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sralgee's review
3.0
Left me wanting more...explanations.
I apologize in advance to the author if this book is part of a series and I've overlooked that fact, because while I was reading I got the feeling I was missing quite a lot.
First, let me say the pacing is great--there's not a dull moment--and the action is handled well. The concept is a good one, and the story has some good solid moments--although Gordon has an annoying tendency to pull objects out of thin air; in one scene that really stuck out at me, he wields a tire iron, despite there being nothing in the preceding paragraphs to indicate he'd even picked the thing up. (Apparently he has access to some spiritual dimension of necessity.)
But what's missing most obviously, for me, is the backstory. Gordon is a former priest turned wizard--what was the process? How did his skills develop? AJ (far and away my favorite character) has an apparently unsavory past--what is it? How did they meet? (And by the way, "boss" in Spanish renders as "Jefe," not "Hefe".) There are also some obvious weak spots--the confrontation with the Big Bad happens too quickly and easily, the epilogue feels like a tacked-on way to tie up loose ends, and Gordon comes across as perpetually on the edge of being *too* powerful for his enemies. He's never slowed down by very much or for very long.
I need to see more of Gordon's history, and of his relationship with Judy, and of his relationships with his subordinates. Don't get me wrong: there's some good writing here, and a lot of potential for further character development. I was left feeling, though, as if I only had half the story.
I apologize in advance to the author if this book is part of a series and I've overlooked that fact, because while I was reading I got the feeling I was missing quite a lot.
First, let me say the pacing is great--there's not a dull moment--and the action is handled well. The concept is a good one, and the story has some good solid moments--although Gordon has an annoying tendency to pull objects out of thin air; in one scene that really stuck out at me, he wields a tire iron, despite there being nothing in the preceding paragraphs to indicate he'd even picked the thing up. (Apparently he has access to some spiritual dimension of necessity.)
But what's missing most obviously, for me, is the backstory. Gordon is a former priest turned wizard--what was the process? How did his skills develop? AJ (far and away my favorite character) has an apparently unsavory past--what is it? How did they meet? (And by the way, "boss" in Spanish renders as "Jefe," not "Hefe".) There are also some obvious weak spots--the confrontation with the Big Bad happens too quickly and easily, the epilogue feels like a tacked-on way to tie up loose ends, and Gordon comes across as perpetually on the edge of being *too* powerful for his enemies. He's never slowed down by very much or for very long.
I need to see more of Gordon's history, and of his relationship with Judy, and of his relationships with his subordinates. Don't get me wrong: there's some good writing here, and a lot of potential for further character development. I was left feeling, though, as if I only had half the story.
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