The Pale House Devil: The First of The Discreet Eliminators series

by Richard Kadrey

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Richard Kadrey delivers a short, sharp and terrifying horror noir with a twist on classic detective fiction. The premise is simple: do the job and get out of there. It’s fun, it’s fast and you’ll finish before you know it.

A gripping, snappy creature feature from the master of horror noir about two detectives—one dead, one living—hired by an embittered old landowner to banish a bloody cosmic monster from his ancestral home, perfect for fans of Cassandra Khaw, Charles Stross and Lucy A. Snyder.

Ford and Neuland are paranormal mercenaries—one living, one undead; one of them kills the undead, the other kills the living. When a job goes bad in New York, they head west to wait for the heat to cool down.

There, a young woman named Tilda Rosenbloom hires them on behalf of wealthy landowner, Shepherd Mansfield, to track and kill a demon haunting a mansion in remote northern California.

As Ford and Neuland investigate the creature they uncover a legacy of blood, sacrifice and slavery in the house. Forced to confront a powerful creature unlike anything they’ve faced before, they come to learn that the most frightening monster might not be the one they're hunting...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781803363899
Publisher:	Titan
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Series:	The Discreet Eliminators series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	108,331
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Richard Kadrey is a New York Times bestselling author whose work has been nominated for both the Locus and BSFA awards. His novel Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime.” Some of Kadrey’s other books include King Bullet, The Everything Box, The Grand Dark, and Butcher Bird. He also writes for film, games, and comics such as Heavy Metal, Lucifer, and Hellblazer.

Editorial Reviews

A Barnes and Noble Best Book of 2023


"A fun read! Kadrey’s blend of gritty fantasy and wisecracking humor is always an enjoyable time."—Tor.com

"The Pale House Devil is the best kind of novella—one that is short but doesn’t feel short. There was just enough to make the world, the characters, the plot feel robust and coherent. Kadrey’s storytelling packs every page with interest and plenty of quirky moments with our memorable protagonists" -BiblioSanctum

"This solid novella will appeal to horror readers who like quirky protagonists. Recommended for fans of Kadrey’s “Sandman Slim” series or of Edgar Cantero and Jim Butcher." - Library Journal

"A thrilling, inventive, pulpy, bi-coastal romp with a bloody beating heart. The roguishly principled and endearing Ford and Neuland can kill for me anytime. I have a list ready."—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts


“Richard Kadrey delivers devious chills with The Pale House Devil! This is a perfect collision of haunted house terror and private-eye noir. Dead solid perfect!”—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Cave 13 and Patient Zero


"The Pale House Devil showcases Kadrey's gift for gritty characters and snappy dialogue, but also his talent for eerie settings and lean, cruel horror."—Cassandra Khaw, author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth


"A snappy, delicious mix of Lovecraftian horror and pulp noir. In a world where magic reigns and the dead can be reborn, two upright guns-for-hire see that justice prevails and that evil—real evil—always get its due."—Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger and The Fervor


"A perfect, meaty morsel of a story merging traditional pulp with modern mythology and murderous characters that will steal your heart. I read it in one go and am devilishly hungry for more."—Delilah S. Dawson, author of The Violence, Bloom and Star Wars: Phasma 


“The Pale House Devil is so much damn fun, a horror-noir filled with grotesque evil and witty, tough-guy banter. Ford and Neuland jump off the page like Hap and Leonard with demons. I can’t wait to see what Kadrey does with them next!”—Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Road of Bones and All Hallows


"Hardboiled hit-men and haunted house horrors—makes for a fast-read pulp treat."—Kim Newman, author of Anno Dracula and many more


“A gleeful, bloody mashup of the occult, haunted houses, monsters, demons, assassins, and the undead. Only Kadrey could tie all these dark tropes together with such self-assured wizardry, carefully adding just enough gooey violence to make you squirm as you read, wondering what new insanity waits for you on the next page. A shot of horror adrenaline!”—Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley


"The Pale House Devil is a fast paced riot of a horror novella with the perfect combo of creepy and comedic. I loved every page!"—V. Castro, author of Goddess of Filth, The Haunting of Alejandra and more.


