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City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmoore
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City of the Lost (edition 2012)

by Stephen Blackmoore

Series: Eric Carter (side novel )

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
957283,250 (3.88)5
Joe Sunday has been a Los Angeles low-life for years, but his life gets a whole lot lower when he is killed by the rival of his crime boss-only to return as a zombie. His only hope is to find and steal a talisman that he learns can grant immortality. But, unfortunately for Joe, every other undead thug and crime boss in Los Angeles is looking for the same thing.… (more)
Member:kidstaple2012
Title:City of the Lost
Authors:Stephen Blackmoore
Info:DAW Trade (2012), Edition: 1, Paperback, 224 pages
Collections:Your library, Read in 2012
Rating:*****
Tags:None

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City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmoore

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Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
City of the Lost
by Stephen Blackmoore
This book wasn't as good as the Eric Carter series but still interesting and exciting. I just liked Eric better😁. This has a thug, Joe Sunday, working for a crime boss as our main character. As explained in the blurb, he is turned into a zombie but with no user manual. His boss had sent him after a certain stone but he isn't the only one trying to get it! Twists and turns weaved along the way. Very strange and entertaining. I like different!
Great narration. ( )
  MontzaleeW | Sep 7, 2022 |
The first novel by Blackmore is rougher than his later series but I am happy that I read it after the Eric Carter books - despite it probably sounding better if it was read earlier so one can see his development as a writer between the novels. Technically it is not in the same sequence - but it is in the same world (kinda) and is either a prequel (with the differences maybe explained with the change of narrator) or it was the first story in the universe that was then revised for Carter. But we do get the Bruja and Darius and magical Los Angeles. And that's why I am glad I read it after the series - had I read this one first, some of the big surprises in the follow up series would have fallen flat -- who is the Bruja or Darius for example. I think that it is supposed to be its own title - and I read it as such.

But back to the book.

One day, a robbery goes horribly wrong - in a way that should not be possible. Joe Sunday's partner is dead (well... kinda) and things just do not make sense. Before long, Sunday is also dead (kinda) and then things really start getting crazy. A few more corpses (some staying dead, some not), a few femme fatale characters, some magic and a few zombie dogs and LA is about to be destroyed. And all the mayhem is for the same thing -- what the robbery was all about -- a rock. And everyone wants it - including people that are supposedly dead and ones who should not know about the world of magic. And the race is on -- with more shifts and surprises than a short novel like this one should be able to support.

Joe Sunday is not your usual likable character - he is a thug and he does not make excuses about it. So his methods do not change when he dies - if anything, he is just in a better position now - as he cannot die. Or hurt. Although there is a price for it - and even Joe seems to balk on it a bit.

It is a mix of urban fantasy and zombie horror - and it works. It is also a fascinating world, laid on top of ours that then gets developed a lot more in the Eric Carter series. But it is also very gruesome and with adult enough language to require a warning or 3 - but then Blackmoore's style is like that.

If you plan to read the Eric Carter series, don't read this one until you finish at least the first 2 or even 3 of the series books. If you do no plan to read them or if you had already read them, have fun with this one. I wish Blackmoore had left this book as a full prequel - I would have loved to see Eric and Joe together - but one cannot have everything I guess.
  AnnieMod | Jan 3, 2020 |
This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission. Title: City of the Lost Series: ----- Author: Stephen Blackmoore Rating: 2 of 5 Stars Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 225 Format: Kindle digital edition Synopsis: Joe Sunday, low life thug for hire, does a job and is killed because of it. He is resurrected by the man who killed him. What follows is a whole lot of pulp noir with magic. A wizard who wants to live forever. His scorned girlfriend. Joe Sunday, zombie PI and some do gooder of a witch who just wants to help all the poor little vampires who have bad diseases from feeding on other lowlifes. Everything revolves around a magic stone. Serious as serious can be. My Thoughts: The first 10% of this book was so filled with profanity that not only did I create a new shelf labeled "Profanity" but was about to dnf it. I don't need this kind of *&^%$#@! in my reading life! If you don't get that, please look up "irony" in the dictionary. However, after that 10% mark, it just dropped off. I have no idea why or what caused the initial vomital sludge but it did stop being an issue. It did set the tone for the book though. I am not a fan of pulp noir. Detectives and thugs who are as bad as the ones they are crossing are not the kind of character I really like to read about. I am also not a fan of urban fantasy [with a few exceptions], so this mash up was pretty much the worst of both worlds for me. It was engaging enough that I did want to know how it ended and I finished this. However, I'll probably be avoiding future works by Mr. Blackmoore on general principle. " ( )
  BookstoogeLT | Dec 10, 2016 |
A bloody fun whodunnit that should be the first in a series. I like that the "hero" was a bad guy. Fans of Anita Blake might enjoy this one.

