Category: Fiction Page 259 of 341

by Karen E. Olson
Series:Nicole Jones, #2

Hardcover, 220 pg.
Severn House Publishers, 2016

Read: August 19 – 20, 2016

When we last saw Nicole Jones, she was running away from the new life she’d built for herself — the job, home, friends — rattled by the presence of the FBI and the criminals from her past. The idyll was gone, and her life and freedom depended on her making a break for it. So, she headed for the border and the Great White North beyond.

She tried to convince herself that her next home, next identity, would be as long-lasting (at least) as her previous. But she knew better, deep down — and the readers did, too. Not just because it’s a sequel, but now that everyone knows that she’s out there, they’ll look harder. So Nicole has to be ready to run again, and she does so when the time is right. Which leads her to new risks and dangers, as well as to a greater understanding of what happened in her early criminal career to set her on this path.

There were a couple of times I thought Nicole was too trusting, too willing to not be suspicious. She really made some bad moves there. But honestly, I’m not sure she was in a position to do much else. Shadowed was, on the whole, a lot less realistic-feeling than Hidden, but oh well — it may not have been full of verisimilitude, but it followed the rules that Olson laid out before, and it was entertaining enough that you got over that.

I saw a few of the twists coming (or at least something that looked like them), and by a certain point I had 97.3% of the rest of the book worked out to an uncanny accuracy. That other 2.7? Totally blindsided me. More importantly — the stuff that I’d guessed, the stuff that I hadn’t (and couldn’t), and everything else was written in an engaging, entertaining and controlled fashion. I’ve read too many crime novels lately that seemed chaotic from time to time, where things happen because the author wanted them to, whether or not it fit the story — this one wasn’t anything like that. Olson knows what she’s doing, and you can tell that throughout.

This didn’t wow me the way that Hidden did, but I liked the world — I still really like Nicole — it hooked me almost from the get-go, and definitely left me wanting to know what’s next. Olson continues to impress and satisfy.

—–

3 Stars

The Corruption of Chastity by Frank Westworth

By HCNewton

On September 14, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Corruption of Chastity

by Frank Westworth
Series: Killing Sisters, #2

ePub, 352 pg.
The Book Guild, 2015

Read: August 3 – 5, 2016

I’ve put off writing this one for far too long, mostly because I’m torn and I’m not sure what to say.

First, this is the second in a series and I spent a little too long at the beginning trying to get my bearings. I got there with a little work, but the new reader has to wade through a lot to suss out the events of Book One. This is not necessarily a bad thing — just a warning for others new to the series.

This book has some pretty high highs, and a really low low.

The big high is in the suspense/espionage-like material. Chastity (and her sisters) are top-notch assassins — although, it could be argued that Chastity has done this sort of thing a few too many times, and she’s the worse for it. She’s gotten herself in a tight-spot, and Stoner the burned British agent (or whatever he technically is), is hired to get her out of it. Doing so yanks him out of his retirement (living the life of a musician on a cruise-ship) and plunges him into a chase through Europe to find out who has Chastity in their sights and to stop them.

Most of the characters are doozies, strong voices, strong perspectives, troubling violent tendencies (well, troubling to most people — but just what’s needed for their situations). Not just Chastity and Stoner — but the wide variety of spooks, criminals, military types and blues musicians we run into along the way.

There’s enough twists and turns to keep the reader (and Stoner) guessing and on their toes. I wasn’t crazy about one of the subplots but most of that probably comes from me not knowing the players before.

There’s a torture scene that is truly disturbing (and I didn’t buy the foundation for it), incidentally. The violence outside of that as pretty graphic, but (mostly) nothing too much for those who’d read this genre anyway. That’s neither a high or a low, just an observation I think I should make.

The low? It’s the sex. There’s a whole lot of it — probably too much. Not just that, but it’s described in too much detail. Give these people some privacy, will you? Even that is excusable — but man — it’s just poorly written. “Poorly,” might be pulling my punch — it’s just bad. These sex scenes are the kind of thing that makes Tom Wolfe’s “Bad Sex in Fiction” award-winning (and nominated) books look erotic.