"One of the coolest horror adventure stories in recent memory. Tilda, Ford, and Neuland are three fantastic characters you won't soon forget." — Gwendolyn Kiste, Three-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of The Rust Maidens and Reluctant Immortals


"The Pale House Devil is taut, entertaining, and satisfying. A top-drawer supernatural noir!"
– Lucy A. Snyder, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Sister, Maiden, Monster


"A gruesome, thrilling, surprisingly big-hearted page-turner. I hope Kadrey revisits this world and these characters—and soon."—Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters


"It's difficult to make a novella seem so effortless. Great characters, sharp dialogue, complex relationships, and a terrifying and original monster! Kadrey loads every page with dread and delight."—Tim Lebbon, author of The Silence and many more


"This book is scary, jaw-dropping, often hilarious and, I hope, the start of a beautiful friendship. I loved the characters and I loved the story."—David Quantick, writer of Veep, All My Colours and more


“If the supernatural odds are stacked against you, you need Ford and Neuland fighting your corner. The Pale House Devil is a bold, jaw-dropping novella that reads like it’s the lovechild of Raymond Chandler and Shirley Jackson possessed by the spirit of Robert Bloch.”—Johnny Mains


"If Dashiell Hammett and H.P. Lovecraft had somehow spawned a love child, it might look something like this. Sinister, strange, and sassy as a sixties gumshoe, The Pale House Devil is a darkly sparkling gem."—Dan Coxon, editor of This Dreaming Isle and Isolation


"Kadrey’s The Pale House Devil is a delightfully monstrous romp, the perfect mix of noir, urban fantasy and horror. A darkly funny, morbid tale of murder, revenge and godfathers of the best-worst kind." —A.G. Slatter, award-winning author of The Path of Thorns




Praise for Sandman Slim


“The best B movie I’ve read in at least twenty years. An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece, Sandman Slim swerves hell-bent through our culture’s impacted gridlock of genres…it’s like watching Sergio Leone and Clive Barker co-direct from a script by Jim Thompson and S. Clay Wilson.” — William Gibson


“A sharp-edged urban fantasy, drenched in blood and cynicism, tipping its hat to Sam Peckinpah, Raymond Chandler, and the anti-heroes of Hong Kong cinema….A bravura performance.”—San Francisco Chronicle


“I couldn’t put it down.”—Charlaine Harris


“Nicotine and octane in equal parts might come close to the high-energy buzz from Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim. Crisp world building, recognizable and fully-realized characters, and a refreshingly unique storytelling style make for an absorbing read.Sandman Slim is my kind of hero.” — Kim Harrison


“The most hard-boiled piece of supernatural fiction I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. … all confident and energetic and fresh and angry. I loved this book and all its screwed-up people.” — Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother


“Paced like greased lightning (watch out for friction burns on your turning finger), blend the movie-ish delights of tough guy noir and such smart-mouthgore-fests as “Reanimator” and “Army of Darkness”, seasoned by soupcons of Gaimanian romanticism and Koontzian sentiment.” — Booklist


“Sarcastic, irreverent and ridiculously enjoyable riff on the Urban Fantasy genre. … a lot like a mosh pit — rough, exuberant, unpredictable — and a heck of a lot of fun.” — Miami Herald


"A cold iron bullet of a book. It's awesome. Ford and Neuland, read like a couple of Isaiah Coleridge/Sam Spade hybrids that I just loved. Plus Kadrey's prose is as tight and cool as it could possibly be. Every page thrums with vibrant, horrifying, riveting hard-boiled adventure. This book was an inspiration."—Sam Rebelein, author of Edenville

From the Publisher

09/08/2023

Neuland and Ford are not stereotypical paid assassins. They are kind men with strong moral compasses—and one of them is dead. Neuland only kills the living, and Ford only kills the dead. They're down on their luck and low on cash when Tilda Rosenbloom hires them to remove a curse from her employer's ancestral home. As the two mercenaries and Tilda get closer to the truth, though, it becomes clear that this curse won't be easy to remove and that the owner's family is not as blameless as they claim. In true noir fashion, Neuland and Ford are hard-boiled killers with hearts of gold and quippy one-liners at the ready. Kadrey (The Dead Take the A Train) doesn't bog down his tightly woven story explaining the mechanics of his world. Instead, he doles out just enough information for readers to know what is going on without worrying about how or why. VERDICT This solid novella will appeal to horror readers who like quirky protagonists. Recommended for fans of Kadrey's "Sandman Slim" series or of Edgar Cantero and Jim Butcher.—Portia Kapraun

Library Journal