Review: Skillful writing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2012
This book is very skillfully written with a fast-moving plot, a real page-turner. The characters are also well-rounded and the author constantly subverts expectations of what this character or that character should be like, they aren't your typical ethnic or gender stereotypes (in fact the villain is betrayed in part by his own stereotypical thinking).You also have to give a lot of credit to an author who actually goes back and proofreads his work and posts an updated copy.I read a lot of urban fantasy and I think what holds this book back from selling better is that (a) it is too just too violent, especially at the beginning (it straddles the line between horror and urban fantasy but is not marketed as horror, so one audience doesn't know about it and the other audience is shocked), and (b) the main character is simply too unlikable at the beginning. He evolves over the course of the novel, and the reader also sees more and more of the other interesting characters as the book goes on. But I almost stopped reading it in the early chapters, and I'm concerned that other readers might be doing the same. I wasn't sure that character development was going to happen and was put off by the early very-dark tone and violence.I think if the marketing description were tweaked, more people would know what to expect and would give the book the chance it deserves. (And even though I'm not a big fan of Twilight, maybe don't take potshots at that audience. They're probably more versatile readers than one might expect.)This author is very skilled and I hope his sales improve. I plan to keep an eye on him in the future and wish him the very best.