My Two Cents: MANIMAL by A.C. Hessenauer

I've read several books lately that have that classic detective-noir feel to them. It's becoming a horror subgenre I enjoy a great deal, especially when you throw in a splash of humor along the way. "Manimal," by A.C. Hessenauer is a fantastic example of why these elements mix together so well, resulting in a story that's quick-paced, witty, dark, and fun.

In "Manimal," police detectives Jack Quinn and August Sullivan are on the case, trying to find out who's responsible for a series of gruesome murders. In Hessenauer's reimagined Atlanta, where the story is set, the city is populated with humans, werewolves, vampires, and other monstrous entities, leaving Quinn and Sullivan to navigate through a host of colorful characters in their quest for justice. Included among these is the enigmatic and lovely Miss Vivienne Gray, a powerful clairvoyant with a penchant for driving recklessly, and who volunteers to assist the boys in tracking down the killer.

Sullivan is the brains, a former preacher turned reluctant vampire who hates what he's become, stubbornly refuses to feed on humans, and struggles to maintain a semblance of his own fading humanity. When he learns the murderer is targeting vampires in particular, sacrificing them in the name of a mysterious "Many-Legged King" demi-god, he finally begins to feel a sense of affinity for his kind, and a growing determination to stop the slaughter by any means.

Quinn is the brawns, a werewolf with a trigger-quick temper. He's a rip-out-your-throat, ask-questions-later sort of guy, but his instincts as a detective are usually spot on, and his resolve to find the killer is every bit as powerful as his bite.

Together, Sullivan and Quinn are a fantastic team (when they're not bickering with each other, as all good partners do), and the deeper they dive into the mystery surrounding the Many-Legged King and his murderous cult of acolytes, the greater the danger they find -- not just for themselves, but for Miss Gray, as well, as she, too, soon becomes an unwitting target in the killer's crosshairs.

"Manimal" is a fantastic read. Hessenauer takes familiar horror standards like old gods, lycanthropes, and vampires, and makes them uniquely her own, with characters that are as multi-dimensional and complex as they are likable, and a mystery that burns slowly at first, but quickly builds to a rolling boil as the victims and clues pile up. Add to this, the noirish ambience of 1930s pulp fiction a la Dashiell Hammett, (plus the occasional random severed hand thrown in to hilarious effect) and you have a damn near perfect read.

"Manimal" is available here.