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Jackie Rutledge #1
Deadworld
She's as tough as anything haunting Chicago's streets. But to deal with an inhuman power that won't stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price. . .Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup . . .So Jackie is fine with any help rugged P.I. Nick Anderson can give--even if that includes the impish ghost and sexy vampire who make up his team. But Nick is hiding secrets of his own. And Jackie's investigation has plunged them both into a vengeful game reaching back centuries--and up against a malevolent force hungry for more than just victory. . ."Bloody, delicious, twisted." --Lilith Saintcrow, New York Times bestselling author of the Jill Kismet, Hunter series"A very impressive debut. . .the earthly and the unearthly mingle horrifyingly in this brand new twist on vampire mythology." –John Russo, author of Undead"Duncan's deftly subtle debut creeps up on you like a ghost in the night." --Mark Henry, author of Happy Hour of the Damned
445 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
29 people are currently reading
1752 people want to read
About the author
J.N. Duncan
4 books52 followersJim N. Duncan began writing at the age of fourteen thanks to a wonderful grandmother, who was a published mystery writer. Many years, numerous false starts, and a couple of college degrees later, the dream of publication has been achieved. Duncan has four fabulous children and is an aspiring teacher.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
March 24, 2011
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy
Jackie Rutledge made a bad first impression on me which didn’t improve over time. Chapter one opens with Jackie arriving on a murder scene where a little boy has been discarded like trash in a park and her response is all about her hangover: “She absently rubbed at her throbbing temple. There should be laws against committing crimes on Mondays...’Why can't killers keep better hours?’” I don’t care how tough and jaded she is after years with the FBI, that’s never the kind of response someone should have at seeing a dead kid. And sadly, Jackie was just the first in a string of uninteresting, unsympathetic characters.
Jackie and her partner Laurel wanted to come across as the next Rizzoli and Isles. Jackie as the tough cop and Laurel as the softer influence in her life. Not so much. Laurel barely registers and Jackie was obnoxiously hard-nosed. Predictably, she had an abusive childhood that turned her into a promiscuous man-hater. She gets drunk and goes home with strangers most nights. One night in specific triggers a flashback while in the middle of rough sex. The situation was seedy to begin with as she’s begging some guy to hurt her, but then she reverts back to a horrific episode from her childhood and it got ugly enough that I almost stopped reading. I kept going only so I could write this review.
That scene and character aside, the writing was equally lackluster. Redundant and overly tedious are the words that come to mind. This book should have been half this length. At 400+ pages, it came across as bloated with a sluggish pace that did nothing for its rather flimsy plot.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book. The description sounded like it might be the next great police procedural urban fantasy with a dash of romance, but DEADWORLD failed on just about every level for me. Unlikeable characters, weak yet overly eager writing, poor pacing, and a plot that wasn’t nearly strong enough to support a book of this size. Not even the ghosts and vampires could redeem this one for me. I reserve my one bat rating for books that I find offensively bad. Since DEADWORLD only qualifies as not good, it scrapes out a 2 bat rating. Barely. The next Deadworld book, THE VENGEFUL DEAD, will be published in October 2011
Sexual Content:
References to homosexuality, rape. An BDSM sex scene that triggers and abusive flashback that might be considered rape.
Jackie Rutledge made a bad first impression on me which didn’t improve over time. Chapter one opens with Jackie arriving on a murder scene where a little boy has been discarded like trash in a park and her response is all about her hangover: “She absently rubbed at her throbbing temple. There should be laws against committing crimes on Mondays...’Why can't killers keep better hours?’” I don’t care how tough and jaded she is after years with the FBI, that’s never the kind of response someone should have at seeing a dead kid. And sadly, Jackie was just the first in a string of uninteresting, unsympathetic characters.
Jackie and her partner Laurel wanted to come across as the next Rizzoli and Isles. Jackie as the tough cop and Laurel as the softer influence in her life. Not so much. Laurel barely registers and Jackie was obnoxiously hard-nosed. Predictably, she had an abusive childhood that turned her into a promiscuous man-hater. She gets drunk and goes home with strangers most nights. One night in specific triggers a flashback while in the middle of rough sex. The situation was seedy to begin with as she’s begging some guy to hurt her, but then she reverts back to a horrific episode from her childhood and it got ugly enough that I almost stopped reading. I kept going only so I could write this review.
That scene and character aside, the writing was equally lackluster. Redundant and overly tedious are the words that come to mind. This book should have been half this length. At 400+ pages, it came across as bloated with a sluggish pace that did nothing for its rather flimsy plot.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book. The description sounded like it might be the next great police procedural urban fantasy with a dash of romance, but DEADWORLD failed on just about every level for me. Unlikeable characters, weak yet overly eager writing, poor pacing, and a plot that wasn’t nearly strong enough to support a book of this size. Not even the ghosts and vampires could redeem this one for me. I reserve my one bat rating for books that I find offensively bad. Since DEADWORLD only qualifies as not good, it scrapes out a 2 bat rating. Barely. The next Deadworld book, THE VENGEFUL DEAD, will be published in October 2011
Sexual Content:
References to homosexuality, rape. An BDSM sex scene that triggers and abusive flashback that might be considered rape.
July 6, 2016
It was kind of a neat idea in a lot of ways, but it kept shooting itself in the foot. The world is ours in every respect except in a few details. The first is that Laurel, one of the two FBI agents is a psychic. That's OK. Her partner knows & respects her power, which is also OK, but no one else seems to know she's one. At least the sheriff in the beginning doesn't & no one else ever says she is. Kind of a big deal is made out of it. BUT then they find out some weird stuff about some people & all the agents, including the hard, tough boss FBI guy all seem to accept it without a problem. I'm not talking minor weird stuff, either. Major, I-don't-believe-in-this-crap, sort of stuff is accepted off stage, seemingly without a problem.
Details here, but it is a
All through the book there were a lot of revelations that I thought were cheap shots like a mysterious character who is about to tell his story & then we switch to another view point. When we pick him back up, he's finished with the story & we're slowly getting it as the book progresses. That didn't work for me at all. Worse, And worse, they didn't even hold together logically.
Fantasy writers can & should stretch my imagination, but please have the courtesy to have a logic that works within the framework of the book. I kept stumbling over problems from the very beginning & tried to push through them. I made it to about page 250 of 440 & just couldn't take it any more.
Details here, but it is a
All through the book there were a lot of revelations that I thought were cheap shots like a mysterious character who is about to tell his story & then we switch to another view point. When we pick him back up, he's finished with the story & we're slowly getting it as the book progresses. That didn't work for me at all. Worse, And worse, they didn't even hold together logically.
Fantasy writers can & should stretch my imagination, but please have the courtesy to have a logic that works within the framework of the book. I kept stumbling over problems from the very beginning & tried to push through them. I made it to about page 250 of 440 & just couldn't take it any more.
April 24, 2011
I just have to give this 4 stars!
J.N. Duncan is a new writer of Dark Urban Fantasy. This is his debut novel and series. I LOVED IT. I gave it 4 stars based on originality, true grit and believable characters.
Synopsis:
She's as tough as anything haunting Chicago's streets. But to deal with an inhuman power that won't stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price. . .
Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup . . .
So Jackie is fine with any help rugged P.I. Nick Anderson can give--even if that includes the impish ghost and sexy vampire who make up his team. But Nick is hiding secrets of his own. And Jackie's investigation has plunged them both into a vengeful game reaching back centuries--and up against a malevolent force hungry for more than just victory. . .
Duncan has a truly new take on vampires. He impressed me with his understanding of what a true/real friendship between woman FBI agents would feel like. He didn't try to lay on the sister/girlfriend love crap too thickly. He wasn't afraid to make Jackie, 'Jack', sometimes unlikable. On the other hand, the male protagonist, Nick,is NOT too freaking heroic to be two-dimensional. I am truly impressed and found this book to be entertaining as well as fresh.
The second installment, I believe, comes out inMay October, (confirmed by Mr. Duncan below) and I am ready for it. I will be recommending this series to all my friends!
J.N. Duncan is a new writer of Dark Urban Fantasy. This is his debut novel and series. I LOVED IT. I gave it 4 stars based on originality, true grit and believable characters.
Synopsis:
She's as tough as anything haunting Chicago's streets. But to deal with an inhuman power that won't stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price. . .
Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup . . .
So Jackie is fine with any help rugged P.I. Nick Anderson can give--even if that includes the impish ghost and sexy vampire who make up his team. But Nick is hiding secrets of his own. And Jackie's investigation has plunged them both into a vengeful game reaching back centuries--and up against a malevolent force hungry for more than just victory. . .
Duncan has a truly new take on vampires. He impressed me with his understanding of what a true/real friendship between woman FBI agents would feel like. He didn't try to lay on the sister/girlfriend love crap too thickly. He wasn't afraid to make Jackie, 'Jack', sometimes unlikable. On the other hand, the male protagonist, Nick,is NOT too freaking heroic to be two-dimensional. I am truly impressed and found this book to be entertaining as well as fresh.
The second installment, I believe, comes out in
January 8, 2023
Jackie Rutledge #1
Jackie Rutledge has seen her fair share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup.
There were parts of this story that felt quite rushed, even the ending, which finished quite abruptly. I suppose it will make more sense if you read the second book. This is a fast-paced read. The plotline was easy enough to follow. The characters are well developed and likeable.
#FreeKindleBook
Jackie Rutledge has seen her fair share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup.
There were parts of this story that felt quite rushed, even the ending, which finished quite abruptly. I suppose it will make more sense if you read the second book. This is a fast-paced read. The plotline was easy enough to follow. The characters are well developed and likeable.
#FreeKindleBook
January 17, 2017
The first in the paranormal romantic fantasy series, Deadworld, set in modern-day Chicago.
My Take
Jackie and the FBI seem cool with it but we never do learn just why such a conservative outfit like the FBI has allowed a gay psychic on the team and appears to take Laurel seriously. There's no background given at all for this.
