Review: Quick Read, Reserving Judgement
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2013
This was a very quick read, which makes it a perfect "smartphone book" (the kind that's nice to have up when you're waiting on line). The pacing is quick, the prose is clean, and the main character is pretty clearly drawn. It was refreshing to see an old-school bloodsucking monster in the midst of a glut of broody sparkleponies.However...after the first or second episode of the main character ripping through people like they're tissue paper, I started expecting something to change--at least for the victims' reactions to differ. The conflict between the main and his creator was interesting, and the scenes between them were cleanly written--this author has a gift for writing action scenes.If this were a horror short, I'd give it between 3.5 and 4 stars, because I felt the author could have cut out half of the "hunting" scenes and replaced them with more complex conflict between the main and his creator. That alone would have made it a more complete read and a satisfying little snack.But if this is a prequel to any sort of romantic series, Ronan is going to be a hard sell as a romantic lead. The lack of interaction between him and the object of his obsessions casts him as an "unreliable" narrator--which would make a great lead-in to a horror story of one-sided obsession, but not so much for a paranormal romance. As a horror story, it was an enjoyable read, though.