Outside of the bedroom, Westworth can write — he knows how to keep things moving, how to zig when the reader’s expecting a zag (or how to execute a zag so well, that you don’t care it’s what you expected). When we get the character moments, the action/suspense stuff — even the talk about music — this book is so good, it’s right up there with Finder, Child, and Sharp. And that ending? I really want to see what Stoner does next. I just hope he keeps it in his pants (ditto for everyone else).

Disclaimer: I received this from the author in exchange for my honest take on his book — I wish my thoughts were a bit more coherent, and were timelier, but I really appreciated the book.

—–

3.5 Stars

Pub Day Repost: An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson

By HCNewton

On September 13, 2016

In Craig Johnson, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Walt Longmire

An Obvious Fact

by Craig Johnson
Series: Walt Longmire, #12

eARC, 320 pg.
Viking, 2016

Read: July 29 – 30, 2016

4 Stars

Craig Johnson is so consistent with these books that he makes it really hard to write about them. I’ve struggled with this one for weeks — how can I say something I haven’t before? I’m not sure I can, but I guess I can start with what makes this one different from the rest.

For starters, Henry’s borrowed Walt’s set of Sherlock Holmes (without his knowledge or consent, but who cares) and spends the novel quoting Holmes at inopportune times to his buddy. I laughed every time. Walt didn’t find it that amusing — and paid him back by talking about what a silly and reckless endeavor riding motorcycles is — much less racing/jumping/etc. He had plenty of opportunity to make these kind of remarks as the two of them were in Hulett, WY for the world’s largest motorcycle rally, where Henry is attempting to recapture a victory of his younger days.

Walt’s been brought in to help with the investigation of a motorcycle crash, the small local police force is stretched beyond itself due to the rally and really can’t take it on. It seems pretty cut and dry on the surface — just a bad break and a bit of careless driving. But every time Walt looks at another piece of evidence, he finds more reasons to doubt the obvious facts.

We learn a lot about Henry in this book — but he’s not really in it all that much (at least less than he’s been in others, lately). And while he’s not really at odds with Walt, you really can’t say that he’s on his old friend’s side throughout (nor is he really acting all that rationally).

Vic comes back to Wyoming, and injects her flair into the investigation and Walt’s life. She also continues to be the embodiment of many men’s dreams between her looks, brains, language, driving and shooting. I’m not going to say if she’s my Platonic ideal, I will say that for a totally unrealistic character, she’s a whole lotta fun.

The Whodunit was pretty easy, the Whydunit was trickier (and the Accessories to the Who were more difficult, but not hard). But, hey, we don’t read these books for the puzzle — we do it to watch Walt figure things out and to spend time with our friends from the Equality State (and the nations within it). In the end, this is just what you expect out of a Walt Longmire novel — some laughs, a nice little puzzle, a little fisticuffs, maybe a little gunplay (not necessarily a shoot-out). Well-paced, well-told, all in a day’s work for Johnson.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Viking via First to Read in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.

—–

4 Stars

Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope by Berkeley Breathed

By HCNewton

On September 13, 2016

In Comics, Fiction

Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope

by Berkeley Breathed

eARC, 144 pg.
IDW Publishing, 2016

Read: September 10, 2016

I have a hard time believing it’s been 25 years since the last Bloom County collection — but that’s mostly because I’m in denial about my age. Even if it’d only been 2.5 years, it’d be great to see the ol’ gang back together.

I really don’t know what to say here — what can anyone say about Bloom County at this point? It’s about as good as it ever was. I could be wrong, but I’m not sure that Breathed is as sharp as he was last time out, but who is? And when you’re world is as well-developed, with such a great cast of characters, and strong point of view, no one’s going to complain. Well, at least I’m not.

The author’s note explaining his return to the comic, the little bonuses hidden through the pages, and being able to read these offline make this a must for fans — whether you actually listened to the Billy and the Boingers record or if you first read them on Facebook. It’s not just a nostalgia trip, there’s good material here.

One note about format — you want this in paperback. I don’t want to complain, but this was a nightmare to read on my eReader. Paper is the only way to go with this.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from IDW Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.

—–

4 Stars

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Audiobook) by Alan Bradley, Jayne Entwistle

By HCNewton

On September 12, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley, Jayne Entwistle (Narrator)
Series: Flavia de Luce, #1

Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs
Random House Audio, 2009
Read: June 2 – 6 ,2016

This is going to be one of those quick ones where I mostly quote myself:

Our 11-year-old hero (no, this is not a kid’s book [not that there’s anything inappropriate for anyone who’s made it through Rowling here]) is a budding, self-taught, chemist with a curious mind and a stubborn streak a mile wide. Her family life is a mess — but in a charming, amusing, English countryside way — but our plucky gal has managed to get through it pretty much intact and for the better.

