Not for me I'm afraid. Was well written but I couldn't get in to it.

I tried SO HARD to get into Graveyard Shift. I really wanted to love it. The plot is so fun - this guy who's secretly the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian, being forced to live on earth and bust up rogue vampires until he earns his redemption? I love the idea of it! Unfortunately, something about it just refuses to catch me. I've picked it up and put it back down three times now and finally decided it wasn't fair to keep the publishers waiting on a full review that will probably never come. I wish I didn't have to add a star rating (so I'll give it a 3 to be fair - right in the middle), because I honestly think this book could be amazing for the right person, but I don't think that person is me.

Alex and Marcus are detectives at the Nocturne Squad in modern day Miami. Except in this Miami, vampires live in the open and are considered as much citizens of the United States as humans are, obeying the same laws and enjoying the same rights. Oh and "vampire" is not a politically correct word. They are called nocturnes, and the Nocturne Squad is in charge of investigating all crimes perpetrated by and against nocturnes.

Oh I forgot to mention that Marcus is a few thousand years old vampire who knew Julius Ceasar, and Alex is even older than that. He is the mummy of pharaoh Menkaure, cursed to walk this world until the end of times…

I have been spoiled with excellent first books in new series lately and Graveyard Shift is no exception. I love the world; I love the main characters. I really have nothing to complain about.

So the worldbuiding. After the discovery and mass production Hemo-Synth, an artificial blood substitute, the vampires revealed their existence to the general public. And thanks to a successful PR campaign, they even persuaded said general public that they weren't a danger to anyone and that human and vampires could coexist peacefully.

I like how much thought the author put into this idea. If vampires are regular citizens now, they also need regular jobs and places to live, places to go to relax and have fun, places to buy their artificial blood at. So there is a huge economical shift worldwide - the world literally never sleeps. Everything is open 24/7. Humans work during the day, and vampires do the same jobs at night. Even the smallest bodegas and grocery shops carry Hemo-Synth blood on their shelves.

And there is a bigger legislative shift as well. What was considered a monster and a creature of legend before is now a citizen of the United States. Staking a nocturne through the heart and cutting their head off will land you behind bars for premeditated murder just as easily as shooting a regular guy through the head. Now there are laws and procedures in place to deal with the paranormal citizens. Which calls for nocturne cops, or the Nocturne Squat.

Alex and Marcus are a few thousand years old each, and it shows in their generally pessimistic outlook on life and the world in general. But where Marcus tends to be mostly broody, Alex exhibits a pronounced lack of interest for anything. Alex, or Mankaure, has pretty much grown tired of petty human squabbles that never change, no matter how many millennia pass him by. He does his job not because he likes it or needs the money, but because the shadow powers that stand behind the government said so. And since those powers have a certain set of canopic jars in their possession that Alex might possibly not be able to exist without, he has no choice but to comply. It is implies that they hold something against Marcus as well but what that is Alex never asked his partner.

There is also no love lost between the two. Alex thinks (for good reason) that all vampires are predators and ruthless killers, no matter the tamed and friendly picture the media are painting of them. A wolf in sheep's skin is still a wolf. And Marcus… well Marcus is an Ancient who thrives in secrets within secrets, and who lives for intrigue and conspiracies. And also doesn't care about anybody but himself.

And at the same time, those two have a grudging respect for one another and sufficient trust that their partner will have their back in a bad situation. After all, they had been partners for the better half of a century: first as part of a secret organization called UMBRA in charge of eliminating the vampires, and that killing them is frowned upon by society, as cops trying to uphold law and order.

I also love how dark and gritty this world is. These vampires are the sparkly type with a tortured soul. They are ruthless predators who prefer real blood to the synthetic thing whenever possible. And while some are content to visit bleeder bars and take a little from willing participants, others prefer the trill of the hunt and the kill, and a bit of torture thrown in the mixt as well…

The story itself was really well done. It kept you at the edge of your sit from the very first page. And since I couldn't help but love the characters, I was hoping for their survival and wellbeing. And while this books story arrived to a rather satisfying resolution, it left a lot of questions as to what will happen next, which is an excellent tactic for a first book in a series.

