Monthly Archives: March 2016

Omega in the Shadows

Book Review of Omega in the Shadows (Lost Wolves #1), by Zoe Perdita

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Omega in the shadowsBook three in my Omega Weekend Challenge is Omega in the Shadows, by Zoe Perdita. I picked the book up at Amazon when it was free.

Description from Goodreads:
Rowan Gregor is a CIA agent who vows never to get close to another wolf after his pack is brutally murdered by hunters. Enter Elijah Kane, an efficient and shadowy omega assassin on the run from the CIA. When Rowan is tasked with hunting down Kane, he ends up at the mercy of a wolf with nothing left to lose – a wolf who is sure Rowan is his mate. Elijah Kane is hell bent on proving he’s stronger and smarter than every alpha he meets – including the alpha CIA agent sent to kill him. But Rowan lights a fire of lust that Elijah can’t ignore. They share a rare connection – a mate connection – and he’s not going to give up on Rowan until the man sees it too. Trapped in a snowy wilderness and besieged by hunters, desire sizzles between Elijah and Rowan. Can they overcome their differences, and their pasts, and forge a bond to save their future?

Review:
This is one of those books where when someone asks how it was you seesaw your hand and say, “Hmmm, it’s ok.” That’s what it is, ok, not great but not necessarily all bad either. The story has teeth (Hah, see what I did there?), but it drags on and is quite repetitive, both in telling the readers the same things over and over and in using the same words too frequently. Examples: Assassin (100 times), Omega (149 times), Alpha (297 times)! Most of these in the context of saying, “The Omega” did this or “The Assassin” did that.

I also had a problem with the binary nature of the characters. There only seemed to be alpha and omega. This being emphasized by how often the characters are referred to by their rank (in a non-existent pack) as opposed to names. What would the character be if he wasn’t the most or least powerful wolf? But more disturbing than this was the gay versus straight debate. The argument, “I’m not gay,” “you’re attracted to me, so you’re gay,” “I sleep with women, so I’m not gay,” “you want me, so you’re gay,” *blow job* “I thought you weren’t gay,” “I guess I am gay” was often repeated and utterly ridiculous. One would think being bi just wasn’t a thing. And apparently getting one taste of a penis will miraculously change your orientation and your personality, because Rowan certainly seemed to make a 180.

Then, to top everything else off the book ends on a cliff-hanger; a cliff-hanger that, as far as I can see from reading the blurbs of the other books, isn’t directly picked back up. Book three might touch on it, but I’m particularly confident about that.

Omega

Book Review of Omega (Demon Chaser #1), by Charlene Hartnady

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OmegaOmega (by Charlene Hartnady) is book number two of my Omega Weekend Challenge. I got the book from Amazon, almost a year ago, and I believe it was free at the time.

Description from Goodreads:
Demon Chasers… Protectors of humanity. Sworn to uphold the peace. Oath bound to keep the existence of demons a secret.

Katy is an ordinary girl living an ordinary life…or at least, that’s what she thinks right up until she’s abducted and for no apparent reason.

Demon Chaser Cole rescues Katy from the claws of the Alpha of a resident demon wolf pack. Hunted by Bain and his pack he must try and find out why the wolves are willing to risk a two hundred year long standing agreement with the Demon Chasers in order to have her.

The Chaser suspects that Katy is not as innocent as what she seems. Cole had better move fast though because the longer he’s with the raven haired beauty the more impossible he finds it to resist her.

Review:
OMG, that was just one long series of cliché tropes, one after another after another. The whole thing is basically the old stand-by ‘woman is the mysterious Chosen One, but doesn’t know it. She is hunted by the baddy that wants to claim her and rescued by the hero who actually does claim her. In the mean time, she passes out a lot and does stupid things like insist on trying on clothing prior to purchase while being actively hunted, giving the baddies time to find her again. Because obviously a good, sexy fit is more important than anything else, in the moment.’

It starts out with a bad case of the ‘for some reasons.’ For some reason he wanted to protect her. For some reason he was unaccountably attracted to her. For some reason he trusted her. For some reason he told her things he’d never told anyone else. For some reason he HAD TO HAVE HER. For some reason she felt safe with him. For some reason she was attracted to him, even though they’d just met. For some reason she was wet for him. For some reason she HAD TO HAVE HIM. Just to be clear, from a readers perspective, ‘for some reason’ is never enough of a motivating factor.

