Johannes Cabal the Necromancer

I’m not much of a re-reader, yet after I finished the five books in this series, I turned straight back to page one and started over, cackling all the while.

Although Johannes Cabal would be far from charming if you met him, following his adventures is a delight due to Jonathan Howard’s delicious, dry wit. Whether it’s coming out on top in a deal with the Devil, solving a murder on an airship, or surviving a time loop in a Lovecraftian universe, I have confidence that Cabal’s clever mind–and giant revolver–will see him triumph with black humor and grumpiness intact.… show more.

I’m a sucker for a creepy carnival and an acerbic necromancer that doesn’t care much for the value of human life.

Cabal, the titular character, is a wonderful blend of calculating, witty, and merciless. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple salesman or The Devil himself, Cabal addresses every situation like he’s slightly annoyed at being involved in anything that isn’t his necromantic process.

Throw in the fact that this adventure sees Cabal running a dark traveling carnival to capture souls, and I was hooked. While the humor is dry, I still found myself chuckling all the way through this… show more.

The Necromancer is simply utter perfection, as is the whole Johannes Cabal series. I don’t know if it’s fate, but I happened on this book in a used bookstore one day, both the title and the author completely unknown to me, and immediately had to read the rest of his novels and short stories.

The Necromancer’s protagonist, Johannes Cabal, is a perfect antihero—a 19th Century necromancer and misanthrope whose adventures are scathingly funny, dramatic, and macabre all at once. Beyond raising the dead, Cabal also smoothly outwits the devil, and with the help of his deeply charming vampire brother,… show more.

When your line of work is necromancy—monsters, zombies, and the Devil are all sort of a given. What makes Johannes Cabal so wonderful is how dismissive he is of all that. Listen, he has a mission: to beat Death. No one, not Satan or a stupid diabolical bet, are going to stand in his way. Jonathan Howard based this on the classic Something Wicked This Way Comes. Most of his books pay homage to one classic or another from Sherlock Holmes to Cthulu. It’s fun seeing how he works those details in while maintaining his own voice and style.… show more.