Indie spotlight review: Shark Eater by K.D. McNiven

If I were forced to describe this book in one word, it would be "Nice". Nice people doing nice things in a nice way, all told in a voice like that of a kindly grandmother telling her grandchildren a story. The small stakes make this a refreshing read, as you are allowed a reprieve from international incidents and global catastrophe that so often show up in adventure thrillers. 

The action is extremely well thought out and precise, even if, as a reader, I never felt the characters were really in danger of being killed. In fact, the only principal character death happens off-screen and in a remote way. Far from hurting the narrative, it allowed other characters to have to wrestle with the feelings left in the wake of tragedy, though it would have been nice to explore those feelings just a tiny bit longer. Everyone in this book was so friendly and expressive toward one another it was almost too nice, and the dialogue suffered from “Nobody talks like that” syndrome. But, the book clipped along so smartly, with TONS of good action sequences. It was a total shame to have to step away from this world and it's characters. I would definitely recommend this to younger readers who could possibly get bored by the heavy amounts of research and talking heads present in other books of this genre. Also, younger female readers will have plenty here to look up to in the form of the several wonderful lady adventurers Ms. McNiven populates her story with. It’s got a lightning quick pace, an intimate setting, lots of fun maritime stuff, and a lack of the more smarmy or unsavory bits that make it into some of these adventure books. Great fun.

-Z.S. Reynolds

Note: Shark Eater the sequel to The Monkey Idol also by K. D. McNiven. It is followed by The Bermuda Conspiracy and Sheba's Treasure. She is also the author of the prehistoric thriller Bone Quarry and the crime thriller Blood Alley.

You can follow K. D. McNiven on Twitter at: @kady54033

Here is K. D.'s Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/K-D-McNiven/e/B07F3XQ7NV?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1601494569&sr=8-1

Review: “The Alexander Cipher” by Will Adams

There is a lot to like here for fans of the genre; it’s got ancient secrets, historical mysteries, fabulous treasure, acts of courage and hairsbreadth escapes.  But there is something a little bit off about this book, and I can’t decide if it hinders the book or makes it innovative in some way. In the acknowledgments, the author states that this book was a work of ten years’ passion and dedication, and this is clearly evident with the amount of meticulous research and historical information on display. Where this falls short however, is that at points the book feels more like a history lesson with a tacked on narrative than a ripping adventure with historical mysteries, seeming like a paper on Ptolemaic Alexandria with some people doing some things just thrown in.

“Some people” is a perfect way to describe the characters in this book, who the author tries desperately to get us to care for with pretty flimsy and transparent emotion bait that feels like RPG  backstory thrown on a character sheet to give at least some weight to the relationships therein. None of the characters feel like they do much, which is a problem in a genre that is built on pulpy tropes of good and evil. Daniel Knox, whom later books are eponymously associated with never seems to act heroic, rather he is acted upon and seems like a passenger borne along by the actions of others.  This calls into question whether the other books bearing his name will include him learning new skills, and improving as a heroic character which is a very interesting thing to do, though in this tale he falls a bit flat. With every hero comes a villain, and the principle  villain in this book doesn’t actually do anything villainous, merely acts with singular drive toward his goal (which is debatably a noble one) with no regard as to its effects, which ultimately lends a nice air of realism to the book. The secondary villain is definitively a scum bag that ends up not being stopped; in fact he ends up coming out the other side with even greater power and influence, adding realism to the book, because as we all know villains are never actually stopped in real life, they just accrue more power and influence after they escape justice. 

This book was published in 2007, though some of the social attitudes feel a bit older, with the women either being rescue bait or  coded as volatile and mean simply because they are career focused and driven toward their goals. There is also a tiny bit of completely needless homophobia in here as well, though I think it was inserted to give a character a bit of depth, though it just felt gross and dumb rather than any type of deep characterization. What was pleasant to see however, was the way the Muslim characters were handled. Because the book takes place entirely in northern Egypt, several principle characters were Muslim, and the author avoided treading on precarious ground quite well, never having characters dip into stereotypes or uttering buzzwords or catchphrases that made them feel like bad pantomime. 

The singular greatest strength of this novel lies in its absolutely breakneck pacing. Three main story threads are snap cut from one to the next in such a well executed way as to leave you with a cliffhanger on nearly every other page, driving you to hustle on through the story to see what happens next. 

I can’t decide if this was a novel of high adventure that just missed the mark or a clever piece of genre subversion that just missed the mark. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for more grounded adventure, as it has zero elements of the fantastic or weird. No wild ancient technology, no ancient curses, no secret societies desperate to conceal ancient secrets; just people caught up in a treasure hunt. A very fun read, if not excellent or wildly exciting.

