{"product_id":"the-reluctant-monster-joe-foster-9798295696879","title":"The Reluctant Monster","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe debt is paid. The inventory is cleared. But in the Ninth Ward, some souls are never truly free.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eValerius is a man of simple, gritty constants: the hum of his five-ton armored repo truck, the Charon; the sting of the needle; and the weight of the supernatural debts he's hired to collect. As a paranormal repo-man in a flooded, neon-drenched New Orleans, Val stays out of the crossfire between the street gangs and the ancient gods-until a routine job pulls a ghost from his past out of a submerged trunk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen a simple car repossession reveals a boy clutching the badge of Val's deceased wife, the job transforms from a payday into a desperate rescue. Alongside Socket, a tech-genius mechanic with a penchant for high-stakes tinkering, and Natasha, a \"crystalline-armored\" miracle of biological destabilization, Val is forced to navigate a city where the water is rising and the monsters are hungry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the sterile, fluorescent medical bunkers of Montreal to the rain-slicked sprawl of the Ninth Ward, The Reluctant Monster is a high-octane urban fantasy noir. It's a story of \"MacGyvered\" occult tech, blood-bound contracts with Baron Samedi, and a ragtag crew of misfits fighting to repossess a future from the hands of gods and hunters alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Montreal didn't have weather; it had assault charges.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you crave the blue-collar grit of John Wick mixed with the dark, atmospheric lore of Interview with the Vampire, step into the cab of the Charon. Just remember: The repo man is coming. And he doesn't take cash\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joe Foster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798295696879\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Foster Pub. in Association with University Pr\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/27\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 324\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.88d","brand":"Joe Foster","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48460397347071,"sku":"9798295696879","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_12e25bb8-59cc-4e88-9d3e-2ede96e15df0.jpg?v=1777414484","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-reluctant-monster-joe-foster-9798295696879","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}