Tag: Junkyard Bargain

Junkyard Bargain (eBook) by Faith Hunter: Sometimes getting what you want is painful

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Junkyard Bargain

Junkyard Bargain

by Faith Hunter
Series: Shining Smith, #2

eARC, 166 pages
Lore Seekers Press, 2021

Read: October 16-18, 2021


Back in March, I talked about this as an Audible Original. And I’m going to borrow from that, but the eBook is a different experience, so we’ll talk about that a little bit, too.

The Law was uncertain. Vengeance wasn’t.

What’s Junkyard Bargain About?

Shining Smith needs to gear up and improve her weapons and armor if they’re going to take on the task they have ahead of them. This means traveling to Charleston, and selling some of the junk from her scrapyard, and making the right deals.

Standing in their way are rival bike gangs, corrupt police, sex slavers, and random other criminals. Whatever else happens—Shining isn’t going to allow those slavers to hang on to their captives (and likely won’t let them hang on to their lives, either). She needs to avoid the police, strike careful deals with the gangs, and survive the rest—all the while she’s noticing changes in her cats and expands the control Shining’s won enhancements have on those closest to her.

It’s really hard to explain without pretty much recapping everything in the first book.

Shining’s Thralls and Allies

This time through the book, Cupcake, Jagger, Mateo, and Jolene—Shining’s Thralls—grabbed my attention to various degrees more than they had before. Don’t get me wrong, this is Shining’s story and she’s a character that’s worth dissecting.

But what Hunter has done with these secondary characters is really interesting. Cupcake, for example, changes a lot over the course of these pages—due to what’s required of her as well as what happens to her. There’s a lot to Cupcake that’s been latent, but she’s never had a reason/opportunity to express. Now she’s been given that opportunity…I can’t wait to see what Cupcake gets up to in the next installment.

The rest of the thralls all end up doing things that Shining doesn’t expect (this is hard to get into while staying away from spoilers). The way this works out both in the closing pages of this book and in the next is likely going to make or break this series.

Getting back to Shining—one thing that Hunter’s protagonists tend to share is that they’re coming to greater understandings of their abilities (and developing them) in each book. This applies just as much to her post-apocalyptic SF hero as it does to her Urban Fantasy protagonists. It’s just about her nanobots instead of magic.

A Different Experience

This isn’t evaluative, I just figured it deserved a mention. While I’ve frequently moved from reading a book to re-reading it via audiobook, I’ve never moved from audio to text before, so this was an interesting experience just for that. For one thing, I finally learned how to spell “Berger chip.”

I did think that I related to the text, story, and characters differently when reading as opposed to listening—although part of that is due to the fact that this was my second exposure to Junkyard Bargain. It’s like getting to read the screenplay/script for a movie/play that you’re familiar with. I did find that most of the characters “sounded” a lot like Khristine Hvam as I read the dialogue.

I’m definitely still going to listen to the third Shining Smith book when it’s released on audio, but I’m also going to be making sure I get the ebook later (which I didn’t do for Junkyard Cats…yet).

So, what did I think about Junkyard Bargain?

I absolutely love this world. I don’t think one more novella is going to be enough to satisfy my curiosity. I’m going to need more somehow—it doesn’t necessarily have to be about Shining Smith.

After Junkyard Cats took several unexpected turns in the latter half, I didn’t know what to expect from this beyond more of the same. This novella may have ended up where it seemed to be heading from the beginning, but the route it took bore so little difference to what was expected that it’s hard to recognize that. Hunter is filling this post-apocalyptic world with more dangers and strangeness than we’d been exposed to last time, and you know the next installment will increase the danger.

When talking about the last book, I said that it was too brief and not deep enough. This isn’t the case this time—and not just because it was 40 minutes longer. This time it felt like there was a solid match between depth and time—to the point I wondered how she fit it all in the novella-length book.

There were some great action scenes, some solid surprises, and good character development. And…cats with telepathy. I can’t wait to see what #3 has in store.


3 Stars

EXCERPT from Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter: A Breakfast Conversation

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from Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter

“I love broccoli,” I said, shoveling beets into my mouth. “I had broccoli pesto once. It’s good.”

“Oh my god, yes. Anything with garlic and pine nuts is good. You ever tried Brussels sprouts pesto? So good! The greenhouse is just blooming up a storm,” she nattered on now that I had contributed to the conversation, once again cheery, her blue eyes sparkling. I ate and heard her say, “That new hemp mesh Mateo and I strung up? The stuff that was left over from shading the greenhouse compound? We put it up on aisle Tango three.”

“Mmm,” I said, now scooping in the pancakes. Trying not to puke at the growing rotten-finger stench.

“This place needs a good cleaning,” she said. “It’s getting kinda rank in here.”

“Right. Soon. New hemp mesh?” I reminded her.

“It’s absorbing and capturing moisture out of the night air like a dream. Come winter, we might bring in enough to actually get a shower once a week.”

That caught my attention. I swigged my coffee so I could talk. She poured me more. “Fresh water?” I asked.

“Nearly a week’s supply for drinking and watering the greenhouse, in a little over ten days,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “We think we can do twice that in winter.”

My hand, holding the fancy fork, halted halfway to my mouth. “That’s … That’s really good.”

