Tag: Urban Fantasy Page 7 of 42

On July 6, 2023

In Literary Locals

Too many months ago, Parker participated in a Q&A about writing in Idaho with me, now I have a chance to talk about her debut book!

Pure of Heart

by Danielle Parker

DETAILS:
Series: The Faoladh Series, Book One
Publication Date: September 27, 2015
Format: Paperback
Length: 328 pg.
Read Date: June 29-July 3, 2023

What’s Pure of Heart About?

In this world, werewolves are born, not made, and apparently begin changing around adolescence. In Harper’s case, this is dangerous—her parents died before they told her anything about lycanthropy and she had to learn about it along with the uncle who took her in and raised her from the age of eight. Grady knew his sister got furry every full moon, so it wasn’t a total surprise—but that’s about all he knew about werewolves.

She’s in her twenties now and pretty much all she knows is that chains can’t hold her down and that her wolf will kill and eat people if given the chance. Harper’s taken it upon herself to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Her uncle and friend/veterinarian regularly hunt her down and shoot her with tranquilizers when her wolf gets out of the house.

Harper’s entire life seems to revolve around not letting the wolf get out of control. Which seems like a lonely existence—and it pretty much is.

Until a new woman moves to the small Colorado town to take over her late grandparents’ bookstore. Something about Emerson affects the wolf part of her—Harper can’t even come close to understanding it. But her wolf immediately acts strangely (and we’re talking strangely for a werewolf, so it’s really strange) as soon as Harper meets Emerson.

Harper’s got to figure out what’s going on with the wolf before something happens to Emerson.

Parker’s Werewolves

I guess I should say “Faoladh” instead—but whatever. Keeping in line with her tumblr page’s title, Parker’s “Werewolves Don’t Sparkle.” Harper’s wolf is dangerous to everyone and everything (particularly doors/walls/fences). There’s little tame about her. We’re reminded of that constantly (bordering on too often).

This shows up in Harper, too—her wolf is always below the surface and keeps her from being too likable to many people. That’s a nice little touch and as (if?) Harper and her wolf start getting along better as the series continues, it’ll be good to see how that changes her.

The way she describes the change (particularly from human to wolf) is really good. Over the years of reading werewolf UF, it’s become one of those things that jump out at me to differentiate the authors’ take on lycanthropes and Parker’s strikes me as one of the better versions of that.

Harper and her family know incredibly little about her, um, condition. And it’s almost wholly from trial and error (mostly error). Because he didn’t manifest the werewolf heritage, Grady’s parents and sister didn’t bother to tell him much about it. I find that difficult to swallow, but I’m willing to do that for the sake of the story. I do appreciate that her cousin isn’t going to have this issue, he knows almost as much as the reader does. Harper stumbling through all of this practically blind makes it very easy for the reader to jump in with her and learn alongside her.

We are told a couple of times that there’s a difference between Faoladh and what we think of werewolves thanks to books and movies. But we have no reason to believe that yet—I really want to see us have that reason as well as see how that actually works out. I’m not saying that because I’m skeptical, but because I think both will refreshing and stimulating.

On a semi-related note, people in this town are quick to take a couple of clues and jump to the conclusion that “this woman must be a member of a species that I thought was the stuff of folklore and horror movies until right this second.” A little more self-doubt would’ve been nice, but it’d have slowed the book down too much.

So, what did I think about Pure of Heart?

I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting from this book—but it wasn’t what Pure of Heart ended up being. It’s a compelling read, for sure, just not for the reasons I’m used to in typical UF/werewolf novels, which is a pleasant change. For starters, there’s no big supernatural foe (unless you count Harper’s war within herself). It’s human drama, just with a massive side helping of the supernatural on board. Actually, I’ll just stop with that, too, so I don’t end up saying too much.

It’s also a great pastiche for Disney’s Beauty and The Beast—and once you start seeing that, it’s everywhere, adding a level of entertainment.

