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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
I thought this was a rather fun new paranormal series. I enjoyed the characters and the paranormal theme.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fresh urban fantasy, with a strong female protagonist, no cringy romance in sight, nice setting, and good side characters. I am a bit unsure about the magic system. Will be keeping an eye on this series.
This one started off slow for me but when things started picking up, they REALLY picked up. I had a hard time putting it down by the time I got to the second half. The relationship between the two main characters and their interactions with demons in particular definitely remind me of San and Dean on Supernatural. If you’re a fan of the show, I would pick this up.
Actual rating: 2.5
I wasn’t Harmony fan when she appeared in Faust novels. I’m not sure I’ll eventually become one in the future.
In A Plain Dealing Villain Harmony has accomplished her pet project concerning Daniel. Now she’s free to start working on new paranormal threats. Her skills are interesting to SpecialOps (like, really special)called Vigilant Lock and she becomes a member of one of four teams (it’s mentioned in the end of the book that there are three other teams), called Circus. The team members have just lost a witch and they need replacement. Harmony is the newbie and she needs to find a place in the team.
In a small town in Michigan – Talbot Cove mysterious entity has kidnapped few toddlers. Everything suggests that the children were taken by the creature that destroyed Harmony’s childhood.
Things get personal.
I’ll start with the characters. The group is comprised of Harmony, a half-wolf (she’s not a werewolf but her senses are augmented and she’s able to break bones bare-handed) woman (Jessie), a wheel-chair bound expert occultist and former agent (April) and a former hacker turned white hat (Kevin). We learn quite a bit about Harmony and Jessie’s pasts. April and Kevin stay underdeveloped in this book. They’re present but mostly in the background. I think they work well together but for me, they lack chemistry seen in Faust family of grifters and rogues.
Harmony is straight. Too straight for me. She’s not flawed in any meaningful way. She’s so straitlaced that she makes Joe Friday look bent. She went through some childhood trauma involving demons, she’s resourceful and intelligent. Sadly, I don’t relate to her. I don’t particularly like her and that’s a problem as she’s the series protagonist.
On the other hand, Craig Schaefer is known for playing the long game. He plans story arcs several books in advance and all his storylines are connected. The plot involves some of the characters we know from Faust books (for example Halima Khoury; Damien Ecko is mentioned as well).
Demon bounty hunters were a highlight of this novel for me. I enjoyed both Fontaine with his chill manners and dry wit and Nyx. Yes, we need to speak about Nyx – she’s a perfect pulp fiction villain. I mean, platinum blonde with deep cleavage (when she wears human form) badass demon with a heavy Russian accent is just perfect. Given, of course, you don’t approach fiction too seriously. I loved Nyx. She’s crazy. She’s bad. She’s so over the top that it’s genuinely funny.
The plot felt a bit rushed and I didn’t really like the resolution of some od arcs. The dialogue felt a bit corny. The ending felt rushed and, probably purposefully, unresolved. I didn’t like the ending. It was too Hollywood like – never loose hope, love will overcome evil, blah, blah, blah. I feel some of the demons were defeated too easily.
To be fair, I have to say there were some genuinely good moments in here. Passages full of a creeping dread that can set the teeth on edge. Some funny moments. All in all, though, I didn’t feel immersed in the plot.
Overall, it’s an entertaining book. I’m not in awe, but I learned to trust Craig Schaefer so I plan to continue with the series. I hope it’ll get better.
I wasn’t Harmony fan when she appeared in Faust novels. I’m not sure I’ll eventually become one in the future.
In A Plain Dealing Villain Harmony has accomplished her pet project concerning Daniel. Now she’s free to start working on new paranormal threats. Her skills are interesting to SpecialOps (like, really special)called Vigilant Lock and she becomes a member of one of four teams (it’s mentioned in the end of the book that there are three other teams), called Circus. The team members have just lost a witch and they need replacement. Harmony is the newbie and she needs to find a place in the team.
In a small town in Michigan – Talbot Cove mysterious entity has kidnapped few toddlers. Everything suggests that the children were taken by the creature that destroyed Harmony’s childhood.
Things get personal.
I’ll start with the characters. The group is comprised of Harmony, a half-wolf (she’s not a werewolf but her senses are augmented and she’s able to break bones bare-handed) woman (Jessie), a wheel-chair bound expert occultist and former agent (April) and a former hacker turned white hat (Kevin). We learn quite a bit about Harmony and Jessie’s pasts. April and Kevin stay underdeveloped in this book. They’re present but mostly in the background. I think they work well together but for me, they lack chemistry seen in Faust family of grifters and rogues.
Harmony is straight. Too straight for me. She’s not flawed in any meaningful way. She’s so straitlaced that she makes Joe Friday look bent. She went through some childhood trauma involving demons, she’s resourceful and intelligent. Sadly, I don’t relate to her. I don’t particularly like her and that’s a problem as she’s the series protagonist.
On the other hand, Craig Schaefer is known for playing the long game. He plans story arcs several books in advance and all his storylines are connected. The plot involves some of the characters we know from Faust books (for example Halima Khoury; Damien Ecko is mentioned as well).
Demon bounty hunters were a highlight of this novel for me. I enjoyed both Fontaine with his chill manners and dry wit and Nyx. Yes, we need to speak about Nyx – she’s a perfect pulp fiction villain. I mean, platinum blonde with deep cleavage (when she wears human form) badass demon with a heavy Russian accent is just perfect. Given, of course, you don’t approach fiction too seriously. I loved Nyx. She’s crazy. She’s bad. She’s so over the top that it’s genuinely funny.
The plot felt a bit rushed and I didn’t really like the resolution of some od arcs. The dialogue felt a bit corny. The ending felt rushed and, probably purposefully, unresolved. I didn’t like the ending. It was too Hollywood like – never loose hope, love will overcome evil, blah, blah, blah. I feel some of the demons were defeated too easily.
To be fair, I have to say there were some genuinely good moments in here. Passages full of a creeping dread that can set the teeth on edge. Some funny moments. All in all, though, I didn’t feel immersed in the plot.
Overall, it’s an entertaining book. I’m not in awe, but I learned to trust Craig Schaefer so I plan to continue with the series. I hope it’ll get better.
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No