-Z.S. Reynolds-

 

               

               

               

 

 

               

 

 

Review: "Hell's Gate" by Bill Schutt and J. R. Finch

This is a tough one for me. I really want to like this book. It's not that I don't like it, but I want to like it more than I do. On paper, hell, on the back cover, it has all the ingredients that would make it a top notch read for me. It has glowing blurbs by Clive Cussler and James Rollins, with additional praise from James Cameron. That's a lot of hype for someone like me. And you know what? Maybe that's it. Maybe it was hyped too much for me. 

But let's take a look-see, shall we?

Ostensibly, this book is about a zoologist-turned-adventurer that is tasked by the U.S. military to seek out intel on shady Nazi goings on deep in the Amazon. The Nazis and all their ne'er-do-well have awoken something better left forgotten by the world. 

Awesome?

Sure sounds like it.

Temper that excitement though.

The protagonist, R. J. MacCready, is a rough and tumble zoologist that may or may not have inherited schizophrenia from his mother (at least I think that is what was being eluded to). He has a background in the military and isn't afraid to throw a punch, pull a trigger, or blow some stuff up. But unfortunately, there wasn't a ton of that. I always enjoy a protagonist with a science background. It allows for a lot of that good scientific detail to flow from the characters naturally as opposed to an omniscient narrator dumping exposition. I also enjoy the trope of a brainy guy/gal doing some butt kicking. I think what is most endearing though, is the 1940's slag that is bantered about between MacCready and friends. 

The other two main supporting characters on the good guy side are Mac's friend Bob, a shroom eating botanist gone native, and his wife Yanni, a beautiful and adaptable indigenous woman with a unique gift. Bob and his friendship with Mac is believable, and the historically accurate issues that led Bob to leaving civilization in the rear-view add a lot to his character. Yanni should be more awesome than she is though. I love the idea of an indigenous character, and there is a lot about her that is eluded to, but I never felt like she had that much to do. Her special ability doesn't even really come into play until the (long) epilogue that is clear set up for a sequel. 

The Nazis/Japanese have a a large cast of characters, but almost too many for me. There is the evil General Wolff, who is evil. The evil Japanese scientist who is also evil. A rocket scientist that is evil. A conflicted rocket scientist that is not evil, but works for the Nazis so he can go to space. And to round it out, a female Nazi pilot who is evil. The most compelling fictional character in this lot is the conflicted rocket scientist who gives the reader an interesting perspective on the state of science in that time period. There is also a lot of time devoted to him, a bit too much. The evil rocket scientist and evil woman pilot were actual people, people that ended up having a lot of impact on various parts of history post WW II. Unfortunately, none of that really plays into the story. I would have almost preferred fictional characters as opposed to historical personages that kind of move in and out fiction without any real gravity. 

Oh. There is a Nazi captain that is also evil. 

The real draw here for me, other than the glowing praise by some of my favorites, was the creatures. There are some interesting ideas in here, ones that I really love. Even some truly horrifying bits. But there's the rub. They only remain bits. I am not sure if it was the author's plan to subvert expectations, but mine were definitely subverted, just not in a good way. The best scene involving creatures doesn't even focus on the main species that is key to all of this mess. There is a lot ton of good speculation and bending of scientific fact that goes on in this book. The naturally occuring "monsters" were genuinely well done and could be quite creepy. However, when I read "Will haunt you long after you put the book down." as quoted by James Cameron, I have to disagree. I am not haunted. I want desperately to be haunted. I wish I was and was sooooo close to being haunted, but it just never came to fruition. 

Haunt me, damn it!

Ultimately, I think this book suffered from a pacing issue. There were times when the action was ramped up to a 10, but only for like two seconds and then it was a 1 again. There were large spaces of this "adventure" that were dedicated to the sad backstories or relationships of people that just never resonated with me. Worst of all was the choppy and disjointed epilogue that went on far too long. I got it. I understood its purpose. But it wasn't satisfying to me. I really appreciate the later Marvel movies that understood it was bad to end a movie just to set up a sequel. That's what happened here. It wasn't a cliffhanger sort of thing, but a lot of pages throughout the book seemed solely dedicated to setting up a sequel. Of which there are currently two, I believe. 

Now, can I recommend this book?

Yes. I can. 

Especially if you need to take a break from Cussler or Rollins because their formula is growing stale. 

Will I read the sequels? 

For sure. 

There are some really interesting ideas present in this book, and MacCready partnered with Yanni have a lot of potential for cool things. I want to see them grow and I want to see what trouble they will stir up. 

I have high hopes for the next titles, but I have learned to temper my hopes some. I am not usually one to fall prey to the hype machine, and this book has reminded me why one should always be wary of marketing.

- L. D. Whitney 

Did I miss anything? Maybe my perspective is askew? Maybe you just want to talk about this book? Leave a comment!