“It’s not a full replacement, yet,” she prattled, “but not bad for summer, and if Mateo and I can get that water tower off the office roof and patch it up, we’ll have a good place to store water.”

Something like pleasure, maybe mixed with joy, flowed through me—a rare and unexpected sensation. “I’m … I’m proud of you, Cupcake.”

Cupcake’s blue eyes widened. Her color went high as she blossomed at the praise. “Eat,” she ordered, pointing at my meal, shaking with elation.

I didn’t praise her enough. I had to remember to do that. I ate. The buckwheat and millet pancakes were tasty enough. The roasted beets were surprisingly sweet and tender.

“It’s good.”

She hid her smile in her coffee cup. That was the thing about thralls. They were eager to please, needed to please, quite literally might die if they couldn’t find a way to serve and didn’t get attention from their nanobot-donor queen. She set down her cup, whipped a nail file out of her pocket, and reached for my left hand. “Not this morning,” I said softly. To keep her from freezing in uncertainty, I continued, “Tell me more about the netting and the free water.” Then, because it made her glow, I added, “This is exciting.”

 


Read the rest in Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter to see what happens from here—and all the new ways that Cupcake finds to serve.


My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter

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Today I’m very pleased to welcome the Book Tour for the e-book release of the second Shining Smith novella, Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter. Along with this spotlight post, I have a fun excerpt to share. I’ll be giving my take on the novella a little later. Those links’ll work when the posts go live in an hour or two.

First, let’s take a look at Junkyard Bargain.
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Book Details:

Book Title: Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter
Publisher: Lore Seekers Press
Release date: October 19, 2021
Format: Ebook
Length: 166 pages
ISBN: 9781622681648
Junkyard Bargain Cover

Book Blurb:

Sometimes before you can face your enemies—you need to confront yourself.

Time is running out for Shining Smith and her crew to gather the weapons they need to rescue one of their own. But will they even make it to the ultimate battle? First, they’ll need to hit the road to Charleston—a hell ride full of bandits, sex slavers, corrupt lawmen, and criminal bike gangs looking to move in on Shining’s territory.

Shining’s human allies will do anything to protect her—because they must. But will victory be worth it if she must compel more and more people to do her bidding? And will her feline warriors, the junkyard cats, remain loyal and risk their lives? Or are they just in it for the kibble?

Purchase Links

Barnes & Noble ~ Amazon

About Faith Hunter:

Faith HunterFaith Hunter is the award-winning New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock, Soulwood, Rogue Mage, and Junkyard Cats series. In addition, she has edited several anthologies and co-authored the Rogue Mage RPG. She is the coauthor and author of 16 thrillers under pen names Gary Hunter and Gwen Hunter. Altogether she has 40+ books and dozens of short stories in print and is juggling multiple projects.

She sold her first book in 1989 and hasn’t stopped writing since.

Faith collects orchids and animal skulls, loves thunderstorms, and writes. She likes to cook soup, bake bread, garden, and kayak Class II & III whitewater rivers. She edits the occasional anthology and drinks a lot of tea. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain’t.

Find Faith online at:

Website ~ Facebook (official) ~ Facebook Fan Group ~ Twitter ~

Yellowrock Securities website ~ Gwen Hunter website

My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

Junkyard Bargain (Audiobook) by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam: Shining Takes to the Road for the Next Step

Junkyard Bargain

Junkyard Bargain

by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator)
Series: Shining Smith, #2

Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 40 min.
Audible Originals, 2021

Read: March 2-3, 2021

The Law was uncertain. Vengeance wasn’t.

What’s Junkyard Bargain About?

Shining Smith needs to gear up and improve her weapons and armor if they’re going to take on the task they have ahead of them. This means traveling to Charleston, and selling some of the junk from her scrapyard, and making the right deals.

Standing in their way are rival bike gangs, corrupt police, sex slavers, and random other criminals. Whatever else happens—Shining isn’t going to allow those slavers to hang on to their captives (and likely won’t let them hang on to their lives, either). She needs to avoid the police, strike careful deals with the gangs, and survive the rest—all the while she’s noticing changes in her cats and expands the control Shining’s won enhancements have on those closest to her.

It’s really hard to explain without pretty much recapping everything in the first book.

How’s the Narration?

In short, Khristine Hvam is the perfect reader for Hunter’s work. She gets how Hunter’s mind works, she knows how to bring the characters to life and how to infuse them with the right kind of humanity. You read enough of an author’s books and it’s just impossible to think of anyone else doing it. Just not sure what else to say about her work.

So, what did I think about Junkyard Bargain?

After Junkyard Cats took several unexpected turns in the latter half, I didn’t know what to expect from this beyond more of the same. This novella may have ended up where it seemed to be heading from the beginning, but the route it took bore so little difference to what was expected that it’s hard to recognize that. Hunter is filling this post-apocalyptic world with more dangers and strangeness than we’d been exposed to last time, and you know the next installment will increase the danger.

When talking about the last book, I said that it was too brief and not deep enough. This isn’t the case this time—and not just because it was 40 minutes longer. This time it felt like there was a solid match between depth and time—to the point I wondered how she fit it all in the novella-length book.

There were some great action scenes, some solid surprises, and good character development. And…cats with telepathy. I can’t wait to see what #3 has in store.


3 Stars

2021 Audiobook Challenge

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