Name: The Watchers
ISBN: 9780399158742

Jon Steele

A detective investigates a series of murders that may be the handiwork of a gang of international killers—or fallen angels. A first novel.

The Watchers

J. Harper wakes up but does not remember who he is, where he is, or why. The phone rings with a job offer to go to Lausanne, Switzerland to track down someone. Nothing better to do, so he takes it. Marc Rochat watches over the bells in the belltower of Lausanne Cathedral and calls the hour in the dark of night. He is also developmentally disabled mentally and has a crooked leg. Katherine Taylor is a very exclusive call girl to the elite and politically powerful. There are plenty of those in Lausanne and opportunities for getting away with tax fraud. Very helpful for her retirement fund. The three of them become embroiled in a plot that includes grisly murders and a nepharious spiritual underworld. The guardians of light will fight against the dark shadows. Lots of poetry referrences and an esoteric religious text, the book of Enoch.

What I enjoyed is the atmosphere and setting. The cathedral and even the city of Lausanne felt like characters themselves and I enjoy that. I also enjoyed the suspense and the mystery plot. The danger was close and urgent. Even though this is urban fantasy set in modern day, there was worldbuilding with the secret spiritual underworld. I was curious to learn about what was going on there.

For me, the pacing was a bit too slow and it felt overwritten. There was only one significant female character. We did get her POV, but even so she felt flat, empty. In the plot, she served as a damsel in distress and there was nothing else for her to do. She was there to be used.

I am glad I tried this trilogy. It was interesting enough to finish the book, but I will not continue. I was not captured enough by the main idea and had become bored with the characters.

Cheryl Hedlund

J. Harper wakes up but does not remember who he is, where he is, or why. The phone rings with a job offer to go to Lausanne, Switzerland to track down someone. Nothing better to do, so he takes it. Marc Rochat watches over the bells in the belltower of Lausanne Cathedral and calls the hour in the dark of night. He is also developmentally disabled mentally and has a crooked leg. Katherine Taylor is a very exclusive call girl to the elite and politically powerful. There are plenty of those in Lausanne and opportunities for getting away with tax fraud. Very helpful for her retirement fund. The three of them become embroiled in a plot that includes grisly murders and a nepharious spiritual underworld. The guardians of light will fight against the dark shadows. Lots of poetry referrences and an esoteric religious text, the book of Enoch.

What I enjoyed is the atmosphere and setting. The cathedral and even the city of Lausanne felt like characters themselves and I enjoy that. I also enjoyed the suspense and the mystery plot. The danger was close and urgent. Even though this is urban fantasy set in modern day, there was worldbuilding with the secret spiritual underworld. I was curious to learn about what was going on there.

For me, the pacing was a bit too slow and it felt overwritten. There was only one significant female character. We did get her POV, but even so she felt flat, empty. In the plot, she served as a damsel in distress and there was nothing else for her to do. She was there to be used.

I am glad I tried this trilogy. It was interesting enough to finish the book, but I will not continue. I was not captured enough by the main idea and had become bored with the characters.

Nadine 

Started reading this because I'm in Lausanne at the moment and very intrigued by the night watchman in the cathedral. Begins conventionally and then you realise it's a kind of mix between fantasy and reality in the good vs. evil sense. All in all a fun read, not sure if I'll read the rest of the trilogy though.

Tanya Sutton

I always view it as a bad sign when, 200+ pages into a 600 page book, I still have no idea what's going on or where a book is going.

Beneath Lausanne Cathedral, in Switzerland, there is a secret buried before time began, something unknown to angels and men, until now... Marc Rochat watches over the city at night from the belfry of the cathedral. He lives in a world of shadows and "beforetimes" and imaginary beings. Katherine Taylor, call girl and daydreamer, is about to discover that her real-life fairy tale is too good to be true. Jay Harper, private detective, wakes up in a crummy hotel room with no memory. When the telephone rings and he's offered a job, he knows he has no choice but to accept. Three lives, one purpose: save what's left of paradise before all hell breaks loose.

The Watchers

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