I like stories about broken people.  I also like detective stories, and obviously I like Lovecraftian stories.  In The Midnight Files: The Amulet, by William Meikle, all three elements combine into a great book; in fact, as I read The Amulet, it felt like an homage not only to Lovecraft, but also to Hammett and Chandler.

Derek Adams is a private investigator, and he is “broken” (my description) because a few years back, he got into a fight with his girlfriend, left their apartment, and went down to the local pub; a few hours later, she called down to ask him to come back home.  Drunk, he told her that he’d come back when he was good and ready, and while he went on playing darts, she slit her wrists in the bathtub.

In college at the time, he quits his studies, and after enduring a “soul-sucking” job or two over the years, he finally settles in as a P.I., in between bouts of drinking (which reminded me of one of my favorite detectives, Matthew Scudder).

The book begins with Adams in his office, and along comes the proverbial dame in trouble: While her husband was out of the country, someone burgled her house and made off with a piece of jewelry:

“You realize how little chance we have of recovering a piece of jewelry?” I asked, trying not to notice the expanse of thigh that became visible as she shifted in the seat.

“I don’t think you’ll have much trouble with this one,” she said.  “It’s a very distinctive piece.”

She dug around in her handbag — which on its own would pay my rent for months — and removed a photograph that she passed over the table.  I picked up the picture, and almost dropped it straight away.  Suddenly I didn’t want anything to do with this, I didn’t want this woman in my office, and the whiskey in in the drawer was screaming to be let out…

And we’re off and running in a story where Bogart-like detective meets the Lovecraft Mythos.

Bottom line, I enjoyed every bit of this book.  Meikle’s writing makes you feel like you’re there, in the rain with Derek Adams, searching seedy pawn shops and bars for the answers.  The atmosphere is terrific, and the author knows that sometimes less is more:

I woke with a start, knocking my ashtray over onto the carpet.  It was just after 11:00pm and the room sat in pitch darkness.  I rose from the chair, and bent to lift the ashtray.  And that’s when the creaky floor board in  my bedroom groaned as someone stepped on it.

I stood still, but the noise wasn’t repeated.  I stepped over to the door and put my hand on the handle… just as it turned from the other side…

To say much more would spoil the book for you, but I can report the good news that The Midnight Files: The Amulet is the first in a series.  It’s always a great feeling to read a really good book, only to realize that there’s more to come.

Let me close this review by quoting the author:

…Fast forward to the present day and there are all new ghettos. The tower blocks are ruled by drug gangs and pimps. Meanwhile there have been many attempts to gentrify the city centre, with designer shops being built in old warehouses, with docklands developments building expensive apartments where sailors used to get services from hard faced girls, and with shiny, trendy bars full of glossy expensively dressed bankers.

And underneath it all, the old Glasgow still lies, slumbering, a dreaming god waiting for the stars to be right again.  Derek Adams, The Midnight Eye, knows the ways of the old city. And, if truth be told, he prefers them to the new.

Buy The Midnight Files: The Amulet — click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUkJXsFC6_M