In a world that’s lost its magic, a former soldier turned PI solves cases for the fantasy creatures whose lives he ruined in an imaginative debut fantasy by Black Sails actor Luke Arnold.
Welcome to Sunder City. The magic is gone but the monsters remain.
I’m Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me:
1. Sobriety costs extra.
2. My services are confidential.
3. I don’t work for humans.
It’s nothing personal–I’m human myself. But after what happened to the magic, it’s not the humans who need my help.
Walk the streets of Sunder City and meet Fetch, his magical clients, and a darkly imagined world perfect for readers of Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.
Praise for The Last Smile in Sunder City:
“A richly imagined world…Winningly combining the grit of Chinatown with the quirky charm of Harry Potter, this series opener is sure to have readers coming back for more.” ―Publishers Weekly
“A marvelous noir voice; Arnold has captured the spirit of the genre perfectly and wrapped it around a fantasy setting with consummate skill.” ―Peter McLean, author of Priest of Bones
Fetch Phillips Novels
The Last Smile in Sunder City
Dead Man in a Ditch
One Foot in the Fade
Twinsie Kelly’s Review
The Last Smile in Sunder City has a Noir Comic feel and is a great story. I listened to the story via audiobook and as kept thinking to myself, “how did the author come up with this title?” Then all of a sudden, it hit me and it fits this story perfectly. The world building is very intricate with a lot of twisted turns. Fetch has spent a lot of his life trying to find his place. Where does he belong, what is right and wrong, which side does he belong to? At this point in his life, he carries a great burden as he feels that he is the reason all the magic is gone. He caused this and is now in a constant state of loneliness and has basically shunned all humans, like himself. However, this latest case takes him down a rabbit hole that makes him remember much of his past and sparks a hope for the future. It is magical, gritty, dark, but witty. The narrator has the perfect voice for this type of storytelling. I look forward to uncovering more of Fetch’s monsters and seeing what else lies in the shadows of Sunder City.