After the ‘for some reasons,’ we moved on to the fact that the plot basically boils down to who gets to have sex with the girl. Honestly, haven’t we moved past heroines being reduced to their sexual availability and heroes being the man who wins the big P in the end?

Then, of course, we had sex by the numbers. 1. kiss. 2. sucking nipples. 3. fingering clit. 4. slip a finger in and be shocked at the wetness. 4. mutterings about being beautiful and ‘so tight.’ 5. oral sex and instant orgasm number one. 6. PnV penetration, instant orgasm number two. 7. Roaring male climax and instant female orgasm number three. All in about a paragraph, so no room for any emotional build-up or anything and all this after thinking about ‘pounding her without foreplay.’ (Oh, yeah, so sexy. Argh. No.) Tell me fellow readers, how many times have YOU read this EXACT SAME sex scene? I know I’ve probably read it a hundred times.

But there are still more cliché tropes to be had, because we move right into the ‘I love him, but I have to give him up’ and ‘I love her, but I she’ll be better off without me.’ No one discusses this. No one admits their feelings; all those feelings that developed in about two days out of freakin’ no where. There is no chemistry between these two. And of course, we end with her going to him and demanding he accept her. Cliché! Overused! Horrible!

And all of this is decorated with writing like this: “Probably from the fact that he could smell her from here, like a summer breeze and candle lit dinners but also of red lace and leather.” Someone want to tell me what that actually smells like and does red lace really smell differently than, say, blue or white? I noticed a distinct lack of commas too.

I mean, I know these kinds of stories keep selling, so they keep getting written and if they’re your cup of tea, by all means have at it. But for me, I don’t know if I can run in the other direction fast enough. If this hadn’t been read as part of a challenge I almost certainly wouldn’t have finished it.

Omega Rising

Book Review of Omega Rising (Omega Force #1), by Joshua Dalzelle

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Omega RisingI’ve had Omega Rising, by Joshua Dalzelle in my cloud for almost 3 years. I originally picked it up at Amazon.  I’ve opted to finally read it as the first in my Omega Weekend Challenge. It is the first of six books containing the word Omega in the title and I believe the only one that doesn’t involve werewolves.

Description from Goodreads:
Jason Burke was a man hiding from himself in a small cabin high in the American Rocky Mountains when his simple, quiet life was shattered one night by what he first assumed was an aviation mishap. But when he investigates the crash, what he finds will yank him out of his self-imposed exile and thrust him into a world he could have never imagined.

He suddenly finds himself trapped on a damaged alien spacecraft and plunged into a universe of interstellar crime lords and government conspiracies, along the way meeting strange new friends… and enemies. As he struggles to find his way back home he is inexorably drawn deeper into a world where one misstep could mean his death. Or worse. He desperately wants to get back to Earth, but it may be the end for him. 

… or is it just the beginning?

Review:
This was fun. It reminded me a lot of Farscape, which was always a cheesy, guilty pleasure of mine. So, I liked the premise and that really was enough for me to enjoy it. And the plot does roll along at a good clip. But the book has some fairly serious drawbacks, in my opinion.

For one, Jason has no real history or depth to his character. Nor does anyone else. Second, the book suffers from allowing its main character too many successes too quickly. For example, Jason finds himself in space, with no knowledge of anything, and within a ridiculously short amount of time he’s giving technical advice on how to save the ship to a trained pilot. He easily, one might say accidentally, becomes captain of a ship with an exceedingly skilled and loyal crew. He never stresses or gets flustered, even when faced with the impossible. It’s too much. There is literally no challenge that he doesn’t overcome almost effortlessly.

Third, the book needs a bit of editing. It’s readable, but if you pay attention to that kind of thing, you notice. Lastly, since it’s something I’ve decided to start pointing out when I see it, in an attempt to highlight how disturbingly common it is, even today, there are no female characters. Seriously, none, not even a side character or service provider. None.

So, in the end, as a just-for-the-fun-of-it, not-gonna-delve-too-deeply-into-it kind of read it is fun. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but worth reading.