Dead Man’s Reach Is a Fantastical, Historical Noir Popcorn Adventure

Ethan Kaille is an ex-sailor, ex-convict, and current thieftaker-for-hire working in a colonial Boston on the cusp of revolution. British soldiers are occupying the city, but tough economic conditions and an overwhelmed army (partially as a result of the historically accurate boycott) means he can still find work. Then, suddenly, the violence ramps up—gatherings turn into mobs, verbal exchanges turn into brawls—from our comfortable remove, we can see the Boston Massacre coming. Some see it as evidence of colonial unrest reaching a breaking point, but Ethan is a “conjurer” (his preferred term for “witch,” and given recent events in Salem, one can understand his particularity), who, along with his spirit guide Uncle Reg, can access the other world to power his spells. He can sense that there is more to the upheaval than can be attributed to Samuel Adams’ fiery speeches…and it may betoken the return of a dangerous figure who has already torn the city apart once, a foe bent on taking revenge for his previous losses out on as many people as possible—as long as that includes Ethan.

This book (and series) is packed with treats for historical fiction fans (both the Adams brothers make appearances, as well as Paul Revere and Thomas Hutchinson), and will appeal to anyone who enjoys reinventions of historical periods, “now with more magic!” After finishing it, I spent a lot of time amusing myself by thinking about what various incidents of the American Revolution could be blamed on magic. (The British soldiers weren’t drunk when Washington crossed the Delaware—it was a concealment spell! The “shot heard ‘round the world” was really a spell!)
But it’s also a pleasant surprise to find how much of the DNA of old Hollywood noir has also made in into the novel. Ethan Kaille is our hardened, deeply moral detective-type-with-a-dark-past, who does an awful lot of sneaking about in the shadows, consorting with low-lifes, and taking jobs from clients of ambiguous morals (including the Bostonian colonial version of a mob boss). He has a reliable, wise-cracking girl Friday, and he’s dedicated to protecting the innocent. All we needed is Bogart slamming gin at 2 a.m. and a troubadour playing the 1770s equivalent of “As Time Goes By,” and we’d be off to the races. Or the dimly lit back alleys, as the case may be. The narrative spine of the detective thriller gives the thing a tingling sense of danger and adds to the growing tension with each new item on our magickal private eye’s growing list of disturbing discoveries.

The book also has its share of popcorn summer movie sequences (remember, it’s the Revolution), most especially as things start to snowball toward the climax. The action sequences share a crackling pace and sense of real dange, and James’ vivid writing kept me fully immersed in his world. If I’d actually been eating popcorn, the bag would have been empty at the end.
A final note: if you’re hesitant about picking the fourth book in a series, let me assure you that it really does stand alone. The characters smoothly fill us in on everything we need to know, and while I imagine it would deepen your sense of dread and increase your investment in the characters to have read the previous three books, you can get along perfectly fine—I did. Then, as I also will be doing, you can go back and binge-read the rest. This is a breezy, fun, “what if?” of a magical novel with enjoyable action, well done atmosphere and, most delightfully, an end that leaves room for more.