I winced so hard at the protagonist's treatment of and thought processes around a sex worker that he encountered. That was very problematic for me. Same for another character who was extremely short. I'm also not a fan of the 20-something PYT being a prize at the end.

I was surprised at the above since I follow the author on Twitter, and he seems to be pretty socially aware. I'm not sure if it was just the character thinking like this (because there were other references that were more respectful), or if the author's own thought processes have changed. ( )
  wosret | Jun 10, 2016 |
City of the Lost
By Stephen Blackmoore
Publisher: Daw Books
Published In: New York City, NY, USA
Date: 2012
Pgs: 217

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A thug, a leg breaker, this is the hero. He’s caught up in something way beyond his ken and far away from his normal life. His partner gets sent out on a job to take care of some things for their boss. An easy job turned bad and his partner, his friend got killed. Only a day later, when he calls his partner’s widow to express his condolences, his partner is at home sitting on his sofa. From there, Joe Sunday’s normal everyday world slips down the rabbit hole as an ancient power stone, zombies, immortals, Nazis, razor toothed midgets, demon bartenders, and homeless vampire junkies appear on the periphery of his life and he is drawn into a web of occult happenings going on just beyond the pale of modern life. Joe has to find the power stone. In the course of these events, he got himself killed, but he hasn’t fallen down yet. Only thing is, he’s beginning to rot and the only thing that can stop it is the power stone...that or a healthy dose of brains...hearts...whatever.

Genre:
fiction, occult, horror, zombie

Why this book:
The blurb on the back was pure crack. I was half sucked in before I cracked the spine.

This Story is About:
standing up to power, doing the right thing, figuring out which hand is holding the knife

Favorite Character:
Joe Sunday is an awesome character.

But so is the demon nympho bartender, Darius.

Least Favorite Character:
N/A

Character I Most Identified With:
Joe is the narrator. I got sucked into his world view.

The Feel:
There is a feel that Joe isn’t going to be able to get through the miles and miles of darkness that are pitted against him. Layers and layers on top of more layers hiding the truth from him.

Favorite Scene:
From the opening when Sunday meets Julio in the bar to the ending where Darius provides Joe with a drink in the denouement, this book is full of great scenes.

Rioting homeless vampires.

When Giavetti shoots Joe in the head...the first time.

When Archie and Jughead show up for the first time.

When Carl wakes up with a third eye...permanently on his forehead.

Samantha and her whole Veronica Lake vibe.

Settings:
Los Angeles

Pacing:
The pace of this is awesome, real page turner.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
I don’t like the way that Darius and Joe leave it with his owing Darius an unnamed favor. Feels like a half hearted way to say, I want to write more stories with these characters. Instead of teasing it that way, he should’ve just done it.

Last Page Sound:
That’s cool.

Author Assessment:
I would definitely read more stuff by Blackmoore.

Editorial Assessment:
Very well edited. Fairly tight all the way through.

Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
The pic of Sunday with a hole blown in him is great. Wish he was a bit less Stallone, Willis, Sshwarzeneggar and a bit more Bogart, Spencer Tracey, Edward G. Robinson looking.

Hmm Moments:
So many...so, so many.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic

Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, but I need to get a copy of this to put on my bookshelf to keep.

Why isn’t there a screenplay?
This would make an awesome movie.

Casting call:
David Spade could play Danny, Simon’s sycophant 2nd in command.
Anthony Hopkins would be incredible as Giavetti. John Billingsley would make an incredible 2nd choice.
Josh Holloway, Alex O’Loughlin, David Boreanaz...any one of the three could make an awesome Joe Sunday,

Would recommend to:
friends, family, colleagues, everyone, genre fans ( )
  texascheeseman | Mar 7, 2014 |
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Joe Sunday has been a Los Angeles low-life for years, but his life gets a whole lot lower when he is killed by the rival of his crime boss-only to return as a zombie. His only hope is to find and steal a talisman that he learns can grant immortality. But, unfortunately for Joe, every other undead thug and crime boss in Los Angeles is looking for the same thing.

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