Hot Lead, Cold Iron: A Mick Oberon Job Book 1

by Ari Marmell

Overview

Hot Lead, Cold Iron is the first novel in a brand-new fantasy detective series that will appeal to fans of Rivers of London and The Dresden Files 


Chicago, 1932. Mick Oberon may look like just another private detective, but beneath the fedora and the overcoat, he's got pointy ears and he's packing a wand. 

Oberon's used to solving supernatural crimes, but the latest one's extra weird. A mobster's daughter was kidnapped sixteen years ago, replaced with a changeling, and Mick's been hired to find the real child. The trail's gone cold, but what there is leads Sideways, to the world of the Fae, where the Seelie Court rules. And Mick's not really welcome in the Seelie Court any more. He'll have to wade through Fae politics and mob power struggles to find the kidnapper – and of course it's the last person he expected.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781168226
Publisher:	Titan
Publication date:	05/13/2014
Series:	A Mick Oberon Job Book , #1
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Ari Marmell is a fantasy and horror writer, with novels and short stories published through Spectra (Random House), Pyr, Wizards of the Coast, and others. He is the author of role-playing game materials for Dungeons & Dragons and the World of Darkness line, as well as the tie-in novel to the hit video game Darksiders. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, George.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/10/2014
In this gripping fantastical investigation, Marmell (The Goblin Corps) creates an engaging world and an unlikely hero. Mick Oberon is a gumshoe in 1930s Chicago, a world of Prohibition-fueled lawlessness, corrupt politicians, and rapidly advancing technology. The wife of a mafia boss hires him to find her daughter, who has been missing—replaced by a changeling—for 16 years. The cold case soon gets hot, and Oberon unravels a crime that leads him back to the courts of the Fae. This harrowing adventure moves effortlessly between the mortal world and the magical Chicago Otherworld. The potent mix of gangsters, magic, Fae politics, and a strega on the warpath makes for a ride that never touches the brakes. Marmell expertly maximizes the thrills, leaving the reader with a lingering desire for a magic wand and a glass of warm milk. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"An extremely entertaining historical/urban fantasy that I read quickly and eagerly." - SF Signal 

“A lot of fun, with a villain you’ll love to hate.” - Adventures Fantastic

"A mix of noir and fantasy elements is a stroke of fun and excitement from author Ari Marmell." - Retrenders

"Hot Lead Cold Iron is Ari Marmell’s most imaginative and strongest book so far in career. Give it a shot if you love to read lone-wolf PI stories or love historical crime mysteries or simply innovative urban fantasies. This one didn’t disappoint in the slightest." - Fantasy Book Critic

"For those looking to venture into a new cross-genre, Hot Lead is one series that has my recommendation." - Project Fandom

"Gives the hardboiled genre a truly magical revamp." - MuggleNet 

"Mick Oberon is a delight and by the time the book was over, I felt like I made a hilariously grumpy friend. It’s a lot of fun, and Marmell is an author I really want to hit it big. He deserves it, and this book shows a lot of his strengths." - Bookworm Blues

"This book opens with fists swinging, and barely pauses to take a breath." - My Bookish Ways

“The book does a nice job of never tipping its hand, with a climax that delivers on all aspects.” - Bookgasm

“The author leaves the door wide open for a sequel, and that’s just fine: the book is thoroughly entertaining, and Mick is a likable guy with whom we’d enjoy spending some more time. Urban-fantasy fans should be all over this one.” – Booklist starred review

"Gripping fantastical....engaging....the potent mix of gangsters, magic, Fae politics, and a strega on the warpath makes for a ride that never touches the brakes. Marmell expertly maximizes the thrills, leaving the reader with a lingering desire for a magic wand and a glass of warm milk."  — Publishers Weekly starred review

From the Publisher

2014-03-04
Start of a new fantasy series set in mobster-era Chicago, from the author of The Conqueror's Shadow (2010, etc.). Mick Oberon slouches and snarls like any hard-boiled PI—but to go with the fedora and threadbare overcoat, he has pointy ears and packs a wand. As a Fae, he's far harder to kill than any human gumshoe. With the exception of warm milk, he rejects human food and drink and rubs along accepting favors and oddments rather than money for his services. Like all Fae, he can't abide pure iron or modern technology—cars cause him agony, and he can barely tolerate the "El." He has the useful ability to add to his own luck and subtract it from the bad guys, thus causing his opponent to trip over his own shoelaces at the crucial instant. But now, with his landlord in trouble with the bank, he needs a serious payday. The daughter of mobster couple Fino and Bianca Ottati was snatched 16 years ago and replaced with a changeling, and Bianca wants her real daughter back. The cold trail leads inevitably to the Fae world and its ruling Seelie Court, where Mick has few friends. Complicating the picture is Bianca's mother-in-law, Donna Orsola Maldera, an extremely powerful witch with her own secret agenda, who considers Mick to be the devil himself. To get the information he needs, Mick might have to make his own Unseelie-style deal with the devil. Intriguing and sufficiently original as this is, the overly familiar backdrop—with its gangland cant and real-life mobster references—detracts from, rather than enhances, the proceedings. Only when Marmell focuses on the matter at hand does the narrative really start drawing readers in. Mick's no Bogart, but he gets the job done.

Kirkus Reviews