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Craig Schaefer

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The Long Way Down (Daniel Faust Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Craig Schaefer (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 2,553 ratings

Book 1 of 11: Daniel Faust

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Nobody knows the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas like Daniel Faust, a sorcerer for hire and ex-gangster who uses black magic and bullets to solve his clients' problems. When an old man comes seeking vengeance for his murdered granddaughter, what looks like a simple job quickly spirals out of control.

Soon Daniel stands in the crossfire between a murderous porn director; a corrupt cop with a quick trigger finger; and his own former employer, a racket boss who isn't entirely human. Then there's Caitlin: brilliant, beautiful, and the lethal right hand of a demon prince.

A man named Faust should know what happens when you rub shoulders with demons. Still Daniel can't resist being drawn to Caitlin's flame as they race to unlock the secret of the Etruscan Box, a relic that people all over town are dying -- and killing -- to get their hands on. As the bodies drop and the double-crosses pile up, Daniel will need every shred of his wits, courage and sheer ruthlessness just to survive.

Daniel Faust knew he was standing with one foot over the brink of hell. He's about to find out just how far he can fall.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00JYIUH8O
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Demimonde Books (April 25, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 25, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3796 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 374 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #32,380 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #270 in Urban Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #410 in Dark Fantasy Horror
- #544 in Dark Fantasy

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4.3 2,553 ratings

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Craig Schaefer

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Craig Schaefer (the pen name of Heather Schaefer) writes about witches, outlaws, and outsiders. Whether she’s weaving tales of an occult-shrouded New York in Ghosts of Gotham or the gritty streets of Boston in the Charlie McCabe series, her protagonists are damaged survivors searching for answers, redemption, or maybe just that one big score.

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4.3 out of 5

2,553 global ratings

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Montzalee Wittmann

Magic, demons, and sorcery

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2019

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The Long Way Down by Craig Schaefer and narrated by Adam Verner is an intriguing fantasy story that takes the reader down a crazy magic road. There is the main character, Daniel, who is a sorcerer and is asked to do a job. A girl is murdered and the cops are just blowing it off. An old man that is like a grandfather to the girl knows who killed her. This job leads to more than Daniel expected. Lots of ritual magic, demons, unleashing the end times if he can't stop it. Very exciting! Loved the characters! Stopped half way through the book long enough to buy several more of these in the series!
The narration is excellent! Female, males, creatures...all done wonderfully!

One person found this helpful

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M. Wanchoo

A good dark urban fantasy debut

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2017

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ANALYSIS: The Long Way Down is the first book of the Daniel Faust series and while this book wasn't my introduction to Craig's books or even to Daniel Faust's world. It is a good place to start and enter the dark, crazy world that Craig has envisioned.

This book (as I've learned from reading all of the Daniel Faust titles released so far) have multiple plots running together. The story opens up with Daniel introducing the reader to his world in Las Vegas. This is a city that thrives on illusions and we learn that it just goes deeper than the ones that we see. Faust's world is one of magic but it's hidden and one can't really access it. The story follows the usual UF tradition of having a first person narrative. Faust introduces the readers to his friends in the Tiger's Garden, a hangout place which is only accessible to those in tune with magic & other supernatural latencies of the world. He gets approached by an old Minnesotan man to find his grand daughter who has gotten into porn and has now gone missing. Further complicating matters is the fact that she was forced to participate in some heinous films and whose director is knee deep into seedier aspects.

There's a few more plot complications (such as Caitlin's introduction, the main big bad, etc) which further fuel the the story and keep the readers guessing as to where the story might end up. All through out this, the author keeps on laying the groundwork for the sequels as well as the character cast besides Daniel. We are given glimpses of his past and introduced to those whom he considers friends and family. We also get to meet the people he has associated with in the past as a criminal. He still does odd jobs and is a person who operates on the other side of law. But he has his rules and while he's not one to shy away from murder and deceit, he still tries to hold to a moral line of only killing folks who deserve it.

