Review: Shrill Dusk

Shrill Dusk by Helen Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Charley is a bit of a lost soul, haunted by a tragic event from her past she seems to be living a bit of a half-life, cleaner by day and moderately successful gambler by night. What happened in her past has probably given her a bit of a saviour complex which compels her to help others, even at risk to herself. Currently she is trying to repay a local villain £10,000 on behalf of a friend.

Then the city of Manchester is hit by a series of odd and cataclysmic events, plagues of rats, firestorms, weird blue lights and somehow Charley is stuck slap bang in the middle, courtesy of a chance encounter with a fae. Manchester is now a no-go zone, contaminated by high levels of magic, hunting ground for werewolves, vampires, dragons et al.

Now Charley and the remaining inhabitants of Manchester must reclaim their city from the fae, but also from the undesirable element who see this as an ideal opportunity to break into the big times.

I liked this, as with most urban fantasy novels, Charley soon turns out to be a special snowflake, the big difference is that she has very small ambitions, she just wants to protect her small area of Manchester and her friends. She's proud of being a cleaner and she cares about others, even those that might not deserve it.

There's humour, romance, drama and tension. I will definitely be reading more in this series.

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