So when she discovers a body on her lawn, yet the police shoo her away from the crime scene and dismiss her, she starts her own investigation. She’s helped early on by a fact or two the police didn’t obtain from her, and some that she kept to herself out of spite. Her father’s arrest for the murder just adds fuel to her fire and becomes determined not only to solve the case before the police but to make them eat a good-sized helping of crow.

Probably not much of a spoiler to say that’s exactly what she does, because the book’s not about that foregone conclusion, but in watching Flavia do that while making less-than-flattering observations about her older sisters.

This second time through, I did appreciate the way this whole thing was constructed — particularly the mystery and the reveal — but also the character moments. I also found the stamp minutiae a little more interesting (but wow, did it take a long time to get through!). I did think there was more of the inspector in this one, but that’s just my memory failing me.

Entwistle was really solid in her narration — I honestly can’t imagine that anyone else could’ve pulled it off. Well, maybe Yeardley Smith, if she can do British accents. Entwistle captures the spark that makes Flavia Flavia, the wit, the spirit, the naïveté; and does a fine job with the rest of the cast of characters, as well.

All in all, a fine audiobook rendering of a fun crime novel. Strongly recommended.

—–

3.5 Stars

United States of Books – Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell

By HCNewton

On September 12, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

Once Upon a River

by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Author: Teri at Sportochick’s Musings

Synopsis

Bonnie Jo Campbell has created an unforgettable heroine in sixteen-year-old Margo Crane, a beauty whose unflinching gaze and uncanny ability with a rifle have not made her life any easier.

After the violent death of her father, in which she is complicit, Margo takes to the Stark River in her boat, with only a few supplies and a biography of Annie Oakley, in search of her vanished mother. But the river, Margo’s childhood paradise, is a dangerous place for a young woman traveling alone, and she must be strong to survive, using her knowledge of the natural world and her ability to look unsparingly into the hearts of those around her. Her river odyssey through rural Michigan becomes a defining journey, one that leads her beyond self-preservation and to the decision of what price she is willing to pay for her choices.

Review

I am not sure where to start with this review. I had a very hard time listening to Margo make bad decision after bad decision in this story line. I understand her upbringing and that she didn’t have choices like most 16 year olds do. Margo had a mother who didn’t function well in life and a father who had checked out of life because of her mother leaving and the loss of his job. She only had two people who showed her the love she deserved. One whose husband raped her and a man who honestly loved her, treated her like a queen but she lost him because of what she did in front of him with one of her rapists.

The author did a phenomenal job in the area of describing the scenery and setting up the story. What I had a hard time with is the roughness of the characters. Not that they weren’t well written they were. For me it was about something I dislike reading about or witnessing. I don’t want to read about the raping of a minor, being raped, murdering and taking revenge by death of those that do it to you. Though I understand why one would want to do it. For me it wasn’t realistic that she would get away with so much and never get caught.

For many people they will enjoy this book, for me I did not. It did cause me to think about what and how I would have reacted in the same situations. Also it made me wonder why is it that some people can overcome what she went through and others keep repeating the cycle of dysfunction.

For the overall impact I give this 2 1/2 Stars

A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl

By HCNewton

On September 9, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

This was supposed to post on July 21, believe it or not, but that morning before work, I gave it one final skim and decided it wasn’t right. I made a couple of notes and cancelled the post. And then promptly forgot about it. I’ve tried a couple of times since then to address the notes, but sadly, they were too note-ish and not enough worked out to really help me remember what I wanted to address. So…I’ve had to settle for this. The book is better than my post (they usually are, in case you haven’t noticed)
—

A Hundred Thousand Worlds

by Bob Proehl

Hardcover, 354 pg.

Viking, 2016
Read: July 13 – 16, 2016

Only you can decide where your home is. And every good story is about finding your way there.

