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A review by ninjamuse
Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey
2.0
In brief: Between his friend’s suicide and resurrection as a poltergeist, the American hit-woman who’s been dead for decades but has struck again, and the mad psychologist who’s trying to kidnap his oldest friend, Felix Castor’s really not having a good week. Third in a series.
Thoughts: On an urban fantasy/mystery level, this was as fun as the last two. Creepy ghosts and great fight scenes and the edge-of-the-seat question of how Castor’s going to win, plus a great noir voice, good humour, and a series arc I still need to know the resolution for. It was just want I needed at the time I read it. Two thumbs up. However…
It’s been a few years at least since I read one of the Castor books and clearly my eyes have been opened in the meantime. Carey’s … not great … when it comes to his female characters. They’re all given different personalities and are clearly living lives away from Castor (and neither put up with his shit or particularly want to sleep with him), but at the same time, nearly every female intro includes Castor’s assessment of their looks, a mention of how they’d slept or nearly slept together in the past, or both. Plus there’s the case of Juliet, the reformed succubus who’s still deathly attractive to every man and who is the center of “walk into a flagpole” type jokes and comments at every turn, and the hit-woman’s backstory isn’t all that enlightened either. Sigh.
Still liked the book over all and will still be reading the others, but will I buy them? Probably not, and they’ve gone from “good series” to “guilty pleasure” now.
Warnings: Gore and graphic violence; mention of more of the same; mentions of rape and extreme sexual violence; the thing with Juliet; “it’s okay, the abuse made her do it.”
6/10 (would be a 7 except for the female character stuff)
Thoughts: On an urban fantasy/mystery level, this was as fun as the last two. Creepy ghosts and great fight scenes and the edge-of-the-seat question of how Castor’s going to win, plus a great noir voice, good humour, and a series arc I still need to know the resolution for. It was just want I needed at the time I read it. Two thumbs up. However…
It’s been a few years at least since I read one of the Castor books and clearly my eyes have been opened in the meantime. Carey’s … not great … when it comes to his female characters. They’re all given different personalities and are clearly living lives away from Castor (and neither put up with his shit or particularly want to sleep with him), but at the same time, nearly every female intro includes Castor’s assessment of their looks, a mention of how they’d slept or nearly slept together in the past, or both. Plus there’s the case of Juliet, the reformed succubus who’s still deathly attractive to every man and who is the center of “walk into a flagpole” type jokes and comments at every turn, and the hit-woman’s backstory isn’t all that enlightened either. Sigh.
Still liked the book over all and will still be reading the others, but will I buy them? Probably not, and they’ve gone from “good series” to “guilty pleasure” now.
Warnings: Gore and graphic violence; mention of more of the same; mentions of rape and extreme sexual violence; the thing with Juliet; “it’s okay, the abuse made her do it.”
6/10 (would be a 7 except for the female character stuff)