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A review by dorhastings
Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey
4.0
I would possibly rate the book a little lower than four stars, but what the heck. I still enjoyed it. I do agree with those who have said that this is their least favorite Castor book of the first three books. I suppose that tends to happen.
There are two reasons I didn't like this book quite as much. First, Castor would make reference to characters we'd encountered before but wouldn't give a complete explanation. Maybe this was only once: he mentioned Cheryl, from the first book, and I wasn't sure who he was talking about. Of course there's no information on Wiki, and I was thisclose to flipping through the first book (not quite so easy on a Kindle) before I remembered who she was. And yes, no big deal, particularly in terms of plot, but a little more information would be nice. There was an additional something about some guy's daughter, but no follow-through there. I'm pretty sure I remember that one, but still, a little extra information wouldn't hurt. No doubt she'll come into play later.
The second reason I didn't like this book so much is the three storylines running through the book. Even if the Rafi one wasn't as significant in terms of action, I still felt a bit lost.
Why do I start with the things I didn't like? Who knows. Here's what I loved: I really like Felix Castor as protagonist and narrator. I thought the plot was unique and full of twists. I liked how this story was different, and I like that part of the mystery was figuring out just how stuff was happening. The explanation was interesting and thought-provoking and seemed to cover all the bases, but it also brought about a strange concept for me: yes, ghosts possessing bodies isn't too out there (by out standards; it's fairly regular in other spooky stories), I really like the idea of the ghost not changing too much, despite reincarnations, and the ability to change a possessed body so much that the fingerprints change. At first I found that really odd and... well, unrealistic. But the explanation of a ghostly passenger having such a huge, even physical, effect is quite spooky and cool. I like the concept.
But I'm not liking Pen.
There are two reasons I didn't like this book quite as much. First, Castor would make reference to characters we'd encountered before but wouldn't give a complete explanation. Maybe this was only once: he mentioned Cheryl, from the first book, and I wasn't sure who he was talking about. Of course there's no information on Wiki, and I was thisclose to flipping through the first book (not quite so easy on a Kindle) before I remembered who she was. And yes, no big deal, particularly in terms of plot, but a little more information would be nice. There was an additional something about some guy's daughter, but no follow-through there. I'm pretty sure I remember that one, but still, a little extra information wouldn't hurt. No doubt she'll come into play later.
The second reason I didn't like this book so much is the three storylines running through the book. Even if the Rafi one wasn't as significant in terms of action, I still felt a bit lost.
Why do I start with the things I didn't like? Who knows. Here's what I loved: I really like Felix Castor as protagonist and narrator. I thought the plot was unique and full of twists. I liked how this story was different, and I like that part of the mystery was figuring out just how stuff was happening. The explanation was interesting and thought-provoking and seemed to cover all the bases, but it also brought about a strange concept for me: yes, ghosts possessing bodies isn't too out there (by out standards; it's fairly regular in other spooky stories), I really like the idea of the ghost not changing too much, despite reincarnations, and the ability to change a possessed body so much that the fingerprints change. At first I found that really odd and... well, unrealistic. But the explanation of a ghostly passenger having such a huge, even physical, effect is quite spooky and cool. I like the concept.
But I'm not liking Pen.