For the most part, the dialogue ran true. I did like the character of Jackie, for the most part; she is such a drama queen. Not what one expects from an FBI agent. Jackie is supposed to be such a tough little thing and good at her job. Yes, I know she's had a recent trauma…but, jeez…
Duncan drew things out just right, making me crazy to know the details behind Nick's Change, but there was so much of it that was just too pat, too formulaic. Duncan has a good idea going, but I'd really like to see him develop it into some depth.
On the other hand, Duncan seems rather half-hearted about the clash between Nick-Shelby and Jackie-FBI. It's like he's going through the motions because it's part of the outline for the story.
It's a common trope, that of the "otherworld" civilian desperate to keep the normals safe, and Nick's primary antagonist has picked up some new abilities that has Nick terrified.
Well, you know how that's going to go over with FBI agents of any sex. There is no way Jackie or Laurel are going to lie down and let some civilian do their job! So the clash is on.
Nick and Shelby are hunting for Drake before he kills again…hampered by Nick's insistence on the two of them drinking synthetic blood when the real thing would make the hunt easier. Meanwhile, Jackie and Laurel are trying to figure out how, who, or what is killing these people and leaving absolutely no trace while also hounding Nick and Shelby as to their involvement.
The Story
An old vampire has been playing games with Nick Anderson for well over 100 years now. Taunting him with his inability to save his loved ones, and now he's back, back with a nasty twist.
And Jackie has found pictures dating back decades which look just like Nick. The one of his father when he had been accused of killing five people back in the 1970s really has her…curious. Then she finds his "museum"…
The Characters
Jackie Rutledge drowns her past in work. The more the better. When she can't drown it in work, she drowns it in booze, the more the better.
Laurel Carpenter is her partner and a psychic who senses ghosts.
Nick Anderson was a sheriff in Wyoming. In 1862. Where his family was killed by a vampire, Cornelius Drake. We're given the impression that it was a hideous manner in which they were killed but there's really only one detail that finally comes out in the end. Nor are we given any information as to why Drake would turn Nick into a vampire. Well, at least, someone did something to Nick as his family lay dying.
Shelby Fontaine was brought over by Nick in the 1930s when she lay bleeding out. Lovers for a time, Shelby and Nick work together in Specialty Investigations, a private eye firm specializing in ghostly issues. She just loves racing her BMW motorcycle.
Reggie is a ghost from Nick's sherrifin' days and helps out while Cynthia is a flesh-and-blood human in unrequited love with Nick and works in his firm as his secretary.
Belgerman is Jackie's boss and an incredibly understanding one. He comes across more as a stern, caring dad. Then there's the token asshole agent, naturally, a role well filled by Pernetti.
The Cover and Title
The cover confuses me. I know it's not Jackie, the primary character in this series, so it must be Shelby in the midriff-baring tank top and leather pants posed in her stiletto-heeled boots although I don't really see Shelby as the type to carry a gun. Then there's the catch phrase, "It's their town. We just die here…" I think this cover got away from another story…
The title is Jackie's introduction to a different world, an alternate plane of…well, not existence, for this is Deadworld.
My Take
Jackie and the FBI seem cool with it but we never do learn just why such a conservative outfit like the FBI has allowed a gay psychic on the team and appears to take Laurel seriously. There's no background given at all for this.
For the most part, the dialogue ran true. I did like the character of Jackie, for the most part; she is such a drama queen. Not what one expects from an FBI agent. Jackie is supposed to be such a tough little thing and good at her job. Yes, I know she's had a recent trauma…but, jeez…
Duncan drew things out just right, making me crazy to know the details behind Nick's Change, but there was so much of it that was just too pat, too formulaic. Duncan has a good idea going, but I'd really like to see him develop it into some depth.
On the other hand, Duncan seems rather half-hearted about the clash between Nick-Shelby and Jackie-FBI. It's like he's going through the motions because it's part of the outline for the story.
It's a common trope, that of the "otherworld" civilian desperate to keep the normals safe, and Nick's primary antagonist has picked up some new abilities that has Nick terrified.
Well, you know how that's going to go over with FBI agents of any sex. There is no way Jackie or Laurel are going to lie down and let some civilian do their job! So the clash is on.
Nick and Shelby are hunting for Drake before he kills again…hampered by Nick's insistence on the two of them drinking synthetic blood when the real thing would make the hunt easier. Meanwhile, Jackie and Laurel are trying to figure out how, who, or what is killing these people and leaving absolutely no trace while also hounding Nick and Shelby as to their involvement.
The Story
An old vampire has been playing games with Nick Anderson for well over 100 years now. Taunting him with his inability to save his loved ones, and now he's back, back with a nasty twist.
And Jackie has found pictures dating back decades which look just like Nick. The one of his father when he had been accused of killing five people back in the 1970s really has her…curious. Then she finds his "museum"…
The Characters
Jackie Rutledge drowns her past in work. The more the better. When she can't drown it in work, she drowns it in booze, the more the better.
Laurel Carpenter is her partner and a psychic who senses ghosts.
Nick Anderson was a sheriff in Wyoming. In 1862. Where his family was killed by a vampire, Cornelius Drake. We're given the impression that it was a hideous manner in which they were killed but there's really only one detail that finally comes out in the end. Nor are we given any information as to why Drake would turn Nick into a vampire. Well, at least, someone did something to Nick as his family lay dying.
Shelby Fontaine was brought over by Nick in the 1930s when she lay bleeding out. Lovers for a time, Shelby and Nick work together in Specialty Investigations, a private eye firm specializing in ghostly issues. She just loves racing her BMW motorcycle.
Reggie is a ghost from Nick's sherrifin' days and helps out while Cynthia is a flesh-and-blood human in unrequited love with Nick and works in his firm as his secretary.
Belgerman is Jackie's boss and an incredibly understanding one. He comes across more as a stern, caring dad. Then there's the token asshole agent, naturally, a role well filled by Pernetti.
The Cover and Title
The cover confuses me. I know it's not Jackie, the primary character in this series, so it must be Shelby in the midriff-baring tank top and leather pants posed in her stiletto-heeled boots although I don't really see Shelby as the type to carry a gun. Then there's the catch phrase, "It's their town. We just die here…" I think this cover got away from another story…
The title is Jackie's introduction to a different world, an alternate plane of…well, not existence, for this is Deadworld.
September 8, 2018
This was a very interesting story while I thought it was going somewhere, certainly up to the big twist halfway through. After that I kept reading eagerly, hoping things were going to come together, but I felt the plot didn't resolve; and, except for the car chase, the climactic scenes were hard for me to visualize. As you see, much of the trouble I had with this book lies deep in spoilerland. A few of my problems come up early on, though, and I can certainly talk about the characters.
There are two main characters, and each one has a much more likable sidekick, gradually and cautiously making up a team of four to take on a very evil villain. The series is named for Jackie Rutledge; unlike some reviewers, I found her quite believable as a skilled, experienced FBI agent whose personal issues (anger and a drinking problem, both stemming from inability to get past a childhood trauma) have reached the point of jeopardizing her job--her boss, also believable, has already put himself at risk covering for her. She's not easy to live with, nor does she intend to be.
Her partner, Laurel Carpenter, is also her best friend, but I just can't see her as an FBI agent. The bond between these two would read better as a same-sex married couple with Laurel in a very different line of work, not just because she's a warm, loving, helpful person but also because she's sensitive enough to commune with ghosts, lots of ghosts. She's certainly good at contributing information from her psychic sources and warning about danger before others see it. It's possible that the author realizes what an unlikely FBI agent Laurel is, because on page 94 he actually has the boss tell Jackie, "You should listen to her more. She's the most stable agent in this office." Hmm.
The private investigator, Nick, and his partner Shelby (who's a hoot and a half) are both vampires, and they're ex-lovers (he turned her decades ago to save her life). Shelby's the straight-forward, kick-ass character who tells you what she thinks (Nick, you're a coward), rides a motorcycle, and tears out after the villain when Nick is all hesitation. One reviewer even called him wishy-washy. But he knows that the villain, Drake, is a vampire with unique powers, much greater than his own, and will easily kill the agents if they get too close, so he tries unsuccessfully to warn them off and somehow (he doesn't seem to know how) end Drake's reign of terror without their help.
The reign of terror begins on page one, as Drake uses mind control to lure a 12-year-old boy to his death by bleeding him out (exsanguination) in elaborate fashion. Revelations about Drake come slowly and painfully in this novel; as soon as Nick starts to explain Drake to his team (Shelby, Reggie the visible ghost, and a fully human secretary in love with Nick), the scene shifts away, and so on. As many others have pointed out, it's never clear why Drake does these horrible things . I still don't understand why or how Nick, who was a sheriff in Wyoming in 1862, became a vampire. And why doesn't Nick drink real blood to get his full vampire powers, as Shelby urges him to do? After all, she drinks blood and never kills the source, so Nick's supposedly sacred vow makes little sense. Even Nick, weakened by synthetic blood, can use mind control, leaving a blood donor with an altered & happy memory; Drake is about to kill another innocent, so why not get your full strength?
Many more problems...how the FBI office easily accepts the supernatural in this case, for example, but especially the nature of the titular dimension of "Deadworld" .
There are two main characters, and each one has a much more likable sidekick, gradually and cautiously making up a team of four to take on a very evil villain. The series is named for Jackie Rutledge; unlike some reviewers, I found her quite believable as a skilled, experienced FBI agent whose personal issues (anger and a drinking problem, both stemming from inability to get past a childhood trauma) have reached the point of jeopardizing her job--her boss, also believable, has already put himself at risk covering for her. She's not easy to live with, nor does she intend to be.
