Book Summary and Reviews of The Dead Take the A Train by Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw

The Dead Take the A Train by Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw

The Dead Take the A Train

Carrion City #1

by Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw

  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2023, 400 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Bestselling authors Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey have teamed up to deliver a dark new story with magic, monsters, and mayhem, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill.

Julie is a coked-up, burnt-out thirty-year-old whose only retirement plan is dying early. She's been trying to establish herself in the NYC magic scene, and she'll work the most gruesome gigs, exorcize the nastiest demons, and make deals with the cruelest gods to claw her way to the top. But nothing can prepare her for the toughest job yet: when her best friend, Sarah, shows up at her door in need of help. Keeping Sarah safe becomes top priority.

Julie is desperate for a quick fix to break the dead-end grind and save her friend. But her power grab sets off a deadly chain of events that puts Sarah – and the entire world - directly in the path of annihilation.

The first explosive adventure in the Carrion City Duology, The Dead Take the A Train fuses Cassandra Khaw's cosmic horror and Richard Kadrey's gritty fantasy into a full-throttle thrill ride straight into New York's magical underbelly.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[A] deliciously down and dirty urban fantasy...Khaw's and Kadrey's styles are a perfect match throughout, melding Kadrey's knack for punchy action sequences and Khaw's talent for gorgeous descriptions as they maneuver their enormously fun cast through a filthily rendered New York. Fans of urban fantasy, neo-noir, and pulp horror won't want to miss this raucous adventure." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An original, thought-provoking, and entertaining title that will call to readers from multiple dimensions." —Booklist (starred review)

"Khaw and Kadrey create an excellent grim and gory tale that levels up urban fantasy in this series launch." —Library Journal (starred review)

"Everything old is new again in this comically horrific team-up between prolific Malaysian horror writer Khaw and Kadrey...An enchanting introduction to a magical bitch on wheels, to be continued." —Kirkus Reviews

"Khaw and Kadrey are a powerful team of genre-blending mad geniuses, and The Dead Take the A Train is a gore-covered cake for horror lovers." ―Tor.com

"An addictive, sprawling yarn. This city brims with underhanded dealings and odd magic, and every corner writhes with fresh horrors and delights." ―Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Worm and His Kings

"The Dead Take the A Train incorporates everything that's best about both authors into a seamless whole and adds a touch of something uniquely weird and wonderful. The result is fun, thrilling, and compulsively readable." —John Langan, author of The Fisherman

This information about The Dead Take the A Train was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Gloria M

Non-stop Action!
Richard Kadrey is one of my many favorite science fiction/fantasy authors, so when he teamed up with horror writer Cassandra Khaw I just had to check out "The Dead Take The A Train."

I am happy to share that I was not disappointed! Though, full disclosure, I had to take frequent breaks to process the vivid violence (though rest assured it was necessary for the plot).

Our protagonist Julie is turning 30 in the bustling burg of N.Y.C. Life is not going as she planned other than her sketchy retirement plan-dying young of alcohol induced liver disease-by all indications that is going very well. Julie also resorts to cocaine for stress relief from her dark magic gigs, horrendous demon encounters, and various gods who take callousness to the next level.

Julie wants to escape her day to day dilemmas and save her friend Sarah who is on the run from her abusive partner Dan, but her actions set in motion an unprecedented disaster that threatens humanity. Her go to allies, St. Joan and Dead Air have powers of their own and together they try to thwart the evil Tyler (Julie's ex-boyfriend who is lacking anything resembling a soul), the scary sisters Barghests, and the ravenous creature Akrasiel (Julie thought she was summoning an angel) who destroys everything and everyone after he escapes the void.

It is an exciting tale, fast paced and it is impossible not to root for and care about team Julie. There is a lot of gruesome violence and sometimes the reader may just have to pause for a moment to continue. The action is non-stop with plenty of perilous cliffhangers! Impressive and imaginative, check it out!! And happily, it is the first of a series!!

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More Information

Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir series. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon's "100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime," and is in production as a feature film. Some of Kadrey's other books include The Grand Dark, The Everything Box, King Bullet, and Butcher Bird. In comics, he's written for Heavy Metal, Lucifer, and Hellblazer.

Cassandra Khaw is the USA Today bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth and the Bram Stoker Award-winner, Breakable Things. Other notable works of theirs are The Salt Grows Heavy and British Fantasy Award and Locus Award finalist, Hammers on Bone. Khaw's work can be found in places like The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Tor.com. Khaw is also the co-author of The Dead Take the A Train, co-written with bestselling author Richard Kadrey.

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