Release Date: 4th Feburary 2020
I'm Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me:
1. Sobriety costs extra.
2. My services are confidential - the cops can never make me talk.
3. I don't work for humans.
It's nothing personal - I'm human myself. But after what happened, Humans don't need my help. Not like every other creature who had the magic ripped out of them when the Coda came...
I just want one real case. One chance to do something good.
Because it's my fault the magic is never coming back.
The Last Smile in Sunder City is a brilliantly voiced fantasy for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Rotherweird or Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and the debut novel from actor Luke Arnold - known for his lead role in Black Sails!
ARC received from Hachette Australia for an honest review
I was excited to start reading The Last Smile In Sunder City after I read the blurb. It is not really a genre that I usually read, however I was intrigued.
Unfortunately, the book did not hit the expectations that I had for it.
It started off with a great noir feel to it, and I could kind of picture our main man Fetch Phillips walking the dystopian, post magic world in a trench coat, cigarette hanging from his mouth and a hat slouched over his face. Except that that would be too clean for Fetch lol
I found myself skimming through patches of this book, particularly the flashback scenes. I was just completely disinterested in them.
Also, I felt that there was just too much going on, too many people/beings brought into the story. What started as a missing person/being story turned into a confusing mish mash of different creatures that I was not sure all were required.
And the the noir feel that I was enjoying just vanished.
There was nothing at all I found about Fetch that made me want to like the man. The flashbacks ( that I did read right through) were all woe is me, everyone else is to blame for my life 0 gah. Just no Fetch!
To me, this could have done with a big round of editing out the superfluous characters and a bit of streamlining, as the story did plod along, and at times I did contemplate not finishing it.
Luke Arnold was born in Australia and has spent the last decade acting his way around the world, playing iconic roles such as Long John Silver in the Emmy award-winning Black Sails and his award winning turn as Michael Hutchence in the INXS mini-series Never Tear Us Apart. When he isn't performing, Luke is a screenwriter, director, novelist and ambassador for Save The Children Australia The Last Smile In Sunder Citys his debut novel