I want to know what happens to Alex and Marcus now. I want to see the fallout the events in this book have on human-vampire relations. And I want to learn more about Father Aguirre and his church. And is it really possible for vampires to grow back their soul?

So good job Mr. Haspil, good job. I am a fan now and I am eagerly awaiting the next book.

PS. I received and advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A police procedural should investigate the main characters, just as the characters are investigating a crime. In GRAVEYARD SHIFT, there doesn’t seem to be much individuality between its investigators, when there should be worlds of difference. GRAVEYARD SHIFT has a great hook: Detective Alex Romer, née Menkaure, works in Nocturn Affairs, solving vampire-related cases. As a former pharaoh and Ancient, Alex has to douse himself in cologne to cover up the smell of mummified death that lingers around him. Vampires are told that Alex has a terminal illness in order to explain the strange scent.

Alex isn’t fond of vampires, but is working in a unit filled with them. He’s also partnered with Marcus, a vampire who used to be a Roman general. Alex tells us that Marcus is broody and serious. So there’s an expectation that Marcus’ POV will be sorrowful and filled with remorse. But it isn’t. In fact, there’s no tonal difference between Alex’s chapters and Marcus’. In fact, we later learn that Marcus is a seducer, content to hold vampire sex parties. There are several different POVs used throughout the book to explain the different factions involved but due to the growing list of terminology and sameness in the writing style, it’s difficult to remember who was important. There’s a lot of needlessly specialized terms in the novel. So much so that I wish there was an explanation at the start of the novel. Using the word ‘vampire’, is considered a slur in GRAVEYARD SHIFT. Nocturn is the new PC term for vampire. Sangers is slang for vampires. Sangri is the artificial blood. Thropes are shifters. It goes on.

Police procedurals are one of my favourite sub-genres in urban fantasy. I want methodical work, characters that are obsessed with finding the truth, even at personal or professional costs. Surprisingly, the police work in GRAVEYARD SHIFT felt dry. Sure there’s brutal murders and a city that’s tense with fear, but neither Alex nor Marcus seem overly stressed about their cases. With a serial killer loose, citizen mobs, and a tainted blood supply, you’d expect a little more desperation and rashness.

I felt lost with all the name-dropping and knowing glances between characters. I kept feeling like I missed a joke or important plot point because I didn’t know the previous 200 years of character history. For the first time, there was too much lived background between the characters. Both Alex, Marcus, and a few others, used to work for UMBRA, a secret organization that kept the supernatural in line. There are special terms for vampires. There’s Alex’s personal history. There’s the Lightbearer Society that used to wreak havoc. In fact, they’re mentioned in the first murder scene. There’s a villain called Abraham that both Alex and Marcus are sure is the killer. In short, there’s a lot of background information that leaves readers scratching their heads, wondering if they’ve missed a book. The complex mythology that GRAVEYARD SHIFT tries to create ends up overwhelming the reader and distracting from what should be the most important element of the novel: the characters.

First I want to say that I tend to stay away from vampire books nowadays, it's just a book motif that has been done so many times now that I feel it's been overdone and I prefer other paranormal creatures. As long as it's not zombies, I feel the same way about zombies. However, the main characters in this book, Alex Menkaure, is a former pharaoh and mummy. That sold me, and I thought "what the heck, let's hope the vampire storyline works!"

And, yes and no, it was not that bad, I liked the book, but I felt that the whole vampire conspiracy plot didn't totally rock my boat. But, at the same time, I really liked both Alex and his vampire partner Marcus who was born in ancient Rome. This is the kind of book that, despite the storyline not completely enthralled me still was enjoyable thanks to awesome characters actually made me enjoy the book and want more. This book really has the feeling of being the first in a series since we only gotten to know some tidbits about Alex, that some woman has made him the way he is today, but not why or who she really was. And, I want to know more about both Alex and Marcus pasts. How they met, the years the work together for UMBRA, etc.

