Novel: City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp | Goodreads
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: eBook
Source: Edelweiss
Get it Here: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
Synopsis
The fate of New Orleans rests in the hands of a wayward grifter in this novel of gods, games, and monsters.
The post–Katrina New Orleans of The City of Lost Fortunes is a place haunted by its history and by the hurricane’s destruction, a place that is hoping to survive the rebuilding of its present long enough to ensure that it has a future. Street magician Jude Dubuisson is likewise burdened by his past and by the consequences of the storm, because he has a secret: the magical ability to find lost things, a gift passed down to him by the father he has never known—a father who just happens to be more than human.
Jude has been lying low since the storm, which caused so many things to be lost that it played havoc with his magic, and he is hiding from his own power, his divine former employer, and a debt owed to the Fortune god of New Orleans. But his six-year retirement ends abruptly when the Fortune god is murdered and Jude is drawn back into the world he tried so desperately to leave behind. A world full of magic, monsters, and miracles. A world where he must find out who is responsible for the Fortune god’s death, uncover the plot that threatens the city’s soul, and discover what his talent for lost things has always been trying to show him: what it means to be his father’s son.
My Review
I was kindly provided an Advanced Reader Copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
When I read the summary for this book, I became so excited. A story about magic set in New Orleans? Sign me up. The book did not disappoint. Camp tapped into the ancient world’s of the Gods, as well as some magic to bring this interesting tale to life. Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, we meet Jude, the man who can find lost things.
“The game tonight is Fortunes. You make the best or the worst fate you can.”
Jude Dubuisson has always been able to find lost things. It has been his gift for as long as he can remember. Unfortunately that gift changed after Hurricane Katrina. Jude’s gift overpowered him. He struggled to balance between the two worlds in which he had always existed. Instead, he retreated. He hid from his past and nearly everyone he once knew. Until one day when his past catches up to him. His old partner, Regal, delivers an invitation for Jude to attend a game at Dodge Renaud’s home. Dodge is the Fortune God of New Orleans. Jude begrudingly attends. Already seated at the table upon Jude’s arrival are Thoth, Egyptian God of the Moon, Magic and Writing, Scarpelli, a Vampire, Hē, an Angel, Papa Legba, Haitian Vodou Loa who stands at the crossroads, and Dodge.
Jude has no idea how to play the game. He folds over and over without looking at his cards. He knows that no matter what, the stakes must be high. Eventually, he thinks he understands the rules. He plays a round, unfortunately he doesn’t place his bet correctly. As such the other players get to pick what parts of him they want wagered: his heart, his blood, his faith, his speech, and one last piece that turned out to be his gift. When he turns the cards over, though, they are blank. He flees the game and wakes up in his bed. Later he discovers that someone murdered Dodge. Mourning (a character known as “The Management”) and Regal coerce Jude into investigating the murder.
“Because if the cards had his face on them, the fate he was gambling with was his own.”
As Jude investigates Dodge’s murder his cards begin to reveal themselves. He learns that the prize at the end of the game is to become the new Fortune god of New Orleans. The investigation also reveals that every player is the “trickster” of their religions. Jude himself is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and a trickster god. All the other gods are telling him he can never win, however, they are also trying to sway him to quit the game and forfeit. Without revealing too many surprises I just want to say that Camp spins an exciting adventure through the streets of New Orleans, into the afterlife, and into the history that makes New Orleans so special.
“Their souls, for want of a better term, were three part in nature: Strenth, Luck and Will, represented by physical aspects of the city. In New Orleans, strength was a musician whose name Jude had never learned; luck was the fortune god named Dodge; and Will was a magician, the man who had taught Jude all of this: Eli Constant.”
I think my favorite unique aspect of this book was Camp’s use of New Orleans as another character in the tale. By the end of the book, it felt like New Orleans was this living, breathing entity that had her own fate. Camp brings many aspects of the occult into his story, which seems fitting for a place like New Orleans. Steeped in mysticism, New Orleans has everything: from Vodoo to Tarot cards, fortune telling to ghosts. No other city would be as fitting a location for this story.
Camp also uses the countless tales and histories of the other players in the game to explain their characterization. We meet Papa Legba’s counterpart, Kalfou, the man who is sinister where Legba is kind. Thoth transitions into Hermes. When the Greeks adopted many of the Egyptian gods into their pantheon, these two merged. I appreciated Camp’s dive into their histories, as well as, explanations for their presence in New Orleans.
The ending leaves an opening for further tales of Jude’s adventures in the Crescent City. Honestly some questions were left unanswered, and there are characters I need to learn more about. Without a doubt, you should invest some time in this story, especially if you are interested in the mysticism of the beautiful city of New Orleans.