Her partner, Laurel Carpenter, is also her best friend, but I just can't see her as an FBI agent. The bond between these two would read better as a same-sex married couple with Laurel in a very different line of work, not just because she's a warm, loving, helpful person but also because she's sensitive enough to commune with ghosts, lots of ghosts. She's certainly good at contributing information from her psychic sources and warning about danger before others see it. It's possible that the author realizes what an unlikely FBI agent Laurel is, because on page 94 he actually has the boss tell Jackie, "You should listen to her more. She's the most stable agent in this office." Hmm.
The private investigator, Nick, and his partner Shelby (who's a hoot and a half) are both vampires, and they're ex-lovers (he turned her decades ago to save her life). Shelby's the straight-forward, kick-ass character who tells you what she thinks (Nick, you're a coward), rides a motorcycle, and tears out after the villain when Nick is all hesitation. One reviewer even called him wishy-washy. But he knows that the villain, Drake, is a vampire with unique powers, much greater than his own, and will easily kill the agents if they get too close, so he tries unsuccessfully to warn them off and somehow (he doesn't seem to know how) end Drake's reign of terror without their help.
The reign of terror begins on page one, as Drake uses mind control to lure a 12-year-old boy to his death by bleeding him out (exsanguination) in elaborate fashion. Revelations about Drake come slowly and painfully in this novel; as soon as Nick starts to explain Drake to his team (Shelby, Reggie the visible ghost, and a fully human secretary in love with Nick), the scene shifts away, and so on. As many others have pointed out, it's never clear why Drake does these horrible things . I still don't understand why or how Nick, who was a sheriff in Wyoming in 1862, became a vampire. And why doesn't Nick drink real blood to get his full vampire powers, as Shelby urges him to do? After all, she drinks blood and never kills the source, so Nick's supposedly sacred vow makes little sense. Even Nick, weakened by synthetic blood, can use mind control, leaving a blood donor with an altered & happy memory; Drake is about to kill another innocent, so why not get your full strength?
Many more problems...how the FBI office easily accepts the supernatural in this case, for example, but especially the nature of the titular dimension of "Deadworld" .
October 13, 2011
This was a gritty and sometimes difficult read,but well worth the emotional investment. The characters in this book are interesting, flawed - certainly not warm and cuddly, but they settle into your bones and MATTER in a way that keeps you reading.
Thanks to J.N. Duncan for making the harder choices when it comes to the fate of his characters, I am so tired of there being no consequences to life...and death. Laurel and Jackie's relationship could have gone many different things, but I felt Duncan did a great job portraying the honest love that exists between friends and partners and the ongoing struggle to live with choices made and move on knowing that nothing is guaranteed.
Nick and his history were heartbreaking and provided the glue of the plot, the slow reveal of his and Jackie's humanity leaves good places to go in the next book.
My only complaint was I had to roll my eyes when "the hat" came out - read it and see what I mean- but it's a small thing to carp about and does not prevent me from highly recommending this book.
Thanks to J.N. Duncan for making the harder choices when it comes to the fate of his characters, I am so tired of there being no consequences to life...and death. Laurel and Jackie's relationship could have gone many different things, but I felt Duncan did a great job portraying the honest love that exists between friends and partners and the ongoing struggle to live with choices made and move on knowing that nothing is guaranteed.
Nick and his history were heartbreaking and provided the glue of the plot, the slow reveal of his and Jackie's humanity leaves good places to go in the next book.
My only complaint was I had to roll my eyes when "the hat" came out - read it and see what I mean- but it's a small thing to carp about and does not prevent me from highly recommending this book.
April 5, 2011
Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2011/04/rev...
Favorite Quote: "She could not decide if she was terrified or just wanted to strip him down to the gun belt and play 'ride' em cowboy'."
Blurb: She's as tough as anything haunting Chicago's streets. But to deal with an inhuman power that won't stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price. . .
Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup . . .
So Jackie is fine with any help rugged P.I. Nick Anderson can give, even if that includes the impish ghost and sexy vampire who make up his team. But Nick is hiding secrets of his own. And Jackie's investigation has plunged them both into a vengeful game reaching back centuries--and up against a malevolent force hungry for more than just victory. . .
Agent Jackie Rutledge and her partner Agent Laurie Carpenter are baffled by a young homicide victim who is found drained of all their blood. Their only clue is a penny dating back to the 1800’s. When Laurie begins to get premonitions of the dead and evil concerning this case, Jackie turns her focus on Nick Anderson.
Nick Anderson, a private investigator, is up to his neck in this case but Jackie soon realizes he is not the killer. Further investigation into Nick’s past shows his family’s connection to similar homicides and his uncanny resemblance to his past relatives. When Jackie and Laurie attempt to question Nick and his office staff, they are stone walled. Jackie knows Nick and his staff know more then what they are telling her, but no threats or corrosion will give her the information she seeks. As the victims begin to pile up and Jackie experiences a devastating loss, Nick finally breaks down and tells Jackie exactly what is happening. Now it is up to Jackie and Nick, with some extra help, to stop a deadly killer who won’t stop until he or they are dead.
Deadworld is a debut urban fantasy that is steeped in police procedural. J.N. Duncan takes the supernatural and mundane and twists them together to give us a unique prospective on vampires, ghosts, and the mortals who exist with them. Smoothly written with some wonderfully action packed scenes and nicely developed characters. Engaging dialogue though a bit wordy and redundant at times.
I found our protagonists, Jackie Rutledge and Nick Anderson, to be very interesting characters. Flawed and annoying at times, their emotional make ups are realistic in correspondence to the events of their past. I do feel that perhaps they didn’t evolve as quickly as they should of. They tended to get mired down by their personal angst and it slowed the story down. We are given a great deal of information into Jackie’s history, which explains a lot about her personality but I felt had no bearing on the storyline. Yet, we aren’t given the same courtesy with Nick and I found that odd since Nick’s past is a direct correlation to the events happening in the present.
The secondary cast fleshes out much better then our protagonists. They provide a much needed buffer against our main characters heavy emotional angst.
There is some chemistry and potential romances between a few characters but being this is urban fantasy, it’s buried deep beneath the main premise. I did enjoy the little hints and flirting that happens through out but I appreciated that it’s not consummated in the story. The characters aren’t ready and it would have seemed forced had Duncan gone that route.
Our villain is appropriately nasty and evil yet with a biting sense of humor that made me smirk when I really shouldn’t have. Again, we aren’t given really anymore information about him then we were Nick so we are left twisting a little in the wind wondering why he is doing this. What exactly started this chain of events? Why Nick? We aren’t really told anything beyond the bare bones and that was disappointing. It further weakened the the plot and I found myself confused and put out at the end.
All in all a nice noir fantasy debut series that shows promise.
Rating: C-
Favorite Quote: "She could not decide if she was terrified or just wanted to strip him down to the gun belt and play 'ride' em cowboy'."
Blurb: She's as tough as anything haunting Chicago's streets. But to deal with an inhuman power that won't stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price. . .
Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers. But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of. Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing-into-the-ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup . . .
So Jackie is fine with any help rugged P.I. Nick Anderson can give, even if that includes the impish ghost and sexy vampire who make up his team. But Nick is hiding secrets of his own. And Jackie's investigation has plunged them both into a vengeful game reaching back centuries--and up against a malevolent force hungry for more than just victory. . .
Agent Jackie Rutledge and her partner Agent Laurie Carpenter are baffled by a young homicide victim who is found drained of all their blood. Their only clue is a penny dating back to the 1800’s. When Laurie begins to get premonitions of the dead and evil concerning this case, Jackie turns her focus on Nick Anderson.
Nick Anderson, a private investigator, is up to his neck in this case but Jackie soon realizes he is not the killer. Further investigation into Nick’s past shows his family’s connection to similar homicides and his uncanny resemblance to his past relatives. When Jackie and Laurie attempt to question Nick and his office staff, they are stone walled. Jackie knows Nick and his staff know more then what they are telling her, but no threats or corrosion will give her the information she seeks. As the victims begin to pile up and Jackie experiences a devastating loss, Nick finally breaks down and tells Jackie exactly what is happening. Now it is up to Jackie and Nick, with some extra help, to stop a deadly killer who won’t stop until he or they are dead.
Deadworld is a debut urban fantasy that is steeped in police procedural. J.N. Duncan takes the supernatural and mundane and twists them together to give us a unique prospective on vampires, ghosts, and the mortals who exist with them. Smoothly written with some wonderfully action packed scenes and nicely developed characters. Engaging dialogue though a bit wordy and redundant at times.
I found our protagonists, Jackie Rutledge and Nick Anderson, to be very interesting characters. Flawed and annoying at times, their emotional make ups are realistic in correspondence to the events of their past. I do feel that perhaps they didn’t evolve as quickly as they should of. They tended to get mired down by their personal angst and it slowed the story down. We are given a great deal of information into Jackie’s history, which explains a lot about her personality but I felt had no bearing on the storyline. Yet, we aren’t given the same courtesy with Nick and I found that odd since Nick’s past is a direct correlation to the events happening in the present.
The secondary cast fleshes out much better then our protagonists. They provide a much needed buffer against our main characters heavy emotional angst.
There is some chemistry and potential romances between a few characters but being this is urban fantasy, it’s buried deep beneath the main premise. I did enjoy the little hints and flirting that happens through out but I appreciated that it’s not consummated in the story. The characters aren’t ready and it would have seemed forced had Duncan gone that route.
Our villain is appropriately nasty and evil yet with a biting sense of humor that made me smirk when I really shouldn’t have. Again, we aren’t given really anymore information about him then we were Nick so we are left twisting a little in the wind wondering why he is doing this. What exactly started this chain of events? Why Nick? We aren’t really told anything beyond the bare bones and that was disappointing. It further weakened the the plot and I found myself confused and put out at the end.
All in all a nice noir fantasy debut series that shows promise.
