Review: Continues the story begun in Snapdragon Alley
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2011
This is the sequel to Snapdragon Alley, taking place about 18 years after the events of the first book.  Freak City is a much darker story than the first, and the characters have less charm.  I thought that Argus-as-a-child (from the 1st book) had great potential, but it would seem that he did not live up to it - though there are hints at the very end that things may change.The storyline was good, and the puzzle that Argus set out to solve was intriguing, but I also get the feeling that the author may have lost his grip on the story somewhat.  I won't provide spoilers, but there was one comment made at the beginning of the story that was never mentioned again - and to me, it seemed that that was the crux of the whole story.  I kept waiting for Argus to put two and two together and remember that comment, but it never happened.  Instead the characters danced around that issue without it ever coming to the fore (where I think it belonged).  This is supposed to be Book 2 of a trilogy, so perhaps the author intended it to 'lead up to' the finale in the 3rd book.All in all, a good little book (very short, probably novella length) with an interesting cast of characters.  It's definitely Number Two in a series, so readers should start with Snapdragon Alley in order to pick up the background.Note on Kindle formatting:  Perfect, or nearly so.  I did not note any issues that impacted readability.