Uptown Oracle Reads… Poison City

Poison CityPaul Crilley

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The name’s Gideon Tau, but everyone just calls me London. I work for the Delphic Division, the occult investigative unit of the South African Police Service. My life revolves around two things – finding out who killed my daughter and imagining what I’m going to do to the bastard when I catch him. I have two friends. The first is my boss, Armitage, a fifty-something DCI from Yorkshire who looks more like someone’s mother than a cop. Don’t let that fool you. The second is the dog, my magical spirit guide. He talks, he watches TV all day, and he’s a mean drunk.

Life is pretty routine – I solve crimes, I search for my daughter’s killer. Wash, rinse, repeat. Until the day I’m called out to the murder of a ramanga – a low-key vampire – basically, the tabloid journalist of the vampire world. It looks like an open and shut case. There’s even CCTV footage of the killer. Except… the face on the CCTV footage? It’s the face of the man who killed my daughter. I’m about to face a tough choice. Catch her killer or save the world? I can’t do both.

It’s not looking good for the world.

Poison City reminds me why I love a good urban fantasy series. We follow Gideon Tau, usually named London Town, as he works for the Delphic Division – the South African occult police force. In this world, we’re surrounded by orisha’s which are terrifying nightside creatures that live alongside humans, including multitides of vampires, werewolves and demons.

Despite the focus being on so many nightmarish monsters in the human world, Poison City perfectly captures the flaws of humans, creating questions of who really are the monsters. I love a book that forces you to think, and a lot of the characters we meet are awful people but interesting to read about.

Our main character, Gideon Tau, is your typical male urban fantasy lead. He’s a cop who’s had a rough tme with losing his family and has turned to drinking as an answer. He’s tough, and a bit violent and a little bit predictable at times too. However where Poison City shines is more to do with the setting, story and lore around the demons than anything else.

The book is filled with action, stealth and magic (or shinecraft as London has named it) with some truly gruesome scenes. On top of this, the Crilley doesn’t take his work too seriously and we have humour written throughout the book too. The talking dog works great as a stereotypical comic relief best friend, and also feels pretty normal in this world.

Dripped in deep histories, myths and folklore Crilley has really started to create an interesting world of corrupt governments and interesting characters – turning well known individuals into something twisted. The lore was so intriguing, and as we found out more you do just want to continue reading.

I found the book to have an amazing premise, and it includes perfect social commentary on how humans act in often not the best ways. I was drawn straight into the book, and didn’t want to put it down at all. My only red flag could be for Christians who may want to read this, there is a lot of biblical references and criticsim within the book and so you may be put off if you are religious.

Overall, I loved the book and can’t wait to jump into the next installment, Clockwork City.

Positives of Poison City

• Lore around demons and the world we’re in
• Gripping storyline

Negatives of Poison City

• Predictable and stereotypical main character

I received Poison City by Paul Crilley from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review

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