Susan Illene

I really enjoyed this one initially as it didn't follow a lot of the stupid clichées.
Yea, we have a badass heroine but a lot of effort went into making sure things are kept "real".
Things like well-defined "power levels" and believable fight flow. Things like realistic torture or the emotional impact of different kinds of trauma and shock.
All these kinds of things and more are initially kept very believable.
A lot of effort went into small details which made the world feel believable and I did appreciate that a lot.
The plot wasn't groundbreaking but it wasn't just a collection of old clichées like I usually see.
There is a bit of covert plot convenience going on and unnecessary vague foreshadowing bordering on prophecy by a druid (which is a personal pet peeve of mine) annoyed me but all in all, there weren't any major flaws.
I was completely baffled by the comparatively low rating at first.
But then while approaching the 3/4 mark things regrettably went downhill fast.
Facts are suddenly made up on the spot non-stop sometimes completely contradicting previous information.
The biggest issue with the magic is the number of possibilities that the on the spot made up stuff theoretically allows. Any semi-intelligent person could use those in devastating ways but no one does because the author just didn't think about the ramifications of all those cheap throw-away plot devices.
The magic system is rather soft so you really have to disregard common sense to cause obvious holes in it like that.
The concept of "show, don't tell" flies right out the window repeatedly. Characters start saying out loud what they feel in a very awkward way that is clearly meant for the benefit of the reader instead of showing it in a natural way even tho the author has clearly proven she is capable of doing it right.
I really don't know what happened here. Maybe the author had a bad slump but had to finish within a deadline or something?
I had a sense this might be a fresh breeze in the rather stale genre. I felt like the book had the guts to deviate from beaten paths and not fall into every clichée trap out there like most in this genre do.
For that, I am actually willing to put up with quite a bit of roughness on the edges but ultimately despite a promising start, it didn't happen.
It ended up just aggressively preaching the power of friendship and all that crap like all the others do. Ethical dilemmas and morally ambiguous decisions and their consequences are just being fixed with cheap copouts like "turns out that person was pure evil anyway".
A world that clearly had the potential to have many shades of grey sadly crumbled into naive black and white just pretending to be something more.
And what is going on with the sudden flirting and touching followed by swooning around multiple flaming hot guys?
It ends so incredibly cheese that I couldn't take the last few pages and dnfed like 15 minutes before the end.
It felt like the author replaced her calligraphy feather with a wax crayon part-way through the story.… (más)

Although I read a lot of fantasy, I don't usually read a lot which contains vampires, werewolves, witches and the lot. Still, I read it for a book discussion, and I really enjoyed it.
The characters are well developed, and the lead character undergoes some changes in the course of the book. She has some strengths and weaknesses at the beginning, but she fights and overcomes prejudices, and she takes on responsibility.

It is a fast-paced story that gripped me right from the start. There even is a bit of a romantic interest, although there are three likely candidates, and you'll need to read the sequel(s) to find out who'll make it.

The narrator was well fitted, and did a good job with this book.… (más)

Genre: Fantasy (Urban)
Author: Susan ILLene
Book: Darkness Haunts (The Sensor #1)
My Star Rating: 4
Will I read I read it again? No

The story description does quite a bit to draw my attention. I'm thinking a soldier-type female main character, that evidently knows something about the supernatural (Supes) race(s) living among humans. She gets drawn into a search for a friend who has "gone missing" in Alaska - a supposed haven for these Supes. And supposedly she has some 'special skills'......

This is the kind of story I like in a good urban fantasy. I admit, it sounds like the same basic plot that so many of them have, but it is the story-telling of the plot with the details that draw me in. I was so looking forward to getting to this one, that I let it skip a few others I had in my pile before it. honestly, I was a little let down.

Our main character, Melena, is an orphan, raised by a foster family, which were killed/died/whatever, and she ended up with a "distant family member" to raise her. Around HS graduation age, she joined the Army, and supposedly served in Airborne, though it was as an interrogator. So, not to spoil it, she does have some "supernatural" power, but I'm not saying as it will spoil it for you. The rest of the book description pretty much covers it.

That all being said, there was no depth to the story, or its characters. Everyone is sexy/hunky for the most part. Every male loves/lusts/wants to be with the main character (and no one else it seems). Thankfully the most "sex scenes" were internal monologues that were very short (thank goodness) made by the main character about musculature features of said males. The story had a few small goodies I liked, and overall completed itself enough to be a stand alone story.

Cons:
- MC tried to be a "big girl" and was saved by a hunky male way too many times, and way too obviously coming in the story
- no depth of character, or story world - this being mostly in Alaska - Fairbanks area - we are kind of left to our imagination

Pros:
- Story idea was good, and I liked how it overall came together
- No cliff-hanger - even knowing there are like six books in the series
- MC superpower is one (or similar to) I have read about from other authors, and yet has it's own unique 'extra' to it

Middle of the Road:
- The lack of description for the story world. I have no clue what the area around the location truly looks like, though I am sure it varies greatly from what I've seen on documentaries of polar bears. But I like that we could sort of form our own impressions of the "layout" from city to cabin to forests, etc. I thought it weird they could be in "downtown" Fairbanks, then five minutes later be at a cabin 200 yards off the main road, that has working plumbing.… (más)