Vicious Circle: A Felix Castor Novel

by: Mike Carey

Published by: Grand Central Publishing

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

Felix Castor is back in Vicious Circle. Once again the exorcist for hire is working in a London where the dead walk among the living. While politicians are trying to decide on what rights the dead should have, Felix is trying to change the focus of his life. After the experiences detailed in the first book, The Devil You Know, the exorcist for hire is no longer so sure that what he is doing is the right thing.

So when a couple asks him to rescue the kidnapped ghost of their child, he is unable to resist the challenge. Yet as always, appearances are deceiving. Felix soon finds himself in deep water as he chases the exorcist who abducted the ghost. He in turn, is being tailed by a pair of weres that begrudgingly obey their orders to leave him alive–for now. Throw in murders, riots and a haunted church, and Felix learns that he may be the only thing standing between the world and the apocalypse.

Mike Carey has taken the complex world he introduced us to in the first Felix Castor novel and expanded its borders. None of the characters are simple. Each person struggles with the burdens that have been dropped on them. Whether it is a succubus trying to fit into human society or the leader of an ex-communicated secret order, Carey fleshes them out and makes them real. Along the way he drops hints about ethics and responsibility, leaving us to wonder who the real monsters are.

Vicious Circle is a terrific book. It will stand comfortably on it own, but is also a rock-solid follow up to the first Felix Castor novel.

Armchair Interviews says: Count on Felix Castor to fill in a good story.

Author’s Web site: http://www.Mike-Carey.co.uk