Book Reviews and More: Dead Saint Walking - Declan Finn

Dead Saint Walking

Saint Tommy NYPD Omnibus, Vol. IV

Declan Finn

Tuscany Bay Books

eISBN 9781865243498

ASIN B0HFDW5TMW

Dead Saint Walking - Declan Finn - Saint Tommy NYPD Omnibus Vol. IV

This is the fourth of the new Omnibus editions of this excellent series I have read. I have absolutely loved rereading these stories. I will again state that Declan Finn is one of my favourite contemporary authors. I have read all the published books and short stories, and many contributions to anthologies. I had been planning to reread this series for a while now, especially as I await the republication of the Pius series. These new omnibus editions look amazing! My son and I both absolutely love these new editions. Without the words on the covers we would both do them as prints and put them up on our wall with Icons we have.

The description of this omnibus edition states:

“In the mean streets of New York—and beyond—evil has a scent. And one cop can smell it.

Detective Thomas “Tommy” Nolan is a good man: devoted husband and father, faithful Catholic, and an NYPD officer who shows mercy to the desperate while hunting the truly wicked. Then the gifts arrive—the charisms of the saints. He can smell evil. He can bilocate. He heals fast, levitates when needed, and stands as a living target for the legions of Hell.

From a demon-possessed serial killer tearing through Queens to death cults, warlocks in high office, Nazi vampires, sex-trafficking succubi, witches, zombies, Lovecraftian horrors, and worse, every force of darkness marks Tommy for destruction. They learn the hard way that “good” does not mean “harmless.” With prayer, fists, firearms, allies from the Vatican to the streets, and an unshakable faith, Tommy sends them all back to Hell—or dies trying.

This complete collection gathers every novel and short story in Declan Finn’s acclaimed Saint Tommy, NYPD series: the full arc of Tommy’s battles across New York, Europe, and the supernatural underworld, plus the connecting tales that fill the gaps between major cases. Experience the Catholic action-horror that readers call a streamlined, faith-fueled answer to urban fantasy classics—fast-paced, gun-and-grace-filled, and unapologetically on the side of the light.

One saint. One badge. An army of demons. The war against Evil starts here.

The fourth volume of the St. Tommy, NYPD, Omnibus contains the following:

Lightbringer: When a director's daughter overdoses, that's Hollywood; when she comes back as a zombie, that's a mission for NYPD Lt. Tommy Nolan and his new Joint Supernatural Taskforce.

Dark Web: When a Christian internet celebrity is kidnapped, Tommy Nolan must team up with a ghost from his past in order to battle the horrors lurking in the Dark Web.

Blue Saint: When his local church is destroyed by supernatural means, NYPD Lt Tommy Nolan finds himself besieged by old enemies hellbent on revenge. This time, Hell will see Nolan dead, whatever the cost, and destroy his city with him. Nolan will risk everything to stop the coming onslaught, but will it be enough?

Plus these two short Stories (first time published by Tuscany Bay Books)

In The Garden Of Madness

Mark Of Kane.”

About the author we are informed:

“As penance for his sins, Declan Finn spent over 40 years in New York City. He has since made his escape from New York to Texas. He is the author of books ranging from thrillers to urban fantasy to SciFi, including the Dragon Award Nominated Novel for Best horror in 2016, Honor at Stake, and the 2017 follow-up, Live and Let Bite. He was also nominated for "Best Apocalypse" novel at the Dragons in 2017. He also won the book of the year award with his novel Hell Spawn from CLFA.

Finn is known for being annoyingly Catholic, his action sequences, and writing faster than most readers can keep up with. In less than a decade, he has written over 30 novels, and is waiting for all of them to be published. He's been part of multiple anthologies, and will write for anyone.”

This is yet another excellent collection. I was even more impressed reading these stories the second time. I also greatly enjoyed the two new offerings. Spiritual warfare and the war on crime collide. Officer Nolan thought he had his work cut out for him. And as he has said many times, to be a Saint you have to be dead!

In Lightbringer:

Tommy is still officially on staff with the NYPD, but he is working mostly independent of them, with a new task force. They are sort of part of the FBI, the team is the Joint Supernatural Taskforce, the official designation with the FBI was JSTF, but we called it JST or “Just.” The day to day team is Tommy, his son Jeremy, Jeremy’s wife Lena, and his retired partner Alex Packard. They also have some floater desks for FBI agents when they are working with the team. And dedicated desks for Father Richard Freeman, Medical Examiner, Doctor Sinead Holland and ADA William Carlton of Manhattan.

