Willow has a special talent--she can sense peoples' feelings, know their regrets, and tell them their future. Growing up she thought everyone had her ability--until she started using it and realized she was special. Enter Alex. When Alex arrives in Pawtucket, NY, his mission is simple: kill the angel. However, what he finds is nothing he has encountered before and he has to make a choice: to kill or not to kill. When Alex follows Willow to the meeting of the Church of Angels, he is puzzled by her even more and in a rather unlikely turn of events, the assassin becomes the rescuer when the mob of churchgoers turn against Willow. The unlikely duo race across the country, away from the their common enemy and into an unknown future. Along the way, they discover the true meaning of trust and what it is to really love someone, despite the odds against you.
Angel Burn was a refreshing addition to my reading shelf. I am often a tad apprehensive about reading these types of books because at this point I've read so many and some are definitely disappointing. This one, however, delivered! The storyline started out a bit slow and I wasn't at all sure I was going to enjoy the book. The prologue and first chapter left me wanting a little something more. However, as soon as Willow and Alex team up, the story turns into a non-stop adventure that I couldn't put down. I found myself turning page after page just to see what would happen next. Willow and Alex were unique characters with strong personalities. Willow especially was a breath of fresh air in a genre where so many female leads are written as weak or flaky. Willow was strong and independent (no Bella syndrome here--this girl can fix cars and everything!). The romantic interest between the two develops throughout the story, which I really appreciated. It wasn't an instant happening that came out of nowhere and I really appreciated that.
The one thing that bothered me with this one was the use of first-person narrative from Willow's perspective but third person for anyone else. The switching back and forth caught me off-guard a couple of times but did not deter from my overall enjoyment of this book.
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Candlewick Press via NetGalley for my honest review. It will be released in the US on 24 May 2011.)
Showing posts with label action-adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action-adventure. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files / Jim Butcher / 418 p.
All but one of these short stories have been published before, in one or another anthology, but I don't read a lot of short-story anthologies, and picked this book up only for the sake of the final story, which takes place a few hours after the end of Changes, the latest full-length novel in the Dresden Files series that I am addicted to, the story-world within which all the stories take place
Jim Butcher uses several of these stories to bring out elements of the series that have not appeared in the novels - to narrate from the perspective of characters other than Harry Dresden (Harry's half-brother, the vampire, and Harry's bff Murphy, the cop), or to tell a story with a lighter tone than the nail-bitingly suspenseful and high-stakes novel series. Other stories just read like shorter versions of the kinds of problems Harry deals with in the novels: a crime or spate of magic/monster-related crimes occurs in Chicago, Harry the wizard PI, with help from one or more of his sidekicks, confronts the perps and removes the menace.
The only short story in this collection that didn't thoroughly please me was "Last Call." Not that it was awful, but it just didn't seem all that fresh. I like the Dresden Files series for Harry's mixture of doofus and daredevil, and Murphy's strong action-heroine mojo, and even some of the amusement of recognizing a genre cliche...but I found "Last Call" a little too strong on the latter.
"Aftermath," the one previously unpublished story, written from the perspective of Murphy, performed pretty much as expected. It added new action and developed some key character relationships in the series, while leaving the reader in the dark about the major unresolved question at the end of Changes.
Jim Butcher uses several of these stories to bring out elements of the series that have not appeared in the novels - to narrate from the perspective of characters other than Harry Dresden (Harry's half-brother, the vampire, and Harry's bff Murphy, the cop), or to tell a story with a lighter tone than the nail-bitingly suspenseful and high-stakes novel series. Other stories just read like shorter versions of the kinds of problems Harry deals with in the novels: a crime or spate of magic/monster-related crimes occurs in Chicago, Harry the wizard PI, with help from one or more of his sidekicks, confronts the perps and removes the menace.
The only short story in this collection that didn't thoroughly please me was "Last Call." Not that it was awful, but it just didn't seem all that fresh. I like the Dresden Files series for Harry's mixture of doofus and daredevil, and Murphy's strong action-heroine mojo, and even some of the amusement of recognizing a genre cliche...but I found "Last Call" a little too strong on the latter.
"Aftermath," the one previously unpublished story, written from the perspective of Murphy, performed pretty much as expected. It added new action and developed some key character relationships in the series, while leaving the reader in the dark about the major unresolved question at the end of Changes.
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