This coming Sunday, April 26, sees the debut of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Showtime’s follow-up to its popular Penny Dreadful series that ran from 2014 to 2016. Unlike the original PD, which was set in Victorian England, City of Angels expands that supernatural world by moving the action to 1930s Los Angeles, California, where a bizarre murder sets in motion events that tie in to both racial unrest in America and the specter of World War II looming in the distance. Forefront in the growing chaos is the shape-shifting demon Magda, played by Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games). Sounds exciting!
Well, if dark urban fantasy with a noir twist is your sort of thing, then may I point out that StarWarp Concepts has the perfect title for your reading interest:
Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is a collection of four noirish adventures by Richard C. White, author of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, and a growing number of SWC titles: the novel Harbinger of Darkness; the story collection For a Few Gold Pieces More; the writer’s aid Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination; the supernatural-superhero graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings; and the pirate-adventure digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special. Here’s the back cover copy:
Calasia: it’s a big town with big problems. Murder, thievery, extortion, corruption, magic, and monsters—just ask any native here: this ain’t a burg for the faint of heart. You don’t live in Calasia, you surviveit.
Theron Chase walks these mean streets with a sap in one hand and a .45 in the other. Story is he used to be a hell of a cop in these parts—until his partner got dead in a hurry years ago. Now he makes a living as a private eye, offering his services to one and all while trying to stay on the good side of his secretary, a dishy-looking fae name of Kyra Sylvari. Ogres, werewolves, crime bosses, mages—as long as your money’s good and no one’s looking to turn him into a dead man (walking or otherwise), odds are he’ll be able to solve your problem.
Just don’t ask him to handle any magic-related items—he’s about as adept with the arcane arts as a troll in a knitting circle.
In this collection you’ll find four of Chase’s bizarre cases. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!
And what do critics think of it?
“Fantasy Noir? You gotta be kidding me. [But] White isn’t kidding, and Chasing Danger is no joke. From the very first line, you feel the scene turn black-and-white. It doesn’t last long, for White doesn’t waste time showing that Calasia isn’t your typical gumshoe story town. There’s magic in those alleyways.”—Ordinary Average Guy
Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is available right now in print and digital formats, so visit its product page for ordering information.
