Conquer

Conquer by Edward M. Erdelac
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Conquer collects seven short stories featuring John Conquer plus a preview of the Conquer novel, Fear of a Black Cat.

I'm a huge fan of Edward Erdelac's Merkabah Rider series so when I saw on Facebook that he was writing stories featuring John Conquer, described as Shaft meets Brother Voodoo, it was a no-brainer to grab this collection once it was released.

Much like The Merkabah Rider, Conquer is right in my wheelhouse. Part Blaxploitation, part supernatural, this hits all the right buttons for me. Conquer is a bad ass brother, a private detective people come to when strange shit is going on during the 1970s. In this book, he encounters a lot of weirdness, like a dead pimp haunting his old ride and a dead man shrunken to tiny size, floating inside a lava lamp.

Also like the Merkabah Rider, you can tell Erdelac did his homework. I'll have to pick his brain over what resources he use for the various magic techniques and creatures. You can feel Ed's love for the subject matter coming through. I don't usually get excited when a book I like gets adapted but I'd love if this was a TV show shot to look like it was from the 1970s.

Conquer gets all the stars. Now the wait for Fear of a Black Cat begins.


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