Tag Archives: fantasy

Book Review of Prey & Bloodlines (Infected #1 & 2), by Andrea Speed

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Prey/InfectedI bought a copy of Prey (Infected, #1), by Andrea Speed. Then I borrowed a copy of Bloodlines.

Description from Goodreads:
In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds.

The murder of a former cop draws Roan into an odd case where an unidentifiable species of cat appears to be showing an unusual level of intelligence. He juggles that with trying to find a missing teenage boy, who, unbeknownst to his parents, was “cat” obsessed. And when someone is brutally murdering infecteds, Eli Winters, leader of the Church of the Divine Transformation, hires Roan to find the killer before he closes in on Eli.

Working the crimes will lead Roan through a maze of hate, personal grudges, and mortal danger. With help from his tiger-strain infected partner, Paris Lehane, he does his best to survive in a world that hates and fears their kind… and occasionally worships them.

Review:
Very enjoyable Urban Fantasy (and it is UF—the romance is already established and there is no sex). I was thrown for a loop when the book ended at 48% though. Nothing in the synopsis states that the book is actually two novellas. (So the last ~50% is the second story.) And while each is very good, I do like to know what I’m getting into.

The main character, Roan was a wonderfully jaded and sarcastic P.I. I enjoyed his love for his boyfriend, Paris. Similarly, I liked Paris’ opposite personality but equally heart-felt love. They made a wonderful pair. It was fun to get to know Roan from his own perspective and then get to see him from Paris’ point of view too. It felt kind of like a gift to be given the small insights Roan refused to acknowledge about himself.

The cast as a whole was also pleasantly diverse. The police chief is a woman, there are side characters of multiple races and ethnicities, Paris is bisexual (and Canadian), there’s a lesbian and Roan is gay. There’s even a disabled character in a wheelchair. I really liked encountering a more representative slice of American life.

The whole ‘kitty culture’ was an interesting twist on the shifter genre. It was nice to see the darker side of it. There is nothing glamorous about being infected. The characters also encounter the darker side of life in a real sort of way that avoids feeling like any of it was appropriated for mere titillation. It felt very intelligent, for lack of a better way to describe it.

I did think the narrative was a little repetitive. There were just some things, like how good-looking Paris was, that readers are told over and over and over again. The descriptions of people were extremely heavy too. It often broke the flow of the book to stop and read a whole page on someone’s appearance. And I didn’t care for all the music references. Mostly because I’m apparently not cool enough to get the significance of a band choice, so they held no resonance for me. Despite that, I’m hoping to get my hands on book two, which would be story three. See how confusing that is?

BloodlinesDescription from Goodreads:

The newly married Roan is struggling to balance his work with his home life as he grows increasingly distracted by his husband Paris’s declining health. One case with strong emotions attached takes up most of his time: finding the murderer of a missing little rich girl. It’s a family with secrets so toxic they’d rather no one investigate, and there’s no shortage of suspects. But despite the dangers and obstructions involved, Roan won’t stop… until he loses something infinitely precious as well.

Review:

Oh, it’s been a looong time since a book reduced me to a blubbering mess. But this book had me in such tears that, unprompted, my four-year-old brought me a handkerchief with which to dry my eyes and blow my nose. I was emotionally destroyed. Truth be told, I read the book knowing that would be the result but it was worth it.

Contradictorily, when not drowning in sorrow I found a lot of humor in this book. It was a dry sarcastic sort of humor, just this side of British, really, one of my favorite types. There were a lot of chuckles.

I did think the murder mystery wrapped up with sudden ease and it was definitely second to the emotional drama going on in Roan and Paris’ life. (Though, it’s meant to be.) But as in the previous book, I loved the characters and the gritty realism of the world they all live in.

I’m hoping I can find someone to lend me the third book. I want to keep reading, but even though I know it’s a reasonable price, I can’t allow myself to spend $6.99 a book, especially when I know I’ll just want the next and the next and the next. I’d bankrupt myself.

Book Review of Wanted: Dead or Undead (The Zombie West Series #1), by Angela Scott

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Wanted: Dead or UndeadI downloaded a copy of Angela Scott‘s Wanted: Dead or Undead from the Amazon free list. At the time of posting, it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:
Trace Monroe doesn’t believe in luck. He never has. But when a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest man alive. Trace wants to join “Red’s” posse, but she prefers to work alone—less messy that way. 

In order to become her traveling companion, Trace has to agree to her terms: no names, no questions, and if he gets bit, he can’t beg for mercy when she severs his brain stem. He agrees, knowing only that Red is the sharpest shooter he’s ever encountered. The fact she’s stunning hasn’t escaped his attention either. 

What he doesn’t know, is that Red has a very good reason to be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she is the answer.

Review:
I was seriously disappointed in this book. Not because it’s badly written, it’s not. But because it contains so many elements that I dislike in a book. So, while not everyone will share my opinion, as everyone has their own hot buttons, this book was a fail for me.

