like it's being used with a wink and a nod. This was confusing. Markowski is the tough, silent type who takes a beating, makes morally questionable decisions and still manages to avoid the fatal shot. He's constantly using cheesy one-liners ... but then he apologizes for it. When you want him to be kicking tail without a thought to taking names, he's hashing out side moves. Don't apologize Stan! Don't dole out the butt-kicking! Stick to the one-liners and go thump some heads!!!

This aside, I like Stan. I really like Gustainis's world. I plan on reading both of the preceding books, but I'm going to do it backward. I'll read the second, EVIL DARK, and then the first, HARD SPELL. Why? Because, when you meet someone you like, you learn about them at that moment. As you get to know them you learn about their past. The longer you talk, the further back in time you go.

So, over the next few months I'll be setting aside a couple of weeks to go visit Stan. I look forward to getting to know the guy. And his satellites.

Normally I don't enjoy "paranormal PD" fiction but this is the exception. I was first attracted to this book series because the story lines take place in Scranton PA, my home area. The gritty writing and suspenseful plots of all 3 books in the series have made me a fan and I can't wait to see where the series goes next. Here's hoping for a part 4 in the next year or so!

Full Disclosure: I got a review copy from the author. That said, I asked for the review copy when they were offered because I had been waiting for this book for MONTHS - ever since I read the first one. Then the second. Also, having read the ebook copy, I'm definitely getting a hard copy to go on my shelf, too.

I really love the world building that Gustainis has done here - the little details make it all come alive. The names of the cars - Stephen King as Occult True Crime writer... Nixon as (possibly?) vampire? It just all comes together to take a world that's recognizable as our own into another dimension. It's right up there with JD Robb's In Death world.

The book is a hard-boiled detective novel... set in a world where supernatural creatures - pretty much every kind you can imagine - came out of the broom closet after WWII and from there, this universe spun slightly off of our own. There are parts that are laugh-out-loud funny - which did get some odd looks from my family because apparently they were trying to watch some weird ritual called a "Super Bowl"? - and parts that make you wonder about Markowski and his ethics.

Those are the parts I love the best. Does the end justify the means? Is the decision he made ok because it saved lives or is it a terrible thing because... well, it's a terrible thing?

If you're a fan of the Dresden Files, or urban fantasy, or just looking for something new - go get this series. Start with book one, and read them all :) You'll be glad you did.

Enjoyed this book , Justin did a great job with the Story, and developing plot. I got started reading it and I couldn't put it down until the end...If you like a good rough no holds bard paranormal cop story this book is for you.

Known Devil is the third book in the Occult Crimes Unit series.

I very much enjoyed the series. It's like a cross between Law & Order and CSI, but with vampires and witches and gnomes. I've been waiting anxiously for the third book.

The first two books were very well written and strong police-procedural storyline. Known Devil, on the other hand, has the cops... cross the line a few time. You always get that, it's true, but in this case it... they crossed it more than I felt comfortable with. Especially when they do it for seemingly no good reason.

This book just seems less polished than the first two. Both the writing and the story seem a bit off. There is a good story there, and the writing is mostly good "film-noire". I did enjoy it very much. But you keep running into weird "bumps" were I kept thinking "Eugh, why did you feel the need to write that?". Things that don't add anything to the story, but just seem to be the author replying to imaginary, nitpicking critics.

The best example I can think of is [slight spoiler]: There is a new drug on the street and the author wanted the fact that it affects supernatural beings to be "unbelievable". However, he did write about drug-addicted goblins in a previous book. How do you solve this problem? Well, every single time someone hears about it the reaction is the same: "That's impossible! Sups don't get addicted! Except for goblins, of course". It was annoying. I wanted to yell "Fine! We get it! You regret having goblin addicts in that other book! We don't care about these things! Just let us enjoy the story instead of rubbing our face in tiny mistakes all the time!"

So like I said, unpolished. Other things too: many seemingly important plot points that just didn't have any bearing on the final story. The cops feel the need to "cross the line", and in some cases you just don't see why they do that. What are they gaining. How is that important. Maybe setting the stage for the next book, but still - some of the character's decisions don't seem to be explainable in this context.

But it's a good book. It has good action scenes. It has nice ideas and funny puns and bad-ass cops and... well, it's fun. And let's be honest - if you like urban fantasy, and you've already finished The Dresden Files and The Iron Druid, you probably don't know what to read next. Well, this is it.

So all in all - I will be reading the next book. And I do recommend it, but only to someone who can look past imperfections without it ruining the book for them.

Justin Gustainis grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go. His novels have the right combination of action, suspense, and thrills to satisfy readers of horror/paranormal suspense. I am always impressed by the depth of his characters and the clever ways that Gustainis forces them to confront the evil that threatens their world. I highly recommend this novel for anyone looking for a great read in the horror genre.

In Scranton, USA, fangsters are killing each other, Stephen King is a “true-crime writer,” and not selling blood in a bar doesn’t mean you're prejudiced against “supes”; it might just be “some kind of religious thing.” Still, the undead daughter will warm her cup in the microwave while Dad eats breakfast before joining the night shift at the precinct.

You could start this series anywhere and still get hooked. Backstory is minimal and informative, told in the laconic, self-deprecating voice of a wonderful protagonist, Stan Markowski. And the front story’s full of twists and turns as terrorism raises its ugly head in a small town, perfection proves hard to attain, and unknown assailants are sometimes thwarted by equally unknown assistants, while blood flows in the streets.

Dark times forge dark alliances, and create strange challenges. But the solutions flow with a convincing paranormal logic. The grisly dark is lightened with strings of puns. The humor is pleasingly noir. And the author continues to do for Scranton what Jim Butcher’s done for Chicago and Kat Richardson for Seattle. It’s a great series!

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review.

Detective Sergeant Stan Markowski certainly takes his knocks in his third book. I was given a copy of Known Devil in return for a fair and honest review: not difficult for me to do considering I am honestly a huge fan of Stan and his crew. I actually gave the whole trilogy a back to back read and am glad that I got to revisit wonderful, crazy Scranton. This novel picks up fairly quickly from Hard Spell, and the reader gets to see more developments in the lives of Stan, Karl and Christine. As with all his novels, Justin writes a snappy pace while maintaining really good crime investigation and mystery. I liked the race war carryover from Hard Spell, and cannot wait to see what's in store in book four. Karl and Christine: Justin, make this happen, please.

I liked everything about this book. He is an excellent writer. Kept me interested from start to finish. I would buy any book I saw his name on.

So, I order this because it sounds interesting...and just loved it! Great characters that you get attached to VERY quickly...good story line...very easy to read. And then, the best part...I check to see what else he's written, find 2 other books, and...here it is...I actually had purchased both previously and had them in my Kindle library! Yes, it turned into a kind of prequel thing but I don't care! Now I'm ready to try his other series and will be watching for a fourth book in this series. And, being a California girl, I'm learning a TON about Scranton, hainia?!?!