I don’t have a major problem with the romance arc that the book ended up focusing on, but it looked for a minute or two that we’d be swimming in strong and interesting platonic friendships, and those intrigue me more lately. So that was a minor disappointment, but just a minor one. I’m a little worried about the level of consent involved given the supernatural angle—see also, my qualms with Jolly’s BaIT—but Parker seems so focused on it, that I’m trusting her. Also, there’s reason to suspect that everyone involved is going to come to a greater understanding of Faoladh abilities soon, and that’ll give her a chance to assuage any feelings of creepiness.

Is it a wholly successful novel? Not quite—but it’s close enough to make getting (and reading) the second book a priority. The writing was compelling and engaging—Parker can tell a story and keep the reader curious and entertained the whole way. A lot of snark and love flows between her characters, Harper’s family/friends are a tight bunch and it’s hard to resist that feeling. Her characters brim with life. I think with another book or two under her belt, Parker could turn into a favorite author.

Check this one out, for sure.

3.5 Stars

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The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 27: Zero Rescue by R. T. Slaywood: So, That Happened

On June 30, 2023

The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 27: Zero Rescue

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #27
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: June 29, 2023

This is bad

This is really bad

…

I’m losing.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. Taking refuge in a homeless encampment, Bonaduke has to make some decisions. He starts to get his thoughts in order when the police begin a raid at the camp. During the raid, he’s apprehended by…well, we need to find out. But first, the interrogation kicks off—Bonaduke tries to work his grift to get him out, and while that effort starts off promisingly…it didn’t quite go the way he’d intended. He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good. He attempts to rescue her before he even realizes what he’s doing, and…

[I really need to tighten that up, hopefully I have time for that next week]

What’s Zero Rescue About?

That title doesn’t fill you with a bunch of hope for what’s about to happen, does it?

We left Bonaduke in a pretty precarious situation. And it gets worse this episode starts.

And then…well, I’m not precisely sure what happens (yet?), but it’s big.

I know I’m being vague, but it’ll be an episode or two before we get a real idea what happened.

So, what did I think about Zero Rescue?

I hate to complain about typos (really)–but there’s one in the final line that took away some of the impact, which is a crying shame, because it was a good one.

I think I liked the episode, but I’m a little afraid that Slaywood might be getting vague and indefinite (maybe even muddled) rather than mysterious and enigmatic. But in time, I trust we’ll get some resolution.

I don’t really have much to say about this episode–I like the directionit’ headed, but I’m going to need to see more before I have much more to say.

3 Stars

Cutthroat Cupcakes by Cate Lawley: This Cozy and Witchy Mystery Drips with Appeal

In Fiction, Literary Locals, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Urban Fantasy

On June 29, 2023

It’s been too long since I posted a Literary Locals book, so I’m glad to get a chance to do that again. I had a quick Q&A with Lawley a few months ago about writing in Idaho, if you’re curious.

Cutthroat Cupcakes

by Cake Lawley

DETAILS:
Series: Cursed Candy Mysteries, #1
Publication Date: July 21, 2020
Format: eBook
Length: 262 pgs.
Read Date: June 22, 2023

“How do you kill a person with a cupcake topper?”

“When it’s drenched with as much raw magic as yours are, so many different ways.” Sabrina ticked off options on her fingers. “As a potion additive, as part of a ritual, ingested by the magic-user to add to their own power. Yeah, those are probably the top three.”

“Yours was used to create a potion which was then added to a beverage the victim drank, from what we can tell,” Miles added helpfully.

I really didn’t feel so good.

What’s Cutthroat Cupcakes About?

Lina’s having a slow day in her store—a year-round custom-made candy store with a Halloween theme—when everything she knows about her family, herself, and the world as a whole changes.

Lina discovers that magic is real and that she’s a witch in one of the worst ways imaginable to learn these things—by being arrested by a supernatural cop for killing someone with an item you cursed.

This cop is a wizard with the International Criminal Witch Police who has a certain amount of leeway in his jurisdiction—since he’s easily convinced that Lina has no idea how she may have cursed the candies in her shop, he offers to cut a deal with her—if she helps to track down the person who used her unintentionally cursed items, he won’t pursue charges (ignorance of the law yada yada yada could still get her a few years as an Accessory). Apparently, once you know what you’re looking for it’s easier to find traces of your own magic than it is to find someone else’s, so it makes sense to recruit Lina into this investigation, even if she doesn’t know anything about the magical side of things.

