Susan Harris (14) (1985–)

The first thing that comes to mind is unoriginal and clichée. I think the only thing that is original about this is the main POV being male despite the strong PNR leaning.

This book tries to be a traditional PNR with the MINES, a UF story like Dresden Files and a strong FMC driven story like Kate Daniels or Mercy Thompson all at once.
But as you might expect there just wasn't enough space in one novel to accomplish any of it properly. So everything just ended up being heavy-handed and rushed.

The writing isn't bad per se but there are a few confusing and unannounced POV shifts.

I dropped this book in chapter 9 not because there was some particular flaw but because I just lost interest. Someone just ended up in an iminently life threatening situation and I couldn't care less so I decided to give up.… (mer)

Interesting concept. Could be better handled

It kept my attention to the end, but there were a number of weak elements that spoiled the quality of the whole.

The book gave me no sense of place. When I first saw a reference to Ireland I was quite startled as the style of the opening dialogue would have sat comfortably in any American novel.

Some of the supernatural elements seemed ‘over-egged’. One that comes to mind occurs near the end where one of the characters makes a big deal about revealing a secret ability which, to me seemed to be totally unremarkable.

The biggest flaw was in the handling of the extended sequences presented in italics (no details about this - spoilers!) where the writing style becomes stilted and over-blown.

On a personal note. I really dislike it when authors chose an adverb as a personal name for a character. When a sentence starts with "Ever" you have to read a few words before you can tell whether this is going to refer to the character or not. I find it quite jarring, taking me out of the flow of the story.… (mer)