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sarah1984's review against another edition
2.0
SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!!!!!!!!!
22/1 - Page 8
'As far as names go, I could have done a hell of a lot worse than Lukas Walker, but something like Luke Sky Walker would really sing.'
Seriously?! Is he being funny?
Page 17
'...where he couldn't been seen...'
That should be be.
Page 75
'...find myself in this almost Apocalyptic desert wasteland...'
Why is apocalyptic capitalised?
Page 76
'...hadn't put of much of a fight.'
That of should be up.
Page 85
'...hoping to make money off of a product...'
I hate the use of off of, it's as annoying (and logical) as 'tuna fish'.
Page 90
'Another, lesser know facet of this...'
That should be known.
Page 96
'I few Styrofoam...'
That I should be an A.
Page 99
'Brush marks on the sand in front of me. The side-to-side trails of leaves being swept back and forth to cover prints. They were faint, but they were fresh.'
How the hell can he tell whether or not they're fresh? It's not like they must be fresh because it rained the night before, this is Arizona it probably hasn't rained in a month.
Page 103
'It was the one to the southeast along the Baboquivari Range, where Antone had introduced me to my biological uncle and cousin, who had found the first smiley face in the shadow of Baboquivari Peak, beneath which our creator god, I'itoi, lived deep in his maze.'
There is no need to recap all of that information, we're only 100 pages in so it's not like I've forgotten what happened already. All that needed to be said was the first two hints as to which crime scene he was heading for. To be continued...
26/1 - The story of the title is actually only 248 pages long (GR has it listed at 271), the next 114 pages are another McBride story altogether - The Calm before the Swarm (dreadful name, but I'll try not to let it colour my opinion). As The Calm before the Swarm is listed separately, as a book in its own right, I won't review it here. I'll review it as another book on its own merits with its own rating, also so that it counts towards my reading challenge (which it doesn't as part of The Coyote because the page count is off by over 100 pages).
I felt absolutely no connection with Lukas. We're told some of the details of his life, but because the book's written in the 1st person and he's a very solitary investigator (doesn't want or need help from anyone) there's very little dialogue, so there's only three characters who he talks to, who could ask him questions or involve him in a conversation. We're told that he's Native American, but for me he could have been any nationality. His heritage doesn't seem to change or drive his personality in any way. One of the killers was also Native American and uses some of the mythology in his modus operandi, but it still could have been a guy from anywhere who became obsessed with Tohono O'odham mythology. The reveal of the first killer was way too early, not even counting the telegraphing of his identity from the first time we meet him. The second killer's reveal was better, but it was still too obvious who it was from about halfway through the book. On top of all that the editing issues continued through to the end of the book.
Page 119
As much as I had enjoyed punching Boss Nass at the time, I regretted it even more now.
He's talking about hitting a security guard who was 'running girls' out of a casino. The guard made a final crack about Lukas' eyes being very similar to the eyes of one of the killers', which lead to a punch to the head that somersaulted him over the back of the chair he was sitting in. What's Boss Nass got to do with anything? I've never heard the name, but I googled him and it turns out he's a Star Wars character, which left me feeling even more confused as to why Lukas is referring to him as Boss Nass.
Page 127
'...Lord only knew what waiting for me...'
There should be a was between what and waiting.
Page 147
'The bones protruding from the pit were old. They'd been absolved of flesh long ago.'
Absolved doesn't mean the same thing as removed.
Page 149
'...bring their murderer to justice, or, failing at that, to avenge them.'
The at is unnecessary.
Page 152
'...reversed the car and backed toward to road...'
That to should be a the.
Page 167
'...but not my much.'
That my should be a by.
Page 170
'...where the rock walls petered to sandy hills...'
That should be petered out.
Page 189
'...when no one else wanted to job.'
That to should be a the.
Page 204
'...was the first to study the heritance of behavioural traits...'
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary heritance is an archaic form of heritage/inheritance and they could only find examples of its use in legal documents from prior to 1900.
Page 214
'...my flashlight reflected from metal on the...'
That from should be off (not off of either).
Page 215
'...have been ripped right off of a muscle car.'
My pet hate, that should be just off.
Page 238
'...who had robbed him on his only child...'
That on should be an of.
I've already got McBride's Burial Ground on my Kindle, otherwise, on the strength of this book (which was free, thankfully), I probably wouldn't bother reading anything else by him. Here's hoping the editing is better, at least.
22/1 - Page 8
'As far as names go, I could have done a hell of a lot worse than Lukas Walker, but something like Luke Sky Walker would really sing.'
Seriously?! Is he being funny?
Page 17
'...where he couldn't been seen...'
That should be be.
Page 75
'...find myself in this almost Apocalyptic desert wasteland...'
Why is apocalyptic capitalised?
Page 76
'...hadn't put of much of a fight.'
That of should be up.
Page 85
'...hoping to make money off of a product...'
I hate the use of off of, it's as annoying (and logical) as 'tuna fish'.
Page 90
'Another, lesser know facet of this...'