Rating: C-
August 3, 2012
I'd give it a 4.5 and trust me, I don't give out 4.5 or 5 often. I'm too darn picky
It's a good beginning to a new urban fantasy series. Yes the main female FBI agent is often abrasive and hard-edged but as the story progresses we learn what in her own background...her own fears made her that way. While some might find her attitudes and actions problematic, I found her realistic, and hoped to see her change over the course or the book and come out a little different at the end. A better woman for what she'd experienced while working with Nick and company.
Then there's Nick and the people that work with him. They're interesting and unique and I couldn't wait to learn more about them. That's especially true of Sheriff Nick...he's a responsible and trustworthy man from a by-era who's determined to keep safe those he considers in his care.
I found the authors take on vampires and the paranormal world refreshing and creative. It was dark and a more than a little disturbing but the backbone of the story...the mystery of stopping Drake was never far from the surface. Everything else swirled around it, the pieces of the plot-puzzle seamlessly interlocking around him and his dastardly actions.
I for one can't wait for the next release in the series.
It's a good beginning to a new urban fantasy series. Yes the main female FBI agent is often abrasive and hard-edged but as the story progresses we learn what in her own background...her own fears made her that way. While some might find her attitudes and actions problematic, I found her realistic, and hoped to see her change over the course or the book and come out a little different at the end. A better woman for what she'd experienced while working with Nick and company.
Then there's Nick and the people that work with him. They're interesting and unique and I couldn't wait to learn more about them. That's especially true of Sheriff Nick...he's a responsible and trustworthy man from a by-era who's determined to keep safe those he considers in his care.
I found the authors take on vampires and the paranormal world refreshing and creative. It was dark and a more than a little disturbing but the backbone of the story...the mystery of stopping Drake was never far from the surface. Everything else swirled around it, the pieces of the plot-puzzle seamlessly interlocking around him and his dastardly actions.
I for one can't wait for the next release in the series.
March 20, 2012
Full Review on bookchickcity.com
Thoughts
"Deadworld" is a rollercoaster of an urban fantasy book with characters that have so many issues, even Freud would have been lost in helping them. It's one of those books that you realise you have been reading for nearly two hours, without any breaks and you're still dying to find out more!
Before starting "Deadworld", I was expecting the usual run of the mill paranormal romance, where the big brooding alpha male would end up saving and falling for the tough as nails female, who ends up as putty in his hands due to the usual plot devices that are thrown into the growing market of books in this genre. But by the end of the prologue, I was eating my words and scolding myself for judging the book by its cover, as this is most definitely an urban fantasy.
"Deadworld" was a surpise hit for me due to the fantastic plotlines, complex characters and edge of your seat tension. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a bit of a change from the usual urban fantasy, or fans of Jim Butcher and M. L. N. Hanover (The Black Suns Daughter series). For a first book in a series it is one of the best I have read.
Thoughts
"Deadworld" is a rollercoaster of an urban fantasy book with characters that have so many issues, even Freud would have been lost in helping them. It's one of those books that you realise you have been reading for nearly two hours, without any breaks and you're still dying to find out more!
Before starting "Deadworld", I was expecting the usual run of the mill paranormal romance, where the big brooding alpha male would end up saving and falling for the tough as nails female, who ends up as putty in his hands due to the usual plot devices that are thrown into the growing market of books in this genre. But by the end of the prologue, I was eating my words and scolding myself for judging the book by its cover, as this is most definitely an urban fantasy.
"Deadworld" was a surpise hit for me due to the fantastic plotlines, complex characters and edge of your seat tension. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a bit of a change from the usual urban fantasy, or fans of Jim Butcher and M. L. N. Hanover (The Black Suns Daughter series). For a first book in a series it is one of the best I have read.
April 22, 2011
Reviewed By http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blo...
Jackie is an extremely angry and jaded person. She had an abusive childhood and now has intimacy and alcohol issues. Nick was ok for a male love interest. He hides a lot and is a bit frustrating to read about but he wasn't boring. The other characters were not anything special. Most were hard to get to like. There was a bit of action. I found the writing to be a bit over worded and the pace was slower then I would have liked it to be. Honestly a week after I read the book I had to go back to the description to remember what the book was even about so I could write my review. I like the cover but DEADWORLD just wasn't anything special to me and I would borrow from the library before purchasing it.
Jackie is an extremely angry and jaded person. She had an abusive childhood and now has intimacy and alcohol issues. Nick was ok for a male love interest. He hides a lot and is a bit frustrating to read about but he wasn't boring. The other characters were not anything special. Most were hard to get to like. There was a bit of action. I found the writing to be a bit over worded and the pace was slower then I would have liked it to be. Honestly a week after I read the book I had to go back to the description to remember what the book was even about so I could write my review. I like the cover but DEADWORLD just wasn't anything special to me and I would borrow from the library before purchasing it.
December 3, 2017
Incredibly cliche and predictable.
Every single trope comes true. The token gay character is raped and killed. The alcoholic FBI agent with daddy issues winds up in bed with the sexy conflicted vampire sheriff.
An absolute hate read, just to see how badly the author disappoints.
Every single trope comes true. The token gay character is raped and killed. The alcoholic FBI agent with daddy issues winds up in bed with the sexy conflicted vampire sheriff.
An absolute hate read, just to see how badly the author disappoints.
April 21, 2011
Quick & Dirty: Deadworld misses the mark with an unlikable heroine and a forgettable supporting cast. As far as urban fantasy novels go, this one isn't a great success.
Opening Sentence: A misty rain swirled down into the darkness between the two brick buildings.
The Review:
FBI agent Jackie Rutledge and her psychic partner, Laurel, have been assigned to a new murder investigation. There is nothing normal about the crime scene or the way in which the victim was killed. As luck would have it, Nick Anderson, a private investigator, is already working hard to track the killer. Jackie, Nick and their rag-tag group of supernatural friends set out to stop the killer.
The introduction to this urban fantasy world isn't particularly well executed. The world-building is superficial and the foundation for a compelling plot never materialized. Urban fantasy tends to be character driven, but I was unable to connect with any of these characters. The narrative is tedious and the meandering plot developed far too slowly, causing me to lost interest. The characters fall flat and I just didn't care about any of them.
I think many readers might find it difficult to really connect with Deadworld's protagonist, Jackie. She lacks an authentic female voice. With a simple find and replace command you could quickly change the gender of the protagonist and no one would notice. Jackie isn't the type of dynamic urban fantasy heroine that I enjoy reading about. I don't mind reading about a flawed heroine with baggage, but if the personality and attitude are off - it just doesn't work for me. For a character with so many flaws, Jackie isn't remotely interesting or likable. Jackie's damaged past translated into some pretty outrageous behavior. Sleeping around with random strangers and getting drunk seem to be her favorite pastimes. Jackie comes off as brash, immature, bitter, miserable, and angry with no self respect. These are some pretty deplorable attributes for anyone, especially an FBI agent. I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities and I think her character really lacked authenticity.
Overall, Deadworld isn't partially exciting and mostly unoriginal. This story doesn't know what it wants to be. It straddles the line between hard-boiled detective fiction and urban fantasy and ends up being Dresden lite. The characters didn't feel authentic, the plot lacked depth and certain aspects of the story were revealed too slowly.
Notable Scene:
Nick reached over and grabbed the mudroom door's handle. "Be wary. We're walking into a trap." She nodded, and Nick opened the door. At that moment, the ringing thrum of Deadworld began to abate. "He's stopped feeding."
The heavy, metal basement door was unlocked, and Nick shoved it open and leaped down to the landing. Jackie tried to run after.
Summoning up the bit of extra strength he could, Nick braced himself for the landing so he would keep from slamming into the opposite wall. He had both guns out pointing out across the basement floor when his feet touched down.
A single fluorescent light burned in the middle of the room, an all-too-familiar setup. Its blue-white glare cast a ghostly cone of light down on the cadaver's table, upon which the Agatha lookalike lay. She was still clad in Winnie the Pooh pajamas, and her listless arm hung over the side of the table, fresh blood dripping from the small puncture in her arm.
The Deadworld Series:
1. Deadworld
FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of Deadworld. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don't receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site.
Opening Sentence: A misty rain swirled down into the darkness between the two brick buildings.
The Review:
FBI agent Jackie Rutledge and her psychic partner, Laurel, have been assigned to a new murder investigation. There is nothing normal about the crime scene or the way in which the victim was killed. As luck would have it, Nick Anderson, a private investigator, is already working hard to track the killer. Jackie, Nick and their rag-tag group of supernatural friends set out to stop the killer.
The introduction to this urban fantasy world isn't particularly well executed. The world-building is superficial and the foundation for a compelling plot never materialized. Urban fantasy tends to be character driven, but I was unable to connect with any of these characters. The narrative is tedious and the meandering plot developed far too slowly, causing me to lost interest. The characters fall flat and I just didn't care about any of them.
I think many readers might find it difficult to really connect with Deadworld's protagonist, Jackie. She lacks an authentic female voice. With a simple find and replace command you could quickly change the gender of the protagonist and no one would notice. Jackie isn't the type of dynamic urban fantasy heroine that I enjoy reading about. I don't mind reading about a flawed heroine with baggage, but if the personality and attitude are off - it just doesn't work for me. For a character with so many flaws, Jackie isn't remotely interesting or likable. Jackie's damaged past translated into some pretty outrageous behavior. Sleeping around with random strangers and getting drunk seem to be her favorite pastimes. Jackie comes off as brash, immature, bitter, miserable, and angry with no self respect. These are some pretty deplorable attributes for anyone, especially an FBI agent. I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities and I think her character really lacked authenticity.
Overall, Deadworld isn't partially exciting and mostly unoriginal. This story doesn't know what it wants to be. It straddles the line between hard-boiled detective fiction and urban fantasy and ends up being Dresden lite. The characters didn't feel authentic, the plot lacked depth and certain aspects of the story were revealed too slowly.
Notable Scene:
Nick reached over and grabbed the mudroom door's handle. "Be wary. We're walking into a trap." She nodded, and Nick opened the door. At that moment, the ringing thrum of Deadworld began to abate. "He's stopped feeding."