Now, I know I was a bit negative when it came to the plot of the book. I did find part of the book quite good, it was more that I didn't truly love the story. It's definitely an OK book and I guess I just wanted it to get to me more than it did. I did like the vampire aspects of the book, them being known to the humans. And, it was refreshing to find a vampire book that actually worked for me. I just hope that the next book will have a stronger story, one that will captivate me. Because I truly loved the idea of reading a book about a main male character who is a mummy.

3.5 stars

Graveyard Shift has all the hallmarks of an Urban Fantasy, but with a very nice Police Procedural twist. Taking those two basic pieces it mixes them with some gritty elements, an unusual creature for a lead, and a pretty intriguing plot and comes out… maybe not as strong as I’d hoped but still pretty solid. Alex Menkaure, our main character is also a former pharaoh and mummy. He works with a vampire by the name of Marcus, who is from Ancient Rome (a fact that means he is part of an upper echelon of vampires known as ‘Ancients’). The two together work evening shift, Graveyard Shift, if you will and take cases as part of a special unit that handles those people that go ‘Boo’ in the night. This is all set in a world where vampires and thropes have been living in the open, among normal every day citizens. You can buy blood packs in a gas station for your vampiric boyfriend or pick up medication to help a thrope friend with their shape-shifting.

These are all things I’ve seen before in various forms such as other books, table top games (most glaringly Vampire the Masquerade), and even Tv/Movies. So I’m not going to say it breaks the mold on urban fantasy. I will say it was a hell of a lot of fun. Alex is your usual snarky main lead. Marcus is the straight man, a little suspicious but very much the solemn partner to the exasperated, tired lead. Besides those two you get glimpses of other characters, both on the legal and illegal side of things, but you get don’t get much. A secondary batch of characters shows up about a third of the way through and introduces a few new characters that you’ll follow all the way through the end of the novel. On the whole however the story stays fixed to Alex.

For this type of story that works. This is a fast paced and constantly moving piece. We only ever get to follow Alex home once that I can recall and that’s pretty much how the pacing felt. We were going, going, going. If you want a quick and engaging read this is one to pick up. That, unfortunately, did leave some things lacking. We got glimpses, teases even, of the world and social structure. We only see the segments of the city that the author wants us too and don’t really get a feel for it overall, forget the outside world. And the characters seem to be about the same at the beginning as at the end. This is clearly our setup, introductory book to a new urban fantasy series. It throws you in and gives you the basics, shows you what our characters are capable of and then leaves you wanting more of it.

All that makes to a pretty good start to a series. The one peeve I had of the whole book, once the setup and style is taken into account, is that Alex and Marcus are always hinting at how awesome and amazing he as a mummy is but we see it once in the last 10% of the book. Even then it was all it was built up too, possibly due to the speed and size of the scene. It became a game to me after a point ‘oh here comes a hint at Menkaure’s power, what’s it going to be this time?’. For someone who loves ancient Egypt mythology I was really hoping for a bit more of it. I will definitely still be reading the next in the series, just don’t go into expecting to get a lot of ‘mummy’ with this duo.

So to round it up. A really fun, really fast and engaging urban fantasy with a police procedural flavor. It’s heavy on the vampire, and very light on the mummy, but creative and intriguing. This is a great teaser for what could a really interesting series. If that sort of thing is up your alley and you eat these up, go for this. It’s definitely something I’d recommend to fans of Dresden or The Iron Druid.

Graveyard Shift had me on the hook in the description, but I wasn't nearly as enamored with the actual book. I found myself disoriented to a world where vampires, werewolves (well, lycanthropes) and other paranormal types have gone mainstream. Haspil creates a good lead character, Alex, who has his own paranormal qualities. What's lacking is the following execution. There are conspiracies and other things for the characters to get caught up investigating, but even those aren't given enough attention at times to make the plot fully come together. I constantly felt like I was missing something important when reveals happened.

To further my irritation, the only female characters in the book are basically used as sex objects or, in the case of one new to Alex's organisation detective, completely ineffectual and little more than the token female. There's plenty of "diversity" in the book, but other than Alex, Marcus and a couple of the more villainous inserts, most of the cast is cannon fodder of sorts.

