Title: Twilight Run (The Full Moon Medic Book 0)
Publisher/Author: Daniel R. Potter
Pages: 33pp
Price: free
Magic is coming back into the world. Slowly, inexorably, and mostly at night. But it is coming … Abby is an EMT in Portland. Along with her partner, Cindy, she works the night shift, answering emergency calls and rushing patients to the nearest hospital. Tonight, however, what starts out as a (fairly) ordinary call turns into something else completely. Cut off from the mortal world, trapped in a house with a feral patient and Death itself, Abby and Cindy will have to use all of their wits, strength, and medical knowledge to win their freedom and make it safely home ….
Twilight Run recently popped up as a freebie on a recommendation list. The description sounded interesting, so I downloaded it and read it on my next lunch break. At only thirty-three pages, it is a fast read.
It is also a fun read. Urban fantasy tales in which magic has returned and upended the status quo are fairly common (see the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, The Down and Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Service series by Kate Karyus Quinn, et. al., and The WItchkin Murders by Diana Pharaoh Francis). Potter’s take on the trope is a bit different, though: here, magic did not reappear in a single cataclysmic event. Instead, it is seeping back as the wards gradually break down; bit by bit, the world changes, grows more dangerous, more unfamiliar — and humanity knows that it’s happening, and can do nothing to stop it.
It’s creepy.
Abby is also a great character. She’s smart, quick, and empathetic; she’s fearless, but does not take stupid risks, either with her own life or that of her partner. Her background is a mystery. It’s not entirely clear if Abby is her real name. Having nearly died as a child, she knows Death. And she has been claimed by Luna, the sharp-toothed, semi-feral, lupine Goddess of the Moon. Though why, exactly, Luna has taken an interest in Abby remains to be explained in future volumes.
I also really like the fact that Cindy is a trans character, and that she trusts Abby with that information. Abby addresses her as Cindy when they are alone, or when they are off work; that’s when Cindy dons a dress and make-up and blond wig. But when they’re at work and others are around, Abby uses “Colin” and male pronouns.
And their whole run is straight up exciting. Between the ghosts, the different manifestations of Death, the patient who is alternately trying to kill them or dying on the stretcher, the appearance of Luna, and the mad dash through darkened streets towards the mortal world as a knight with a flaming sword lops pieces off the ambulance, the whole story reads like an episode of E.R. meets Supernatural by way of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
I have only one complaint: Twilight Run requires a serious copy edit. The number of grammatical errors and typographical errors are so numerous that I kept getting bumped out of the story. And I don’t mean just missing commas or run-on sentences. I mean missing words and incorrect words. If Potter can get those fixed, he’ll have a fantastic story.
Incomplete editing aside, Twilight Run is a heck of a fun read. It’s creepy and exciting, and promises a fascinating world to explore. Recommended to fans of Potter’s other books, fans of the series mentioned above, and fans of the Between the Worlds series by Morgan Daimler, The Frost Arcana by Clara Coulson, and Undercover Gorgon by RL Naquin.
[Reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan.]