Lina’s curious about this whole witch thing, desperate to not be convicted of a crime—and fairly attracted to this detective, truth be told. So she puts her store in the hands of a new (witch) acquaintance for a few days and takes the offer.

The Boise-ness of It All

“The three of you are it? For the entire city of Boise?”

Bastian huffed. “City? Town.”

“Hey, now. No smack-talking Boise.” I’d only lived here five years, but that was long enough to recognize that the place definitely had its charms.

“I’m not talking smack. I’m stating a fact. It’s a town, not a city. But to answer your question, the three of us cover the greater Boise area.” His lips pulled into a grimace. “Insomuch as there is a greater metro area.”

You know right away that this is some sort of fantasy—there’s no way that a homemade candy shop—particularly a Halloween-themed candy shop—survives in downtown Boise for as long as Lina’s has. Yes, the idea is appealing, but it’s easier to buy the idea of the magic, to be frank.

Outside of that, putting this series in Boise helps ground it—Lawley has some good fixed locations for things and is able to use that geography to her advantage. But no one who is unfamiliar with Idaho’s capital is going to suffer for it—it’s a nice bonus for those of us who make the same drive as Lina does to know how long it takes so we know how long the uncomfortable silence (or whatever) will be. But that’s about it.

The Cozy Factor

I drank my exceptional espresso with exactly the right amount of cream and tried to keep my annoyance at recent events to a minimum. Nothing like a rotten mood to ruin good caffeine.

This is pretty “cozy” on two fronts—the magic and the mystery. We only get very broad brushstrokes about magic, how it works, what it can/can’t do, the society of witches/warlocks/wizards, and so on. Lawley gives us enough details to keep the story moving. We do get to see some magic at work, and get a sense that some ritual and effort is necessary—but Lawley’s not coming at this like Butcher, Rowling, or Harrison.

The mystery part of the book is solidly in the cozy area as well—we’ve got a candy store owner, a detective who works out of a coffee shop, and a whole lot of generally nice people (even a suspect or two are pretty nice when you get to know them).

The effect of both of these is to make you as comfortable as if you’re relaxing with one of the some of the drinks and treats described while the world passes by.

So, what did I think about Cutthroat Cupcakes?

Maybe I should have dithered, asked for more information, heck, even asked for the questions first. But this was the guy who’d cured my headache. Despite having locked us in my store earlier and disabling my phones, he seemed a stand-up sort of guy. Maybe he wasn’t warm and fuzzy, but…I trusted him. And that’s saying a lot given the fact he arrested me.

I initially thought this seemed like a charming idea for a cozy mystery series, but I wasn’t prepared for the extent of its charms. I devoured* this in one sitting and if I owned it, I’d have likely rolled right into the sequel (I will be rectifying this situation soon). I want to use words like cute and adorable, but those both feel condescending, so I’m sticking with charming for now. Enchanting might work there, too. But that’s a little too something given all the witchiness of the book.

Lawley’s not afraid to have a little fun with the premise—the first (aware) witch we meet is named Sabrina, for crying out loud.

*Pun intended, naturally.

The characters are all great (I thought about spending some time talking about them, but why ruin your fun?). The candies are tantalizing—even for someone who abstains from sugar. The coffee shop owned by the detective (there’s not enough supernatural crime to be a full-time job in this area—and he needs a cover story for the non-magical folks) will cause cravings for sure.

Basically, this is a light-hearted, sweet, appealing, and charming book. I encourage you to grab a snack, pick up Cutthroat Cupcakes, and get lost in the world for a little while. You’ll feel better for it.

3.5 Stars

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The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 26: Something Awful by R. T. Slaywood: Whoa…

On June 23, 2023

The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 26: Something Awful

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #26
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: June 23, 2023

My boot connected with his face. I felt a squishing sensation through the heel of my foot and watched as his entire head collapsed inward like an oversized cadbury egg.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. Taking refuge in a homeless encampment, Bonaduke has to make some decisions. He starts to get his thoughts in order when the police begin a raid at the camp. During the raid, he’s apprehended by…well, we need to find out. But first, the interrogation kicks off—Bonaduke tries to work his grift to get him out, and while that effort starts off promisingly…it didn’t quite go the way he’d intended. He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good. He attempts to rescue her before he even realizes what he’s doing, and…

What’s Something Awful About?