Craig Schaefer really effuses the story with lots of twists and the best way I can think of describing this book and the series is Richard Stark's Parker meets The Dresden Files. The main character and the rest of the characters that are introduced aren't heroes but they sure are heroic in their deeds. They regularly work as thieves and are often the type that would be featured as antagonists or at least working in the shadows. But to the author's credit, the story works and Faust is an absorbing narrator. I loved how the author goes about expanding the story and world while keeping the narrative tightly focussed.

The main mystery gets resolved however the other plot twists get introduced and the story takes a whole new path, leading on to a frightful climax. The story does end on a sombre note and there's enough potential shown within that I wanted to read the second book immediately. The action is more on a personal level and the big battle towards the end does make up a lot for the start. However this book does have some inertia, particularly in the first third wherein the plot is set up and all the characters are introduced.

The author tries his best but considering this is his debut, there's some rough spots in the book which might slowdown the read for many a reader. For me, this book was a decent but slightly slow read but since I had read THE WHITE GOLD SCORE previously. I soldiered on knowing that the once the plot finds its groove, it would be worth it and it definitely was. The story has a good mix of action, plot twists and character drama, and the author hints at certain things that might play out in future books. There are some plot threads and twists which just seem to be resolved easily but this is done with the long haul in mind and something I as a reader could overlook.

Craig Schaefer does that admirably as he leads up to a big climax which does solve most of the plot threads while setting up the sequels. The epilogue is a kicker and hearkens back to very first plot thread and brings it to a solid, fitting conclusion. Still I would rate this book as a three & half star effort, because after reading the sequels I know how good they are and in comparison, this book while absorbing, does its job of introducing the series, characters and world appropriately.

CONCLUSION: The Long Way Down is an admirable debut that introduces the readers to a world wherein the heroes aren't really heroic but charismatic nonetheless, the bad guys are evil but not entirely misguided and the stakes are truly world-shattering. It was a debut that left me admiring the author's ingenuity & writing skills in spite of the flaws within. Give this book a shot if you love urban fantasy and want to read something darker than most titles that have been published so far.

11 people found this helpful

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Elizabeth J. Mcfadden

Terrific noir urban fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2014

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I picked this up on a whim, while skimming through my recommendations from Amazon. I'm so glad I did!

I've read a good number of works from self-published authors, and authors working with very small indie companies. The quality varies wildly. Most are mediocre, some are dreadful, a very few are really good. Most are horribly edited and proofread.

This is one of the rare standouts! Good, taut prose, a lively and well plotted tale, deftly-drawn characters, and brisk pacing make this a delight. The protagonist is perhaps predictable, but nevertheless likable. The Vegas backdrop has a suitably gritty-tacky glamor. And the whole is well-copyedited and reads like a product of one of the major established publishing houses.

Fans of Jim Butcher's work - or any of the other authors currently exploring the urban-fantasy detective trope - will absolutely enjoy this worthy addition to the genre. Personally, I'm about to start the sequel - and I'm hoping for a lot more.

4 people found this helpful

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Glinda Good

Good characters, good read

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2014

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It's not new ground now, the paranormal/urban/noir/detective story. But there's a reason I keep buying and reading this type of story -- in the hands of a good storyteller the genre can be lots of fun. In the hands of a good storyteller with decent writing, plotting, pacing and characterization skills -- bonus fun!

For a first novel in what looks to be a series, Schaefer does a better-than-average job of creation: good introduction to the world of Daniel Faust, with gradual exposure of the world's magical system; good characterization of major and minor characters; motivations for those characters, and choices made by characters, are consistent and understandable; plot and goal, while far from surprising, advanced understanding of Faust, his history, and possible future.

Not that many writers achieve all those things in this genre!

