Train I Ride

Mur Lafferty “The Ghost Train to New Orleans” (Orbit, 2014)

Have you read The Shambling Guide to New York City?  If not, stop reading & go read that one.  Not only will I be dropping spoilers for that book, but it’s essential for understanding what is going on in this sequel.

One of the strengths of this series is that it is so not the typical urban fantasy series.  The protagonist, Zoe Norris, is not solving mysteries while in love with a mummy or whatever.  She’s just a (sort of) normal woman trying to publish travel guides.  Only she finds out that she’s a citytalker and the travel guides are for supernatural beings.

In this second volume of the series, Zoe & crew go to New Orleans to work on the second book in their series of travel guides.  Of course things don’t exactly go as planned & Zoe finds herself mixed up in some serious trouble.  Along the way Lafferty is able to do more of her unique world building as well as the light hearted adventure that was so entertaining in the first volume.

If you enjoyed The Shambling Guide to New York City you will enjoy this as much or more.  Unfortunately this volume doesn’t really hold up as a standalone book, so if you are interested go back & start with the first volume.