The Stein & Candle Detective Agency: Red Reunion (The Stein & Candle Detective Agency #3)

4 out of 5 stars Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy/Serial shorts/Pulp or Noir fiction
Reading Level: Young Adult 
Recommended for: Fans of the series, pulp fiction, noir, fun stories
Trigger Warnings: There is a fair bit of violence

Disclosure: I received an e-galley ARC from Curiosity Quills via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis (slightly altered for space) courtesy of Goodreads: For Weatherby Stein and Morton Candle – private detectives specializing in the paranormal – life normally isn’t easy. They deal with cases that pit them against ferocious demons in the Tokyo underworld, Satan-worshipping teenagers in a seemingly normal suburb and lizard-men in a Lake Tahoe lounge, and they still manage to come out on top.

But now one of Weatherby’s ancient ancestors, the villainous Viscount Wagner Stein, has been resurrected and is looking to stir up trouble – and he’s not alone.

Facing down dangers from the past like the Viscount and the newly arisen Dracula, Lord of Vampires, Weatherby and Mort have no choice but call in help. They’ll bring in Weatherby’s sister, a college student studying folklore and her beatnik boyfriend. They’ll bring in Morton’s squad mates, a tough bunch of soldiers who stormed through Europe together. And they’ll bring in a hulking monster named Adam, with another connection to the past of Weatherby’s family.

Weatherby, Morton and their allies make a stand to stop the evils of the past from corrupting of the future – and only one faction will make it out of the battle alive. 

My Thoughts: I have read this entire series so far (Vol 1 review here and Vol 2 review here where links are permitted) and quite enjoyed it. This is very pulpy pulp fiction, so if that doesn’t appeal to you, these books probably won’t entertain you as much as they have me, but we each have our own vices and mine happens to be pulp fiction.

The first two books contained a few short stories apiece, and were really fairly short. This one is much longer, the stories almost reaching novella length, which I quite enjoyed. The first four stories—the basic plotlines to three of which (plus the first Dracula story) are explained in the first paragraph of the synopsis—take up exactly 50 percent of the book. Then there is a two-part final story. According to the end notes, this is the end of a trilogy, but Panush will be releasing some new series in the upcoming year. After these very enjoyable books, and his other book Dinosaur Jazz (review here where links are allowed), all of which are very good stories, I’m very much looking forward to what he will come up with next!

There are a number of typos in this book, including the consistent misuse of “breaks” instead of “brakes,” and missing and extra words. NetGalley usually provides ARC copies of books, so hopefully most of these issues will be fixed in the final book. This is the only reason I have dropped the rating to 4 stars, as it was distracting.

This book takes a sharp turn into noir in the last half of the book, but we really move deeply into the characters. While it is left open for potentially more stories—just in case—the ongoing issues that have been faced throughout the series are all more-or-less cleared up, and this is a very satisfying conclusion to the overall series. I really do recommend you check out this talented, young writer—I know I have very much enjoyed his books.

I received this copy of short stories on Netgalley, in return for my  thoughts. Having read the previous two installments, this one offers up  more of the same: action, monsters, weirdness and Morton Caldle busting  heads. To put it simply: this is good. Additionally, the Stein family  tree is extended yet again. The world is more interesting with more  Steins in it, after all.

One character really stood out from the  rest this time. Morton Candle gets all the good lines. I nearly burst  out laughing at his "light in the pants" commentary. The guy is a  machine, and it makes him so entertaining to follow. His narration is  top notch and feels so very authentic. Panush has the jargon of the era  down.

The standard revolving door of recurring bad guys with new  and improved schemes presents the storyline and challenges for our two  heroes. But, there are some equally evocative and interesting good guys  added to the mix. the different matchups ensure than the group dynamic  and scenarios stay fresh.

I enjoyed most of the stories, although  The Lounge Lizards didn't resonate with me so much the rest of the  stories were original, moved along the overall story of their little  universe and the Big City Showdown had a great buildup and really got me  invested in the story. [spoiler commentary ahead!] It really stripped  away the contractual immorality that most characters with a name seemed  to have. It was one of my biggest complaints that nobody established  seems to die--good or bad. So, a big plus for me on that point.

As  well, the writing style seems to have matured greatly. The work flows  together--language and descriptions are more flowery and vivid. This  really helped the Candle character shine, since he's a very colorful man  with a lot of spice to him.

In short, it's got a good entertaining quality to it, and you'll have fun.

Weatherby  Stein is a 15-year-old genius with some strange relatives; Morton  Candle aka Mort is an ex-soldier. Together, they run the Stein and  Candle Detective Agency in the not-so-fabulous fifties. Their world is  fraught with dangers both normal and paranormal. They battle Ninjas and  KGB Agents, the CIA and Dracula, gangsters and even a gun-toting  skeleton or two.

Combine Boys Own Adventure Stories with the pulp  fiction of the '50s, throw in some paranormal baddies, and serialize it  and you've got The Stein & Candle Detective Agency, Vol. 3: Red  Reunion. There's plenty of adventure, globe trotting, and tons of gun  fights and, like the '50s books it pays homage to, it's a whole lot of  fun without taking itself too seriously. Reading this book won't make  you smarter or better looking; you won't learn any important life lessons; listing it on  your Curriculum Vitae won't get you into Harvard; and being seen with it  won't help you pick up women (or men). Reading it will, however, amuse  the heck out of you and, really, isn't that sometimes all you want from a  book?