We left Bonaduke in a tight spot—surrounded by a lot of people being led by someone with some sort of interest in their abductee. We don’t know what that interest is, but we know it’s not going to be easy for him to get her out of there.

That’s what this episode’s about—just how hard it’s going to be when all of these people decide to stop Bonaduke. There’s no magic, there’s no grift, there’s no navel-gazing, or anything. It’s just an all-on-one brawl. Bonaduke’s better at that than I’d have guessed—it might just be a combination of fear, adrenaline, and oddly good luck. But it might be working for him.

So, what did I think about Something Awful?

This was nothing but action. The plot didn’t move forward at all, like with many other episodes, but this was so action-packed, who could notice?

There were a couple of lines where I wasn’t sure exactly what Slaywood was trying to accomplish, but by and large, he did a convincing job with this brawl. I was glued throughout and can’t wait to see how/if Bonaduke gets out of this one.

3.5 Stars

Catch-Up Quick Takes: A Handful February and March Books

On June 19, 2023

In Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Politics/Current Affairs, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Celeste was right, and I don’t have to write about everything—but I have a hard time convincing myself of that. I’m far overdue on saying something about these six listens and one read. So, let’s do a little catch-up (if only so I can feel better about myself). As always, the point of these quick takes posts is to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.

The Devotion of Suspect X

by Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith (Translator), David Pittu (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: Detective Galileo, #1 (in English, anyway)
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: Feb 1, 2011 
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 9 hr., 2 min.
Read Date: March 7-9, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org!

(the official blurb)
A homicide detective consults with his friend, a genius and physicist about a tricky murder. His friend may be a college professor and not a detective, but there’s something about the way his mind works that helps Detective Kusanagi think better, and consulting his friend has worked in the past.

This is the murder of a seemingly odious man and it seems tied to his ex-wife, who’d been avoiding his abusive presence for years. Kusanagi can’t tie her to the killing, but there’s something going on that makes him want to. So he keeps investigating and then his pal gets involved, too.

This was a perfectly satisfying read, but I wasn’t as wowed by it as I expected to be. Sorry, Jeff, still appreciate the recommendation.

3 Stars

The Dead Will Tell

by Linda Castillo, Kathleen McInerney (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: Kate Burkholder, #6
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 37 min.
Read Date: March 10-14, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org!

(the official blurb)
A pair of apparent suicides gets Kate Burkholder to dive into their pasts, and she discovers a common tie—to a 35-year-old murder of an Amish family. This puts her in a race against time to discover what’s (or who has) caused their deaths now, and if she can stop anyone else from dying while maybe solving this old horror.

The cold-case nature of this is a nice change of pace, but at the end of the day, it’s a brutal crime against the Amish. I’d just like to see someone else in her community the victim of a crime.

That came out wrongly. But it’d be nice to let this community have even some fictional relief.
3 Stars

Profiles in Ignorance:
How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber

by Andy Borowitz

DETAILS:
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication Date: September 13, 2022
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 51 min.
Read Date: March 13-14, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org!

(the official blurb)
Borowitz traces how mass media and the political parties (particularly one) have worked to dumb down politics, the electorate, and our elected officials since Reagan’s initial run for governor and ending in the present. It’s insightful, it’s depressing, but it leaves a little room for hope.

I really wish he’d done a better job of making this bi-partisan. While he might be right that one party is guilty of more of what he’s talking about, I refuse to believe they’re alone—which makes this feel like too much of a partisan attack, rather than an exploration of the topic. Both have their place—I’d just have preferred a little more of the latter.

I initially assumed that this would be typical Borowitz humor—which I appreciate. But no, this was serious in intent and execution. Earnest Andy Borowitz is an interesting concept. A little humor crept in, but not much. I prefer him when he’s trying to be funny, but I’d read/listen to more like this from him, too.
3 Stars

Space: 1969

by Bill Oakley, starring Natasha Lyonne and too many others to list.

