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buuboobaby's review against another edition
3.0
3 - 3.5 stars
I couldn't put this down, but the ending killed me. I felt cheated and let down, and darn it, I liked a character who died, pointlessly. ugh!
I couldn't put this down, but the ending killed me. I felt cheated and let down, and darn it, I liked a character who died, pointlessly. ugh!
kelliowen's review
5.0
The return of Temple and Gabriel, with the addition of a side character—what more could a girl want!? A clue? A little warning that it wasn’t going to be the same Temple and Gabriel. That would have been nice—but strangely, in the end, not knowing was okay. The story, while still intriguing, was different from the previous two on a fundamental level. Instead of hunting Temple, we’re hunting something that could help destroy him and avoiding him, rather than confronting. Of course, I said different, not bad, and this slight sidestep away from habit was well done and provided a new kind of anticipation. As we’ve come to expect from these two ancient enemies and Lebbon’s ability to fill in their blanks, the characters here were brilliant, and previous knowledge of Temple and Gabriel are not necessary. Even the newcomer was brightly colored in an otherwise drab army-green world.
War hounds will love this one, as the atmosphere is blood, guts, gunpowder and bullets. The drive that pushes them through the jungle and the fear that keeps them alert at night are powerful. War is Hell, and like Hell, everyone that hasn’t been there has their own perceptions of war, and a certain [unknown] percentage of readers may have benefited from a bit more exposition. But don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t distract from the story, it’s merely an observation regarding the one and only weakness I found in the novella. Beyond the atmosphere is a pace that drags you through the muddy jungle without reservation. Jumping both character and POV, asking questions that demand answers [by both the character and the reader], and the aforementioned difference in the way we approach Temple are all carefully orchestrated and appear effortless. Also well done, and almost never done well, is the style of switching POV. It helps you instantly get into the mind of that person without being told who it was. Each time the switch happens, you get a few sentences in and suddenly sit up straighter and open your eyes wider—we’ve switched locations and people and goals, oh my! Lebbon may have made it look easy, but the poor reader is out of breath by the end of the novella and wondering what the Hell just happened... and smiling about it.
Speaking of the end, this novella has something I’ve never said before and honestly don’t expect to ever take back: the best last two sentences ever. Period. Nothing like closing a chapter and opening Pandora’s Box... Enough to make me swallow audibly, reread twice and then immediately explain the whole story to my husband in a 23-second whirlwind, just so I could share the ending of this with him. Yeah, worth a star all on its own. Speaking of stars, how about 4 ½ Get this immediately—and no flipping to the last page! Don’t ruin it for yourself...
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Originally posted on Horror-Web.com
War hounds will love this one, as the atmosphere is blood, guts, gunpowder and bullets. The drive that pushes them through the jungle and the fear that keeps them alert at night are powerful. War is Hell, and like Hell, everyone that hasn’t been there has their own perceptions of war, and a certain [unknown] percentage of readers may have benefited from a bit more exposition. But don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t distract from the story, it’s merely an observation regarding the one and only weakness I found in the novella. Beyond the atmosphere is a pace that drags you through the muddy jungle without reservation. Jumping both character and POV, asking questions that demand answers [by both the character and the reader], and the aforementioned difference in the way we approach Temple are all carefully orchestrated and appear effortless. Also well done, and almost never done well, is the style of switching POV. It helps you instantly get into the mind of that person without being told who it was. Each time the switch happens, you get a few sentences in and suddenly sit up straighter and open your eyes wider—we’ve switched locations and people and goals, oh my! Lebbon may have made it look easy, but the poor reader is out of breath by the end of the novella and wondering what the Hell just happened... and smiling about it.
Speaking of the end, this novella has something I’ve never said before and honestly don’t expect to ever take back: the best last two sentences ever. Period. Nothing like closing a chapter and opening Pandora’s Box... Enough to make me swallow audibly, reread twice and then immediately explain the whole story to my husband in a 23-second whirlwind, just so I could share the ending of this with him. Yeah, worth a star all on its own. Speaking of stars, how about 4 ½ Get this immediately—and no flipping to the last page! Don’t ruin it for yourself...
......................
Originally posted on Horror-Web.com
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