I want to invoke The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, or one of the Grossmans, or Ernest Cline — but who isn’t invoking them when it comes to this book? So consider them invoked, I’ve done my duty, and now I’m going to avoid them. Proehl’s book about people attending a series of Comic Conventions will attract those are into “Geek Culture,” but it’s not really targeted toward them (us). The book is set in the world of Comics and SF, but that’s it — it’s just where this novel about mothers and sons, artists of sundry stripes finding their place in the world, and a boy learning about story happens to take place.

Val, an actress on a now-cancelled show that’s sort of X-Files mixed with Fringe (and how many of you want to watch that show, right now?) is spending a few weeks of the summer going from Comic Con to Comic Con on a cross-country trip with her son, Alex. She’s not an unemployed actor, she’s busy off-Broadway, but isn’t flush, so the Cons are paying their way to L.A., where a major shakeup in their family structure is going to take place. As they move West, we travel through time to trace Val’s relationship with Alex’s father, up to the devastating events that led to her moving to New York with her son and without her husband. Val is having a hard time wrapping her head around the fans attending the Cons and what they expect from her — but she’s getting it.

Alex is almost too perfect — which is a pretty big danger when it comes to writing kids, they’re either too precious, too precocious, too stupid, too . . . well, you get the idea. Alex is clever, intuitive, and sensitive. He’s got a great imagination, and just needs a little direction as a creative-type. (N.B.: This is one of those paragraphs I needed to develop better and failed to, for those of you keeping score at home.) He’s the hinge that all this stuff hangs on — as much as this is a story about Val (more than anything else), without Alex it just doesn’t happen. Entire posts/articles/essays could and should be written about Alex — but they’ll have to be done by people better than me. He’s not entirely realistic, but he’s a great character.

Gail is an up-and-coming comic writer, who may have found her level in the industry (lower than anyone wants). She has a couple of good friends who are rooting for her. While she travels form con to con, she wrestles with her own personal demons and history and dos what she can to help others with theirs. Her new friendship with Val is one of those things that will reward them both.

Brett is an artist/co-writer of an indie comic with his long-time-friend. The two aren’t having the best time working together anymore, each getting distracted with their own projects. From future professional gigs to helping Alex out with his story.

Alex’s “Idea Man” and the traveling troupe of female cosplayers are deserving of far more attention and analysis than I can provide — so let me just say that they’re all fun to read, thought-provoking and ignored at the reader’s loss.

Val didn’t know the name, but she knew there was a lot of excitement around it. It’s something she likes quite a bit about this little world: the capability of those within it to get deeply and sincerely excited about things. She wonders how they fare in the real world, where excitement is poorly valued, and she tries to think of things she has been excited about. There are so few.

If “the capability . . . to get deeply and sincerely excited about things” isn’t one of the best descriptions of contemporary Geeks, I don’t know what is.

There are a handful of goodies for those who are into Comics, SF and whatnot — the Doctor Who analog is great, ditto for the Alan Moore and Green Lantern analogs. There are some that are more subtle, too. I think I got most of them, but I’m sure I missed a few.

The writing is strong — although Proehl has a couple of ticks I could do without. For example, I’m not sure how many times he said something like, “Before she got her start in comics, Gail ran . . . ” and then talked about her blog. Once would’ve been enough with that (although it does fit in nicely with the origin-story thing he has going on, and maybe that’s the point). I don’t know that you could call this “light” at any time, but there is an optimism (mostly) throughout — but an optimism tinged with realism.

At the end of the day, this was a very compelling tale, full of characters that you wanted to spend time with (more time with, actually). Proehl might give one or two storylines a very “happily ever after” feel, but some of them are left to the reader to conclude on their own. I liked that. Nicely written, compelling characters in a setting that is very relatable — how can I not love this?

—–

5 Stars

Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja

By HCNewton

On September 8, 2016

In Epic Failure, Fiction, Joe Zieja, Science Fiction

Mechanical Failure

by Joe Zieja
Series: Epic Failure, #1

Hardcover, 343 pg.
Saga Press, 2016

Read: August 17 – 18, 2016

No duty was too great that R. Wilson Rogers couldn’t find a way to shirk it.

