The Devil You Know cover art

The Devil You Know

Felix Castor, Book 1

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The Devil You Know

By: Mike Carey
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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About this listen

Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stamping ground. At a time when the supernatural world is in upheaval and spilling over into the mundane reality of the living, his skills have never been more in demand. A good exorcist can charge what he likes - and enjoy a hell of a lifestyle - but there's a risk: sooner or later he's going to take on a spirit that's too strong for him.

After a year spent in 'retirement', Castor is reluctantly drawn back to the life he rejected and accepts a seemingly simple exorcism case - just to pay the bills, you understand. Trouble is, the more he discovers about the ghost haunting the archive, the more things don't add up. What should have been a perfectly straightforward exorcism is rapidly turning into the Who Can Kill Castor First Show, with demons, were-beings and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize.

But that's okay; Castor knows how to deal with the dead. It's the living who piss him off....

2006, Goss First Novel Award, Short-listed

©2007 Mike Carey (P)2018 Little, Brown Book Group Dark Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Paranormal Haunted

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All stars
Most relevant  
An immensely clever story set against the background of the familiar streets of London.
One can only be grateful that it is fiction, and good blood curdling fun for all of that.
Still, you can’t help wondering if Michael did his homework as he relies heavily on a Roman Catholic world view which the lead character seems to reject without reason in the same paragraph. Puzzling indeed!

Quirky, Unusual and Rivettiing

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I’m surprised I’ve not come across these books before but glad that I’ve finally found them.

The main character (Felix Castor) has a slight touch of the John Constantine’s but generally more polished and less sleazy. If you are a fan of the Hellblazer comics or Peter McLean’s Burned Man books you will love this.

As a Londoner I did find the narrators accent a little eccentric but it did not detract from they story or the overall performance.

A refreshing slice of London Noir

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Totally agree with the previous review, what a strange English accent! Really spoilt the story

Awful choice of narrator

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Great storytelling, we were fed the back story of characters as you would expect in the first book of a series. Dark in places as the plot unravels. I love Michael Kramer when reading Brandon Sanderson etc... but this setting is not the best fit for his talent. To a Brit the accent can't be distracting, didn't spoil the story by any means I loved it and intend to listen to all the others in the series.

Reminded me of the Jack Nightingale series.

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I love the character of Feix Castor. He's a cross between Sherlock Holmes and John Constaine. The book is a great blend of who dunnit and the supernatural. Highly recommend.

Great story

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Brilliant world building and genius storytelling is ruined by the wrong narrator. Oh, to have this re-recorded by someone who can pronounce English words like a Londoner.

Narrated by Toast of London?

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Mike Carey usually writes comics and TV shows which is a shame because he's one of the best fantasy novel authors out there.

Must-read for Neil Gaimen fans

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Very engaging story, with a good story teller. I more or less listened non-stop except for sleep time.

Good story and very good narrator

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If you like Rivers of London this is a very nice substitute between books. It sets up a series well without leaving lots of loose ends and I am looking forward to staying with the characters for a few books. The narrator is an odd choice, his accent work is weird and I feel like someone needs to him how to pronounce "arse", but he is not unlistenable.

Great fun and world building

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I am still conflicted about this book (and series). After reading "The devil you know" I proceeded to read the next two books in series. I didn´t have a problem with the narrator (as many people do) - but I am not a native speaker, so I am not really sensitive to accents and all that stuff.
After the first book, I liked the author´s style. The detective plotline was intriguing, I liked the setting and it kinda reminded me of my beloved Dresden Files.
But the more books I read, the more disappointed I became.
1) The characters fail to get any real depth, I found it really hard to connect with them or even like them. They do not evolve, they do not change, they do not have any real...well character.
2) Felix Castor NEVER goes to the hospital when he is hurt or reports anything to the police. Why the hell? He is not even a private detective. And he is just a human (who is nearly dying sometimes)! This simply doesn´t make sense.
3) The books feel like action pumped scenes put together - there is no time to slow down, observe the emotions or thoughts of the characters. It is just bam-bam-bam. Action, action, small talk, action. It almost feels as if the author wrote the scenes apart and then arranged them somehow in order - not managing to reflect in them the mindset or physical health of characters, as it changes during the course of events.
4) Felix is almost never wrong, always gets all the slightest nudges, knows when someone is lying, etc even though we as readers have no idea how he came to this revelation. I found that frustrating.

I loved many of the authors' ideas. I am still curious how the world will evolve in the next books.
But I´ve simply had enough.
I´m not saying the books are bad. They just didn't work for me.

Rating first three Felix Castor books together

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