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xmyrin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Rape
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
First in the Gunnie Rose urban fantasy alternate history series and revolving around Lizbeth Rose, a young gunslinger.
My Take
An Easy Death definitely requires quite the suspension of disbelief, as Harris' premise, while interesting, is not believable. Sure there have been alternate history stories that divide America up, but I ain't buying that the US government slid downhill this badly with this sparse explanation. I do like that women get to be equal in this world, although there's plenty about civilization backsliding. Sigh.
It's kind of funny in a hoist-with-your-own-petard way, for Americans are being thrown off their land for not being Mexicans when Mexico takes back parts of Texas, and the Indians take advantage of their opportunity to take back their lands.
How is Alexei's second wife a Danish princess?? I'm also annoyed by Harris dropping those hints about Mil Flores, but we never find out anything. Dagnabit.
Tracking Oleg across the shattered countrysides of Texoma and Mexico through these tiny towns is a clever way to introduce us to Harris' world and its trials and tribulations. Using first person protagonist point-of-view from Lizbeth's perspective ensures that we understand this "new" culture, even as she informs Pauline and Eli.
That Eli sure is a trusting soul. It takes Lizbeth pointing out the obvious before he gets it. As for Paulina...phew...she's a nasty piece of work.
It's a convoluted story with bits of humor that moves along at a reasonable pace with plenty of action — ambushes, assassination, murder, magic, betrayals, and crazy escapes.
The Story
Paulina Coopersmith and Eli Savarov need a guide and a guard to track a bastard son of a dead monk. It's life-and-death for their tsar.
The Characters
The nineteen-year-old, curly-haired Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who inherited her grandfather's 1873 Winchester rifle, a.k.a., Jackhammer, and carries a matched set of Colt 1911s. Candle is her schoolteacher mother. Jackson Skidder is Liz's stepfather who owns the Antelope Hotel and a couple of other businesses. Cedric is Jackson's brother and a carpenter.
The Tarken Crew has...
...a good reputation for escorting cargo through dangerous territory. Tarken, Liz's controlling boyfriend of the moment, and Martin tinker with the truck that provides their transportation. Galilee, a black woman, carries a Krag and has hooked up with Martin. Solly is a dead member of the gang.
Freedom is Galilee's son who works at the tannery and has built his own place. There's a George Ramsey said to be forming up a crew in Celeste.
What we knew as America
Our world just fell apart, what with the assassination, influenza, the Depression, and the drought...
Texoma is...
... composed of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and a bit of Colorado with justice scarce on the ground. It's also where Segundo Mexia is located, where Lizbeth lives. Chrissie is Liz's not-too-bright, good-hearted neighbor. Dellford and Rayford are Chrissie's sons. Rex Santino. Bobby Saw is a carpenter with a girl apprentice. Trader Army runs a general store; Clarita is his wife. Thomas, Martin's brother, is one of Liz's least favorite men. Lavender runs a crew. Frank Hacker owns a pig he's named Big Balls. Elsie runs a whorehouse. Maude runs the grocery store. James Lee is Tarken's son; Leisel is his mother. John Seahorse owns the stable. Briar, Star, and Birdie are the horses he hires out. Dan Brick is a friend of Lizbeth's. Dan is the cook at the Antelope.
Cactus Flats is a town nearby with Cal Trujillo the sheriff. Maria Hannigan is the day deputy; she's a mother of three and a crack shot. The Elbows Up is a bar that Jorge "Skelly" Maldonado owns (he's also the undertaker). Becky Blue Eyes is a welcomed whore since Miranda Redhead passed away. Harvey Sweetcheeks is an old whore.
The Holy Russian Empire (HRE) is...
...what used to be California and Oregon. When Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, fled Russia and the Red Army, they ended up in California at the invitation of the Hearsts. Now his son, Tsar Alexei I rules; his second wife is a Ballard, and she's pregnant. His sisters, the grand duchesses were all married off to cement the Russian royal family's place in the world. Two of the duchesses, Olga and Tatiana, each have a son with the bleeding disease. Prince Vladimir, a.k.a., Alex Budurov, has a specialty, transformation. Prince Ilya is his son. Grand Duke Alexander is Alexei's uncle; he married Sophia Feodorovna, his common second wife. Vasily is the duke's son by his first wife; the younger three sons are illegitimate.
