I received an audible code for a copy fo The Eddie Lancaster Series, by Sean Stone. It’s narrated by Hannibal Hills.
Series description from Goodreads:
My name is Eddie Lancaster. I’ve outfought vampires, out planned seers, taken on the fairy kingdom, and even created my own species.
I’ve been on the run since I was a teenager. I have the unique ability to siphon magic out of anyone and anything. My former mentor wanted me to put my talents to work for her gain. When I refused she murdered my parents. She’s been after me ever since.
Description of Warlock for Hire:
He’s annoying, rude and just a little bit sinister. He’s also a warlock. Not just any warlock. He’s a warlock for hire. Need magical assistance? He’s your guy.
Eddie’s life takes a bit of a turn when he meets Ashley Sheridan. She hires him to help her against a powerful seer who is threatening her family. He agrees to help but not in the way she wants. He quickly lands himself in dangerous waters and those he cares about are put at risk too. The deeper he gets the more he wants to put an end to the psychic’s machinations.
But how do you beat a man who sees every move you make before you’ve even decided to make it?
Review:
I thought this was basically ok. I love urban fantasy and Stone has set up an interesting magical world. I appreciated that Eddie isn’t all alpha-male—willing to get beaten up, jokes about only having an average size penis, admitting he’s not good at things. My primary problem (and the reason I say it’s only ok in my opinion) is that I didn’t much like him. His arrogance and casual objectification of women as humor annoyed me. I wasn’t offended or in a feminist rage or anything, I just thought it was uninteresting and boring. Why would I want to read about a guy whose idea of humor is barely above that of the average yabbo? I avoid them in real life, I’m not interested in cluttering my reading with them.
Similarly, I disliked that while Eddie failed at things he was still presented as capable. The female lead, however, was useless, so weak that she couldn’t even be let in on the plan she’s instrumental to. She is little more than a foil for Eddie to shine before. That’s a pretty big ‘Meh’ inducer for me.
All in all, I liked Warlock for Hire enough to continue the series, but maybe not enough to be in a hurry about it. Maybe men will enjoy this more than I did. I kind of sense that’s closer to the intended audience. Fair enough
Description of Warlock Wanted:
Eddie Lancaster’s in trouble.
One month ago I killed Killian Myers – he deserved it – and now Inspector Richards is after me. Luckily he’s got no evidence. But that’s not all I have to worry about.
People are going missing from Mote Park. Not usually something I’m interested in bu the circumstances point to the supernatural so I get hired to investigate and resolve the matter. It doesn’t take me long to figure out that what’s going in in Mote Park is far more sinister than a simple kidnapping.
On top of it all, Rachel, a horrible woman from my past, has arrived in Maidstone and she isn’t leaving without me. No matter who she has to kill.
Wanted by enemies on all sides, I have to find a way to overcome the odds before my friends end up dead and I end up a prisoner. Do you see my problem now?
Review:
I felt very much about his book as I did the first book in the series. The writing is fine, the world is interesting, and the narrator did a good job, but I just seriously don’t like Eddie. The fact that he and the author really seem to be proud of the fact that he’s an antisocial, arrogant, misanthropic sociopath grated on my nerves (and says a lot about the mindset of the modern male). It’s one thing to possess these characteristics, it’s another to bask in and brag about them.
What it feels like to me is…Have you ever heard the phrase “give me the confidence of a mediocre white man?” That’s how Eddies’ constant boasting contrasted with his “I don’t care” when he commits an atrocity feels. Not that him being white is at issue, just the mentality of believing his own superiority even in mediocrity.
So, so far this series has been so-so for me. I’ll finish it as I don’t hate it. But I’m not loving it either.
Description of Dark Warlock:
637. That’s the number of children that have been taken in the last thirty years.
All taken by one person. He never leaves any evidence. He never leaves witnesses. He leaves only a name: Mr. Panomie. And Panomie is far from human.
Eddie is hired to solve the case and bring about an end to Panomie’s machinations. He delves into a world, in which magical creatures are in charge. But Eddie has problems of his own. Rachel is in prison but her curse is fighting to take control of Eddie’s mind. And it’s getting stronger. Each time Eddie gives in to the dark urges the curse gains more ground and he becomes more monstrous. With the darkness inside him rapidly growing he has to figure out a way to cure himself before he becomes worse than Rachel ever was. But it’s getting harder to tell the difference between what’s him and what’s the darkness.
Review:
Honestly, I could just cut and paste my reviews from books one and two here. So, there isn’t a lot worth mentioning. I still don’t particularly care for the character, the narrator still does a fine job and the writing is still perfectly readable (or listenable in my case). There is significantly more personal growth here than in previous books. So, maybe he Eddie becomes less unbearable as the series progresses. All in all, I think it’s just a matter of taste and this series wasn’t the one for me.
