Review: I Liked the Macaw the Best!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2013
I was provided a copy of REBROBATE through Goodreads' Read It & Reap program in exchange for my fair and honest review.I really wanted not to like Katla.  I really wanted to think that a story about an assassin, entirely amoral--yes, a reprobate in the truest sense of the word--would be so disquieting that it would leave me wanting no more.  Instead, I found that Katla was likeable--not lovable--but, likeable and that though she lived by no code that would be readily recognized by most, she was able to--and indeed did--have her own vulnerabilities and feelings for others that helped to make her "human."  As I made my way through, I realized that not only was I enjoying Katla's story, but that I would be interested in following Katla further.The characters were well drawn and believable.  Katla/Loki acted with precision.  If great research had not been done into making her actions believable, it certainly appeared that it had been!  Bram was a believable blind man and had the heart of a musician.  The Rastafarian was a simple hearted assistant; Coen a good hearted friend, Focke, a chain-smoking surprise.  The FBI, DEA and other government agents pursued their quarry while we saw glimpses into the politics behind the goings-on of law enforcement.  All that said, perhaps my favorite character was Katla's macaw, Kourou.  The pet added realism to the story.  Able to bark like a dog, be angry when left for long periods, greet people with the simple query "happy?" and skate his way though Katla's apartment, Kourou was a unique, fun and well developed character in his own rightPerhaps the most difficult part of REPROBATE was that the story was located in Amsterdam, where street names and the like are difficult for an American English-speaker to identify.  Even so, they added to the foreign feeling of the story and took nothing away from the enjoyment of it.KATLA was the kind of story I would expect a traditional publishing company to jump at.  Perhaps such will be in Halm's future.