Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by writegeist
Half-Made Girls by Sam Witt
2.0
I received a free readers copy through Story Cartel for my review.
It's a neat concept: a sheriff who deals with the more mundane issues of life and then there is a night marshall who deals with the supernatural. Very Lukyanenko-esque with a western twist. But here's the rub: in Half-Made Girls, the first in a series dealing with the Night Marshall of Pitchfork County (cool name, I think), I don't see why anyone would want to save this place. Clearly, the current Night Marshall, Joe (who appears to have inherited the position) doesn't see a reason either. "Joe hated Pitchfork County." And I do get that it's part of his character arc. Joe is a mess and has to find redemption in the midst of hell breaking loose. So, the concept has potential.
However, the novel just doesn't work for me, and I realize I might not be the target demographic, so keep that in mind for the review. Action is made up of a lot of blowing people away, a lot of visceral descriptions of heads being blown apart and bodies torn asunder, human and other creatures. Meth is the drug du jour, cultists seem to outnumber normal folk, but I think I'd rather spend my time in Night Vale where there's weird stuff galore, but there are still some breaks in the carnage.
Joe spends a lot of time by himself, which is never a good idea if you want to avoid tons of exposition and memories; not much sub-text. It's okay for readers to not get everything right away and to make them work, especially if this is a series. My questions were being answered even before I had a chance to come up with them.
Mr. Witt has definite talent. His sentences flow; his action scenes are concrete and graphic. But the story just isn't there yet. And I'm not sure I really like Joe enough to follow him to the next book. He's not a very nice person even though I understand there are reasons behind that; I've already been told what they are.
It's a neat concept: a sheriff who deals with the more mundane issues of life and then there is a night marshall who deals with the supernatural. Very Lukyanenko-esque with a western twist. But here's the rub: in Half-Made Girls, the first in a series dealing with the Night Marshall of Pitchfork County (cool name, I think), I don't see why anyone would want to save this place. Clearly, the current Night Marshall, Joe (who appears to have inherited the position) doesn't see a reason either. "Joe hated Pitchfork County." And I do get that it's part of his character arc. Joe is a mess and has to find redemption in the midst of hell breaking loose. So, the concept has potential.
However, the novel just doesn't work for me, and I realize I might not be the target demographic, so keep that in mind for the review. Action is made up of a lot of blowing people away, a lot of visceral descriptions of heads being blown apart and bodies torn asunder, human and other creatures. Meth is the drug du jour, cultists seem to outnumber normal folk, but I think I'd rather spend my time in Night Vale where there's weird stuff galore, but there are still some breaks in the carnage.
Joe spends a lot of time by himself, which is never a good idea if you want to avoid tons of exposition and memories; not much sub-text. It's okay for readers to not get everything right away and to make them work, especially if this is a series. My questions were being answered even before I had a chance to come up with them.
Mr. Witt has definite talent. His sentences flow; his action scenes are concrete and graphic. But the story just isn't there yet. And I'm not sure I really like Joe enough to follow him to the next book. He's not a very nice person even though I understand there are reasons behind that; I've already been told what they are.