The grigoris are wizards and are one branch of the HRE's law enforcement; they also keep the tsar alive. Grigori Rasputin, a monk, had been their boss. There are six grigori guilds: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Healing, and Death. Dmitri Petrov is Eli's mentor. Klementina is the head of Eli's order.
Paulina Coopersmith (she's talented at torture) and Ilya "Eli" Savarov are grigori partners (the Fire and Water Guilds, respectively) sent to recover Oleg. Peter is Eli's younger brother who should be at school in San Diego. "Esai González" owns the Tourer. Eli's mother is his father's second wife; she was appointed an attendant to the tsarina when they went into exile.
Oleg Karkarov is a low-level wizard and illegitimate son of Rasputin. Sergei Karkarov is Oleg's brother. Irina is another of Rasputin's bastards, and her children are unsuitable. Daniel had been Rasputin's oldest child. Franklin is another child to whom Felicia refers to as a cousin.
Timofei Bazarov. More wizards on the other team include Benjamin the Brit, Anna, Andrei, Evgenia, Peregrine, and Belinda.
New America has...
...the same lack of justice, although Joshua Beekins, the brother who got out early, seems to be doing okay in Corbin. His two brothers and their families are farmers who need an escort out of town: Jeremiah and Ruth and Jacob and Martha are the parents. Jael is the oldest girl. Broadhurst's Boardinghouse for Gentlemen and Ladies is the higher class hotel. Mother Phillips' Boardinghouse is run by Edna Phillips and cheaper. Seewall's sells appliances and furniture.
Dixie is...
...what we knew as the South, now a very poor and dangerous South where the Ballards are a very prominent family.
Britannia has...
..."so much law that bandits are caught and hung quickly." It's composed of the original thirteen colonies and bonded with England.
Mexico
Mil Flores is...
...a prosperous town on the way to Juárez. Jim Comstock owns Comstock's Hotel. Godley's Store is where Manda Godley, a daughter, is manning the counter. Hank Murphy has a naughty cow. Sister Butter has a ravaged garden. Andy is a young whore who's a good judge of character. Desmond is a mechanic who runs a garage. Belinda Trotter has an empty wagon for the medical supplies she intends to buy. Mr Parsons is a single man and traveling salesman. Marcial Montes is/was a gunnie and a member of Lobo Gris, a criminal crew in Mexico.
Paloma is...
...next where Margaret has three rooms. Its two restaurants include the Angora and Dusty's. Chauncey Donegan is a gunnie and a friend of Liz's who is escorting Mr Harcourt and Mr Penn. Nancy, his wife, had passed on from pneumonia last winter. His son is the fourteen-year-old Milton.
Ciudad Azul is...
...next but not a place you want to hang out. Not on this day.
El Soldado has...
...the Hotel para Desconocidos run by Señora Rivera. It's quite acceptable to wear your guns openly here.
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, is...
...their destination. Señor and Señora Espinoza own the Speedy Gas Station. José Reyas helps Lizbeth sell the car. Tomás works at Hermosa's New and Used Vehicles. Felicia is Oleg's daughter.
Hortensio is...
...a town Lizbeth passes through on her way home where Jacinta is a supportive shaman.
Canada has...
...taken in a lot of northern America with mounted police as the law.
Franklin Roosevelt was the last elected president of the US, although he never did get sworn in. Deconstruction is this time period for the country. Standing Still is a Comanche friend of Liz's. Josip the Tatar was a gunnie with a big reputation.
The Cover and Title
The grayed-out cover is grim with its cracked road retreating into the distance, a lone cream cowboy hat lying in the middle. On either side of the road lies destruction with a cloudy sky above. At the very top of the cover is a rusty red info blurb with the author's name below it in a navyish gray. The rest of the text is white starting with the testimonial off to the left of middle while to the right of the hat is another info blurb. Below the hat is the title with the series information tucked in to the bottom left corner of the title.
The title is An Easy Death, a common wish for gunnies.
My Take
An Easy Death definitely requires quite the suspension of disbelief, as Harris' premise, while interesting, is not believable. Sure there have been alternate history stories that divide America up, but I ain't buying that the US government slid downhill this badly with this sparse explanation. I do like that women get to be equal in this world, although there's plenty about civilization backsliding. Sigh.
