The Night Dahlia

Nightwise, Book 2

By: R. S. Belcher

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Laytham Ballard once protected humanity as part of the Nightwise, a secret order of modern-day mages dedicating to holding hellish supernatural forces at bay, but that was before a string of sadistic ritual murders shook everything he believed in - and sent him down a much darker path. One that has already cost him most of his soul as well as everything he once held dear.

Now a powerful faerie mob boss has hired Ballard to find his lost-lost daughter, who went missing several years ago. The long-cold trail leads him across the globe, from the luxurious playgrounds of the rich and famous to the seedy occult underbelly of Los Angeles, where creatures of myth and legend mingle with street gangs and sex clubs, and where Ballard finds his own guilty past waiting for him around every shadowy corner. To find Caern Ankou, he will have to confront old enemies, former friends and allies, and a grisly cold case that has haunted him for years.

But is Caern still alive? And, perhaps more importantly, does she even want to be found?

©2018 Rod Belcher (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

The Night Dahlia -A Drunkin Tale

The best redeeming quality if this book is it got me across the state and back. if I had one last wish for my life it would be to listen to this book again as it was internity. Even when the book ended it never ended.

Black Dahlia meets Laytham Ballard

Something about this book was more heartfelt and honest than Nightwise. I liked it more.

Ballard is still an asshole. And he’s hard to care about. But he leads an exciting life and I can’t help but root for him to have one more adventure in him.

This is a bit of a twist on the Black Dahlia legend and murders in Los Angeles. It’s fairly well done in that regard. And I appreciate the care Belcher put into integrating the two worlds, reality and fiction. I find it a bit jarring anytime concrete real world references are made in fantasy, but it was done well here.

I keep reading these books because it’s fascinating to juxtapose such incredible prose, dialogue, and character depth, with such depravity. I do skip over some of the more obscene or vulgar scenes. A bit too much detail on the BDSM front for my taste. But that doesn’t bother me. To each their own.

These books are worth reading. Oh, and Bronson Pinchot is utterly brilliant. Enough said.

Intense

Laytham Ballard is a very flawed, raw unconventional hero. He gets the job done by taking pathways not available to most. An unusual cast of characters and plot twist will hold your interest to the end.

Just incredible story and form, narration.

It is been years since a story drew me in and I became part of it in a way. Growing up with Heinlein, Tolkien, and Clark my bar was pretty high. Rod and Bronson not only deftly cleared the bar but placed it far out of reach so many others.

Rod, thank you!

Best one yet

You really get to dig into Latham’s soul in this in one. The description on LA was beautiful.
Bronson Pinchot was great as always.