The dialogue is a strong point. Haspil has a good feel for character interactions if not always plotting. On the whole, I had high hopes but was disappointed with the finished result. There's potential as the series goes on.

Graveyard Shift was a pleasing urban fantasy work that had a few unexpected twists to it. There are vampires and lycanthropes (albeit called therianthropes here), as one might expect. However, the vampires aren’t in the midst of a massive war against the werewolves (at least not on a level that directly impacts the story). Instead it’s vampires against humans and power plays galore. The vampires are very much a return to the ‘old’ way of doing things, with the Ancient’s formalities and politics, sex and blood, and all that good stuff.

Graveyard Shift is surprisingly refreshing and well put together for a debut novel. Michael F. Haspil does a good job of giving readers a familiar world with a different flavor than one might expect. His two main characters, Alex and Marcus, are an interesting pair. They’re partners that have the feel of brothers. They care for each other, have each other’s backs, but aren’t buddy-buddy. It’s a nice change of pace and works well for the storyline.

An urban fantasy with a lack of romance is hard to find. Graveyard Shift delights me on that level. While hormones definitely played a part in the story, love and relationship drama did not. It’s nice to read this type of story with a non-young adult perspective on it.

While Graveyard Shift didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat, I definitely enjoyed the story. The only ‘problem’ I really had was that I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Alex was unique enough to keep my attention on the book, but not someone I felt the urge to cheer for. I think the fact that the story felt ‘different’ was enough to keep me coming back to it, but not enough let me fully immerse myself.

The characters were interesting. The deviation from standard vampire versus werewolf plot was a breath of fresh air. The pacing, the dialogue, and the action were all very well written. Michael F. Haspil is a very competent emerging writer. Graveyard Shift is a great start, and I believe he can only get better from here.

A fresh take on the urban fantasy genre that offers fresh characters in an original setting - something that is becoming more rare each year.

What looks to nothing more than a
derivative mash up of True Blood and
a generic buddy cop drama
turns surprisingly into
an exciting intense
adventure.
Vampires are part of the world now
after the big Reveal and survive
on synthetic blood
(sound familiar?)
And a special Nocturn Affairs
Unit is created to deal with crimes that
human cops cannot handle.
The cops are a wonderful
compositions of opposites.
Alex( the re animated mummy of a two
thousand year old Egyptian Pharaoh. Who
gains his eternal life and strength from the light of RA)
Marcus the Roman Governor
who is the Ancient of Miami.
A string of Nocturn
related murders leads them to
a massive conspiracy to overthrow
the delicate balance of the
Day and Night worlds.

Vampires are out to human thanks to a synthetic blood and they even have their own division in the police force to deal with crimes that revolve around them. Alex is a mummy that works in this dept. Most people don’t realize he is one and some assume he is a vampire. He has a vampire partner that was made back in the Roman heydays. Poisoned synthetic blood is hitting the market causing vampires the go into a killing rage. Alex and Marcus work at finding out who is behind it along with trying to find a vigilante vampire killer. A third plot string is an Ancient vampire has come to town and Marcus needs to find out who it is since he wasn’t notified as custom. A lot of story jammed in here and it all works out in the end. There is backstory built into this first book so you know there is more going on and it seems it will be revealed as the stories come out.

A good enjoyable urban fantasy police procedural even if they did some things off the books. I look forward to more books in this setting.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

3.5 of 4 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2017/07/27/graveyard-shift-by-michael-f-haspil/
I recently finished Graveyard Shift and thought it made a good start to a new supernatural detective style series. I liked the concept. A world in which vampires exist and have announced their existence to the public and with the help of synthetic blood are living amicably amongst us. Supposedly – well, on the face of it. Underneath the surface, a simple scratch will reveal not so deeply hidden tensions. Vampires are predators, they’ve lived in the shadows for many moons, hunting their prey at night and enjoying the thrill of the chase and the terror that ensues. Drinking luke-warm blood out of a bottle doesn’t really hold quite the same appeal to them as stalking a near petrified victim. On the other hand this is a new revelation and humans also are not completely happy with the discovery that these imaginary creatures they’ve contemplated for years are actually real. Many have taken to avoiding the night where possible, except the vampire wannabes of course who dress the part hoping for the immortal life that vampirism promises. With the rise in crime the tensions run deep and it’s only a matter of time before chaos ensues.

