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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “This is an author that is new to me. I'm always up for trying out something new. The premise on the book cover looked promising too. I'm still in a paranormal mystery mood and this looks like a no-doubt-about-it solid paranormal mystery. As I was reading along in this pretty decently written...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“This is a kick-ass book. Sylvie is a kick-ass heroine. *****
Mardel wrote this review Sunday, August 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
When I first bought this book, a month or so ago, I read the first page and put it down. The first page (which I usually read in the bookstore) normally has a big part in whether I buy a book or look for something else. I have to admit that if I had read the first page in the store I wouldn't have bought this book. The other day I was looking for something a little easier on my psyche than Dying Bites, so I grabbed it. I read the first page again and thought "geez, a little melodramatic." It was like that for a couple pages. But I kept reading this time. The book quickly became much, much better. It's like a different person wrote those first few pages.
Sylvie is the owner of an unliscensed P.I. business (unliscensed 'cause she doesn't follow rules, any rules). She's kind of mean, kind of angry. But I actually enjoyed reading her angry sarcastic comments. She's just so damned mad and tough she doesn't care who she's mouthing off too, a god, an erinyes, witch, whoever. You get the feeling, from hints, that she's killed a lot of....beings.
The basis of this book, is that the boyfriend of the god Justice disappears. The god is very upset and can hardly concentrate on anything but finding his boyfriend. He forces Sylvie to work for him. Sylvie has recently witnessed the death of a friend and co-worker, so she's not in the best mood. While she is searching for the boyfriend, crazier and crazier things are happening in the area, as the god is leaking power (that lost concentration thing) that gets taken up by oh, children, anyone with a small amout of magic talent and other things.
Man, I liked reading this book. Lots of destruction, fighting, anger, I think I just needed to read about someone else being pissed off. Kind of made me feel a little calmer. (It's possible I might be pms'ing) After the first few pages, I enjoyed the narrative, even though it was third person. Sylvie has a former juvenile delinquent office manager (Alex) who is a computer whiz. Most of the book she is "off-stage", communicating with Sylvie through phone calls. I'd like to read more about Alex, she seems like an interesting young woman. Sylvie gets put through the wringer. A lot of people do. There's some "Collateral Damage". People around Sylvie tend to get hurt or dead, doesn't matter if they're important to Sylvie or not. Shit happens around her, and Sylvie doesn't often back down. Great book. I'm going to looking for a sequel of this”
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“
Sylvie has had it. An employee dead at the hands of Satanists, too much blood on her hands, her Shadows Inquiries is taking her to hell. So she retires—or tries to. But a god looking for his missing lover will hear of no other answer but ‘yes’ to his divine command to search. Even tough-as-nails Sylvie must bend to that will, just as the world is doing, even to the point of breaking.
When gods remake the world, what we get may only be pieces of what we wished for.
In Sins and Shadows, I got these pieces to my heart’s content—gritty detective work, a tough-talking female protagonist, Sylvie Lightner, investigator of the unknown, killer of monsters, immortal creatures, monsters that walk amongst us, and fast-paced action.
But I also got bits of what I’m not really comfortable with: a universe remade as a battleground for gods and goddesses (our God included), a heroine with hardly any softness, tough on everything, tougher on the kill, with little compunction and too much satisfaction on carrying out dirty but necessary deeds, and a romance made for heaven, with nothing left over for spiteful humans, and certainly nothing but bad endings for Sylvie, most spiteful of all.
Reading this, I had little fun—it was too dark and bitter and cold, like drinking acid that brings on hallucinations. The trip is awesome—but I’m not quite sure I’d want to do it again. Even if I’m curious about Sylvie’s history, which the book, the first of a series, I imagine, only give droplets of throughout the story, but in a way that makes me reconsider whether this really is the first book.
Should I be hunting short stories hidden in anthologies then? Or is this just the author’s style, to lure readers right into the middle of a long and troubled road? In this volume, I land right smack at a turning point: Sylvie, ordinary mortal, may be the monster she hunts and kills after all.
When gods collide, expect the worst.
” maydiwayatangnawawala wrote this review Sunday, July 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Pretty good for another entry into the Urban Fantasy/Dark Fantasy genre. I liked it well enough that I will be reading the next in the series.”
battlinjack wrote this review Monday, May 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“This is an author that is new to me. I'm always up for trying out something new. The premise on the book cover looked promising too. I'm still in a paranormal mystery mood and this looks like a no-doubt-about-it solid paranormal mystery. As I was reading along in this pretty decently written book, I was struck with the impression that I may have inadvertently picked up a book that belongs in a series and is not the first book out of the series. I couldn't find references to other books on the inside of the book cover but that does not mean I'm incorrect. The main character is a tough cookie and meets much of life's weirdnesses head on (and in her life, "weird" is pretty weird). There is a love interest but this is not a book for paranormal romance readers. The emphasis is not on that relationship. It's a good book. It did leave me in a midge of a funk. This is also not a book for those of you that love happy ending fairy tales ... although there is still hope if you pray to the right god ...”
racethom wrote this review Monday, July 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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