The first novel read in 2013, Rob Thurman's "Moonshine", was completely devoured in 5 days! 5 days over a weekend counts as 'devouring' for me, since most of my reading is done on the bus and I spend less time on the bus on the weekend, and I also spend Sunday catching up on TV so it's basically a write off. This weekend, though, found me thinking, "Another episode of Doctor Who? But... I could read, instead!" I can't think of the last book I read that was 'turn off Doctor Who' good but, seriously, this novel was That Good. Which is crazy talk, because one can never have enough Doctor Who!
The Leandros stories are very action packed, which means that lots of the 'boring' elements are jumped over with frequent use of 'two days later' or Cal (the half-demon protagonist who makes me feel like a cougar) being unconscious for an extended period of time, and coming to when the action is about to get going again. It's a teeny bit irritating on occasion, but it does keep the story moving at a quick pace so that's nice. Literally never a dull moment. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot, and every scene matters, which is awesome. It's a very economical style of storytelling, almost the complete opposite of so much of the 'literature' I've been reading lately!
A bit of a tangent here, but one of the things I was interested in exploring when I began my Booker challenge was how my taste in novels would change, if at all, as a result of genre deprivation. Maybe two novels isn't enough for a definitive answer on that one, but I feel pretty confident in saying that it hasn't changed my taste at all, it's just made me appreciate genre stories even more than I did before. I enjoy the adventure/mystery/suspense of these stories more than I could ever appreciate the navel gazing of the literati. Not that there aren't non-genre novels I enjoy, obviously! I just prefer genre writing. End tangent.
Working in a used-book store, I see a lot of urban and paranormal fantasy books. One of the things I love about this series is that Rob goes beyond the current fads in fantasy characters, delving deeper into mythology. There are werewolves and vampires, yes, but also a plethora of other nasties! I love the level of research that she puts into the non-human elements of the story. I even looked up a few I wasn't familiar with, although Rob does a great job of describing them all in their creepy evilness so it isn't necessary if you don't enjoy doing extracurricular research for a novel! There are also demons of her own device, primarily the Auphe, who are the nastiest of the nasties and thoroughly frightening. The scariest of the monsters for me, so far, was in the first book, "Nightlife", but both novels have moments where I'm so scared I find I'm holding my breath as I read!
I realize I haven't said really anything about the plot, but it's twisty and turny, and I don't want to spoil any of that for you. Suffice to say I loved this book, and the ending was OMG heart wrenching! If you like urban fantasy at all, I'm sure you'll love this series!
I'm going to go rifle through my bookshelves and find my next read. I have a few thoughts on what it may be, but I may surprise myself....
Happy reading!
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