Book Review: Beyond the Crimson Haze
South Africa is going to get even bloodier.
The Blood Veil series has been a nice, tightly-written series so far. Book one set up the world and some of the corrupt supernatural issues in it. Book two solved certain issues and unleashed others. And this one is going to wrap up certain threads in a nice neat little bow … and then create multiple other problems.
The Story
Kali Black has been in a safe house for two months. Captain Theo Goldhaus of the Occult Related Crimes (ORC) division is sheltering her from the corrupt chief of police. Her time alone has kept her safe, but it’s also left her alone with the voice in her head, telling her to be the monster she’s meant to be.
But when Theo needs help with a ghost haunting an office building, the two of them stumble upon body parts of multiple corpses.
After years of working in the crime section of the newspaper, Kali has finally tripped over a serial killer.
But of course, nothing can be simple. Police Chief Gumede has shut down the investigation, leaving it to Kali and her friends to hunt down the real monster.
Unfortunately for all of them, this is one monster who’s prepared.
Nicholas Woode-Smith is really stretching his muscles here. In his Kat Drummond series, if he ever shot for horror, I never noticed. Here, he gets a horror atmosphere nailed down through several scenes, especially in the early chapters. If feels like Kali has fallen into a Resident Evil or a Silent Hill game. You could even say that Gumede goes full Wesker in this one.
Beyond the Crimson Haze is an interesting culmination of the series thus far. Like Harry Dresden, Kali has gathered a collection of allies. Unlike Harry Dresden, Kali is sometimes just bringing in friends of friends to this battle.
Overall, at no time does this series spin its wheels. There isn’t a lot of naval gazing or angst. There’s still a lot of character driven chapters, and the character dynamics carry more of this series than you would expect.
The Characters
One of the interesting things with Kali Black is that she’s evolving, even when she doesn’t realize it.
On her religious beliefs, she states “[I’m an] Atheist? I guess…. my cat is from Hell, which makes me guess that Heaven exists. So, lapsed Atheist?” And some of her misnomers are entertaining. (“Does the Pope piss Holy Water?” Um, no. Why would you even think that?)
Of course, some of the character development is hilarious. Watching the (literal) demon-cat Fredward discovering Dolly Parton, and losing his mind over his unfaithfulness to Taylor Swift is genuinely funny, providing for some levity at some unexpected moments.
It’s still really odd to note how much of these books are character-driven, while at the same time consisting of a lot of constantly moving plot. Almost everyone here is deeper than you’d expect. They all have motivations and backstory.
Everyone is deftly handled … except maybe for Gumede. He’s just a prick.
The World
It’s so nice to have local color of a distinctive city, no matter where it is. Beyond the Crimson Haze has more local slang, local demons, local myths, distinctive local criminals and gangs, that really makes the world feel alive. Honestly, Kali Black’s city feels more alive and has more of a sense of place than Anita Blake’s ever did (serious question: What city was that again? St. Louis? Seattle? I’d think I’d remember if it were Portland).
And, like all good mysteries, Nicholas Woode-Smith uses this one to explore the world, and use the world-building elements to feed into the plot as clues and hints along the way.
Politics
If there is any. If there is not, say there isn’t and move on.
Content Warning
It’s a Vampire novel. There is blood. There are language concerns. There’s even a warning in the opening.
Who is it for?
For fans of Butcher’s Dresden Files, or Kim Harrison’s Hollows, but without the angst.
Why buy it?
Beyond the Crimson Haze is strong contender for the next great Urban Fantasy series.