“I was somewhat disappointed in this book. I expected a more realistic look at what slave catching was during the time in which it occurred. I expected more depth about the abomination of slavery. Michael White didn't deliver on either of these issues.
What really irritated me about this book was the romance angle. Again, I expected more realism from the main character who from the beginning of this story never really achieves a consistent thought process leading to logical behavior. On the one hand, it's hard to accept that a man can be hard as nails inside while he takes a certain amount of pride in what he does for a living (he keeps telling us he's so good at it), but on the other hand, this guy turns to mush and his heart strings get yanked all over the place at the flutter of a slave's eyelids.
And finally, I'm tired of reading about superhuman men who, in spite of the fact that they've sustained mortal injuries, somehow manage to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and either rush, hobble, or crawl in at the last minute to save the day.
Soul Catcher received some good press from reviewers which was the reason I bought it. The South and its slave trading are an important part of US history; one that I'm fascinated by especially in these days of politicians pointing out the brilliance of Founding Fathers who also, by the way, owned slaves, sired children with them, and never for an instant wanted them freed. While this book does touch on the slavery issue, it is not the compelling story about the barbaric treatment of an entire race of people that I thought would have to be present in a story like this one.
I'd recommend this book to people who like romance novels. But if you're looking for good historical fiction, look elsewhere.”
posted Tuesday, April 1 2008