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matchhead's review against another edition
challenging
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
so much potential in this world & concept & characters but writing, pacing, & characterization fall so flat :/
bookishbunner's review
5.0
ARC obtained through Edelweiss/Titan Books.
I honestly loved this. It's a quick comfortable read, though still eerie enough to keep you on edge. It reminds me of the early Anita Blake series - spunky, unique, morally gray detectives teaming up against otherworldly evils.
Ford and Neuland have great chemistry and complete each other perfectly, while Tilda is just the strong female icing on the cake.
I honestly loved this. It's a quick comfortable read, though still eerie enough to keep you on edge. It reminds me of the early Anita Blake series - spunky, unique, morally gray detectives teaming up against otherworldly evils.
Ford and Neuland have great chemistry and complete each other perfectly, while Tilda is just the strong female icing on the cake.
billies_not_so_secret_diary's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The Pale House Devil
by Richard Kadrey
Horror Short story
Everand (Scribd) Audio
Ages: 16+
Ford and Neuland are mercenaries with a twist: one is living and the other is undead, but when their conscience messes up a job, they leave New York and head to California, but their job gone bad beats them there and none of their usual contacts will hire them. But someone gives Shepherd Mansfield their names and accompanies his assistant, Tilda Rosenbloom, to Mansfield's childhood home called The Pale House, to kill the devil living and killing inside the house.
But that devil's activities aren't the only questionable undertakings that have happened in and around the Pale House.
The characters were unique, but there wasn't a deep dive into their backstories, though the two MCs felt way too childish, almost as if they were tweens instead of adults, one a lot older than the other The older one had a lot more backstory than his partner, so I don't know much about him.
I'm not sure how old Tilda is, but from the 'childish behavior' of the two men, left me a little creeped out about them being alone with her, even though they claimed 'uncle/niece'...
The house: OMG! The stories that one building could tell. But the only story told was what the devil was doing.
A lot of information that could've taken this story into a different and much more entertaining category had to be omitted because of the page/word restriction.
This is the perfect reason why I am not a fan of short stories. So much is lost!
The narrator did a great job, and the story was great, but it could've been so much better had it had more backstory and description as found in a much longer book. A hundred more pages would have been enough to add that much needed detailing that was lost.
3 Stars
persione's review against another edition
2.5
This book was definitely charming but it's a little disappointing that I found mistakes in the writing :(
This is one of those books that suffer in the novella form and would've been beter if it was atleast 300 pages (as it has more time to actually write out scenes)
This is one of those books that suffer in the novella form and would've been beter if it was atleast 300 pages (as it has more time to actually write out scenes)
kblum15's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
taz3159's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
laurarhds's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
angus_mckeogh's review
3.0
Based on the ending and the author’s note in the back I’m pretty sure the author lost the thread of the story about 2/3 of the way through the book and then it stumbled to the finish. Not anything great but not terrible either.
jordanbro1993's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5