Now, with the existence of vampires comes a new wave of crime, crime that needs it’s own nocturnal police force and so as the story begins we make the introduction of ‘Alex Menkaure, former pharaoh and mummy, and his vampire partner, Marcus, who was born in ancient Rome’ as they go in hot pursuit of their latest job, a vampire in a blood frenzy – it doesn’t sound pretty because it isn’t pretty. Now, at first, this random attack appears to be a one off however it soon becomes apparent that isn’t the case. At the same time there are a number of human, vigilante style attacks taking place which involves the death of a number of vampires and these crimes together with a spate of missing people and an influx of illegal blood and meat and you have a number of coincidences that are anything but coincidental.

What did I enjoy about Graveyard Shift in particular. It’s a gritty, fast paced supernatural detective story. There is plenty of action here and none of it is pedestrian or humdrum. The crimes here all involve supernatural pursuits and lets just be honest, if vampires exist then it surely isn’t a surprise to find out that other supernaturals also walk the earth. Set in Miami the story has an ‘underworld’ feel. There are seedy clubs and underhand transactions that take place in dark alleys. There is also a certain level of brutality which was to be expected in this sort of supernatural story – there are no sparkly vampires here and blood is definitely on the menu. On top of that there is a particularly grim market that trades in blood and meat products – a particularly unsavoury aspect to the supernatural phenomena.

The main characters are clearly Marcus and Alex – although I suspect that they might have an addition to their number after this book. I did like these two. On balance, at the moment, I think Marcus is probably my favourite character, which is a little unusual in that I feel this is more Alex’s show. At the moment I don’t have a real handle on Alex but hopefully that will develop, Marcus on the other hand, being a vampire, feels already well known – and I mean the in a good way not as a criticism – I simply think this is why I was able to form more of an attachment to him – plus I liked that he’s this ancient creature who oozes menace and commands respect.

In terms of criticism. Well, I don’t think this particularly brought too much new to the table – other than Alex being a mummy and there’s still a lot of learn in that respect. I think there’s a first book in series feel in that there isn’t a lot of history involved with either of the two characters, but I suspect that’s a definite ploy and more will probably be forthcoming in future stories but for the moment the characters need some development. It has a feel as though the author is waiting to reveal something and I look forward to reading more to see what surprises are in store.

All in all an entertaining read and a world that is just waiting to be built upon.

I received a copy of Graveyard Shift from the publisher through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I love urban fantasy and I enjoyed this take on a popular genre.I thought it had some very interesting characters Alex and Marcus were certainly different to the usual more light hearted more flashy glamorous vampires that are usually central to most urban fantasy that I have read .This was much grittier and darker.I did wonder if it took itself too seriously, that would be my one concern ,having said that I don't want to be unfair and this was far from the usual fluffy or humorous take on Urban fantasy this was taking it up a notch and might have been more of a homage to the way it was originally intended to be written and I did enjoy it once I had worked out that this was a more serious take than I usually read.I liked the thriller aspect I thought this was well written and original and well worth a read.

I was excited as soon as I read the blurb for this book because 1) I love uncommon supernatural creatures, 2) I love vampires, and 3) I love Miami as a setting. And I gotta say, the book did not disappoint in those regards. It also lived up to the description of gritty that's in the blurb in the sense that the creatures, the characters, the city, the police work---none of it was romanticized. It was all just kinda was what it was, even when it was ugly.

I have to admit though, I thought I could get down with the whole police procedural thing, but it was confusing to me at times. There was a lot going on, what with all the different groups (the police units, the supernatural groups, the anti-supernatural groups, the government agencies, etc.) and lots of human and vampire politics, and I'm also just not familiar with how all the cop stuff works. But I think I eventually got all the important stuff down, and I got more into everything as the story went on.