DETAILS:
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: 2022
Format: Audible Original
Length: 5 hr., 35 min.
Read Date: March 29, 2023

(the official blurb)
This is more like an audio play than a book (with all the clunky dialogue that implies). Oh well.

So the premise is that Kennedy survived the Dallas shooting and the space race kicked into overdrive—and by 1969, we have a Moon Colony and a space station. Nancy Kranich is a nurse on the station (with an interesting past), and is pretty miserable, oddly enough. Nancy stumbles into a conspiracy involving an intergalactic threat and former vice-president Nixon (a largely forgotten figure by this time).

Without Natasha Lyonne (and most of the voice cast), I don’t know if I’d have finished this. But because of Lyonne, I’d enjoy relistening to it. It was amusing and strange—feeling like a classic radio SF drama but with some really contemporary sensibilities. I’m not sure it’s the best of both of those worlds, but it was a fun combination.

3 Stars

Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped

by Annette Marie, Cris Dukehart (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: Guild Codex: Demonized, #3
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication Date: June 23, 2020
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 28 min.
Read Date: February 1-2, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org!

(the official blurb)
I’m having trouble remembering just what happened in this one—that’s the case for the entire Demonized arc so far, it’s all one story (which is great for the series, a pain when you’re trying to say “this is the one where…”).

I did enjoy the overall plot of this one, but my favorite parts are where this series overlaps with the other series in The Guild Codex—and I found myself increasingly impatient with Robin as she was off doing her own thing.

I am really tired of the will-they-won’t-they between Zylas and Robin—which is really a how-long-can-Marie-stretch-this-out.

3 Stars

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

by Elle Cosimano, Angela Dawe (Narration)

DETAILS:
Series: Finlay Donovan, #3
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: January 31, 2023
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 38 min.
Read Date: February 9-13, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org!

(the official blurb)
I am continuing to enjoy this series—but I’m not sure for how long. It’s getting harder and harder to accept the antics that Finlay and Vero get up to—and the way Finlay treats those around her. This book in particular stretched credulity. I fear that Cosimano is learning the wrong lessons from Evanovich.

I’d also like to see Finlay actually do some more parenting—it’s hard to sympathize with her plight when it comes to custody, etc. when she’s always handing off her children’s care to someone else (although, it does keep them safe).

Dawe’s narration is so good that I will put up with a little more zaniness. But without some changes to the series, I’m not sure how long I’ll stick around.
3 Stars

Anna and the Vampire Prince

by Jeanne C. Stein

DETAILS:
Series: Anna Strong, #9.5
Publisher: Hex Publishers LLC
Publication Date: April 25, 2017
Format: Paperback
Length: 92
Read Date: February 17, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org!

(the official blurb)
Anna’s in France dealing with her mother’s death, and her niece’s death is kidnapped. So she has to reach out to her local allies to try to rescue the girl.

The action bits were Stein at her best but the story felt rushed—but this was largely an excuse to revisit the characters, so it didn’t need to be too involved. As a bit of nostalgia, it was nice—but Stein did a good enough job wrapping up the series that I didn’t feel a giant need for something like this (as demonstrated by the fact that it took me 6 years to get around to reading it).

It was just fun enough to justify my time.
3 Stars This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from any of them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, my opinions are my own.

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 25: Nothing by R. T. Slaywood: This Ain’t Nothing

On June 16, 2023

The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 25: Nothing

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #25
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: June 15, 2023

My grift had brought me here. Call it luck, call it destiny, hell call it bad stuff I was done running away. Done hiding. Done. I clenched my jaw and pulled open the disabled sliding door that I somehow knew would be unlocked.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. Taking refuge in a homeless encampment, Bonaduke has to make some decisions. He starts to get his thoughts in order when the police begin a raid at the camp. During the raid, he’s apprehended by…well, we need to find out. But first, the interrogation kicks off—Bonaduke tries to work his grift to get him out, and while that effort starts off promisingly…it didn’t quite go the way he’d intended. He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good.

What’s Nothing About?

Before he can register what he’s doing, Bonaduke races to the woman to try to free her. There’s some commotion from the rest of the squatters and one—presumably a leader of some sort—moves to intervene.

A physical altercation ensues and Bonaduke finds a way to use his grift to help himself and…

I don’t know, we’ll see how badly this goes for him* in the next episode.

* Or how well, I should say—he’s due, right?

So, what did I think about Nothing?

Oh ho! This was good—plenty of action, a little exploration of Bonaduke’s abilities, and the kind of cliffhanger ending that leaves you in anticipation (rather than an eye-roll because it’s clearly manipulative (although the point of a cliffhanger is to manipulate, you know what I mean)).

Bonus points for the rather realistic self-injury resulting from a thrown punch.

No complaints from me on this one. I’m eager for the next episode.

3.5 Stars

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 24: Circles without Center by R. T. Slaywood: That’s Not What I Expected At All

On June 9, 2023

The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 24: Circles without Center

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #24
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: June 8, 2023

My grift had brought me here. Call it luck, call it destiny, hell call it bad stuff I was done running away. Done hiding. Done. I clenched my jaw and pulled open the disabled sliding door that I somehow knew would be unlocked.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. Taking refuge in a homeless encampment, Bonaduke has to make some decisions. He starts to get his thoughts in order when the police begin a raid at the camp. During the raid, he’s apprehended by…well, we need to find out. But first, the interrogation kicks off—Bonaduke tries to work his grift to get him out, and while that effort starts off promisingly…it didn’t quite go the way he’d intended.

What’s Circles without Center About?

Not much. Bonaduke starts to wonder what’s going on with his grift, it’s not working like he’s used to–but maybe that’s because he doesn’t understand it.

He then walks into the building his grift brought him to and finds something neither the reader or he expected.

So, what did I think about Circles without Center?

I have no idea…I didn’t dislike it. But I’m not convinced that I have enough to form an opinion on. I need more to go on.

If the goal was to get me to click on the next episode–it worked. The only reason that I didn’t immediately go forward is that I needed to get some sleep. I really want to see what Bonaduke walked into.

3 Stars

A Few More Quick Questions With…D.I. Jolly

In A Few Quick Questions With...

On June 8, 2023

I talked about D.I. Jolly’s BaIT earlier this afternoon, and now I’m pleased to bring you this Q&A with him. I’m particularly grateful to him for this because I sent them the questions under the mistaken impression that we’d previously discussed doing a Q&A. He graciously replied quickly anyway.

Could you take a moment or two to introduce yourself to my readers? What set you on the path to writing, describe your path to publication, genre choices, and so on?
My name is D.I. Jolly, I’m a South African author living in Germany. I first wanted to be a writer when I was about seven years old and played a video game called Gabriel Knight, where the titular character was an author and just the coolest person I could imagine, so I decided I would be him when I grew up.

I currently have seven published books, five novels and two short story collections. When I moved to Germany is started a writing group called Poetry Club, and in the last seven years I’ve written over 270 short stories for this event, and all the ones that aren’t in the published collections are uploaded onto my website. So, if anyone is interested in dipping a toe into my writing you can read over a hundred short stories for free on my site.

When it comes to genre, my aim is always to use it as a story telling element. Rather than a setting. So, with Mostly Human, I used the elements of lycanthropy to display mental health and bipolar disorder. With Counting Sheep, the sci-fi elements are there to create an exaggerated environment of capitalism and consumerism, the two key themes of that novel. With Bait, I wanted to have what is seen now as a cliched paranormal romance novel, but focus on themes of consent rather than lust.

What was the genesis of Bait—both the story and the themes (assuming they didn’t pop up together in your mind)?
As I said, the main theme for me in Bait is consent. I had often joked that I could just write a romance novel and publish it on the Inkitt platform and get thousands of reads no problem. And I joked about it so much that I was challenge to put my money where my mouth was. So, I did, and in researching what was the current focus and trends in romance, I noticed something I really didn’t like. Something called ‘soft consent’. For those who don’t know, soft consent is when a book is written in the first person and the reader is in their head, so even though a character is saying “no, no, no, get off me.” The reader knows that in their head the character is thinking, “actually yes I want you.”