This story does have a lot of action, in fact it opens in the sewers with a battle against spiders including one that could give Shelob a run for sizing. But this story has a lot more police work, uncovering the trail in the old gum shoe fashion. JUST reaches out to their contacts at H.E.R.O. and Human Exploitation Rescue Operative Child-Rescue Corps, and others. They slowly put together a history going back decades to the beginning of Hollywood. And an adversary that goes back much further. Their investigations into Golden Chalice Studios and Luminary Productions the facts just do not add up. The companies seem to be making decisions that are bad business, they only thing they see to focus on is corruption for corruptions sake. Until a piece falls into place for Tommy. And soon they are pulling in all the resources they can in what might became the biggest case to ever hit the New York Court system. But to get there Tommy must face his strongest foe yet!

This story is has a lot of action, some crime procedural and detective work. All happening while Tommy’s wife is diagnosed with a brain tumor. It is like Die Hard film with the whole family, and a close knit group of friends and allies in on the action. Finn does an excellent job of weaving current events into this Catholic Action Horror novel. The characters are wonderfully written. Wondering what will happen to them next leaves you hanging big time! And with book 12 planned as the last novel, how it will end overall.

In In The Garden Of Madness:

Having not read this story it was like a visit with old friends. Tommy and Alex working a strange case together. This one reminds me of some of the Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley aka Poison Ivy Story arcs from the past as well as Murder Most Picante by Karina Fabian in her DragonEye, PI series. And of course it makes reference to a certain film with Rick Moranis, Steve Martin and Bill Murray. This is an intriguing story. The whole story takes place over the period of a day and night. And Tommy and Alex pull out some old tricks and some new. And even a bit of a Scooby Doo reference in the ending. An excellent story!

In Dark Web:

In this story we encounter a relative of Nolan’s we had not met before and never even heard of. He appears as the heads of the Texas Randers and comes with Lloyd Lermon on the trail of a Catholic YouTube Celebrity who has been shanghaied. One Ranger Chief Aaron Nolan, is appearance is unwelcome, and things go downhill from there. Once again there is a lot of action, some serious misdirection. The story has a lot more police work, uncovering the trail of the missing man. They do battle with witches, dragur’s and more. A side trip to Quebec provides some great information and an excellent battle. We get to see Jeremy and Lena working a mission on their own. An Anti-Fa mob, and various other creatures. And the final battle is epic!

Again this time Finn does an excellent job of weaving current events into this Catholic Action Horror novel. The characters are wonderfully written. Tommy, his friends and family are the type of people I would love to know. Wondering what will happen to them next leaves you hanging big time! And with book 12 planned as the last novel, how it will end overall.

In Blue Saint:

In this story we have the return of many former foes. Some have come back from hell. We have battles with constructs during the day on the streets of New York. Jihadis with enhanced armour and weapons, MS13, Witches, Draugr’s and more. The final battle for Tommy is coming and he has been warned through many sources that he has to finish it this time, no matter the cost! And oh what a cost. Tommy knows what is coming and pulls in all his friends and allies, and even an enemy of my enemy. Culminating in a final battle taking place during a hurricane.

In Mark Of Kane:

Wow! This is an excellent cross over story. A main character from one of Finn’s other series carries relics of Saint Tommy. Those relics are spent brass. And he encounters a demon Tommy had faced before. A short story with a lot of punch. Characters who we know and love. And action galore. Finn has written another excellent story in this piece!

This is another outstanding collection to read. It wraps up the novels in the St Tommy series. Excellent stories in a series that are now available in 4 Omnibus editions and a collection of all the short stories. I highly recommend this series for mature readers. I have recommended these books to dozens of people and all have loved them. Therefore I recommend them to you. Pick this up and read the conclusion to this awesome series!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books by Declan Finn:

Love At First Bite Series:

Short Stories:

Blood Stained Cliffs of Dover

Bad Date

Mad Dog Moon

…

Novels:

Honor at Stake

Demons Are Forever

(Murphy's Law of Vampires)