Category: A-B Page 19 of 20

Authors A-B

I remember reading a review of one of the new Jesse Stone author’s books, where the reviewer wished that Atkins had taken over Stone as well as Spenser, wondering what that would’ve been like. Well, I don’t think we need to wonder–Quinn Colson is Atkins’ Jesse Stone.

The catch is, Colson’s Jericho, MS isn’t Stone’s Paradise, MA.* It’s poorer, everyone knows everyone’s business, everyone’s — criminal and not alike — a bit more open about everything (to an extent); and everything seems bleaker — more hopeless — more real?

I’d say something like how the stakes haven’t been higher for Colson and his county, but that’s pretty much a given — Atkins keeps upping the stakes, the tension and the action each time out. The violence — at least the scale of it — is toned down here. It’s a sign of skill and confidence that, Atkins doesn’t feel compelled to have major armed confrontations in each novel. In addition to three escaped convicts coming to Colson’s county, there’s a recently pardoned murderer trying to show that he’s worth the pardon (despite a lot of warranted cynicism from Jericho’s citizenry). Naturally, the escapees have unfinished business with him — and are going to do whatever they can to make him hold up his end of the bargain.

Oh, did I mention that Colson’s troubled sister is romantically involved with the newly pardoned man? Yeah, there’s plot complications a’plenty there. Throw in other personal and political storylines that have been building and developing since the first book, and there’s a good deal for Colson and his associates to deal with.

What’s best about this — both daring and inventive — is throwing a natural disaster in the middle of the action. It keeps the story from playing out as the reader expects, creates hurdles for all the characters, and gives a couple of people the chance to show their true colors.

I have no idea how Atkins is going to pull off the next book — at least I hope he limits it to one book, some writers might stretch it out — the fallout from this one is going to be messy. But I can’t wait to read it.

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* And Colson’s a better soldier than a cop, and…it’s not a perfect analogy. Roll with it.

Dusted Off: The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins

By HCNewton

On June 20, 2013

In Ace Atkins, Authors, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Quinn Colson, Spenser

Well, while I enjoy my time in Tibbehah County, Mississippi with The Broken Places, figured I’d dig this one out of the archives

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The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins
Series: Quinn Colson, #2
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My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Atkins’ has left me cold with his Nick Travers series and I’m still trying to figure out how positively I feel about his take on Spenser (pretty sure it’s very), but there’s no doubt that this series about Quinn Colson just plain rocks.

This time, Colson’s been elected to sheriff, but he’s still learning the ropes, still more soldier than cop. He and his childhood friends (now mostly employed by Colson) have a lot to deal with: a recent Afghan war vet running drugs, a Mexican drug cartel, a child-abusing/selling family, not to mention a few more federal agents than Colson’s comfortable with. Plus a bunch of personal stuff (current and past), and the corrupt local government that Colson started wrangling with last time out.

Tense, fast-paced, morally murky…Atkins has really nailed this. Can’t wait for the next one.

Dusted Off: Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On May 29, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On the whole, Turn Coat is about the problems in the wizarding world that Butcher’s been giving hints about and glimpses at for a while now–and they come into focus in the most surprising of ways–Morgan asking Harry for help.

There’s just so much good stuff to be mined from Harry helping Morgan hide from the Wardens, deal with the Merlin (and others at HQ), investigate a murder/frame-job–it’s almost a shame to see Butcher wrap it up in 400 pages, because I’d love to get more of it. Great stuff.

In addition to all that, we see three important relationships forever altered in important ways (well, maybe one’s only temporarily altered, time will tell)–some good long-term character development for our pal Harry and his gang.

So, so good–Butcher had the ol’ brain firing on all cylinders for this one.

Dusted Off: Small Favor by Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On May 29, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

Small Favor by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved this book the first time I read it, and it’s better the second time around (if for no other reason than I could slow down and enjoy it more rather than have to race to find out what happens). Like he’s been doing for awhile now, the stakes get bigger–as do the foes–in this book, as does the cast.

At the same time–for most of the book anyway–this is a lighter read than the last couple have been, it’s a bit more “fun” in the midst of the darkness and destruction, I guess you could say.

And then the fun goes away and you get only darkness and destruction for awhile–and an emotional punch in the gut that fans really didn’t want (but love anyway).

I’m not sure how well this’d work as a jumping on point for someone new to the Dresden Files, but I think it’d stand on it’s own, and show readers why they’d want to go back and read all of the best Urban Fantasy series going.

Dusted Off: Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

By HCNewton

On April 20, 2011

In Authors, Ben Aaronovitch, Fiction, Rivers of London (Peter Grant), Urban Fantasy

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Series: The Rivers of London, #1

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a very real sense, there’s practically nothing new in this book–neophyte wizard just discovering a world of magic; super-secret police division tasked with investigating (and covering up) supernatural crimes; a whole world of ghosts, vamps, trolls, dryads, nymphs, demigods living unseen amongst mortals; clever (and funny) pop culture references littered throughout the text; and so on…Urban Fantasy 101.

BUT, there’s something about the way that Aaronovitch writes that makes Midnight Riot so fresh, so entertaining, so fun, it feels like I’m reading a brand new genre. He’s basically the British Anton Strout (but a tad bit funnier).

I had a blast reading this–every second of it–laughed out loud, sat on the edge of my seat, and tore through this book.

