DOUBLETAKE - Rob Thurman
The Cal Leandros Novels - Book 7
ROC Fantasy
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-46444-6
ISBN-10: 0-451-46444-3
March 2012
Urban Fantasy

New York - The Present

Cal, short for Caliban, is half human and half Auphe. Auphe are, or were, monsters. Of course, most humans never realize they have many such creatures living among them: kishi, werewolves, vampires, pucks, and boggles. Most are incredibly dangerous. Cal has killed all of the other Auphes, or at least so he believes. The only reason Cal is sane to any degree is his brother Niko. Their mother was a sociopath, and Niko's father, Kalakos, left him with the mother. Except, now that Kalakos has returned, he wants his son's forgiveness, and he wants his and his half-brother's help to subdue the unrelenting and indestructible ancient war machine that has already attacked Cal. Cal knows Niko, a very generous and forgiving person, is suspicious of his father's motives. Niko hates and distrusts his clan family for their previous treatment of Cal .

Cal and Niko's mother, like Niko's father, came from the Rom's Vayash clan, who were in charge of this living machine called Janus. It seems Roms are the few humans with awareness of the strange beings sharing the world with them. Janus slept for thousands of years, but Vayash blood has turned it on, and this war machine is out to kill anyone with Vayash blood. Kalakos wants the brothers' help to turn Janus off. Cal thinks it may be a good thing to have the Puck, Robin Goodfellow, on their side; but then, maybe not.

Both Cal and Niko are warriors, Niko a killer with a conscious, Cal one without. However, Cal has much to overcome with his bloodline that does make him sympathetic. Niko is likeable for his passionate devotion to his brother. Without Niko's undeniable love and support, Cal would have died long ago, probably with many accompanying deaths. Cal understands this and will do anything in his power to protect Niko, even sacrificing himself to Janus to save his brother's life.

I will say I found this story difficult to read. This much violence is not to my taste; however, the sly humor, witticisms, and Cal 's irreverent personality pulled me on. Another dangerous doppelganger-like character looms in the background and adds a dramatic dimension and tension to the story. This is the first book of this long series I've read, and perhaps if I'd been introduced to the stories much earlier, I would have liked DOUBLETAKE much better, so for all readers who think they might find this admittedly unusual, violent, but humorous urban fantasy to their liking, I suggest at least reading NIGHTLIFE, the first story in the series.

Robin Lee