This is the essence of R. Wilson Rogers (don’t ask what the R. stands for) compressed into one sentence — an engineer for the Galactic Navy during the longest peacetime in Galactic Memory. As a result of all the peace, there’s not a whole lot for a Naval ship to do — nor for the men assigned to it. So, Rogers and his fellow crew members got up to a lot of nonsense — drinking, gambling and worse. Eventually, Rogers finds himself leaving under less than auspicious circumstances. Not long after that, under even less auspicious circumstances (which I’ll leave for you to read about and chuckle over) he finds himself back on the appropriately named Flagship which has transformed in his brief absence in to a serious-minded place, full of random inspections, wartime preparations (despite centuries of peace), and odd assignments.

Before long, Rogers finds himself getting promotions, leading a group of battle droids, and seriously considering suicide and desertion (favoring the latter, I assure you) — and that’s when things really start to get interesting.

This is pretty decent Military SF with a twist of humor, a dollop of irony, a pinch of satire, and so on — I don’t want to compare it to Adams. But I’ll compare it to a mix of Scalzi, Harry Harrison, Jack Campbell, Grant Naylor and Peter David. There’s a sense of play, even when he’s not going for the comedy, which makes the whole thing fun to read.

Best ‘droid since Marvin, best malfunctioning human personality software since Marvin (or Lore — but not as creepy or murderous), funniest ‘droids since Kryten. I could keep those comparisons going — essentially, I really liked all of the Droids on Flagship (especially Deet). The CO reminded me of some sort of hybrid between the pointy-haired boss and Douglas Reynholm is great comic relief, but there’s more to him than that.

Honestly, I could go on and on, Zieja assembled a great cast of characters — real enough that you can like them, outlandish enough that you don’t take them terribly seriously. Not just the obviously comedic characters either, there are a few “straight (wo)men” characters scattered throughout, keeping the rest grounded. Rogers is the best of the bunch – there’s a little personal growth to him (no one’s more surprised and dismayed by that than him), I enjoyed seeing that come out. I liked how despite himself he learns to set aside prejudices, take things seriously, and even act a little heroically. I as amused by (and occasionally disturbed by) his attraction to/fascination with the Amazonian Marine Captain. Rogers’ way of looking at the world is pretty relatable (I’m not saying that he’s the kind of guy you spend time with, he’s the guy you want to spend time with), and he’ll win you to his side pretty quickly.

One thing that I really appreciated was the respect that Zieja showed to the military personnel throughout this — too often everyone (with a maximum of a couple of exceptions) in a book like this is depicted as a moron — think of Richard Hooker’s classic for a moment. It’s just one example, but it’s a good one. You’ve got Jones, the Painless Pole, Hawkeye, Trapper, Duke, and a couple of nurses here and there who are competent, if not great, doctors. Who else? Everyone else is a “regular Army” schmuck ho shouldn’t be allowed in an operating theater or near anything where life and death decisions come into play.

Zieja doesn’t play it this way — these Navy and Marine men and women (with one or two exceptions, because there are always exceptions) are treated as competent, equipped and dedicated people whose greatest problem is that they have nothing to do, so things get a little loopy from time to time. But you give then an enemy, you give them a goal, you give them some way to target their talents and energy — good things happen. Even the really incompetent turn out to be quite competent when put in the right spot, doing what they’re good at (even if that’s not what they want to be good at). Problems are solved, crises averted, and enemies thwarted. That’s just not seen often enough, and I appreciate Zieja doing that.

That doesn’t mean he can’t find ways to make fun of the dedicated, the competent, and equipped — but he doesn’t make them into buffoons to do so (mostly).

I knew that I was going to like this book by page 3, I was audibly chuckling by page 4. The rest was just gravy. I laughed, chortled, and grinned my way through this — practically from beginning to end. The story as pretty good, the story plus the comedy made this gold. If I could think of stronger words to use to endorse this, I’d probably slap them here. But I can’t — just get your hands on this one. Meanwhile, I’m already looking forward to the sequel.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the Publisher in exchange for my honest comments on it — sorry for the delay, I greatly appreciate the book.

—–

4 Stars

Pub Day Repost: Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart

By HCNewton

On September 6, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Lady Cop Makes Trouble

by Amy Stewart
Series: The Kopp Sisters, #2
eARC, 320 pg.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016
Read: August 6 – 8, 2016

Miss Constance Kopp, who once hid behind a tree near her home in Wyckoff, N.J., for five hours waiting to get a shot at a gang of Black Handers who had annoyed her, is now a Deputy Sheriff of Bergen County, N.J., and a terror to evildoers. — New York Press, December 20, 1915

The novel’s epigraph tells you pretty much everything you need to know. In the previous book, Girl Waits with Gun, Constance goes to extremes to protect her family from criminals, now she’s moved on to being an official “terror to evildoers.”

