Dim Sum Asylum

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
Dim Sum Asylum is one of my favorite audiobooks, especially when I’m in the mood for fantasy. I have long been fascinated by the fae, so Rhys Ford had my complete attention with Roku’s human-faerie heritage. The cherry on top was that the audiobook was narrated by my favorite narrator, Greg Tremblay. How could I resist? I couldn’t. My mistake was in not writing up my review as soon as I finished listening to the book the first time. Yeah, you read that right, the first time. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to Dim Sum Asylum over the past several months, hence its five-star rating.

“I hated running first thing in the morning.” Not only does Ford insure that I’ll love Roku right off the bat with this thought, but we’re dropped right into the middle of the action as the book begins with Roku chasing down a suspect who’s stolen a clutch of dragon eggs. A very valuable clutch of dragon eggs. And the thief is his partner on the force. The chase is exciting until Arnett demonstrates just how dirty of a cop he is and murders an innocent bystander in an attempt to escape. While the murder is tragic, Ford uses it as a way to show just how good of a man Roku is and why he works so hard to right the world’s wrongs instead of embracing his father’s Yakuza ties and stepping into the role his grandfather would like to groom him for. But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg in this novel as Roku has to train Trent, his new partner, keep his ghosts at bay, track down a magical serial killer, avoid his grandfather’s continued overtures to join the family’s criminal enterprises, resist the temptation of his new partner, and still get home in time to feed his cat, Bob – who I absolutely freaking adored, especially at the very end. Fortunately for me, Roku succeeds at the right tasks, fails at the tasks he needed to, and averages 50/50 on the cat (lol). One of the things I enjoy most about Dim Sum Asylum is that even after repeated listens, I realized that Ford doesn’t telegraph who the serial killer is. The reader or listener isn’t meant to “solve” the case before Roku and Trent do, they’re meant to enjoy the ride – and I do every single time I cue it up.

For me, this is possibly one of my favorite performances by Greg Tremblay. Between the Asian accents, the Scottish accents, and the American accents – both male and female – Ford certainly kept him busy and Tremblay demonstrates that he was up for the challenge. Roku is such an emotive character and the narration clearly conveys his frustration, irritation, sadness, grief, happiness, attraction, and most importantly, his determination. There’s a scene in the book where Roku is talking things out with the morgue tech and I felt like I could actually hear the gears grinding in his head and see him pacing the room as he reasons through what they know, attempting to connect the dots back to the killer. Once again, Tremblay has impressed me with his ability to breathe life into an author’s words, bringing Ford’s world and characters to life in such a way that I get lost in the story, forgetting for several hours that dragons and faeries and magic aren’t real – at least, not in my world. Thank goodness for re-listens, so I can return to Dim Sum Asylum anytime I want.

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free audiobook copy of Dim Sum Asylum by Rhys Ford, narrated by Greg Tremblay to listen to and review.

I absolutely love this book. I hope that it might be made into a series.

Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I must be the slowest snail on the block, I really must!! There I was, reading this, and the thought hits me "I've read this before. Where have I read this before. Who stole Rhys Ford's work. How did they get it before it was released" All those thoughts hit me, and I got as far as writing at email to Ms Ford, telling her all this stoopid stuff going through my head.


THEN!! Then I read that little bit at the top of the blurb bit, saying its an expanded full length version of a short that appeared in the Charmed and Dangerous Anthology (published August 2015) But I didn't write a review for it, and I must have read at least this one. So, apologies Ms Ford, for being such a duh!


So, the book. An extremely well written book, with all the delights that Ford throws at us from San Francisco and China Town and the Arcane Crimes Division. Full of those little things she chucks in, you know the ones?? The ones that make you think "say what now??" and "did he just say that?" and "what did he just say?? no, that can't be so!" The ones that make ME slow down, and have to go back because, I'm sure he didn't just do what he did after that! Those sorts of things, this book is full of and I did love that.


BUT


For me, and this pains me deeply to say, this book didn't quite do it. I've no bloody idea why, either. It's told only from Roku's point of view, in the first. And I didn't mind that here. Yes of course I wanted to hear from Trent, but once I'd resigned myself to the fact he doesn't have a say, I was okay with it.


