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Kannon Dupree #2
Hoodwink
The second book in this exciting and action-driven adventure... Each book in the series will canvas a mystery in the present by solving a mystery in the past.
time travel can be murder... as any time-travelling detective knows only too well. When the body of a famous director is found covered in a Mayan occult tattoo and embedded in the floor of his own film set, Kannon Dupree is hired to return to 1939 to find out who put him there. While on the set of GONE WItH tHE WIND, mixing with the big stars of Hollywood, she stumbles onto a disturbing mystery that stretches back to the Civil War...
time travel can be murder... as any time-travelling detective knows only too well. When the body of a famous director is found covered in a Mayan occult tattoo and embedded in the floor of his own film set, Kannon Dupree is hired to return to 1939 to find out who put him there. While on the set of GONE WItH tHE WIND, mixing with the big stars of Hollywood, she stumbles onto a disturbing mystery that stretches back to the Civil War...
576 pages
First published December 13, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 14, 2012
The first thing I want to note is that despite Hoodwink being the second book in Rhonda Roberts’s Timestalker series, it absolutely stands alone. You don’t have to have read the first book, Gladiatrix, although it’s definitely worth reading for its own sake. If you enjoy Hoodwink, there’s no reason not to go back and read Gladiatrix afterwards. The only spoilers in book 2 for book 1 are of the “main characters are alive” variety.
That said, on to the body of the review!
Hoodwink is about Kannon Dupree, arse-kicking, time-travelling PI in training. Kannon is Australian but living in America because of events in book 1. She takes a case investigating the murder of one of the directors of Gone With the Wind, after his body is discovered in the present, 70ish years after his death.
Sent back to 1939 to pose as his personal assistant, the first thing Kannon discovers in the past is that just about everyone who’s ever met him has plausible motives for wanting the director dead. And so begins her tangled investigation, four days before his murder.
Hampered by internal politics at the NTA (the time-travelling equivalent of NASA), Kannon is only given two days to prepare. And, despite her client having suspicions as to who the murderer was, Kannon quickly realises that she has no where near enough information from the future to be of much use. What should make it easier are the repeated attempts on the director’s life and the fact that he’s already afraid someone is after him. But who is it?
Somewhere, among the mayhem of the Gone With the Wind Set (complete with Clarke Gable, Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard), Kannon has to work out who has the means and opportunity to murder the director, since everyone has motive.
This is a book not short on conspiracy and arse-kicking. As in Gadiatrix, I like the fact that Kannon can look after herself (thanks to her Aikido training), and that many of the people who try to cross her (violently, at least) are rapidly dealt with. It was amusing to read the reactions of some of the men who assumed she was “just a feeble woman”, although in some cases the amusing part was their expressions when she hit them.
All the loose ends in the past are tied up nicely at the end, but not all the questions raised in the future are fully answered. I hope the next book (due out in September) picks them up again. Since there is a shorter gap between books 2 and 3 than there was between books 1 and 2, I’m also hoping there’s more plot-based connection between them. Aside from Kannon’s change in circumstances, very little of book 1 reappeared in book 2. Not that I think Hoodwink suffered for it. In fact, after I found out where one of the key characters from Gladiatrix had got to, I promptly forgot about some of the other issues raised in the first book. Which is probably a good thing, as I suspect in the longish interim between them, Roberts may have chosen to shift the background focus slightly.
The only thing I would’ve liked to see more of, is Kannon’s relationship with people in the present/future. In particular her friend that helps her out at the start and end. We don’t get to see much of why they’re friends or the connection between them. This is another thing I’m hoping is developed in future books.
Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars.
[For the record, I read the Harper Voyager Australia ebook of Hoodwink, which I purchased off the (Australian) iTunes/iBooks store.]
That said, on to the body of the review!
Hoodwink is about Kannon Dupree, arse-kicking, time-travelling PI in training. Kannon is Australian but living in America because of events in book 1. She takes a case investigating the murder of one of the directors of Gone With the Wind, after his body is discovered in the present, 70ish years after his death.
Sent back to 1939 to pose as his personal assistant, the first thing Kannon discovers in the past is that just about everyone who’s ever met him has plausible motives for wanting the director dead. And so begins her tangled investigation, four days before his murder.
Hampered by internal politics at the NTA (the time-travelling equivalent of NASA), Kannon is only given two days to prepare. And, despite her client having suspicions as to who the murderer was, Kannon quickly realises that she has no where near enough information from the future to be of much use. What should make it easier are the repeated attempts on the director’s life and the fact that he’s already afraid someone is after him. But who is it?
