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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Got more OK-ish as it went along, but after I found out it was a spin-off from another book, well, that at least partially explained the inelegant and extended exposition dump in the first four chapters, after which the book found some legs
Really liked the characters and especially the team dynamic. Jessi is probably my favorite - I love that she has this inner evil to control. Wasn't too easy or happy - romance wasn't forced neither was victory. Like demon hierarchy and conspiracies. Definitely plan go continue
Spoliers
I really struggle to like Harmony. I read Faust and love love love him. She was so uppity and in my eyes hypocritical as hell. Always telling Faust that criminals need due process then she sends her takes to some illegal offshore prison and kills people right and left but when Daniel does it its vigilantly. Vigilant lock acts like vigilantys themselves. They barely have government sanction but have not only a license but an order to kill or take offshore any hostiles. Just such hypocrisy. I also hate reading about zealots and Harmony is a zealot with a mission to save the world all the time. The lives of the many outweigh the few and I'm so not cool with that. I'd rather read about Daniel all day. I want to read these books because they tie in with the greater Faust world but I've read the first two now and I just don't think I can deal. I hate Harmony. I hate the way she treated Daniel as if he were her greatest adversary when there was real world ending danger on the board. I dont think I can read her as a protagonist she's just too unlikable for me. The plot of the first two books were fun I liked it but I dont give a damn about any of the characters. Needs some serious character development. I feel like they are all type caste.
I really struggle to like Harmony. I read Faust and love love love him. She was so uppity and in my eyes hypocritical as hell. Always telling Faust that criminals need due process then she sends her takes to some illegal offshore prison and kills people right and left but when Daniel does it its vigilantly. Vigilant lock acts like vigilantys themselves. They barely have government sanction but have not only a license but an order to kill or take offshore any hostiles. Just such hypocrisy. I also hate reading about zealots and Harmony is a zealot with a mission to save the world all the time. The lives of the many outweigh the few and I'm so not cool with that. I'd rather read about Daniel all day. I want to read these books because they tie in with the greater Faust world but I've read the first two now and I just don't think I can deal. I hate Harmony. I hate the way she treated Daniel as if he were her greatest adversary when there was real world ending danger on the board. I dont think I can read her as a protagonist she's just too unlikable for me. The plot of the first two books were fun I liked it but I dont give a damn about any of the characters. Needs some serious character development. I feel like they are all type caste.
I got this book from the Kindle First options.
Harmony Black is a highly entertaining read and a great introduction to the new series. I probably would enjoy reading more of the Circus' story, however this story really feels trite.
I loved the strong female protagonists (and some of the bad guys too). There are some hilarious lines that made my night and some seriously f***ed up scenes that got the point across all too well.
Long story short: I liked it!
Harmony Black is a highly entertaining read and a great introduction to the new series. I probably would enjoy reading more of the Circus' story, however this story really feels trite.
I loved the strong female protagonists (and some of the bad guys too). There are some hilarious lines that made my night and some seriously f***ed up scenes that got the point across all too well.
Long story short: I liked it!
It's hard to review a book like this seriously--was it the best written, most well-crafted book I've ever read? No. Was it a fast, pretty fun read with characters who were enjoyable? Definitely.
I got this ebook from the Amazon Kindle free book program and I'm not displeased I chose it. The premise was fun, the characters were great and diverse, and it's pretty awesome (and refreshing!) to see an FBI/special agent premise with two female agents as the main characters/doing the heavy lifting. Especially from a male author! I feel like I rarely see this, but Craig Schaefer breaks that particular mold here with great success. The two female leads (and all of the other competent women) were awesome and the diversity of cast (including a Muslim character!) was great to read.
Not five stars, but, like I said, I am not displeased at all with my choice to give this a shot.
I got this ebook from the Amazon Kindle free book program and I'm not displeased I chose it. The premise was fun, the characters were great and diverse, and it's pretty awesome (and refreshing!) to see an FBI/special agent premise with two female agents as the main characters/doing the heavy lifting. Especially from a male author! I feel like I rarely see this, but Craig Schaefer breaks that particular mold here with great success. The two female leads (and all of the other competent women) were awesome and the diversity of cast (including a Muslim character!) was great to read.
Not five stars, but, like I said, I am not displeased at all with my choice to give this a shot.
So I received a copy of this book through Amazon's Kindle First selection for January. I'm always skeptical of the quality of books offered for 'free' but enjoyed this for what it is...Harmony Black was well written, in a made for movie screenplay kind of way, and the book held my attention.
The Good
Schaefer writes an easy, breezy fast food kind of read. This was like eating Reddi-Whip out of the can. Easy to consume but not sure there's much literary value here.