The only other issue I had (just to get the negatives out of the way) was the POVs. There were multiple, and sometimes we would be in one character’s POV for a bit and then all the sudden jump to another POV with no indication. (Or maybe it was just omniscient? It didn't quite feel omniscient though.) But there were also whole chapters with only one POV, so it was only an occasional issue. And this seemed like more of a plot-focused book anyway.

But, even though this may have been pretty plot-focused, I still thought both Alex and Marcus were interesting, and I liked the parts with their POVs the most. Both have been alive, and around each other, for a long time. My favorite thing was the banter between them, especially when they joked about each others' pasts or supernatural status, like when Marcus told Alex not to get his bandages in a bunch. And it's because of these two characters that I want to continue the series.

As for the whole mummy thing, I loved the author's take on it. I love books about uncommon supernatural beings, and this was the first one I found with a mummy as the protagonist. He had the ability of astral projection, he got his energy from the Egyptian Sun God, he had a cat (because of course he would have a cat), and gosh, his solarium sounded GORGEOUS. I don't even get my energy from the sun, but I want a solarium just like that for myself anyway. Oh, and let's not forget his ringtone ;-)

The vampires, and the world-building that came with them having been revealed, was interesting too. There were fake blood products being sold, blood clubs, the "S&B lifestyle" (sangers & bleeders), illegal blood trade, etc.

So overall, this book was a really enjoyable read with a neat take on an uncommon type of supernatural, interesting main characters, and fun interaction between them, all wrapped up in a gritty package!

I have been eyeing this book for a while and was really excited when it came up on NetGalley for review. As the publication date approached, I dived into the book. I really liked this book. It was a unique take on the paranormal mythology, the characters were all very interesting (I love when characters aren’t completely black and white), and the action was very fast-paced. Alex was a fascinating character, and he was so different than most characters in urban fantasy that he really stood out to me. I do have to point out I found the book at times to be a little wordy. I don’t mind descriptions, but when the descriptions get to be sentences long, I skip a little and end up missing some plot details. This is probably more a personal preference than a problem with the author. And, to be honest, sometimes the POV and time changes made it hard to keep track of what exactly was going on. However, these were minor things, and didn’t really detract much from the book. I am looking forward to reading more in this series (I hope there will be more) and can’t wait to see what’ll happen next. Recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the e-copy of the book which I voluntarily reviewed.

With Jim Butcher seemingly on sabbatical and no new Dresden in sight, Michael F. Haspil will do! I'm intrigued. VERY intrigued. All that would have made this a better book would have been MORE. Cant wait for more from this author! THANK you!

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be able to review this book. I have deleted it from my system and will buy the book if I decide to read it on my own.

Thank you
Ruby

I enjoyed this book. It's not something I would normally pick up, but I was in a book drought, and it came up as a recommended title for me. I liked the characters a lot, and would be interested to hear more of their background and see how they develop as characters..

Hmmm, I want to give Graveyard Shift a like rating because there's a lot to be impressed with, yet I never really connected with Alex probably because there's so much going on.

What's to like?
There's lots of action and it's darker than usual at times.
A complicated story with more than one bad guy and plot lines which tie together eventually.
A variety of supes and I can't recall having read a book with a mummy as a main character before...or even as a secondary character.
The author added his own take to a standardized genre. Didn't turn it on it's head, but added enough to make it his own.

What left me cold?
Maybe too much action and not enough character development. Is it supposed to be an Alex and Marcus story? If so, Marcus gets sidelined.

Too many story lines and characters (including current and defunct government agencies). Even though I was able to keep everything straight and ultimately felt that what was there was needed to make the story work in the end, I felt it was too much and was a reason why I didn't connect with the characters.

I would give a second book a try if this is supposed to be the start of a series because I never thought about putting the book down. I would recommend Graveyard Shift to readers who like their UF a little darker (it's not terribly dark, depressing or gross) and more action driven.

3.5/5 I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.