Scan barcode
A review by petra_reads
The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen
3.0
This is the third book in the Smoky Barrett series and continues a couple of years after [b:The Face of Death|184794|The Face of Death (Smoky Barrett, #2)|Cody McFadyen|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388758400s/184794.jpg|2725701]. While I would suggest reading them in order for the character development, [a:Cody McFadyen|83056|Cody McFadyen|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1246713671p2/83056.jpg] actually rehashes a lot of the details from the previous books to make this one work as a standalone, too.
This one had a different feel to the first two. I can't actually explain why exactly, but this one didn't grip me like the first two. I'm not sure whether it was just the primary focus on religion and the Catholic faith that left me disconnected, but something was missing here. For starters, I think it lacked suspense. While still rather unpleasant in parts, this one didn't feel as brutal and gory as the first two either.
Although this was the first one I listened to in English, I know that wasn't the issue here because this was actually better in English than the first two had been in German. I thought the audiobook narration by Joyce Bean was fantastic. The issue which annoyed me so much in the German version actually came across as endearing in this one, and I really, really like Callie now. I think Kirby is another entertaining character, as she injects some fun into the otherwise dark plot.
Overall, I still enjoyed this one, but it didn't have the impact the previous ones had. 3.5 stars.
Moving on to [b:Abandoned|6413939|Abandoned (Smoky Barrett #4)|Cody McFadyen|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388856744s/6413939.jpg|6602940], book 4.
This one had a different feel to the first two. I can't actually explain why exactly, but this one didn't grip me like the first two. I'm not sure whether it was just the primary focus on religion and the Catholic faith that left me disconnected, but something was missing here. For starters, I think it lacked suspense. While still rather unpleasant in parts, this one didn't feel as brutal and gory as the first two either.
Although this was the first one I listened to in English, I know that wasn't the issue here because this was actually better in English than the first two had been in German. I thought the audiobook narration by Joyce Bean was fantastic. The issue which annoyed me so much in the German version actually came across as endearing in this one, and I really, really like Callie now. I think Kirby is another entertaining character, as she injects some fun into the otherwise dark plot.
Overall, I still enjoyed this one, but it didn't have the impact the previous ones had. 3.5 stars.
Moving on to [b:Abandoned|6413939|Abandoned (Smoky Barrett #4)|Cody McFadyen|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388856744s/6413939.jpg|6602940], book 4.