It's kind of funny in a hoist-with-your-own-petard way, for Americans are being thrown off their land for not being Mexicans when Mexico takes back parts of Texas, and the Indians take advantage of their opportunity to take back their lands.
How is Alexei's second wife a Danish princess?? I'm also annoyed by Harris dropping those hints about Mil Flores, but we never find out anything. Dagnabit.
Tracking Oleg across the shattered countrysides of Texoma and Mexico through these tiny towns is a clever way to introduce us to Harris' world and its trials and tribulations. Using first person protagonist point-of-view from Lizbeth's perspective ensures that we understand this "new" culture, even as she informs Pauline and Eli.
That Eli sure is a trusting soul. It takes Lizbeth pointing out the obvious before he gets it. As for Paulina...phew...she's a nasty piece of work.
It's a convoluted story with bits of humor that moves along at a reasonable pace with plenty of action — ambushes, assassination, murder, magic, betrayals, and crazy escapes.
The Story
Paulina Coopersmith and Eli Savarov need a guide and a guard to track a bastard son of a dead monk. It's life-and-death for their tsar.
The Characters
The nineteen-year-old, curly-haired Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who inherited her grandfather's 1873 Winchester rifle, a.k.a., Jackhammer, and carries a matched set of Colt 1911s. Candle is her schoolteacher mother. Jackson Skidder is Liz's stepfather who owns the Antelope Hotel and a couple of other businesses. Cedric is Jackson's brother and a carpenter.
The Tarken Crew has...
...a good reputation for escorting cargo through dangerous territory. Tarken, Liz's controlling boyfriend of the moment, and Martin tinker with the truck that provides their transportation. Galilee, a black woman, carries a Krag and has hooked up with Martin. Solly is a dead member of the gang.
Freedom is Galilee's son who works at the tannery and has built his own place. There's a George Ramsey said to be forming up a crew in Celeste.
What we knew as America
Our world just fell apart, what with the assassination, influenza, the Depression, and the drought...
Texoma is...
... composed of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and a bit of Colorado with justice scarce on the ground. It's also where Segundo Mexia is located, where Lizbeth lives. Chrissie is Liz's not-too-bright, good-hearted neighbor. Dellford and Rayford are Chrissie's sons. Rex Santino. Bobby Saw is a carpenter with a girl apprentice. Trader Army runs a general store; Clarita is his wife. Thomas, Martin's brother, is one of Liz's least favorite men. Lavender runs a crew. Frank Hacker owns a pig he's named Big Balls. Elsie runs a whorehouse. Maude runs the grocery store. James Lee is Tarken's son; Leisel is his mother. John Seahorse owns the stable. Briar, Star, and Birdie are the horses he hires out. Dan Brick is a friend of Lizbeth's. Dan is the cook at the Antelope.
Cactus Flats is a town nearby with Cal Trujillo the sheriff. Maria Hannigan is the day deputy; she's a mother of three and a crack shot. The Elbows Up is a bar that Jorge "Skelly" Maldonado owns (he's also the undertaker). Becky Blue Eyes is a welcomed whore since Miranda Redhead passed away. Harvey Sweetcheeks is an old whore.
The Holy Russian Empire (HRE) is...
...what used to be California and Oregon. When Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, fled Russia and the Red Army, they ended up in California at the invitation of the Hearsts. Now his son, Tsar Alexei I rules; his second wife is a Ballard, and she's pregnant. His sisters, the grand duchesses were all married off to cement the Russian royal family's place in the world. Two of the duchesses, Olga and Tatiana, each have a son with the bleeding disease. Prince Vladimir, a.k.a., Alex Budurov, has a specialty, transformation. Prince Ilya is his son. Grand Duke Alexander is Alexei's uncle; he married Sophia Feodorovna, his common second wife. Vasily is the duke's son by his first wife; the younger three sons are illegitimate.
The grigoris are wizards and are one branch of the HRE's law enforcement; they also keep the tsar alive. Grigori Rasputin, a monk, had been their boss. There are six grigori guilds: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Healing, and Death. Dmitri Petrov is Eli's mentor. Klementina is the head of Eli's order.
Paulina Coopersmith (she's talented at torture) and Ilya "Eli" Savarov are grigori partners (the Fire and Water Guilds, respectively) sent to recover Oleg. Peter is Eli's younger brother who should be at school in San Diego. "Esai González" owns the Tourer. Eli's mother is his father's second wife; she was appointed an attendant to the tsarina when they went into exile.
Oleg Karkarov is a low-level wizard and illegitimate son of Rasputin. Sergei Karkarov is Oleg's brother. Irina is another of Rasputin's bastards, and her children are unsuitable. Daniel had been Rasputin's oldest child. Franklin is another child to whom Felicia refers to as a cousin.
Timofei Bazarov. More wizards on the other team include Benjamin the Brit, Anna, Andrei, Evgenia, Peregrine, and Belinda.
New America has...
...the same lack of justice, although Joshua Beekins, the brother who got out early, seems to be doing okay in Corbin. His two brothers and their families are farmers who need an escort out of town: Jeremiah and Ruth and Jacob and Martha are the parents. Jael is the oldest girl. Broadhurst's Boardinghouse for Gentlemen and Ladies is the higher class hotel. Mother Phillips' Boardinghouse is run by Edna Phillips and cheaper. Seewall's sells appliances and furniture.
Dixie is...
...what we knew as the South, now a very poor and dangerous South where the Ballards are a very prominent family.
Britannia has...
..."so much law that bandits are caught and hung quickly." It's composed of the original thirteen colonies and bonded with England.
Mexico
Mil Flores is...
...a prosperous town on the way to Juárez. Jim Comstock owns Comstock's Hotel. Godley's Store is where Manda Godley, a daughter, is manning the counter. Hank Murphy has a naughty cow. Sister Butter has a ravaged garden. Andy is a young whore who's a good judge of character. Desmond is a mechanic who runs a garage. Belinda Trotter has an empty wagon for the medical supplies she intends to buy. Mr Parsons is a single man and traveling salesman. Marcial Montes is/was a gunnie and a member of Lobo Gris, a criminal crew in Mexico.
Paloma is...
...next where Margaret has three rooms. Its two restaurants include the Angora and Dusty's. Chauncey Donegan is a gunnie and a friend of Liz's who is escorting Mr Harcourt and Mr Penn. Nancy, his wife, had passed on from pneumonia last winter. His son is the fourteen-year-old Milton.
Ciudad Azul is...
...next but not a place you want to hang out. Not on this day.
El Soldado has...
...the Hotel para Desconocidos run by Señora Rivera. It's quite acceptable to wear your guns openly here.
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, is...
...their destination. Señor and Señora Espinoza own the Speedy Gas Station. José Reyas helps Lizbeth sell the car. Tomás works at Hermosa's New and Used Vehicles. Felicia is Oleg's daughter.
Hortensio is...
...a town Lizbeth passes through on her way home where Jacinta is a supportive shaman.
Canada has...
...taken in a lot of northern America with mounted police as the law.
Franklin Roosevelt was the last elected president of the US, although he never did get sworn in. Deconstruction is this time period for the country. Standing Still is a Comanche friend of Liz's. Josip the Tatar was a gunnie with a big reputation.
The Cover and Title
The grayed-out cover is grim with its cracked road retreating into the distance, a lone cream cowboy hat lying in the middle. On either side of the road lies destruction with a cloudy sky above. At the very top of the cover is a rusty red info blurb with the author's name below it in a navyish gray. The rest of the text is white starting with the testimonial off to the left of middle while to the right of the hat is another info blurb. Below the hat is the title with the series information tucked in to the bottom left corner of the title.
The title is An Easy Death, a common wish for gunnies.
yodamom's review against another edition
4.0
Well that was really a fun read. Ms. Harris has hit the money spot with this series. Strong action packed, characters, magical extras and suspense with only a semi touch of romance. I really enjoyed this and want more asap.
skeeter4366's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I thought this was delightful. You get the reveals throughout the story. I think it's very well written, and it's a fun little trip.
novelette's review against another edition
3.0
Okay story. Not a Sookie or Aurora, but it is a good start
talesofmanythings's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
willrefuge's review against another edition
3.0
3 / 5 ✪
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/an-easy-death-by-charlaine-harris-review/
An Easy Death is the hundredth book (or so) by Charlaine Harris, and the first in the Gunnie Rose sequence, following Lizbeth Rose, gunnie for hire. Despite the hype and the glowing recommendations of my friends and family, I had quite the issue with this novel. Took me almost two full months to get through. Not a bad read, really, but it certainly wasn’t perfect.
The fractured remnants of the United States host the scene for An Easy Death. Lizbeth Rose and her crew run protection gigs mostly, escorting families to and from new nations with the former US. But when her most recent job goes awry, Lizbeth Rose finds herself alone and outgunned. But she still has a job to do. And say one thing about Gunnie Rose, say she never abandons a mission.
But when the job is done, what will Rose do?
A pair of Russian wizards find her an answer, willing to pay top dollar to find the daughter of an outcast. Something about saving the life of their Tsar. But this mission could hit closer to home than Rose knows—and the Gunnie already knows too much about it. For she’s hiding secrets of her own, secrets that might make the wizards see her in a different light. But she takes on the job anyhow, because of course she does.
I think my biggest problem with An Easy Death is the language. Gunnie Rose is short, and I don’t just mean the length. Written like a thriller, description is clipped, minimal. The story is the big ticket here—the story and nothing more. An while the story is good—very good, in fact—it couldn’t carry everything. The Boy with the Porcelain Blade might just be the loveliest novel I’ve ever read. Writing-wise. Every word specifically chosen, no two repeated in the same sentence, the same paragraph. Reading it was like watching an awe-inspiring dance. A dance of words. But the story sucked. I mean, not “sucked”, it just wasn’t great. An Easy Death may well be its polar opposite. Subpar writing, good story. Now, I’ve read other books with amazing stories and poor writing. Like, bad grammar, misspellings, mistakes, punctuation and well, other issues. An Easy Death doesn’t suffer from any of these, it just doesn’t have good description or language. In my opinion.
Another issue I had with the language is the dialogue. Not all of it, mind. Mostly it’s fine. Western, easy talk, with clipped, familiar language. But sometimes phrases don’t make a lick of sense. Like, none. Of course it’s when I go looking for them that I can’t find any examples. Sufficient to say that some ill dialogue can interrupt the flow of a story, even a good one. And when the world around it is built in shades of grey… well, it just didn’t work for me.
Characters were something that I was torn on. Lizbeth Rose was the strongest. As the lead, this was unsurprising. Next strongest were the two wizards—Eli and Paulina. But mostly Eli. Otherwise, there was Rose’s mother, and… no one. Harris built a few of her characters the strongest. Fortunately, they’re the ones we spend 95% of the time with. Other characters come and go—never really seen and easily forgotten. Little backstory, no detail. No even a flash in the pan. Just there and gone. I… I’m torn on this. On one hand, the story has complete, well made characters. Really no arcs to speak of, but the tale’s a short one. I’m looking forward to some kind of development between the first Gunnie Rose and the second. On the other hand… I felt like the plot of An Easy Death suffered because of it. Because of the lack of detail. Because of the shadow world. Because of the crowd of faceless characters.
The story was An Easy Death’s strongest feature. I have no complaints here. We get into the main story 60 pages in. The next 240 are a tear, pretty much up to the end. I had some trouble in the interim, but I’m like that sometimes. And there might’ve been extenuating circumstances, that we won’t get into. A thrill ride, certainly, an entertaining read by itself. No issues.
TL;DR
An Easy Death features an inspired story set in an uninspiring wasteland. The story may be an amazing thriller, but the world-building is absolute shit. It’s bad. Like, really bad. I’m really interested to see what the 2nd Gunnie Rose is like. So far I’m ~10% in, and it’s okay. Another rollercoaster, but once again light on detail. But it’s waaay too soon to judge. I hope to find some character development, some world-building the first book just glossed over. I want to count Gunnie Rose as a potentially good fantasy series. But it’s not happening. Frankly, An Easy Death summarizes my feeling for thrillers in general; an exciting ride while you’re on it, but possessive no lasting appeal and easily forgotten. I was hoping for more out of Book #2 but was ultimately disappointed. So, my recommendation: if you like fantasy and thrillers, give it a read. I know people who’ve liked it. I’m just not one of them.
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/an-easy-death-by-charlaine-harris-review/
An Easy Death is the hundredth book (or so) by Charlaine Harris, and the first in the Gunnie Rose sequence, following Lizbeth Rose, gunnie for hire. Despite the hype and the glowing recommendations of my friends and family, I had quite the issue with this novel. Took me almost two full months to get through. Not a bad read, really, but it certainly wasn’t perfect.