The heavy, metal basement door was unlocked, and Nick shoved it open and leaped down to the landing. Jackie tried to run after.
Summoning up the bit of extra strength he could, Nick braced himself for the landing so he would keep from slamming into the opposite wall. He had both guns out pointing out across the basement floor when his feet touched down.
A single fluorescent light burned in the middle of the room, an all-too-familiar setup. Its blue-white glare cast a ghostly cone of light down on the cadaver's table, upon which the Agatha lookalike lay. She was still clad in Winnie the Pooh pajamas, and her listless arm hung over the side of the table, fresh blood dripping from the small puncture in her arm.
The Deadworld Series:
1. Deadworld
FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of Deadworld. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don't receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site.
January 11, 2012
2.7
Don't know why I kept reading this book when I clearly knew by page 30 that I didn't like it. Couldn't explain what pulled me to finish it but I can certainly tell you that it wasn't Jackie Rutledge. She's a very unsympathetic character and I have to admit that I was sort of hoping that she would get killed off.
I guess that doesn't happen when you're the lead female.
Jackie is a bitch. An agressive one at that. With a gun. She's scarred emotionally and how she ever made it past the final round of FBI psych evals is beyond me. I like my heroines to be a little angsty but I don't need full blown psychotic. Think Ashley Judd's character in "Twisted" combined with Sandra Bullock's character in "Murder by Numbers" with a healthy dose of fuck the world and there you go, you have Jackie. Minus the sympathy one would have for say, Sandra Bullock's character. Jackie is supposed to be tough but I think she's just self-destructive
If you want a tragic and scarred heroine who is a little more likeable try
or even better, try
.
Plot wise there were a lot of holes why could the vampires feel the pull of the dead? Why was Drake after Nick in the first place?
There were also continuity issues and a few spelling mistakes that the content and copy editor should've picked up on.
Nick seemed like a good guy if not a bit of a sadist. He was also incredibly passive about the whole Drake thing. If Jackie and Laurel hadn't arrived on the scene then what would he have done? He was a weird hero. Nice, sweet but tortured and beat down. He's lost all interest in living and is only awaiting the inevitable but my question is, why didn't he just end it himself? Also, what he sees in Jackie is a mystery. She's quite a bitch to him. Shelby is no better but they have a history so it's easy to see that Shelby is the spur in his side.
The supporting characters, like the plot, weren't fleshed out that well and adding the unnecessary drama of Laurel gave me a weird feeling.
It was a mediocre book with bad characters and the only thing that would make me go back for me is reading more about Nick. That and the series seems to have gotten a bit better judging by Goodreads ratings.
Don't know why I kept reading this book when I clearly knew by page 30 that I didn't like it. Couldn't explain what pulled me to finish it but I can certainly tell you that it wasn't Jackie Rutledge. She's a very unsympathetic character and I have to admit that I was sort of hoping that she would get killed off.
I guess that doesn't happen when you're the lead female.
Jackie is a bitch. An agressive one at that. With a gun. She's scarred emotionally and how she ever made it past the final round of FBI psych evals is beyond me. I like my heroines to be a little angsty but I don't need full blown psychotic. Think Ashley Judd's character in "Twisted" combined with Sandra Bullock's character in "Murder by Numbers" with a healthy dose of fuck the world and there you go, you have Jackie. Minus the sympathy one would have for say, Sandra Bullock's character. Jackie is supposed to be tough but I think she's just self-destructive
If you want a tragic and scarred heroine who is a little more likeable try
or even better, try
.Plot wise there were a lot of holes why could the vampires feel the pull of the dead? Why was Drake after Nick in the first place?
There were also continuity issues and a few spelling mistakes that the content and copy editor should've picked up on.
Nick seemed like a good guy if not a bit of a sadist. He was also incredibly passive about the whole Drake thing. If Jackie and Laurel hadn't arrived on the scene then what would he have done? He was a weird hero. Nice, sweet but tortured and beat down. He's lost all interest in living and is only awaiting the inevitable but my question is, why didn't he just end it himself? Also, what he sees in Jackie is a mystery. She's quite a bitch to him. Shelby is no better but they have a history so it's easy to see that Shelby is the spur in his side.
The supporting characters, like the plot, weren't fleshed out that well and adding the unnecessary drama of Laurel gave me a weird feeling.
It was a mediocre book with bad characters and the only thing that would make me go back for me is reading more about Nick. That and the series seems to have gotten a bit better judging by Goodreads ratings.
April 29, 2011
FBI agent Jackie Rutledge is at least as tough as any of the supernatural killers she’s faced before, but when bodies start showing up exsanguinated and totally clean of evidence she finds herself faced with needing help beyond the FBI’s resources. For this case she and her partner Laurel are going to have to rely on the Bruce Wane-esque P.I. Nick Anderson and his team of odd ball supernaturals. Can they trust him though? Nick’s keeping secrets that stretch back over a century that may drag Jackie and Laurel far further into a twisted game of vengeance than they ever should have gone.
My impressions of J. N. Duncan’s Deadworld are colored by his use of a few tropes that tend to really annoy me as well as an immediate degree of respect for his writing for using them in a way that takes them from annoying to genuine feeling plot twists and bits of character development. Jackie is six kinds of emotionally messed up and hard to like because of it, but then character development happens. She’s still messed up, but it’s an understandable level of messed up that she doesn’t just magically get over all of the sudden. Laurel’s most blatant characterization for a big chunk of the book seems based on her sexuality, but she’s not written as just a bundle of stereotypes and gets nearly as much development as the main characters. Nick gets slightly less active development, the guy’s a pile of secrets and guilt from cover to cover, but he gets a back story that shows why he has that guilt and a personality that almost gives reason to the secrets. That said, the villain is never given any reason for his actions aside from doing it for the sheer evil of it and to mess with Nick for no adequately explained reason. I will complain that there were some moments of dialogue that seemed completely out of character and threw me for a bit of a loop, especially towards the end. It’s also a nitpicky little thing, it may be the stilettos or the leather pants, but I can’t see Jackie as the cover model. It’s also worth mentioning that Duncan didn’t immediately shoe horn Jackie and Nick into a relationship, a definite plus in my book as they’re both too damaged for something that fast to work out, but seems to be easing them towards something.
For the little things and the fact that I have problems with the lack of villainous reasoning, I give it a four out of five and wait impatiently for the October release of book two The Vengeful Dead.
My impressions of J. N. Duncan’s Deadworld are colored by his use of a few tropes that tend to really annoy me as well as an immediate degree of respect for his writing for using them in a way that takes them from annoying to genuine feeling plot twists and bits of character development. Jackie is six kinds of emotionally messed up and hard to like because of it, but then character development happens. She’s still messed up, but it’s an understandable level of messed up that she doesn’t just magically get over all of the sudden. Laurel’s most blatant characterization for a big chunk of the book seems based on her sexuality, but she’s not written as just a bundle of stereotypes and gets nearly as much development as the main characters. Nick gets slightly less active development, the guy’s a pile of secrets and guilt from cover to cover, but he gets a back story that shows why he has that guilt and a personality that almost gives reason to the secrets. That said, the villain is never given any reason for his actions aside from doing it for the sheer evil of it and to mess with Nick for no adequately explained reason. I will complain that there were some moments of dialogue that seemed completely out of character and threw me for a bit of a loop, especially towards the end. It’s also a nitpicky little thing, it may be the stilettos or the leather pants, but I can’t see Jackie as the cover model. It’s also worth mentioning that Duncan didn’t immediately shoe horn Jackie and Nick into a relationship, a definite plus in my book as they’re both too damaged for something that fast to work out, but seems to be easing them towards something.
For the little things and the fact that I have problems with the lack of villainous reasoning, I give it a four out of five and wait impatiently for the October release of book two The Vengeful Dead.
June 29, 2011
J.N. Duncan's Deadworld was an okay sort of read. I've had it on my TBR pile for awhile now and managed to get to it recenty. Although unfortunately I wasn't very impressed. It just wasn't the book for me.
The pacing was a little too slow for me at times. It centered around the need to find the bad guy who was killing people, which was fine. You never knew who he was going after next. Jackie was determined to find him and ends up accepting outside help from Nick Anderson who had started out as a suspect, but was more involved in this "case" than she'd expected.
There was quite the shocking surprise in the book as well. One I really wasn't expecting, which made for interesting times and all, but still it took over 200 pages to get to that point. Then there was a sort of lapse in the plot where nothing really happens. It's the "down time".
I'm not really sure where everything fell flat for me. I kept reading because I wanted to finish the book. But in the end, it was just sort of meh. Jackie made an interesting character, she was flawed in some ways, but that made her more real I guess you could say. Although some of her actions and choices weren't always great. There was also a bit too much cussing in the book as well for me. I thought I was used to it, but man, this book really challenges me with the swearing. I didn't mind it too much, but at several points it seemed like there was swearing and dropping of the f-bomb on every page! And if a page happened to not have that word on it, it woud be there 2-3 times on the next. It just seemed unnecessary to have it used so many times.
With that and the rather slow pacing, this book just didn't go well for me. The characters were still pretty good. Very colorful and flavorful I guess you could say. But still this one just wasn't for me.
Overall rating 2/5 stars
The pacing was a little too slow for me at times. It centered around the need to find the bad guy who was killing people, which was fine. You never knew who he was going after next. Jackie was determined to find him and ends up accepting outside help from Nick Anderson who had started out as a suspect, but was more involved in this "case" than she'd expected.
There was quite the shocking surprise in the book as well. One I really wasn't expecting, which made for interesting times and all, but still it took over 200 pages to get to that point. Then there was a sort of lapse in the plot where nothing really happens. It's the "down time".