Somewhere, among the mayhem of the Gone With the Wind Set (complete with Clarke Gable, Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard), Kannon has to work out who has the means and opportunity to murder the director, since everyone has motive.
This is a book not short on conspiracy and arse-kicking. As in Gadiatrix, I like the fact that Kannon can look after herself (thanks to her Aikido training), and that many of the people who try to cross her (violently, at least) are rapidly dealt with. It was amusing to read the reactions of some of the men who assumed she was “just a feeble woman”, although in some cases the amusing part was their expressions when she hit them.
All the loose ends in the past are tied up nicely at the end, but not all the questions raised in the future are fully answered. I hope the next book (due out in September) picks them up again. Since there is a shorter gap between books 2 and 3 than there was between books 1 and 2, I’m also hoping there’s more plot-based connection between them. Aside from Kannon’s change in circumstances, very little of book 1 reappeared in book 2. Not that I think Hoodwink suffered for it. In fact, after I found out where one of the key characters from Gladiatrix had got to, I promptly forgot about some of the other issues raised in the first book. Which is probably a good thing, as I suspect in the longish interim between them, Roberts may have chosen to shift the background focus slightly.
The only thing I would’ve liked to see more of, is Kannon’s relationship with people in the present/future. In particular her friend that helps her out at the start and end. We don’t get to see much of why they’re friends or the connection between them. This is another thing I’m hoping is developed in future books.
Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars.
[For the record, I read the Harper Voyager Australia ebook of Hoodwink, which I purchased off the (Australian) iTunes/iBooks store.]
May 17, 2017
I loved this book and the way it weaves in the era ... fascinating.
January 13, 2014
This review was written by Evie Kendal for Dark Matter Zine. This and more reviews, interviews etc are on Dark Matter Zine, an online magazine. http://www.darkmatterzine.com.
Rhonda Roberts’ Hoodwink follows the career of fledgling Time Investigator Kannon Dupree as she graduates from training and is finally authorised to start using the “time portal” to solve mysteries from the past. While in the first instalment of this series, Gladiatrix, Kannon was investigating her own unusual past, in Hoodwink she has been hired as a private detective by a wealthy family with political influence. The National Time Administration is under threat and if Kannon refuses this solo mission it is likely to be shut down, however time and budget constraints make it unlikely she will succeed – which would also lead to the demise of the organisation. Caught in a classic Catch 22, Kannon accepts the mission and has only a few days to solve a mystery that has lasted for decades.
The Plot
When famous Hollywood director Earl Curtis’ body is discovered in the present day, Kannon is ordered to go back to 1939 when he went missing and discover who killed him. Taking on the role of assistant to Mr Curtis, Kannon tries to determine who among his friends and staff had the greatest motive for killing him, and also why his body was covered in occult runes when it was found. She hopes that solving this case will bring closure to Curtis’ elderly widow in the present, and allow her to move on and form a real relationship with her grandson. While the plot is not as intense as most of Gladiatrix, the setting is equally interesting and the author’s research into 1930’s Hollywood makes it an engaging story.
The Style
While a lot of what I have to say about the Timestalker series I have already said in my review of Book 1 there is one significant difference in writing style between the two books – Hoodwink is much better. The prose is prettier and easier to read, the vocabulary more advanced and the over-the-top “Australianisms” are absent in Kannon’s speech in this novel. Overall these differences made the book a lot more enjoyable for me and made the protagonist more likeable.
Recommendations
If you read and liked Gladiatrix (and not just because of the ancient Greek theme) you will certainly like Hoodwink. If you didn’t read the first book in this series it is possible to pick up at Book 2 without much confusion. This series is definitely pitched at adults and as the books are quite long I recommend it for readers who don’t mind a significant time commitment this holidays.
Rhonda Roberts’ Hoodwink follows the career of fledgling Time Investigator Kannon Dupree as she graduates from training and is finally authorised to start using the “time portal” to solve mysteries from the past. While in the first instalment of this series, Gladiatrix, Kannon was investigating her own unusual past, in Hoodwink she has been hired as a private detective by a wealthy family with political influence. The National Time Administration is under threat and if Kannon refuses this solo mission it is likely to be shut down, however time and budget constraints make it unlikely she will succeed – which would also lead to the demise of the organisation. Caught in a classic Catch 22, Kannon accepts the mission and has only a few days to solve a mystery that has lasted for decades.
