If you follow me on Goodreads or Bookbub, you know I love a good mystery, no matter the genre or time period. If it has action and snark, all the better. That's why I jumped at the opportunity to read an ARC by this first-time author.
DRAGON(E) BABY GONE by Robert Gainey
Fans of Mulder and Scully, you’ll be delighted to know
there’s a new investigator on the scene. Diane Morris is a Special Agent in the
FBI’s branch of Intangible Assets, code for the management and containment of
dragons, fire demons, wizards, and other such interplanar ‘tourists.’
Robert Gainey’s debut novel drops the reader into the action
on page one, literally into a sewer, as Diane races to reclaim something she’s
been told is important from human thieves trying to sell it to fire demons.
What ensues is right out of the opening of an Indiana Jones movie, action
multiplied. There’s barely time to take a breather in this extremely fast-paced
novel, taking place over mere days. That being said, there’s plenty of time for
the sharp delineation of several intriguing characters, including Diane’s
coworkers, her cats, and her somewhat reluctant allies.
Diane reminds me of Sandra Bullock’s FBI agent in Miss
Congeniality, pre-makeover: focused, driven, sarcastic, and unwilling to let
her femininity interfere with her mission. But she cares, and since the story
is told through her first-person narrative, the reader quickly identifies with
her mission to save the world, even if it hasn’t always dealt her a fair hand. After
all, she lives alone—with cats—and has to pretend to perform tax audits for the
FBI as cover for her real job.
The author’s experience as a firefighter shows in his vivid
descriptions of the fire demons and the many instances of fire in this story.
He knows his bureaucracy too. But his imagination steps up and shines in the
depictions of the interplanar denizens and their powers. Fans of both Harry
Dresden and Buffy the Vampire Slayer will enjoy this unique world and the
sometimes-prickly partnerships Diane makes in pursuit of her mission.
A five-alarm debut for the first book in what promises to be
a wildly entertaining new series. Available now for preorder.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author in the hope I would leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that...my opinions.
