The point of these quick takes posts is to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. I’ve had themes for most of these lately, this one really doesn’t have a theme. Just books I can’t seem to find time to write about, I guess. I really wanted to do lengthier posts about these (and have drafts started on them), but it’s just not going to happen.
 |
The Authoritiesby Scott Meyer, Luke Daniels (Narrator) |
(the official blurb)
This is a comedic police procedural with a dash of SF. A beat cop who ends up featured on a very embarrassing viral video gets the opportunity to capitalize on his inadvertent fame by becoming the face of an oddball group of crime fighting experts assembled by a tech guru to revolutionize policing.
This screams TV movie as backdoor pilot to an 80s TV show. I could see this as a pretty long-running series. I’m guessing the sales weren’t there–or maybe Meyer didn’t have a second novel in him (maybe it was a stand-alone all along?)–because there hasn’t been a follow-up. With something that feels so much a kick-off to a series, the fact that there’s nothing more takes a little of the shine off the ending. Just a little.
I enjoyed this–decent mystery, great cast of suspects–great cast of characters period–fun set up, solid (and goofy) execution. Lots of fun.
The narration on this was done by Luke Daniels, who I am an unabashed fan of, I’m not going to waste anyone’s time talking about what a great job he did with this one, because it’s obvious.
 |
A Man With One of Those Facesby Caimh McDonnell, Morgan C. Jones (Narrator) |
(the official blurb)
I did a Media Res post about this audiobook, and it was as fun as it seemed at the time. It’s another comedic crime novel–there are a couple of cops running around, but the focus is on a couple of civilians who should absolutely not be the focus of a crime novel. Which is what makes it work.
Looking ahead, my least favorite character (actually, I had a hard time liking him at all) seems to be the focus of the series. It makes me reticent to carry on, but curiosity might get the better of me.
But as a stand-alone? This works so well–a solid thriller but told with wild characters. It’d be really easy to edit this just a little and remove all the humor and end up with a pretty gripping thriller novel, but with the humor? I really strongly recommend this.
The narration is really well done, although the voice choice for Bunny McGarry irritated me–and I probably would’ve disliked the character anyway but it really didn’t help.
 |
The Vigilante Gameby Meghan Scott Molin |
(the official blurb)
MG has so much to accomplish in this book–she has to get her bestie out of jail, uncover the vigilante running around as The Golden Arrow, keep the Hooded Falcon movie on track, and secure her career in comics–oh, and maybe embrace adulthood and a real relationship.
It was…fine. It was enjoyable, a little mad-cap, and frequently sweet. While better than the second novel, I don’t think it achieved the levels of the first novel. I had such high hopes for this series–and I’m not saying I’m disappointed by the way it ended, because Molin wrapped up everything nicely and sent our characters off with happy endings. but I was underwhelmed. Still glad I read the series, just not as glad as I expected.
 |
Wild Signby Patricia Briggs |
(the official blurb)
My first reaction to the setup for this novel was An Answer to a Question No One Asked…
In the end, I like what the book did for the relationship between Bran and Leah (and hopefully gets rid of some of the “ew” factor from Burn Bright). It didn’t wow me, but I really enjoyed my time in this world again.
I’m sensing a trend here in the Mercy-verse, for the longest time, Vampires were the major threat, then we dabbled with the Fae, but it didn’t stick as much as it could’ve–now we’ve had a couple of novels in both series where witches are behind all/most of the trouble. I wonder what the end game is…
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, opinions are my own.
Grab a book, any book.