The Plot
When famous Hollywood director Earl Curtis’ body is discovered in the present day, Kannon is ordered to go back to 1939 when he went missing and discover who killed him. Taking on the role of assistant to Mr Curtis, Kannon tries to determine who among his friends and staff had the greatest motive for killing him, and also why his body was covered in occult runes when it was found. She hopes that solving this case will bring closure to Curtis’ elderly widow in the present, and allow her to move on and form a real relationship with her grandson. While the plot is not as intense as most of Gladiatrix, the setting is equally interesting and the author’s research into 1930’s Hollywood makes it an engaging story.
The Style
While a lot of what I have to say about the Timestalker series I have already said in my review of Book 1 there is one significant difference in writing style between the two books – Hoodwink is much better. The prose is prettier and easier to read, the vocabulary more advanced and the over-the-top “Australianisms” are absent in Kannon’s speech in this novel. Overall these differences made the book a lot more enjoyable for me and made the protagonist more likeable.
Recommendations
If you read and liked Gladiatrix (and not just because of the ancient Greek theme) you will certainly like Hoodwink. If you didn’t read the first book in this series it is possible to pick up at Book 2 without much confusion. This series is definitely pitched at adults and as the books are quite long I recommend it for readers who don’t mind a significant time commitment this holidays.
November 22, 2012
I couldn't stop reading this fast-paced book, a fun combination of sci-fi, murder-mystery and mythical horror.
The time-travelling, crime-fighting protagonist, Kannon Dupree, makes for a great tour guide of Hollywood in 1939. Although I got the feeling that I was missing some of the aspects of her relationship with her mother which were covered in Book 1, I'm not sorry that I started at this point in the series, being more interested in "Gone With The Wind" than I am in Ancient Rome.
There were many minor characters who were little more than mouthpieces for the next piece of information required to advance the plot. It could be that this is par for the course in the mystery genre, which I'm not familiar with.
But the convoluted threads were certainly intriguing, and I found the ending satisfying. I'll keep my eye out for "Coyote," the third book in the series.
The time-travelling, crime-fighting protagonist, Kannon Dupree, makes for a great tour guide of Hollywood in 1939. Although I got the feeling that I was missing some of the aspects of her relationship with her mother which were covered in Book 1, I'm not sorry that I started at this point in the series, being more interested in "Gone With The Wind" than I am in Ancient Rome.
There were many minor characters who were little more than mouthpieces for the next piece of information required to advance the plot. It could be that this is par for the course in the mystery genre, which I'm not familiar with.
But the convoluted threads were certainly intriguing, and I found the ending satisfying. I'll keep my eye out for "Coyote," the third book in the series.
March 20, 2012
Kannon Depree is a time agent, or at least about to become one. In the present day a man is killed and the wife is willing to pay for her to go back in time and find out who is the killer.
The book quickly becomes over complicated. Conspiracy theories, Gone with the Wind and the civil war in America all factor in. I found it easy to discover the why and everything else was trying to discourage you to figure out who. I ended up skimming a lot of the book which just tried to distract you. I thought her previous book was better. It was more mystery then fantasy since the time travel was the only fantastic element. I don't know who I would recommend this book to. I give this two and a half stars.
The book quickly becomes over complicated. Conspiracy theories, Gone with the Wind and the civil war in America all factor in. I found it easy to discover the why and everything else was trying to discourage you to figure out who. I ended up skimming a lot of the book which just tried to distract you. I thought her previous book was better. It was more mystery then fantasy since the time travel was the only fantastic element. I don't know who I would recommend this book to. I give this two and a half stars.
April 19, 2012
Rounded up from 2.5. The story itself was enjoyable - if a little too long and detailed and Kannon is still a strong likeable heroine. However I was extremely disappointed by the treatment of the relationship between Alex and Kannon. One line to dispose of an inconvient character that she spent most of the previous book ( all 500 plus pages) building. Alex and Kannon had a great relationship and believable connection between them in Gladiatrix. It was lazy writing. Then to throw in the 'instant' attraction with the new time marshal just it have a romance element - it just didn't work for me.
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December 28, 2015Katharine is a judge for the Sara Douglass 'Book Series' Award. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
April 17, 2012
wonderful writing hooked me right in .
September 20, 2012
I really enjoyed this story. Full review coming!
December 29, 2012
Absolutely enjoyed this book. Read it in a day and will be starting next one!
I miss Alex though.
I miss Alex though.
October 30, 2015
This became way too convoluted
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews