11 posts tagged “p n elrod”
aww, this book left me disappointed. he can't hypnotize people anymore? that puts a damper on things. you'd figure since he'd healed the damage done to his "soul" he'd be able to do everything again. i hope the next book will have his hypnotizing tricks back again, those were the most entertaining. maybe some fans have been complaining that he's too omniscient again? i certainly wouldn't be one of them. damn, now how long would i have to wait for the next one? *pouts* too bad i spoiled myself on the real nature of kroun, otherwise i'd have enjoyed it more. should never, EVER, flip to the back of a book just for a sneap glimpse. not even by accident. sheesh.
finished this yesterday and completely forgot to log it. anyway, the only memorable thing was that the minor villain that popped up in this book was very similar to escott in his mentality and trains of thought, only emphasizing the fine line between sanity and insanity and how close escott came to the latter. i thought that was a nice touch, anyway. the conclusion isn't up to its usual standards, but i didn't think it would be, knowing there was a second part to this story arc (i stole a look at the blurb for the next book, it gave away some spoilers). i expect the next book to expect a really nice wrapping up though, otherwise i'd be sorely disappointed :( on to finish the next book now. last one in the series for a while. hope she writes more!
yay, back to jack fleming now that the holds at the library got picked up. i'll own this set of books someday, just not now :) only until pbs users make it available for me. this was maybe an interesting pace set after the last installment, and i didn't mind escott's prolonged absence after his stunt with insanity. fleming has a stunt of insanity of his own near the end, but it was surprising in that i really thought he was going to kill them, but did not. the little twist with the real identity of lena was interesting, and who her real killer was. again, satisfying closure, and written in such a way that i have no qualms about jack owning a club, which seemed to come out of nowhere for me in the last book. hope the next ones are good!
this installment in the series seems to be much darker, and we finally get the drop on what's going on with escott. i think it's a bit funny that i seem to be using a lot of the slang terms in my daily vocab, but mainly that it rubbed off on me that much. at first i didn't think the plot for this one was really going anywhere--and it seems, neither did she. but once the bit on escott came around, it started getting more interesting, especially the grant part. i can't seem to get over that escott shot jack with a crossbow though, but he seemed to get over it fine. some things i would never be able to bring to do to my friends, but maybe their definition of friendship is a little odd. will wait until i have a hard copy to read the next one.
so much better than the recent ones than i expected, kind of knocked me off balance. this one set off to an even more satisfying conclusion, and now coldfield knows all about jack, and i was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen. shows that black and white exists on both sides of the playing field more pronouncingly, beyond even calloway and baker. i don't like how angela had to do the dirty work for him in the end though, it seemed only fitting that he come face to face with the devil he fears and get it over with, but i suppose that could be arranged for later. his owing angela after all the shit she put him through seems equally fitting as well. this ending is just a cut above the couple of recent books, and it feels like a perfect wrapup to the whole mob business for now. plus, she kept me guessing about the mystery villain until the very end. i don't have a hard copy of the next book, maybe i'll borrow from the library or read an ebook again.
having been unsatisfied with the last one much, i immediately launched right into this one since i had the copy readily on hand. this one ended with her usual impressive closure, and i'm a little surprised to find myself pleased with her writing again. i guess apparently character and closure means a lot to me in what i read. what i'm not satisfied with, however, is his apparent loss of powers as a vampire, period. i found the first book entertaining because he got the drop on his opponents thanks to his abilities. it seems this recent development might be due to fans' complaining about the protagonist's omnipotent abilities, as i've seen them do for other authors/series. sad to say though, i really much preferred seeing my protagonist have some wins out of everything, than seeing him get jerked around the entire book--it was frustrating. come on, just a couple of wins? the next book on is printed in hardcovers, wonder if i'd like that more since i don't have to worry about damaging the covers.
maybe not as impressive as all the ones leading up to this one. it seems like after finding out about maureen's death, jack seems to be rather aimless--or rather, his cases seem to be rather aimless. a character with a motivation was nice, instead of a straight shot mystery or whodunnit. not that i mind in general, but i usually come into these books expecting more thanks to the example the earlier books set. this book, unfortunately, had less of the closure that i was so enthusiastic about in the previous books. i hope this isn't a sign that there would be a developing pattern from this book on..
maybe a little less eventful than the previous installations, but nonetheless a very complete work in itself. i find that elrod's biggest virtue in her writing is her ability to wrap things up with a good sense of closure, unlike too many other authors i can name. we find ourselves seeing jack get over (or simply accept) his guilt over the choices he's had to make, and it's done so in a believable fashion. the only downside is that i knew who the villain was halfway through the book, but not too big on complaints there. i wonder if elrod ever writes female protagonists? not that a male point of view isn't nice, i just wonder what the voice from a female character would sound like. looking forward to being able to hold a solid copy again for the next installation, rather than staring at the lcd screen of an ebook.
unlike the second, this book's title gave me no revelations, but i did notice that escott played a larger role in this to make up for his lack in the second book. in return, bobbi is practically nonexistent in this book, and i guess we're still trying to build up and fully round out characters here. this one was maybe a little less dramatic than the first, i couldn't be sure, but it was definitely not a walk in the park for our jack fleming. his ogling laura sort of disgusted me, but he got what needed to be done done. i thought the ending was wrapped pretty neatly, and left things open for interpretation. maybe something of a cliff hanger? but now we truly know the state of things between bobbi and fleming.i was hoping the black cook guy from the first book would have showed up again, but i felt like he was somewhat replaced by gordy. hopefully not permanently.
taking a break from studying. interesting title to name the second book, and i didn't really understand the significance until i'd read through most of the book, but i thoroughly enjoyed this one every bit as much as the first. what's more, they're short, consistent reads, and it feels more like i'm reading short stories rather than a novella. this book is much darker than the first, and the way he longs for maureen still is enough to make you sympathize and understand why it had to happen the way it did. there is a lot of conflict of character going on, just very good personification all around. there are still moments when i laughed out loud (paul bunyan, "you're showing") but it was certainly not the light fluff i expected from the pace the first book set. maybe this will gradually get darker, and fully explore the depths his character has to breach to keep his humanity in the long run. there is a very intense sense of torment going on in here. will definitely read the next when i can.. which is probably not soon.