I'm not really sure where everything fell flat for me. I kept reading because I wanted to finish the book. But in the end, it was just sort of meh. Jackie made an interesting character, she was flawed in some ways, but that made her more real I guess you could say. Although some of her actions and choices weren't always great. There was also a bit too much cussing in the book as well for me. I thought I was used to it, but man, this book really challenges me with the swearing. I didn't mind it too much, but at several points it seemed like there was swearing and dropping of the f-bomb on every page! And if a page happened to not have that word on it, it woud be there 2-3 times on the next. It just seemed unnecessary to have it used so many times.
With that and the rather slow pacing, this book just didn't go well for me. The characters were still pretty good. Very colorful and flavorful I guess you could say. But still this one just wasn't for me.
Overall rating 2/5 stars
April 11, 2020
The story itself is not bad. The take on vampires is new and interesting. The bad-ass heroine is not. I’ve seen her many times over. At times, many of the characters spoke in very similar ways and even a country accent peaked out. Not always, but sometimes. With Nick, I get it. He was a genuine western cowboy. This appears to be the author’s first book and you can tell. I did enjoy reading it but found myself skimming parts where the characters spoke to each other as their inner thoughts droned on and repeated themselves.
Spoilers ahead
And I still don’t know what Cornelius’ motivation was for what he was doing to Nick. Cornelius himself mentions at some point that when you live as long as he has, you have to do something to break up the boredom. Not great motivation. At one point, Nick said it was retribution for Nick killing Cornelius’ family. Which is confusing, since it’s Cornelius who killed Nick’s family and is making him relive it time and time again. Maybe I read it wrong. But you never get a clear picture. Any time Nick recounts his story (at least 3 different times) he starts with back in 18blahblah I moved my family to a small town in Wyoming to be sheriff and then skip to the present. You do find out that Cornelius presented himself as a preacher but it’s not clear if he’s the leader of a church in that town or a traveling preacher. It’s a bit muddled.
Overall, I think the book could have used a good editor and it would have been a much better read. But, it was good enough for me to finish reading. But I don’t think I’ll continue with the series.
Oh! And whatever happened to Reggie?
Spoilers ahead
And I still don’t know what Cornelius’ motivation was for what he was doing to Nick. Cornelius himself mentions at some point that when you live as long as he has, you have to do something to break up the boredom. Not great motivation. At one point, Nick said it was retribution for Nick killing Cornelius’ family. Which is confusing, since it’s Cornelius who killed Nick’s family and is making him relive it time and time again. Maybe I read it wrong. But you never get a clear picture. Any time Nick recounts his story (at least 3 different times) he starts with back in 18blahblah I moved my family to a small town in Wyoming to be sheriff and then skip to the present. You do find out that Cornelius presented himself as a preacher but it’s not clear if he’s the leader of a church in that town or a traveling preacher. It’s a bit muddled.
Overall, I think the book could have used a good editor and it would have been a much better read. But, it was good enough for me to finish reading. But I don’t think I’ll continue with the series.
Oh! And whatever happened to Reggie?
May 26, 2011
Great Book!!
I love finding "new to me" authors. J.N. Duncan has a great debut book with Deadworld. He is added to my list of authors I will always buy books from.
Deadworld was just sitting on a store shelf when I walked by several times, but something about the "blurb" on the back had me picking it up and buying it. And I am so glad I did.
Deadworld is about an FBI agent (Jackie) who is trying to solve a murder with several "otherworldly" aspects about it. She is not above believing in strange things since her best friend and partner is a medium and they have seen "different" several times in their line of work. However, this could be more than they can handle. They meet a mysterious PI (Nick Anderson) while investigating and along with his friends (a ghost, vampire and another medium) they try to help the FBI as much as possible yet withholding many facts. Nick has several secrets about his past and the fact that the murderer, Drake is not unknown to Nick brings many questions about what and who he is.
Deadworld has an evil villian who is out for revenge, wonderful "world" building and many twisted parts that keep you turning the page until the end. Great!!
I love finding "new to me" authors. J.N. Duncan has a great debut book with Deadworld. He is added to my list of authors I will always buy books from.
Deadworld was just sitting on a store shelf when I walked by several times, but something about the "blurb" on the back had me picking it up and buying it. And I am so glad I did.
Deadworld is about an FBI agent (Jackie) who is trying to solve a murder with several "otherworldly" aspects about it. She is not above believing in strange things since her best friend and partner is a medium and they have seen "different" several times in their line of work. However, this could be more than they can handle. They meet a mysterious PI (Nick Anderson) while investigating and along with his friends (a ghost, vampire and another medium) they try to help the FBI as much as possible yet withholding many facts. Nick has several secrets about his past and the fact that the murderer, Drake is not unknown to Nick brings many questions about what and who he is.
Deadworld has an evil villian who is out for revenge, wonderful "world" building and many twisted parts that keep you turning the page until the end. Great!!
June 9, 2015
I wasn't that impressed with parts of this book, but I stuck with it and ended up liking it overall. I only got it because I had to actually go into the library and came across it, and it looked like a book I would like. It was really slow in places even though I enjoyed some of the character interactions. I'm unsure if I actually want to read any of the following books at this point, which is really unusual for me.
Read
December 13, 2011I can't get into this book, so I'll have to dnf it. Sorry!
November 10, 2011
Not a completely awful book, but I couldn't make myself care for the characters. I struggled to finish and won't read any more of this series.
March 16, 2013
Urk. Less tequila and more writing would go a long way here.
August 20, 2012
Deadworld by J.N. Duncan
My review:
The story opens with a twelve year-old boy named Archie Lane running away from home to escape his parents fighting again. He is picked up in an alley by one Cornelius Drake, and, after basically hypnotizing the boy, they disappear into the night.
The first chapter introduces us to one of the main characters in the book, FBI Agent Jackie Rutledge. (Semi spoiler alert: Agent Rutledge is one of those characters that you hate to love and sympathize with). An alcoholic with a horrible past, she becomes an overly promiscuous man-hater, never bringing a man home unless she is too drunk to remember anything the next day.
Agent Rutledge and her partner Agent Laurel Carpenter, who happens to be a psychic, are called in to the scene of the body of a 12-year-old boy who was drained of all his blood and then dumped in a park. The body had been identified as one Archibold Lane (remember the beginning of the book?). Laurel decides to take a “look” around and determine if there is anything supernatural that she can find that might tie to the case, while Jackie looks over the body. She encounters Nick Anderson, 180-year-old vampire who was once a Sheriff and is now a P.I. and CEO of a major corporation.
What we don’t know, and won’t know until further on in the story, is that Archie Lane’s murder is only the first of 5, in the fifth cycle of vicious murders taking place every 36 years since Nick became a vampire. What we do know is that, eventually Jackie and Laurel are going to have to meet Mr. Anderson, and all hell will break loose, right?
Now that we have the basis for the opening, here are the facts I decided to pull from the story instead of doing a typical book review (just because I can).
One of the main focus points of this story are these murders, 5 in total, happening every 36 years, and this is the 5th and final set put in play by one Cornelius Drake, a vampire who can apparently do more than the average vampire can. From what the book tells us, Drake killed Nick Anderson’s family somewhere around or over 180 years before the story starts, and then starts playing this “game” with him, telling him he is going to kill 5, 5 times, every 36 years to make him suffer. I am assuming, since I don’t remember the book going into detail about, that Nick was 36 at the time of his family’s murders and that is the significance of that number. The 5 murders are representative of the 5 family members killed by Drake, and I am assuming the same goes for the 5 times he does this (but of that I am not entirely sure).
About the murders: Nick’s five family members that were murdered were as follows: his 12 and 15 year old sons, his wife, his mother, and his 8 year old daughter. In that same order, every 36 years, Drake murders 5 people who bear some resemblance to Nick’s family.
When Jackie and Laurel discover that 36 years prior to the case they are investigating, Nick’s “father” (who happens to look just like him) was acquitted for the murder for 5 people, and his “grandfather” was a person of interest 72 years before that, things start to get strange, and Laurel correctly deduces that Nick Anderson is, in fact, a vampire. And with that, they mark him as not only a person of interest in their case, but also as a suspect to begin with (wouldn’t you?). It takes a few days for Nick or his vampire former fiancé – turned – business partner Shelby Fontaine to give in and confirm the agents’ suspicions. After victim 2 turns up in a bank, is when they finally start to come clean, and shortly after that Laurel is kidnapped by Drake as the representative Gwendolyn (Nick’s wife), and killed in the same manner as all the preceding victims: strapped to a table, zip-tied hands and feed, and drained of all blood.
After Jackie realizes she failed to save her partner and best friend, she goes on a drinking binge, which leads to a late-night BDSM scene gone horribly wrong and leaves her partially reliving a scene from her childhood, only in the place of her mother with her stepfather beating her. During this mental breakdown that she has, Laurel tries contacting her from the other side and sends her over the edge. Thank the author for thinking to bring in Nick and Shelby to save the night and Jackie’s fleeting sanity.
With Nick and Shelby’s help, Jackie is soon on the mend, victim 4, an elderly woman, is found dead in a nursing home, and victim 5 is kidnapped. During a high-speed chase to attempt to save the 5th victim, an 8 year old girl, Shelby, Drake, and the little girl vanish into thin air. Shelby is MIA for most of the remainder of the story, but Drake resurfaces with the little girl in a funeral home. Nick and Jackie track him there, only to find out it’s a trap and they are unable to save the little girl, and almost die themselves. With the help of Laurel (now a ghost, remember), Nick manages to get himself and Jackie into Deadworld (or the other side as we like to call it). After a somewhat bland and very short reunion with his wife, Nick discovers the way to finally kill Drake, and get Jackie back to the safety of the living world right when she herself is about to die.
Now that I’ve told you about the book itself, here is my opinion of it. For a supernatural thriller/detective story, it rates about a B-. There are some grammatical errors here and there, there are some twists, a bit of drama, the BDSM scene that could also be considered by some to be an attempted rape of some sort (with who being the rapist debatable at this point), a lot of the characters are subpar, and the whole thing tends to speed up then slow down and then speed back up again. The ending itself was kind of anticlimactic in my opinion as well. BUT if you are looking for a good read that you will be likely to pick back up again at some point in the future just because you want something to dull your mind to the real world, then Deadworld is the book for you.
