Book Review: The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp

This was an EXTRAORDINARY story, full of magic and symbolism and snarky bad actors (and even snarkier good ones). There were secrets and betrayals and surprises around every corner, as well as life lessons and good old-fashioned storytelling… The writing was excellent. The pacing was excellent. The characters were brilliantly-executed. The plot was original and engaging and fun to read through all its myriad twists and turns. There honestly isn’t a single bad thing I can say – except that it ended, and I’m not sure if/when there will be a sequel!

Seriously – Bryan Camp has created a world in post-Katrina New Orleans that is absolutely spot-on perfect. His blending of the supernatural and the natural is seamless. The incorporation of gods from multiple pantheons and geographies was fascinating – both for the comparisons and for the interplay between them. Jude is a fantastically flawed, perfectly believable hero (and, occasionally, anti-hero); his journey is a dark and disturbing one, but very relatable and thoroughly enjoyable to partake in (from the sidelines, at least – I wouldn’t have wanted to *actually* be there!), largely because of the skill Camp displays on page after page as he keeps readers tap-dancing among landmines right along with the characters.

This was an excellent first novel – I hope to hell there’s more to come, because Camp has told WAY too good a story for this to be the only one!

My review copy was provided by NetGalley.