The fractured remnants of the United States host the scene for An Easy Death. Lizbeth Rose and her crew run protection gigs mostly, escorting families to and from new nations with the former US. But when her most recent job goes awry, Lizbeth Rose finds herself alone and outgunned. But she still has a job to do. And say one thing about Gunnie Rose, say she never abandons a mission.
But when the job is done, what will Rose do?
A pair of Russian wizards find her an answer, willing to pay top dollar to find the daughter of an outcast. Something about saving the life of their Tsar. But this mission could hit closer to home than Rose knows—and the Gunnie already knows too much about it. For she’s hiding secrets of her own, secrets that might make the wizards see her in a different light. But she takes on the job anyhow, because of course she does.
I think my biggest problem with An Easy Death is the language. Gunnie Rose is short, and I don’t just mean the length. Written like a thriller, description is clipped, minimal. The story is the big ticket here—the story and nothing more. An while the story is good—very good, in fact—it couldn’t carry everything. The Boy with the Porcelain Blade might just be the loveliest novel I’ve ever read. Writing-wise. Every word specifically chosen, no two repeated in the same sentence, the same paragraph. Reading it was like watching an awe-inspiring dance. A dance of words. But the story sucked. I mean, not “sucked”, it just wasn’t great. An Easy Death may well be its polar opposite. Subpar writing, good story. Now, I’ve read other books with amazing stories and poor writing. Like, bad grammar, misspellings, mistakes, punctuation and well, other issues. An Easy Death doesn’t suffer from any of these, it just doesn’t have good description or language. In my opinion.
Another issue I had with the language is the dialogue. Not all of it, mind. Mostly it’s fine. Western, easy talk, with clipped, familiar language. But sometimes phrases don’t make a lick of sense. Like, none. Of course it’s when I go looking for them that I can’t find any examples. Sufficient to say that some ill dialogue can interrupt the flow of a story, even a good one. And when the world around it is built in shades of grey… well, it just didn’t work for me.
Characters were something that I was torn on. Lizbeth Rose was the strongest. As the lead, this was unsurprising. Next strongest were the two wizards—Eli and Paulina. But mostly Eli. Otherwise, there was Rose’s mother, and… no one. Harris built a few of her characters the strongest. Fortunately, they’re the ones we spend 95% of the time with. Other characters come and go—never really seen and easily forgotten. Little backstory, no detail. No even a flash in the pan. Just there and gone. I… I’m torn on this. On one hand, the story has complete, well made characters. Really no arcs to speak of, but the tale’s a short one. I’m looking forward to some kind of development between the first Gunnie Rose and the second. On the other hand… I felt like the plot of An Easy Death suffered because of it. Because of the lack of detail. Because of the shadow world. Because of the crowd of faceless characters.
The story was An Easy Death’s strongest feature. I have no complaints here. We get into the main story 60 pages in. The next 240 are a tear, pretty much up to the end. I had some trouble in the interim, but I’m like that sometimes. And there might’ve been extenuating circumstances, that we won’t get into. A thrill ride, certainly, an entertaining read by itself. No issues.
TL;DR
An Easy Death features an inspired story set in an uninspiring wasteland. The story may be an amazing thriller, but the world-building is absolute shit. It’s bad. Like, really bad. I’m really interested to see what the 2nd Gunnie Rose is like. So far I’m ~10% in, and it’s okay. Another rollercoaster, but once again light on detail. But it’s waaay too soon to judge. I hope to find some character development, some world-building the first book just glossed over. I want to count Gunnie Rose as a potentially good fantasy series. But it’s not happening. Frankly, An Easy Death summarizes my feeling for thrillers in general; an exciting ride while you’re on it, but possessive no lasting appeal and easily forgotten. I was hoping for more out of Book #2 but was ultimately disappointed. So, my recommendation: if you like fantasy and thrillers, give it a read. I know people who’ve liked it. I’m just not one of them.
selenajean's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one! I honestly did not have high hopes as I thought the last few sookie books were a big let down. I agree with a prior reviewer that if you enjoyed the first half of the sookie series you'd enjoy this. I would say it's a bit darker and less quirky/funny. I'm happy I gave it a chance.
dalidja's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75