Bumpy Oak Books

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

3 stars

Brenden Carlson’s Night Call is the start of a series following Elias Roche, former cop now Mafia enforcer. Set in an alternate history 1930s New York where robotics are commonplace assets, Elias is saddled with an Automatic partner as he investigates the murder of multiple cops and why the FBI is covering it up.

I was very much intrigued by this premise of a scifi noir in the 30s Mafia era. I think the characters Carlson introduced were compelling, and the concepts of the way Carlson’s alternative New York worked and looked were very intriguing. I actually really liked Elias, Sinclair, Toby, and Allen.

What worked against this novel was the pacing. I was expecting something high-octane and fast-paced, but found the entirety of the novel to be consistently slow going. Especially for a murder mystery with near-constant danger, I was surprised and a little disappointed that I never felt that edge-of-your-seat anticipation that I had been hoping for.

Overall, there is a lot of room for Carlson to expand this world and I would be interested in continuing the series.