I should also mention this. While READING, I could hear (or at least a semblance of) Greg Tremblay. I could hear him reading this to me, and it makes me really really wish I had waited for (any possible) audio version of this book, because, while I'm not a fan of READING single point of view, when it comes to LISTENING, I do enjoy single point of view more.


And I'm beginning to waffle. So I'll stop now, because waffling does not make for a good review.


4 solid stars, (and I'm sorry I didn't love it!)


**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

3.5 stars- Merging genres

Dim Sum Asylum is an expanded full length version of a short story Miss Ford published previously within an anthology. I didn’t read that version, so I cannot comment on the differences or similarities, but this is definitely a unique plot. The action starts immediately, dropping the reader into a police chase through a fantasy world complete with multiple mythical species. Initially, there is minimal world building, with names of creatures and descriptions that had me floundering and googling in an attempt to keep up. I think this is the main reason why it took me some time to get invested in the characters, plot, and the world itself. What it lacks in clearly setting up a world and the creatures that live within it, it more than makes up for in imagery. Thanks to Miss Ford’s fantastic ability to describe the sights, sounds, and smells so vividly that it feels as though the reader experiences them alongside the characters (I just didn’t quite understand the fantastical creatures within those scenes), I was easily transported to the environment.

I liked the plot quite a lot. While fantasies aren’t my typical genre of choice, I do enjoy law enforcement and romantic suspense driven plots. Dim Sum Asylum blends these two genres very well. At times the tempo lulled, but for the most part, it maintains a brisk pace with plenty of excitement and twists. The final showdown is very energized, offering up magic, fight scenes, suspense, and revelations. The internal monologue drags a bit of the action packed scene down, but the descriptions brings the battle to life and had me reading as fast as possible to get to the resolution, which I found very satisfying.

I found both characters and their backstories intriguing and thought Roku and Trent matched up well, both professionally and personally. The romance between partners is a little drawn out, but that fits with the characters’ personalities and the nature of the plot. I really enjoyed how Miss Ford blends the fantasy world into the bedroom and also liked how she consistently built the chemistry and emotional connection between them throughout the book.

Overall, I enjoyed Dim Sum Asylum. From the law enforcement perspective, the pacing and action scenes are good though sometimes hampered by Roku’s rambling thoughts. However, the creatures and imagery Miss Ford uses makes this an exciting and unique story. Factor in some interesting main characters with a simmering chemistry, and I think many readers will find this book worth picking up.

3.5 stars- Merging genres

Dim Sum Asylum is an expanded full length version of a short story Miss Ford published previously within an anthology. I didn’t read that version, so I cannot comment on the differences or similarities, but this is definitely a unique plot. The action starts immediately, dropping the reader into a police chase through a fantasy world complete with multiple mythical species. Initially, there is minimal world building, with names of creatures and descriptions that had me floundering and googling in an attempt to keep up. I think this is the main reason why it took me some time to get invested in the characters, plot, and the world itself. What it lacks in clearly setting up a world and the creatures that live within it, it more than makes up for in imagery. Thanks to Miss Ford’s fantastic ability to describe the sights, sounds, and smells so vividly that it feels as though the reader experiences them alongside the characters (I just didn’t quite understand the fantastical creatures within those scenes), I was easily transported to the environment.

I liked the plot quite a lot. While fantasies aren’t my typical genre of choice, I do enjoy law enforcement and romantic suspense driven plots. Dim Sum Asylum blends these two genres very well. At times the tempo lulled, but for the most part, it maintains a brisk pace with plenty of excitement and twists. The final showdown is very energized, offering up magic, fight scenes, suspense, and revelations. The internal monologue drags a bit of the action packed scene down, but the descriptions brings the battle to life and had me reading as fast as possible to get to the resolution, which I found very satisfying.

I found both characters and their backstories intriguing and thought Roku and Trent matched up well, both professionally and personally. The romance between partners is a little drawn out, but that fits with the characters’ personalities and the nature of the plot. I really enjoyed how Miss Ford blends the fantasy world into the bedroom and also liked how she consistently built the chemistry and emotional connection between them throughout the book.

Overall, I enjoyed Dim Sum Asylum. From the law enforcement perspective, the pacing and action scenes are good though sometimes hampered by Roku’s rambling thoughts. However, the creatures and imagery Miss Ford uses makes this an exciting and unique story. Factor in some interesting main characters with a simmering chemistry, and I think many readers will find this book worth picking up.