My review:
The story opens with a twelve year-old boy named Archie Lane running away from home to escape his parents fighting again. He is picked up in an alley by one Cornelius Drake, and, after basically hypnotizing the boy, they disappear into the night.
The first chapter introduces us to one of the main characters in the book, FBI Agent Jackie Rutledge. (Semi spoiler alert: Agent Rutledge is one of those characters that you hate to love and sympathize with). An alcoholic with a horrible past, she becomes an overly promiscuous man-hater, never bringing a man home unless she is too drunk to remember anything the next day.
Agent Rutledge and her partner Agent Laurel Carpenter, who happens to be a psychic, are called in to the scene of the body of a 12-year-old boy who was drained of all his blood and then dumped in a park. The body had been identified as one Archibold Lane (remember the beginning of the book?). Laurel decides to take a “look” around and determine if there is anything supernatural that she can find that might tie to the case, while Jackie looks over the body. She encounters Nick Anderson, 180-year-old vampire who was once a Sheriff and is now a P.I. and CEO of a major corporation.
What we don’t know, and won’t know until further on in the story, is that Archie Lane’s murder is only the first of 5, in the fifth cycle of vicious murders taking place every 36 years since Nick became a vampire. What we do know is that, eventually Jackie and Laurel are going to have to meet Mr. Anderson, and all hell will break loose, right?
Now that we have the basis for the opening, here are the facts I decided to pull from the story instead of doing a typical book review (just because I can).
One of the main focus points of this story are these murders, 5 in total, happening every 36 years, and this is the 5th and final set put in play by one Cornelius Drake, a vampire who can apparently do more than the average vampire can. From what the book tells us, Drake killed Nick Anderson’s family somewhere around or over 180 years before the story starts, and then starts playing this “game” with him, telling him he is going to kill 5, 5 times, every 36 years to make him suffer. I am assuming, since I don’t remember the book going into detail about, that Nick was 36 at the time of his family’s murders and that is the significance of that number. The 5 murders are representative of the 5 family members killed by Drake, and I am assuming the same goes for the 5 times he does this (but of that I am not entirely sure).
About the murders: Nick’s five family members that were murdered were as follows: his 12 and 15 year old sons, his wife, his mother, and his 8 year old daughter. In that same order, every 36 years, Drake murders 5 people who bear some resemblance to Nick’s family.
When Jackie and Laurel discover that 36 years prior to the case they are investigating, Nick’s “father” (who happens to look just like him) was acquitted for the murder for 5 people, and his “grandfather” was a person of interest 72 years before that, things start to get strange, and Laurel correctly deduces that Nick Anderson is, in fact, a vampire. And with that, they mark him as not only a person of interest in their case, but also as a suspect to begin with (wouldn’t you?). It takes a few days for Nick or his vampire former fiancé – turned – business partner Shelby Fontaine to give in and confirm the agents’ suspicions. After victim 2 turns up in a bank, is when they finally start to come clean, and shortly after that Laurel is kidnapped by Drake as the representative Gwendolyn (Nick’s wife), and killed in the same manner as all the preceding victims: strapped to a table, zip-tied hands and feed, and drained of all blood.
After Jackie realizes she failed to save her partner and best friend, she goes on a drinking binge, which leads to a late-night BDSM scene gone horribly wrong and leaves her partially reliving a scene from her childhood, only in the place of her mother with her stepfather beating her. During this mental breakdown that she has, Laurel tries contacting her from the other side and sends her over the edge. Thank the author for thinking to bring in Nick and Shelby to save the night and Jackie’s fleeting sanity.
With Nick and Shelby’s help, Jackie is soon on the mend, victim 4, an elderly woman, is found dead in a nursing home, and victim 5 is kidnapped. During a high-speed chase to attempt to save the 5th victim, an 8 year old girl, Shelby, Drake, and the little girl vanish into thin air. Shelby is MIA for most of the remainder of the story, but Drake resurfaces with the little girl in a funeral home. Nick and Jackie track him there, only to find out it’s a trap and they are unable to save the little girl, and almost die themselves. With the help of Laurel (now a ghost, remember), Nick manages to get himself and Jackie into Deadworld (or the other side as we like to call it). After a somewhat bland and very short reunion with his wife, Nick discovers the way to finally kill Drake, and get Jackie back to the safety of the living world right when she herself is about to die.
Now that I’ve told you about the book itself, here is my opinion of it. For a supernatural thriller/detective story, it rates about a B-. There are some grammatical errors here and there, there are some twists, a bit of drama, the BDSM scene that could also be considered by some to be an attempted rape of some sort (with who being the rapist debatable at this point), a lot of the characters are subpar, and the whole thing tends to speed up then slow down and then speed back up again. The ending itself was kind of anticlimactic in my opinion as well. BUT if you are looking for a good read that you will be likely to pick back up again at some point in the future just because you want something to dull your mind to the real world, then Deadworld is the book for you.
June 14, 2021
I think this could have been a great book for me if I didn’t dislike the main character so much. I just couldn’t stand her and it was hard for me to believe she was an FBI agent. Also there were important points in the plot I thought were glossed over like Nicks origin story and especially at the end. I won’t go into more detail on that because I’m not going to spoil the ending for anyone. This book and Jackie were so off putting to me that I do not plan to continue reading the series.
December 5, 2017
I wasn't sure I was going to like this one. At first Jackie the MC, I kind of didn't like. But the story and MC gets better later on. I did like Laurel, Nick, Shelby, etc.
This was a good start and glad I at least gave the book a chance and kept going. Hoping the other books in the series are good.
This was a good start and glad I at least gave the book a chance and kept going. Hoping the other books in the series are good.
July 1, 2019
Didn't like the writing, it was very tedious to get through. The dialogue was awkward and I wasn't interested in any of the characters or the plot. 2 out of 5, DNF at 8%.
March 19, 2021
Was a good read. Tight and exciting. Big complaint. Author never shared back story. Characters were set up to give it several times. Author always skipped over it. Wanted those details!
April 28, 2011
This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.
J.N. Duncan brings two people who have sincerely given up on real happiness together in his debut Deadworld. Both FBI agent Jackie and paranormal investigator Nick believe they are past redemption. They don’t deserve love or happiness or even a glorious ending.
Nick has just plain given up. He’s spent decades being tormented by another vampire who makes him relive the murders of his family members. And he’s never been able to catch this guy. This time, though, is the final go-round, and his nemesis will surely kill him when it’s over. He’s resigned to that death. Unfortunately, the FBI is now involved and their interference will only lead to more dead bodies.
Jackie and her partner and BFF Laurel are doing their best to stop one heartbreaking murder after another. Laurel is a medium and can tell their is something otherworldly at play. Quickly it’s clear they’ll need to team up with Nick to help stop the big bad. In the meantime, Laurel has to deal with Jackie’s drinking and bar fights. She helps her out and gets her home time and again. Finally putting her foot down and telling her she needs to let other people in.
Both our hero and heroine in Deadworld have deep issues, each with a friend nearby keeping them from going too far over the line. And that may be what makes it harder to welcome these two — mostly Jackie. Those characters with big flaws challenge readers. You know I adored Chess Putnam in Stacia Kane’s Downside series. And it worked there because Chess was never hurting anyone but herself with drug use. When it starts to affect others, she has to think about things a bit more. With Deadworld, we come in seeing Jackie’s best friend agonize over her friend’s drinking, promiscuity and fighting. It takes more work to care about Jackie for this reason. You’ll get there, but it takes time to get inside Jackie’s mind enough to like her.
Jackie is a fighter. Outside she’s a very strong woman and quite the instigator. And that’s hard not to appreciate. What’s especially nice is the way her and Nick’s insecurities play off one another to help them grow. Will they suddenly be “fixed” by the end of the novel? No, but when they are together they both are stronger and you can’t help but back them.
The plot is dark and bloody. You’ll be surprised by some of the twists in Deadworld, though some of the action moves slower in terms of prose than I’d like, the end result is a good storyline.
I want to give Deadworld a higher rating, because I love what Duncan is trying to do. He doesn’t quite get there in Deadworld, but it’s a first novel in a series, and my gut says he may get there in the sequel The Vengeful Dead. Plus, the thought he puts into character development shows and I love that.
Sexual content: Sex scene that turns sour (expect traumatic flashback), references to rape
J.N. Duncan brings two people who have sincerely given up on real happiness together in his debut Deadworld. Both FBI agent Jackie and paranormal investigator Nick believe they are past redemption. They don’t deserve love or happiness or even a glorious ending.
Nick has just plain given up. He’s spent decades being tormented by another vampire who makes him relive the murders of his family members. And he’s never been able to catch this guy. This time, though, is the final go-round, and his nemesis will surely kill him when it’s over. He’s resigned to that death. Unfortunately, the FBI is now involved and their interference will only lead to more dead bodies.
Jackie and her partner and BFF Laurel are doing their best to stop one heartbreaking murder after another. Laurel is a medium and can tell their is something otherworldly at play. Quickly it’s clear they’ll need to team up with Nick to help stop the big bad. In the meantime, Laurel has to deal with Jackie’s drinking and bar fights. She helps her out and gets her home time and again. Finally putting her foot down and telling her she needs to let other people in.
Both our hero and heroine in Deadworld have deep issues, each with a friend nearby keeping them from going too far over the line. And that may be what makes it harder to welcome these two — mostly Jackie. Those characters with big flaws challenge readers. You know I adored Chess Putnam in Stacia Kane’s Downside series. And it worked there because Chess was never hurting anyone but herself with drug use. When it starts to affect others, she has to think about things a bit more. With Deadworld, we come in seeing Jackie’s best friend agonize over her friend’s drinking, promiscuity and fighting. It takes more work to care about Jackie for this reason. You’ll get there, but it takes time to get inside Jackie’s mind enough to like her.
