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No Boundaries

Book Review of No Boundaries (Phoenix, Inc. #1), by S. E. Jakes

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No BoundariesI purchased a copy of S. E. Jakes‘ No Boundaries.

Description from Goodreads:
When your past closes in, running isn’t always an option.

The jobs Marcus Lowry works for at Phoenix, Inc. Investigations are quick and easy, and they don’t give him the nightmares his days as a CIA operative did. That is, until he gets involved in a case that grabs him by the throat and won’t let go.

Cole Jacobs left behind his old life on the streets to make a name for himself rebuilding high-end and vintage cars and bikes. But when a stalker threatens to kill him—and to hurt anyone who stands in his way—his past closes in on him, and he’s not sure where to turn.

The last thing Marcus wants to do is take on a charity case, and to say that he and Cole don’t see eye to eye at first is putting things mildly. But when the first attempt on Cole’s life nearly kills them both, Marcus realizes that Cole is in real danger, and Cole is forced to reveal everything. Almost everything. Because Cole’s deepest secrets could destroy them both. 

Review:
I have read several other books by S. E. Jakes and enjoyed them. In fact, I’ve given every other book by them a 4 or 5 star rating. So, I know they can pace a book, develop a character, write clear, concise scenes and believable romance between rough men. And it’s a really good thing I’ve read these other books, because if I had to judge Jakes on this book I wouldn’t believe it.

This book is rushed, clumsy, inconsistent, poorly edited, under-developed and just a bad example of writing, from an author I know is capable of more. Here is an example: In the final climatic scene the villain is killed (I don’t think that’s a spoiler, the villain always dies in this sort of book) and I couldn’t even tell who killed them! POVs are all over the place, even though there are sometimes (but not always) headers inferring whose POV the section is supposed to be from. Characters were named that weren’t in the book, so I didn’t know who they were. I often couldn’t’ tell who was doing what or in what position someone was in during sex scenes. Names were swapped. It was just a bloody mess!

Part of this may come down to the fact that, as another reviewer pointed out (and that’s the only indication I’ve seen) that this is a spin-off from another series. But this is no excuse and I take issue with this on multiple fronts. One, if you’re calling it a new series, spin-off or not, I should be able to pick it up and read it without reading the previous series; otherwise it’s part of the first series. It should be self-contained enough to allow this. Two: especially if nothing warns the reader that it is a spin-off! And as far as I can tell, nothing does. I feel lied to, as a reader, on this front. Tricked into picking something up that I was never going to be able to engage in without being forewarned.

This was a total fail, made even worse because I expected so much more.

Book Review: Caged in Myth, by J.T. Fairfield

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caged in myth cover About the book:

Abandoned as a baby and left in an orphanage for supernatural children, Octavian Julius McKellter— “Jay” to everyone who doesn’t want a punch in the face—now seventeen, is working full-time as a zookeeper at the Bayou Zoo and Aquarium while struggling to finish his GED.

The Bayou Zoo, staffed entirely by supernaturals, is one of many zoos across the country secretly housing magical creatures deemed too dangerous by the supernatural community to remain in the wild.

Jay ‘s job is made more complicated when accidents start happening too often to truly be accidents and habitats in Area Five—the covert section of the zoo which houses the magical creatures— are sabotaged, allowing some of the creatures to escape.

Working closely with Colin, a fellow zookeeper, to determine who’s causing the problems and why, is both a dream come true and a nightmare for Jay. Being gay isn’t something Jay’s prepared to accept with enthusiasm. Colin’s the first male he’s ever been attracted to, and the guy doesn’t even have the decency to be effeminate, which Jay thinks would somehow be easier to accept. Colin’s tall, strong, and everything that’s masculine. And Jay can’t stop thinking about what it would feel like to press their lips together or draw his fingers down Colin’s tightly-packed abs.

Because someone’s bent on exposing supernaturals to the world by releasing the Bayou Zoo’s magical creatures, even if it means a little death and destruction in the process, there’s little time for Jay to worry about the ramifications of his shifting sexuality or the way Colin looks without his shirt on.

Keeping his sexuality a secret seems like just as big a job as keeping the entire Supernatural community and its captive magical creatures shrouded from the human world. As the sabotage attempts escalate, Jay must juggle his budding relationship with Colin, discovering who’s behind the disruption in Area Five, and staying alive while capturing loosened, deadly Gryphons, Gnomes and Harpies.

Review:

First off, WHY IS THIS NOT LABELED AS A SERIAL? (Even worse, it’s labeled ‘book one,’ which I consider purposeful misdirection on the author’s part.) This ends before it really begins, with a very abrupt To Be Continued. I literally cursed when I reached it because I had been enjoying it. But now I just consider it a waste of an hour and a half. Hey Fairfield, wish you hadn’t wasted my time with publishing part of a freakin’ story!

I’m so annoyed I can’t even bring myself to lay out what I like and don’t like. It’s all eclipsed by my anger at getting shafted by ANOTHER unlabeled serial and ANOTHER unexpected cliffhanger…no, not a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger suggests that something has been left hanging. But this is more of a sheer drop-off. The story is literally just getting started, and it ends. Nothing even pretends to wrap up. Literally nothing. It’s basically just the first 8 chapters of a, say, 30-chapter book. Like someone ripped the pages out and handed them to me loose.

Even though I liked the writing (though it was sloppy) and the characters and was invested in the story, one-star for not being a complete….anything. And being as it’s been out almost 4 years and there isn’t a 2nd, I doubt it ever will be.

Book Review of Blue on Black, by Carole Cummings

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Blue on BlackI believe I purchased Carole Cummings‘ Blue on Black from the publisher when it was on special, last year.

Description from Goodreads:
Kimolijah Adani—Class 2 gridTech, beloved brother, most promising student the Academy’s ever had the privilege of calling their own, genius mechanical gridstream engineer, brilliantly pioneering inventor… and dead man. But that’s what happens when a whiz kid messes with dynamic crystals and, apparently, comes to the attention of Baron Petra Stanslo. Killed for his revolutionary designs, Kimolijah Adani had been set to change the world with his impossible train that runs on nothing more than gridstream locked in a crystal. Technically it shouldn’t even be possible, but there is no doubt it works. 

Bas is convinced the notoriously covetous and corrupt Stanslo had something to do with Kimolijah Adani’s tragic and suspicious end. A Directorate Tracker, Bas has finally managed to catch the scent of Kimolijah Adani’s killer, and it leads right into Stanslo’s little desert barony. For almost three years, Bas has tried to find a way into Stanslo’s Bridge, and when he finally makes it, shock is too small a word for what—or, rather, whom—he finds there.

Review:
I think it really is possible to have too much of a good thing. I adored the characters here. I liked the snarky narrative style. There is some genuine humor that really colors Bas’ personality. I appreciated the interesting world and tech. I liked the slow burn in the relationship. (And it is slooooow, people. There are only two mild sex scenes in the whole 380 pages.) But the book is just too long. The middle drags on and on without anything that significantly moves the plot along happening. It’s just more of the angry, sarcastic interactions between the same characters, which are fun but not enough to keep a story afloat. I enjoyed the story. Don’t let me sound as if I didn’t, but I think it could have been improved on and I’d have enjoyed it even more.