You see, the blurb led me to believe that the heroine, Red, was a strong, kick-ass, take charge kind of girl. And she was in the beginning, right up until the point at which she started to fall in love. After that, she became progressively weaker, more often confused, more frequently in need of care, less capable of defending herself, drastically more easily moved to tears, more willing to be told what to do as opposed to instruct others and much more likely to make stupid, ill-thought out, life threatening decision based on misinformation and jumped to conclusions that could have been avoided with a mere conversation. She basically became a weepy, Too-Stupid-To-Live girl in love. Why does this happen so often in YA/NA literature?

Now some readers might read this book and think, ‘awww, she found a good man to take care of her, how sweet.’ Me? I read it and wonder where the girl who’d been taking care of herself went. I was MUCH more interested in her than the damsel in distress who was lucky enough to attract Trace’s affection and protection.

The book could have done with a bit more character development. I can forgive its lack of worldbuilding. Zombie novels don’t really need that much to be understandable. But these characters were hollow paper cut outs, with very little depth. The whole thing also felt very anachronistic (if I can use that word to say present things seeped into the past, as opposed to the other way around). Dialogue and personal values felt far too modern, as did money. People gambled in $50-100 increments and at one point someone bought a bag of cornmeal small enough carry for $100. That’s roughly $3,000 according to a handy-dandy online inflation calculator.

Also, the last quarter of the book is painfully cliché and predictable. The premise of the plot is a good one and the set up for the rest of the series seems interesting. And, like I said, the writing (and editing) is pretty good. But I won’t be continuing the series.

Book Review of The Iron Duke & Heart of Steel, by Meljean Brook

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The Iron DukeI checked out Meljean Brook‘s The Iron Duke and Heart of Steel from my local library.

About the book:

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power – and fear – of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim’s identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

Review:
Oh, this was marvellous! I adored just about every aspect of it. Mina is a wonderful action-oriented heroine. The Duke is a great alpha hero. (He does come across as a little too alpha, borderline rapey in the beginning. But it’s also kind of fun seeing him learn how not to be that way.) And the side characters, they’re also amazing.

There are all the expected steampunk elements–mechanical men, zombies, kraken, airships, etc. There’s a very intricate and intriguing dystopian world, exotic local and romance.

But I also really appreciated that the book is adult themed. Not erotica or anything like that, but it explores some very dark human elements and a lot of people in it have a history of abuse. This was all handled without feeling extraneous to the plot or pointlessly titillating.

Plus, there are real, grown up main characters. She is almost 30 and he’s past his mid thirties. I appreciate not having to imagine 21 year olds with the bearings and life experience of older characters. Much better to just be given an appropriately aged character in the first place.

There was a bit of insta-love. I could have done without all Mina’s tears in the end and some of the ‘misunderstandings’ were cliché  and predictable.  But my final says is *winner.*

About the book:

Heart of SteelThe Iron Duke introduced the gritty, alluring adventure of the Iron Seas, where nanotech fuses with Victorian sensibilities—and steam.

As the mercenary captain of Lady Corsair, Yasmeen has learned to keep her heart as cold as steel, her only loyalty bound to her ship and her crew. So when a man who once tried to seize her airship returns from the dead, Yasmeen will be damned if she gives him another opportunity to take control.

Treasure hunter Archimedes Fox isn’t interested in Lady Corsair—he wants her coldhearted captain and the valuable da Vinci sketch she stole from him. To reclaim it, Archimedes is determined to seduce the stubborn woman who once tossed him to a ravenous pack of zombies, but she’s no easy conquest.

When da Vinci’s sketch attracts a dangerous amount of attention, Yasmeen and Archimedes journey to Horde-occupied Morocco—and straight into their enemy’s hands. But as they fight to save themselves and a city on the brink of rebellion, the greatest peril Yasmeen faces is from the man who seeks to melt her icy heart.

Review:
Well, we have another winner! I very much enjoyed Yasmeen and Archimedes’ story. Yasmeen was a great, strong female lead and Archimedes was like an anti-alpha. The man had some definite subby tendencies that I found adorable.

Though the world-building is as impressive as in the first book, I didn’t feel the plot was quite as expansive. Therefore, I wasn’t as wowed here as I had been with The Iron Duke (though I still really liked it).

I also thought Yasmeen’s attitude toward Archimedes seemed to shift suddenly and without a lot of clear reasons, especially considering how vested she was in not falling in love. Plus, as I’ve seen frequently in romances, the deeper in love she fell the weepier she became. This especially annoyed me as she was otherwise so…well, not unemotional, as she’s passionate and full of emotion, but also not one inclined to the softer emotions. Tears seem drastically out of character.

Despite a few little niggles, I’m in love with this series and hope my local library gets the rest of the series.