Dusted Off: Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

By HCNewton

On April 16, 2011

In Alex Bledsoe, Authors, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ll be honest with you, I have only the vaguest of memory of what actually happened in the first Eddie LaCrosse novel (The Sword-Edged Blonde), and only somewhat better recall about the second (Burn Me Deadly). That’s a reflection on the amount of stuff I’ve read in that time, and is in no way a reflection on Bledsoe. I do have a very clear recollection about what both books told me about Alex Bledsoe’s talent and that I enjoyed them a lot. I’m equally certain that Dark Jenny won’t suffer from that same fading from memory/excuse to reread them. This one is gonna stay with me for awhile.

Essentially, this book is a variation of an Arthurian story–ideal king, queen rumored to be less than ideal, noble knight corps with a few rotten apples thrown in, a wizard figure, wicked half-sister, and a whole lotta intrigue–with a few unique twists of Bledsoe’s own thrown in for good measure. Not a sour note to be found here–some notes that were hard to listen to, sure, but…okay, there’s a metaphor that went awry. I was trying to say that yes, there were things that were less pleasant than others–this book goes to some dark, nasty places–but it all worked well.

We get this Arthurian tale via an extended flashback–in the middle of a nasty winter storm, with nothing else to occupy the attention of his neighbors, Eddie receives an interesting package. One so interesting, there has to be a great tale that goes along with it–which he ends up telling to the crowd at his favorite tavern (with only the tiniest of breaks to remind us that this is all in Eddie’s past). By making this all an extended flashback, Bledsoe is able to give us a slightly different version of Eddie–one on the way to being the guy we’ve seen in the last two books. It also gives him the excuse to have a great femme fatale to grab Eddie’s attention without having to write around his lovely lady.

A great, riveting fantasy noir. Can’t wait for the next one already. A decent jumping on point for those new to the series, and a great third installment for those who’ve been around for awhile.

Dusted Off: Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs

By HCNewton

On January 14, 2011

In Fantasy, Fiction, Patricia Briggs

Wolfsbane (Sianim, #4) by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun, solid read with characters you end up caring a lot about without even noticing, just a touch of action, a splash of romance, and at least one character who switches between species. In other words, it’s a Patricia Briggs novel.

Like its predecessor Masques, this was written pretty early in her career, and it shows. It’s still a heckuva story, and I’d jump right into a third adventure of Wolfe and Aralorn.

View all my reviews

Dusted Off: Side Jobs by Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On November 3, 2010

In Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

I’m not big on the short story form. Outside the Nero Wolfe short story collections, I could count on one hand the number of short stories I’ve read in the past 5-10 years. Lately, there’s been a decent number of my favorite Urban Fantasy writers contributing to short story collections–usually on a theme, and usually using characters I really want to read about. But being short fiction, and being surrounded by stories about characters I don’t care about/don’t know/don’t have time to get to know even if I wanted to, I don’t get around to getting my hands on them.

From what I can tell, that’s resulted in me missing some interesting stuff–even the start of a series I’m invested in (maybe more than one, come to think of it, but I’m not going to double check now).

Which is a whole lotta rambling set up to saying why I was very happy to hear that Jim Butcher was going to release a collection of previously published and new Harry Dresden stories. And even happier to get my hands on it last week.

Being short works of fiction, basically every story was this–some sort of problem, Harry investigating rather quickly and then moving right on to the fireworks, usually dazzlingly so. Wham, blam-o, thank you, sir. Each of them also tended to focus on at least one member of the supporting cast in a way we don’t get enough of in the novels. I really appreciated getting to spend a little time with each of these people in this setting.

It was, admittedly, a mixed-bag. The first story, “Restoration of Faith,” was the first Dresden story, and it’s clearly that. There’s a lot to our favorite wizard PI that is recognizable here, and a lot that get’s tossed before Storm Front. A fun read, but I’m glad Butcher tweaked things the way he did.

The rest were better executed–mostly because Butcher’s grown a lot as a writer since then, all were good reads, some better than others.

A couple of other stand-outs for me were the lighter, “Day Off” about Harry’s fruitless quest for a quiet, relaxing day; “The Warrior” in which we get to see post-Small Favor Michael in action–even if it was a tad preachy, Butcher pulled it off, and I was so, so glad to see Michael like this; and “Love Hurts,” which is the kind of story we’ve seen/read countless times about what happens when two will-they/won’t-they friends fall under a spell/temporary delusion/whatever and fall madly, temporarily in love–it’s been done a lot, frequently poorly, but not here.

“Love Hurts” was also a perfect set-up to the novelette Aftermath, which starts up hours after the jaw-dropping/rage-inducing last page of Changes and was, for me, worth the purchase price. If I’d remembered that this was going to be at the end of this collection, I’d have finished the thing in one setting, rather than over a period of days. Great, great story, both for the plot/characters itself, and for what Butcher shows us about how these characters will act without the man in the duster around. Loved it.

Now, this hasn’t convinced me to get these other collections I mentioned earlier–but I just now have hope that some of my other favorite authors will get in gear and publish collections like this one.

Dusted Off: An Open Letter to Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On April 14, 2010

In Authors, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

Dear Mr. Butcher,

I just finished reading your latest Dresden Files novel, Changes and would like to thank you for one of the best reads I’ve had in months. And by thanks I mean to say that I hope you die a slow, agonizing death. Not anytime soon, mind you, it needs to be after you’ve completed the next novel (if not the whole series). Still, I hope it happens, and I hope you dread its coming.

I actually am just kidding, sir. If nothing else, the intensity of my initial reaction speaks to the connection that exists between the great characters you’ve created and your readers. Honestly, you seem like a pretty cool guy, I’d love to buy you a Whopper some time and just chat–‘course what I’d really love is to take that Whopper and shove it so far down your throat that…

maybe I should finish this some other time.

Sincerely,