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Was Once a Hero

Book Review of Edward McKeown’s Was Once a Hero

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Was Once a Hero

I grabbed Edward McKeown‘s Sci-Fi/Space Opera Was Once a Hero from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
Reluctant privateer Robert Fenaday searches the stars for his lost love, Lisa, a naval intelligence officer whose ship disappeared near the end of the Conchirri War . He’s joined by the genetically engineered assassin, Shasti Rainhell, whose cold perfection masks her dark past. Both are blackmailed by government spymaster, Mandela, into a suicidal mission to the doomed planet Enshar. Leading a team of scientists and soldiers, they must unravel the mystery of that planet’s death before an ancient force reaches out to claim their lives.

Review:
This is space-opera at it’s best. Fenaday, Shasti, and the rest of their regular, rag-tag crew of “cutthroats, screw-ups and a few pros” have an easy going rapport that was a lot of fun to be part of. Fenaday is your basic nice guy. Someone referred to him as a “gentle pirate” and it’s an appropriate nomen descriptivum. He’s not nearly tough enough for what he does, but he’s smart enough to surround himself with those who can make up for it. I think it would be almost impossible not to like him. Shasti is just plain kick-ass…and let there be no doubt, she both has a nice ass and could kick your ass. Her character does fall a little vicim to the painful trope that for any real woman to be a brave, strong soldier she must also be broken or emotionally injured in some manner, but I’ll overlook it. Then there are a whole host of side characters, some of whom I suspect will carry over into the next book. I especially liked the Tok brothers, Telisan and Mmok.

I was a little confused about people’s country of origin. A number of characters are stated to be from certain countries (Ireland, Israel, etc.) but others are from planets (Mars, Enchari, etc.). I never could decided if the earthlings were meant to be from the actual geographic countries designated or if those countries were meant to have colonised beyond the confines of our Blue Planet. I would hope that intra-galactic travel would have weakened such human divisions.

The story itself had a little bit of mystery, a decent amount of action, a few heart-felt moments, and a couple good laughs. The book did seem to wrap up quite quickly once the mission had been accomplished and I never felt completely satisfied about the whole Lisa situation. But then again I don’t think I was meant to. This is definitely worth picking up.

Review of Tell Me When It Hurts, by Christine M. Whitehead

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Tell Me When It Hurts

I grabbed Christine Whitehead‘s Tell Me When It Hurts from the Amazon KDP list. At the time of posting it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:
Archer Loh, Ivy League grad and Olympic rider, has been carefully groomed to be a government assassin but, at the moment of decision, she instead chooses law school, her college sweetheart, and a quiet life in Connecticut, leaving her violent apprenticeship behind as her own little secret.

When her only child is murdered and the killer goes free on a technicality, Archer ditches family, career, friends and horses to find justice. Brushing up on her lethal skills, and aided by a shadowy and well-heeled vigilante group, she tries to find meaning in her pain and a reason to keep taking another breath by implementing private retribution.

At her lowest ebb, Connor McCall, Harvard-educated financial baron turned Wyoming sheep rancher, stumbles into her life, bringing with him his own demons. And everything changes.

Review:
I’m a fairly dedicated Fantasy and Sci-Fi reader, but I was in the mood for something a little more down to earth so I picked up Tell Me When It Hurts. Granted, I was expecting a little more The Long Kiss Goodnight or La Femme Nikita than The Horse Whisperer, but it was still a sweet story. I teared up more than once, rooted for the characters and was pleased with the ending.

Archer was mired in guilt and in constant emotional turmoil. She was a little horrible, but who could blame her? Not me. Conner was…oh, Conner was just marvellous. He was one of the best characters I’ve come across lately. I loved him. He sooo deserved to be happy. There were also a whole host of small-time side characters who all had an important role to play and you couldn’t help but like them.

The above sentence, with the movie/book references in it, would fit nicely into the Tell Me When It Hurts. There are a lot of them in the book. It’s a game the characters play, and by extension so does the reader. It was kind of fun and I suspect that there were even more than I was able to catch.

The book did drag a bit in the middle. It wasn’t that nothing happened, in fact a few small but important things occurred. It was just that for a little while there it became a string of mundane occurrences, Christmas shopping, getting the mail, walking the dogs, etc. I know that this was sort of the point. The characters were falling into a life together, but I’m used to a bit more action and was relieved when things picked back up.

The book would definitely appeal to fans of Nicholas Evans more than those of Robert Ludlam, but I recommend it for anyone who likes a story about the resilience of the human spirit and overcoming personal tragedy.

Book Review: A Midsummer Night’s Demon, by Brenda Sparks

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A Midsummer Night's DemonI grabbed Brenda Sparks‘ novella, A Midsummer Night’s Demon from the Amazon KDP list.

Synopsis:
Daelyn Torres is determined to break free from her over-protective brother. Born a demon, she knows little of the world outside her home and work. A chance blind date promises adventure and perhaps a walk on the wild side. But her night on the town takes a deadly turn when she is gravely injured and left to die. A handsome, mysterious stranger comes to her rescue and brings with him a passion she has never experienced.

A dark guardian sent to investigate a series of missing person cases, vampire Ky Robinson is ready for anything, except the insatiable desire that engulfs him when he meets Daelyn. He senses their destiny is intertwined and vows to do everything in his power to keep her safe. The only problem: demons and vampires go together like fire and ice.

Daelyn never believed in things that went bump in the night but is more than willing to be seduced by the sexy vampire who marks both her body and soul. Will Ky be able to keep them both alive long enough to prove that vampires and demons can be so much more than friends?

Review:
While entertaining, A Midsummer Night’s Demon left me scratching my head. Daelyn Torres is supposed to be a demon, but what kind I just don’t know. Not only is she extremely sweet and naive, but she’s also an ACCOUNTANT with a penchant for SUN DRESSES. We sure aren’t talking Mephistopholes, Belial or the Christian hierarchy here. In the end, it didn’t really seem to matter. Other than longevity her status as a demon might as well have been any other cultural quirk. She could have been a practitioner of Wicca or a dedicated Buddhist, the effect would have been the same.

For a full 83% of the novel I also kept waiting to meet the overbearing brother mentioned in the synopsis. He plays almost no role in the novella, which means that the blurb is being used to provide background information not present in the book. My gut reaction is that that isn’t right. It just seems that all pertinent information should be contained within the story itself.

Then there were the unanswered questions. What was the secret mission Ky’s partner was off on? She was introduced briefly but disappeared. Why was Raziel acting out of a vampiric character? What happened to Daelyn’s parents?

Really most of the above could have been addressed by more bulk. Had the book been a bit longer it could have addressed Daelyn’s background and family history, as well as explored the demon angle enough to give it a purpose. The side characters could have been fleshed out and explained. Despite my general sense of confusion I did enjoy the book. Ky was just fabulous. It would be almost impossible to not love him. He was kind, considerate, handsome, patient, sexy and funny. Daelyn simply existed. She was the woman who passively accepted Ky’s affections. But so many PNR females are just the same, so I can’t really complain about her lack of volition. The writing was fine and I don’t remember many editorial errors. All in all, it was satisfying enough.