Constance begins the novel as a Deputy Sheriff, but political pressure removes her (temporarily she’s assured) and she’s demoted to matron of the women’s jail. She’d been serving in that capacity anyway, but now that’s all she does. She notes, and is probably on to something, that the police are far more willing to arrest women knowing there;s a matron at the jail to watch over them than they were when it was just men. That’s probably not the kind of women’s equality that people hoped for, but I guess you take what you can get. During this time, Constance makes a horrible blunder — one that jeopardizes her career as well as that of Sheriff Heath.

Bound and determined to keep her job (and for her friend and boss to keep his), as well as to see justice done, Constance ignores orders, protocol and (what some would consider) good sense and sets off to correct her error. Doing so will take her out of her comfort zone and into a long investigation that will remind her just what kind of evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Reading about Constance — and some of the professional women she meets in NYC — reminds me of the book I recently read about Nelly Bly and the efforts of female journalists to be taken seriously, and given the opportunities to do more than society page work. Another female law enforcement officer that Constance meets in the opening pages isn’t allowed to do much at all in her role — far less than Constance can (and does). Now this other woman seems content in that, even scandalized at Constance manhandling a suspect, but that doesn’t change the fact that times are changing, and it’s determined women like Constance and Nelly Bly that are going to make them change.

The friendship — and mutual respect — between Constance and Sheriff Heath continues to bloom, and be misunderstood by everyone (with the possible exception of Norma) from Mrs. Heath to juvenile delinquents. But really, there are no romantic sparks (and I expect Stewart will keep things that way — as did history, it seems). I do wish that more people in Bergen County — particularly some of her coworkers (even just one) — most people outside of her home (see especially almost everyone in New York) seem to be encouraging/accepting of a female Deputy.

Norma and Fleurette aren’t as important to the progress of the plot in the sequel — Norma’s stubborn, no-nonsense streak keeps Constance moving when she needs it. Fleurette’s naïveté and desire for a different life fuel Constance’s desire to make the world a better place — at least their corner of it — and to keep the money rolling in. Watching the Sheriff Heath interact with these ladies is a hoot.

I’m not sure it stacks up to its predecessor as a novel — it’s not as deep, the story’s really straightforward, and you might argue the ending is a bit rushed. But, it’s a whole lot more fun to read. Having established the world so effectively in the first book, Stewart can just let her characters live in it. This is a solid crime novel, elevated by the historical circumstances and actual history that undergirds it. Stewart really won me over with this one, I hope we have many more installments to come.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

—–

4 Stars

The Key to the Coward’s Spell by Alex Bledsoe

By HCNewton

On September 6, 2016

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

The Key to the Coward’s Spell

by Alex Bledsoe
Series: Eddie LaCrosse, #?

Kindle Edition, 27 pg.
Tor Books, 2016

Read: September 3, 2016

This over-before-you-realize-it short story is a welcome dip of the toe back into the world of Eddie LaCrosse, sword jockey (i.e., medieval private eye). Bledsoe’s Tufa series is one of the best things around, but man, I enjoy this series so much.

LaCrosse has been hired by a local blacksmith to find his kidnapped son. LaCrosse is sporting a broken arm, so he’s going to need a little more help than normal, Jane Argo, for one — and some new faces, too. There’s really not a lot to say, here — half of the action takes place before the story starts. LaCrosse gets a little more intel, and then jumps into action.

The action is brief and to the point — with a nice twist or two along the way. Nothing special, but it’s a good couple of sequences. And a brief reminder that no matter what you dress it up in — modern time/tech/clothing, generic fantasy tropes, SF, whatever — there are some forms of evil that transcend those details and are just evil that need to be fought in whatever little way we can.

Yeah, it was fun to spend some time in this world and with LaCrosse and everyone. But man, just as you get into it, the story’s over. Just not enough to really satisfy, but it was a fun taste. I don’t know that this is a good intro to the character (it might be), but it’s a good reminder for those who’ve met him before that they want to read more about him.

—–

3 Stars