In an alternate 1933, a sleuth and his robot partner are caught in the middle of a legal battle that will decide the fate of the world’s machine population.
“This writer is definitely one to watch” —The Globe and Mail

Two months after an investigation that nearly put Elias Roche behind bars, the former cop turned mob enforcer has endeavoured to separate himself from his past by going straight. Now working as a private investigator, his attempts to build himself a quiet life have so far yielded promise. However, while Manhattan’s Lower City is in the midst of a reignited mob war, Elias is faced with finding a man who doesn’t want to be found, absolving a machine of murder, and discovering a network of secrets that keeps the world turning, almost literally.

Reuniting with his old Automatic partner Allen and reporter-turned-hitman Simone, Elias must search for the truth amid a web of conspiracy and lies. While failure would result in the eradication of all Automatics in America and cripple the megacorporation that hired him to investigate, success could uncover truths no one is ready to face: truths about the city, Allen’s past, and which side they’re all truly fighting for.

Brenden Carlson is a chemist and freelance writer. His debut novel and the first in the Walking Shadows Series, Night Call, released in 2020. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

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Carlson wonderfully creates a world that is instantly recognizable but is still populated with a new landscape filled with people we recognize and understand. This writer is definitely one to watch.

Globe and Mail, for Night Call

Carlson does a good job populating his gritty, split-level world with dodgy mobsters, deadly dames, and killer machines.

Publishers Weekly, for Night Call