What I particularly liked in Long Way Down was the sense of community and support for Faust. Too many writers don't take the time to create a balance of independence, family, friends and associates for their tortured hero. And, as the tortured hero, Faust is a bit tarnished, but interesting, intelligent, and ultimately admirable. By the end of book 1, a reader is left with the suspicion Faust carries secrets he keeps even from himself. I look forward to book 2.

27 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Perri

Excellent read.

Reviewed in France on February 11, 2024

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This is one of the best starts of a series that I have read in sometime. A fast moving plot and a likeable cast of characters. I highly recommend this Book.

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on August 11, 2017

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I love this series, and The Long Way Down was a fantastic intro. Definitely recommend.

Mark Sheppard

Best urban fantasy writer around

Reviewed in Australia on June 8, 2021

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See the headline? Enough said. :)

Kindle Customer

Faustian fun

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2016

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Excellent start to a great series (have now read the next 4, and am keen on book 6 when it comes out this year). Faust himself (love the name) is a Harry Dresden type with interesting skills and the usual ability to attract all sorts of trouble, including that of Agent Harmony Black, who appears in Schaefer's new spinoff series of that name. The narrative has some great villains whose shenanigans have some original twists to hell's usual plotting, involving sacrifices and apocalypse, and Faust's team is wonderfully quirky - a gay astral-travelling bookseller to a kickass demoness ('take everything I say with a pillar of salt'), a voodoo mama, a hacker, and a witchy drug dealer. The line between good and bad is not so much unclear as stashed in a cupboard so that Faust can carry on creating illegal mayhem and implementing his own ethical code of looking out for family (a sub-plot involves a half-demon mafioso) above all else. Great fun and intelligently written.

2 people found this helpful

Timandra

Good series start

Reviewed in Germany on June 15, 2015

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I heard Craig Schaefer's interview on the Rocking Self Publishing Podcast and was impressed how accurate his insights on his readers were. Intrigued, I thought, fantasy noir - why not? This may be something I like, figuring Fanatsy is one of my favourite genres and I like Raymond Chandler's noir fiction, too.

This is pretty much a good description of what The Long Way Down is. Daniel Faust reads like Philip Marlowe with an attitude and a few magic tricks up his sleeve, a man with an inner code he answers to come what may and who has an extreme commitment to his job.

The story arc is great - giving you closure where necessary, but loose ends in the details to keep wanting more. As the start of a series, The Long Way Down makes a great intro to the world, the main characters, but also to the stakes and what's at risk. The pacing is well crafted, too, and I found myself carving out chunks of time whenever possible to find out what happens next. But ...

I won't read on. It took me quite some time to figure out why and it boils down to two reasons that, I think, have a lot more to do with my personal taste than the actual quality of the book.

Reason number one: I like my Good to be Good and my Evil to be Evil. It's probably a fantasy thing, I dunno. I can deal with shades of gray and when characters ultimately do evil things out of a good intention and the like ... but to my taste The Long Way Down just went a step overboard with the whole Faustian (excuse the pun) concept of Evil ( aka Hiya Goethe's Mephistopheles). You know, I quote: "I am part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good." Yeah. Hmmm. Pullman did something similiar in His Dark Materials. Didn't like that. Didn't like Goethe's Faust Part One (or Two) either for the same reason. Don't like the same idea that's traced out here. Like I said, it's a personal taste thing and really, if you have no issues with monsters being good guys and good guys being monsters, then this is a very entertaining book to read.

Reason number two is very closely related to reason number one. To paraphrase Dr. Malcolm in Jurassic Park: I'm always on the lookout for my next ex-imaginary boyfriend. And Daniel, I'm sorry, love, but it's not you, it's me. It would never have worked between us.

In sum, I am impressed enough with Schaefer's writing skill to probably pick up his epic fantasy story Revanche. But while this is a good start to a probably exciting and thrilling fantasy noir series, it's just not for me.

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The Long Way Down (Daniel Faust Book 1) Kindle Edition

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