Review: A different spin on urban fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2014
First, let's get this cleared up. Despite the vaguely "Lara Croft" action figure on the cover, the heroine of this book is not your typical butt-kicking urban fantasy protagonist. She's not a vampire slayer, vampire, werewhatever, or even a particularly notable or skilled archaeologist with unbelievable hand-to-hand combat skills. All she's got going for her is stubborn determination to carve her own path in life, and pretty well-practiced skill with a bullwhip (which is in itself as much geeky as it is butt-kicking, since it's the character's love of Indiana Jones which caused her to take it up.)Torrent introduces us to a geeky, gritty, funny young woman who is still trying to get her crap together after college. Which I sort of loved.And the "monsters" aren't your typical UF fare, either. In fact, I'm still not sure exactly what the creature--or the mysterious beings who show up to help out--might be. This book owes more to the X-Files than Jim Butcher, and again--it's a nice change of pace.I feel like Buroker is still finding her footing with this book--despite all I like about it, it feels a little rougher than her EE work. But I hope she decides to continue with it. In a crowded field of UF/PR books that take themselves too seriously, this one is a nice breath of fresh air.