Jackie is a fighter. Outside she’s a very strong woman and quite the instigator. And that’s hard not to appreciate. What’s especially nice is the way her and Nick’s insecurities play off one another to help them grow. Will they suddenly be “fixed” by the end of the novel? No, but when they are together they both are stronger and you can’t help but back them.
The plot is dark and bloody. You’ll be surprised by some of the twists in Deadworld, though some of the action moves slower in terms of prose than I’d like, the end result is a good storyline.
I want to give Deadworld a higher rating, because I love what Duncan is trying to do. He doesn’t quite get there in Deadworld, but it’s a first novel in a series, and my gut says he may get there in the sequel The Vengeful Dead. Plus, the thought he puts into character development shows and I love that.
Sexual content: Sex scene that turns sour (expect traumatic flashback), references to rape
April 15, 2017
J.N. Duncan is a new author for me to read and the first book in the Jackie Rutledge series was okay but not perfect. I would describe this more of a paranormal dark fantasy/suspense as the scenes with Drake and his victims were described in disturbing detail.
FBI Agent, Jackie, can only be described as an emotionally scarred hard drinking introverted woman and she is not perfect in any shape or form. Then we have PI Nick Anderson the vampire ex cowboy sheriff who has been hanging in the past 140 years to get justice for his family.
My main problem with rating this book is it had potential to be a great story but it just did not get there for me. I struggled with the Jackie's character considerably as she was basically a mess dealing with so many internal issues and yet I did not feel much sympathy for her. She was also had a partner, Laurel, that come out of the closet a few chapters into the book and they had been working together for five years and she was unaware of the fact. Seriously I even wondered why the author brought it so strongly into the storyline as it did not seem to be heading anywhere apart from highlighting how much Jackie focused on herself and almost felt like filler pages. The other thing that caused me a few issues was Jackie just picking men up at the bar and taking them home for drunk sex. The last time she does this just felt so wrong on all levels, especially if there was supposed to be a budding relationship with Nick in the wings.
Nick was also a bit of a washout character wise as he did not have much backbone or able to make a decision. Surprisingly it was the women around him most times that made his decision for him. I was expecting there to be some progressive build up or strengthening of his personality to deal with Drake (bad guy). I would say that Nick was more the main character over Jackie at times as he was dealing with the action and Jackie was on the sidelines watching.
If the story had focused on Shelby as the main character I would possibly have enjoyed it more! Or if there had been hints of 'hope' that promised survival against the mad guy. Instead the 'mystery/suspense' aspect fell short at the end as the answers were dropped conveniently into the final battle scene between Nick and Drake. And basically it was Shelby, Gwen and Laurel who worked together to save the day.
Shelby and Laurel were the strength that pushed the story forward and at times it felt like I understood Nick better then I did Jackie. Just by the writing style I had an inkling that it was written by a male author as it was similar to another book I read a few months ago with the hints of lesbianism, male dominating women and with the romance written in such an understated way that it wasn't really there and with little description of 'feelings' unless it was part of an angry argument. Jackie just come across to me as more male in her way of thinking.
I will rate this 2.5 stars as it had its good moments but the bad parts just made reading drag.
FBI Agent, Jackie, can only be described as an emotionally scarred hard drinking introverted woman and she is not perfect in any shape or form. Then we have PI Nick Anderson the vampire ex cowboy sheriff who has been hanging in the past 140 years to get justice for his family.
My main problem with rating this book is it had potential to be a great story but it just did not get there for me. I struggled with the Jackie's character considerably as she was basically a mess dealing with so many internal issues and yet I did not feel much sympathy for her. She was also had a partner, Laurel, that come out of the closet a few chapters into the book and they had been working together for five years and she was unaware of the fact. Seriously I even wondered why the author brought it so strongly into the storyline as it did not seem to be heading anywhere apart from highlighting how much Jackie focused on herself and almost felt like filler pages. The other thing that caused me a few issues was Jackie just picking men up at the bar and taking them home for drunk sex. The last time she does this just felt so wrong on all levels, especially if there was supposed to be a budding relationship with Nick in the wings.
Nick was also a bit of a washout character wise as he did not have much backbone or able to make a decision. Surprisingly it was the women around him most times that made his decision for him. I was expecting there to be some progressive build up or strengthening of his personality to deal with Drake (bad guy). I would say that Nick was more the main character over Jackie at times as he was dealing with the action and Jackie was on the sidelines watching.
If the story had focused on Shelby as the main character I would possibly have enjoyed it more! Or if there had been hints of 'hope' that promised survival against the mad guy. Instead the 'mystery/suspense' aspect fell short at the end as the answers were dropped conveniently into the final battle scene between Nick and Drake. And basically it was Shelby, Gwen and Laurel who worked together to save the day.
Shelby and Laurel were the strength that pushed the story forward and at times it felt like I understood Nick better then I did Jackie. Just by the writing style I had an inkling that it was written by a male author as it was similar to another book I read a few months ago with the hints of lesbianism, male dominating women and with the romance written in such an understated way that it wasn't really there and with little description of 'feelings' unless it was part of an angry argument. Jackie just come across to me as more male in her way of thinking.
I will rate this 2.5 stars as it had its good moments but the bad parts just made reading drag.
July 18, 2012
Kobo free download 4/18/11
Deadworld started off slowly for me and had this book not been part of a reading challenge, I may have abandoned it. In a way, I’m glad that I made it through – the last third of the book made up for the beginning.
Deadworld is the story of FBI agent Jackie Rutledge. Jackie and her partner Laurel investigate a grisly murder scene. Laurel senses that something is off about the murder scene. Laurel fears for Jackie’s life and begs her not to take on the case. Her fears are well founded – vampires are involved.
It was very difficult for me to feel any kind of empathy towards Jackie. Jackie was an emotional wreck throughout most of the book, a loose cannon. Her impulsivity and disregard for self-preservation, along with her ongoing drinking problems made her irritating. Jackie’s lack of self-worth and her inability to have any kind of meaningful relationship while sober made her difficult to deal with. Her troubled past contributed to her personality. Jackie feared becoming her mother, a woman in an abusive relationship. I just wish the author added some little thing to make the reader like her more.
I think what made this an OK read for me was Nick and the other supporting characters. I liked Nick. In a way, he was the antithesis of Jackie even though he had his own dark and troubled past and a very real threat in the present. Nick is the prime suspect in the case until it becomes apparent that he and his partner Shelby are the only ones strong enough to fight and defeat Cornelius Drake.
Nick is the head of Special Investigations Inc., and investigates ghosts. He also owns Bloodwork Industries, a company that makes synthetic blood. Nick is one of those “vegetarian” vampires we see so much of in the vampire books today. While human blood makes him powerful, he chooses to drink synthetic blood because of his morals.
The villain in this book was so deliciously wicked. Cornelius Drake was a vampire on a mission, a serial killer, over the top evil. Drake is out for revenge and does everything in his power to goad Nick over and over again.
For me, the saving grace of this book was the last third. Wow. What excitement and action. Car wrecks, fires, vampire magic, crossing into Deadworld, the works. There’s a car chase through the streets of Chicago in a purple Porsche. The scenes in Deadworld were fascinating. We finally get to see how Cornelius became so powerful.
Looking back at my notes as I was reading this book, I was surprised at how many times I wrote that I didn’t like Jackie. I’m glad that I kept reading, but even at the end I still didn’t like her. Will I read the sequels? Most likely. I am curious to see if there is any change in Jackie. I have seen some favorable reviews.
Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
Deadworld started off slowly for me and had this book not been part of a reading challenge, I may have abandoned it. In a way, I’m glad that I made it through – the last third of the book made up for the beginning.
Deadworld is the story of FBI agent Jackie Rutledge. Jackie and her partner Laurel investigate a grisly murder scene. Laurel senses that something is off about the murder scene. Laurel fears for Jackie’s life and begs her not to take on the case. Her fears are well founded – vampires are involved.
It was very difficult for me to feel any kind of empathy towards Jackie. Jackie was an emotional wreck throughout most of the book, a loose cannon. Her impulsivity and disregard for self-preservation, along with her ongoing drinking problems made her irritating. Jackie’s lack of self-worth and her inability to have any kind of meaningful relationship while sober made her difficult to deal with. Her troubled past contributed to her personality. Jackie feared becoming her mother, a woman in an abusive relationship. I just wish the author added some little thing to make the reader like her more.
I think what made this an OK read for me was Nick and the other supporting characters. I liked Nick. In a way, he was the antithesis of Jackie even though he had his own dark and troubled past and a very real threat in the present. Nick is the prime suspect in the case until it becomes apparent that he and his partner Shelby are the only ones strong enough to fight and defeat Cornelius Drake.
Nick is the head of Special Investigations Inc., and investigates ghosts. He also owns Bloodwork Industries, a company that makes synthetic blood. Nick is one of those “vegetarian” vampires we see so much of in the vampire books today. While human blood makes him powerful, he chooses to drink synthetic blood because of his morals.
The villain in this book was so deliciously wicked. Cornelius Drake was a vampire on a mission, a serial killer, over the top evil. Drake is out for revenge and does everything in his power to goad Nick over and over again.
For me, the saving grace of this book was the last third. Wow. What excitement and action. Car wrecks, fires, vampire magic, crossing into Deadworld, the works. There’s a car chase through the streets of Chicago in a purple Porsche. The scenes in Deadworld were fascinating. We finally get to see how Cornelius became so powerful.
Looking back at my notes as I was reading this book, I was surprised at how many times I wrote that I didn’t like Jackie. I’m glad that I kept reading, but even at the end I still didn’t like her. Will I read the sequels? Most likely. I am curious to see if there is any change in Jackie. I have seen some favorable reviews.
Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
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