That should be known.
Page 96
'I few Styrofoam...'
That I should be an A.
Page 99
'Brush marks on the sand in front of me. The side-to-side trails of leaves being swept back and forth to cover prints. They were faint, but they were fresh.'
How the hell can he tell whether or not they're fresh? It's not like they must be fresh because it rained the night before, this is Arizona it probably hasn't rained in a month.
Page 103
'It was the one to the southeast along the Baboquivari Range, where Antone had introduced me to my biological uncle and cousin, who had found the first smiley face in the shadow of Baboquivari Peak, beneath which our creator god, I'itoi, lived deep in his maze.'
There is no need to recap all of that information, we're only 100 pages in so it's not like I've forgotten what happened already. All that needed to be said was the first two hints as to which crime scene he was heading for. To be continued...
26/1 - The story of the title is actually only 248 pages long (GR has it listed at 271), the next 114 pages are another McBride story altogether - The Calm before the Swarm (dreadful name, but I'll try not to let it colour my opinion). As The Calm before the Swarm is listed separately, as a book in its own right, I won't review it here. I'll review it as another book on its own merits with its own rating, also so that it counts towards my reading challenge (which it doesn't as part of The Coyote because the page count is off by over 100 pages).
I felt absolutely no connection with Lukas. We're told some of the details of his life, but because the book's written in the 1st person and he's a very solitary investigator (doesn't want or need help from anyone) there's very little dialogue, so there's only three characters who he talks to, who could ask him questions or involve him in a conversation. We're told that he's Native American, but for me he could have been any nationality. His heritage doesn't seem to change or drive his personality in any way. One of the killers was also Native American and uses some of the mythology in his modus operandi, but it still could have been a guy from anywhere who became obsessed with Tohono O'odham mythology. The reveal of the first killer was way too early, not even counting the telegraphing of his identity from the first time we meet him. The second killer's reveal was better, but it was still too obvious who it was from about halfway through the book. On top of all that the editing issues continued through to the end of the book.
Page 119
As much as I had enjoyed punching Boss Nass at the time, I regretted it even more now.
He's talking about hitting a security guard who was 'running girls' out of a casino. The guard made a final crack about Lukas' eyes being very similar to the eyes of one of the killers', which lead to a punch to the head that somersaulted him over the back of the chair he was sitting in. What's Boss Nass got to do with anything? I've never heard the name, but I googled him and it turns out he's a Star Wars character, which left me feeling even more confused as to why Lukas is referring to him as Boss Nass.
Page 127
'...Lord only knew what waiting for me...'
There should be a was between what and waiting.
Page 147
'The bones protruding from the pit were old. They'd been absolved of flesh long ago.'
Absolved doesn't mean the same thing as removed.
Page 149
'...bring their murderer to justice, or, failing at that, to avenge them.'
The at is unnecessary.
Page 152
'...reversed the car and backed toward to road...'
That to should be a the.
Page 167
'...but not my much.'
That my should be a by.
Page 170
'...where the rock walls petered to sandy hills...'
That should be petered out.
Page 189
'...when no one else wanted to job.'
That to should be a the.
Page 204
'...was the first to study the heritance of behavioural traits...'
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary heritance is an archaic form of heritage/inheritance and they could only find examples of its use in legal documents from prior to 1900.
Page 214
'...my flashlight reflected from metal on the...'
That from should be off (not off of either).
Page 215
'...have been ripped right off of a muscle car.'
My pet hate, that should be just off.
Page 238
'...who had robbed him on his only child...'
That on should be an of.
I've already got McBride's Burial Ground on my Kindle, otherwise, on the strength of this book (which was free, thankfully), I probably wouldn't bother reading anything else by him. Here's hoping the editing is better, at least.
charshorrorcorner's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I think this was my third or fourth audiobook of Michael McBride's. It was my least favorite so far.
I enjoyed the setting and the Native American history in the story, but I was a little disappointed when I realized that this was more of a police procedural than a horror tale.
I found that my mind wandered a few times while listening, and I had to go back to listen to it again. This may have been due to the narrator. In a few cases, it seemed like he was finished reading a sentence, but then continued on again-almost like he had to turn a page, or wait for the cue card to change or something. It threw me off.
Overall though, this is a Michael McBride story, so it's still good. It's just that this one didn't quite suit my tastes and I thought the narrator was just a little off.
*I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*
I think this was my third or fourth audiobook of Michael McBride's. It was my least favorite so far.
I enjoyed the setting and the Native American history in the story, but I was a little disappointed when I realized that this was more of a police procedural than a horror tale.
I found that my mind wandered a few times while listening, and I had to go back to listen to it again. This may have been due to the narrator. In a few cases, it seemed like he was finished reading a sentence, but then continued on again-almost like he had to turn a page, or wait for the cue card to change or something. It threw me off.
Overall though, this is a Michael McBride story, so it's still good. It's just that this one didn't quite suit my tastes and I thought the narrator was just a little off.
*I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*
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