Harmony Black is an FBI agent/practicing witch assigned to a special task force aka The Circus responsible for fighting and eliminating "hostile entities" (read: demons and monsters). The Circus is a rag tag group comprised of Harmony, a half wolf woman (Jessie), a wheel-chair bound expert occultist and former agent (April) and a former hacker turned white hat (Kevin). The group is charged with finding the demons responsible for the serial kidnapping of infants from their homes (including the unsolved kidnapping of Harmony's little sister Angie).
The first 3/4 of the book as the team was "on the hunt" was satisfying but the ending felt hasty (see, The Bad, below).
The Bad
Some of the dialogue felt a tad cheesy. Lots of chapters ending in cliches. Never give up hope. Another day another monster, yada yada.
The ending felt a little rushed and purposefully unresolved. The author obviously left the story wide open for a sequel. Without spoilers I felt some of the demons were too easily defeated.
The Ugly
I loathe when authors play into character stereotypes. I actually liked Jessie but felt she sort of fell into the "sassy black girlfriend" trope.
Overall this was a 2.5/3 star read. I rounded up because it was entertaining. I don't know if I would necessarily read book #2 but maybe if it was offered through Amazon Kindle First.
The Good
Schaefer writes an easy, breezy fast food kind of read. This was like eating Reddi-Whip out of the can. Easy to consume but not sure there's much literary value here.
Harmony Black is an FBI agent/practicing witch assigned to a special task force aka The Circus responsible for fighting and eliminating "hostile entities" (read: demons and monsters). The Circus is a rag tag group comprised of Harmony, a half wolf woman (Jessie), a wheel-chair bound expert occultist and former agent (April) and a former hacker turned white hat (Kevin). The group is charged with finding the demons responsible for the serial kidnapping of infants from their homes (including the unsolved kidnapping of Harmony's little sister Angie).
The first 3/4 of the book as the team was "on the hunt" was satisfying but the ending felt hasty (see, The Bad, below).
The Bad
Some of the dialogue felt a tad cheesy. Lots of chapters ending in cliches. Never give up hope. Another day another monster, yada yada.
The ending felt a little rushed and purposefully unresolved. The author obviously left the story wide open for a sequel. Without spoilers I felt some of the demons were too easily defeated.
The Ugly
I loathe when authors play into character stereotypes. I actually liked Jessie but felt she sort of fell into the "sassy black girlfriend" trope.
Overall this was a 2.5/3 star read. I rounded up because it was entertaining. I don't know if I would necessarily read book #2 but maybe if it was offered through Amazon Kindle First.
We finally signed up for Amazon Prime and this was my first Kindle First selection for January 2016. To be honest, none of the other selections looked interesting at all, so I picked this one. I liked it! I don't think I've read anything from this author before, but I saw from the afterword that he's got another series in the same universe, so I'll have to check that out. I felt that Harmony was a bit odd. Almost...Asperger's-like in her detachment. I'm not sure if she's supposed to be like that of it's a failure in the writing, but I still enjoyed it.
Apparently Harmony Black is a character mentioned in another Craig Schaefer novel, but in this series it’s all about her.
She is an FBI agent who also happens to be a witch, and who is part of a special group assigned to tackle occult forces.
This novel focuses on the investigation of children being abducted. Unfortunately the case is one that Black has personal experience of. Years earlier her sister was abducted and the Bogeyman (as Black named him) killed her father. This time it is personal, and Black uncovers a deeply ingrained sense of corruption in her hometown of Talbot Cove.
The supernatural elements quickly became quite dark, but I liked the warmth between the two female characters.
She is an FBI agent who also happens to be a witch, and who is part of a special group assigned to tackle occult forces.
This novel focuses on the investigation of children being abducted. Unfortunately the case is one that Black has personal experience of. Years earlier her sister was abducted and the Bogeyman (as Black named him) killed her father. This time it is personal, and Black uncovers a deeply ingrained sense of corruption in her hometown of Talbot Cove.
The supernatural elements quickly became quite dark, but I liked the warmth between the two female characters.
What to say about this one? Hmm.
It was okay?
It was not terrible?
It was not great?
Yes to all of those things. The main cast felt a little flat to me, and I honestly gave zero flips about their back stories or even future stories if I'm totally honest. There was nothing there to emotionally connect me to any of them. The magic system was, well it wasn't really fleshed out well at all. She's a witch but I nearly forgot several times that she was. There were a few parts that I did find interesting, like the demon courts not to mention the demons themselves, but I'm not sure if they interested me enough to continue the series. We'll see....
It was okay?
It was not terrible?
It was not great?
Yes to all of those things. The main cast felt a little flat to me, and I honestly gave zero flips about their back stories or even future stories if I'm totally honest. There was nothing there to emotionally connect me to any of them. The magic system was, well it wasn't really fleshed out well at all. She's a witch but I nearly forgot several times that she was. There were a few parts that I did find interesting, like the demon courts not to mention the demons themselves, but I'm not sure if they interested me enough to continue the series. We'll see....