REVIEW: The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig

Buy @ Amazon

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Mookie Pearl is a thug—a bald, hulking brute of a man that works for the Organization, the syndicated crime ring that runs New York City. He's a harsh, gruff ruffian, and at first, I thought I wouldn't care for his character at all, but as the story progressed and I got a bit more insight into his character, I found beneath his brash exterior an endearing and admirable set of morals that can't help but endear him to any reader, no matter how rough he is around the edges.

The Organization, in addition to defining territories and providing extra protection to the smaller above ground gangs, is also responsible for controlling the flow of Blue, a trendy, underground pigment-based drug that's tapped from the veins of prehistoric schist found in the Great Below. In addition to increased strength and endurance, Blue gives the user the ability to see the true form of the monsters living among us, hidden in human guise to anyone not riding the Blue Blazes.

The story moves swiftly as we traverse the deep underbelly of the Great Below, running across goblins, ghosts, wraiths, daemons, snake-men, and all sorts of other monsters. But what gets under Mookie's skin most of all is his own teenage daughter Nora—street name Persephone—who decides she wants a piece of the pie and is determined to undermine the Organization, taking her father down with them, while they're at their weakest.

This was an action-packed book, full of monsters, mobsters and plenty of cussing. It's the first in the Mookie Pearl series, with the follow-up, The Hellshound Bride, due to be released at the beginning of 2015. I'm already looking forward to it! :)