Now, I’m not here to shame anybody, your fantasies are yours, enjoy them. But what bothered me was that a lot of the audience for these kinds of books on those kinds of platforms are younger teenagers. And I saw a pattern of the snake eating its own tail, in that, an adult with experience and understand would write a soft consent novel to live out their fantasy. Absolutely fine. That would then get read by a teenager who learns something about themselves and expresses it in their own book. But now you’ve lost the experience and some of the understanding behind that kind of story. That then gets read by another teenager who does the same thing, and now it’s just focused on the sex and lacking consent but being displayed as, ‘this is what love looks like’.

And I wanted to throw a wrench into that spiral. So, I wrote Bait and made sure to show that consent was vital and very important, that consent could still be very sexy, and that consent taken away was traumatic. Both sexually and in the case of not listening to your partner while they’re in crisis.

And low and behold it got hundreds of thousands of reads on Inkitt, and was so popular that the digital rights were licensed by Inkitt and published on their pay to read app Galatea, and the publishing company TinPot acquired the print rights and put it out into the world.

I picked up a nod or two to your Mostly Human books—does this take place in the same world? If so—these werewolves seem different from Alex and the rest. Am I wrong about that? Or do you have multiple species wandering around the world (which is kind of cool), and do you plan on having them intersect?
They are different worlds in my head, but I did just want to put Easter Eggs to my other books in the story. Mostly for my own entertainment but also just to have a little nod to people who maybe go from Bait to reading some of my other books. I like the idea of someone who loved Bait diving into Mostly Human and going. “Ooooooooooohh!”

Jessica is a big personality. I know people like her and they can (fully unintentionally) take over a room/conversation in a moment—was it a challenge to keep her as a secondary character and/or keep her from taking over most scenes she’s in?
Because Bait is written in the first person and Jessica is always preserved not given her own perspective it actually made it very easy to have her be a big personally but not stealing the story. Having the boundary walls of not getting her own point of view, made it safer in a way to let her steal the scenes she was in, and to really be herself. It was also a lot of fun to write.

You’ve got a few books now under your belt—I’ve often heard that writers, or artists in general, will forget hundreds of positive reviews but always remember the negative. What’s the worst thing that someone’s said about one of your books, and has it altered your approach to future books?
There is a two-star review of my first book A Guy A Girl and A Voodoo Monkey Hand that is about 2 pages long, that point by point breaks down everything I apparently did wrong.

There is also a review of Mostly Human with the line. “…and the author didn’t really know what Thai Chi was.” Which always makes me think. “I don’t think you know what a joke is.” But hey. It’s still a four-star review. But these are the comments that live rent free in my head.

Is there a genre that you particularly enjoy reading, but could never write? Is there one you’re dying to try?
I read a lot of classics, Russian and Japanese literature. Which goes from brutal to psychedelic realism. Which I really enjoy reading but really don’t think I could write in that way. The way I think and tell stories doesn’t lend itself to that sort of world building and descriptions.

here’s a game we play around here, called “Online Bookstore Algorithm”. What are 3-5 books whose readers may like BaIt?
I’ve been told that if you enjoyed the Twilight series, you’d really like Bait. There is a very popular book on the Galatea app called Millennium Wolves, and those readers would also get behind Bait I believe. Otherwise, I don’t know, Vampire Academy? Or the Sookie Stackhouse books.

What’s next for D.I. Jolly, author?
I wrote a dark psychological thriller called Blurred Lines that I’m currently shopping around. I’m also working on a new novel Milton (working title) which is a family comedy drama. That I’m really enjoying working on. I’m waiting for a video game to be announced that I can finally tell people which game I wrote the story for, which is exciting. Poetry Club is still on going, the last Monday of every month, so there will be some new short stories going live on my website the next day. Yeah, lots of things going on, and they’re all writing.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for Bait, and hope you have plenty of success with it.
Thank you, me too.

I’m Sending Some Mixed Messages about BaIT by D.I. Jolly (and picked up some from BaIT, too)