Archer & Bell: Nine Stories

by Aren D. Piada

Henry Bell is a thief. A lifetime ago, he unwittingly stole something of great consequence from the terribly old, terribly powerful, and terribly secretive Cassel family. By rights, he should have been a dead man but life, it turns out, had other plans in store for him. Not necessarily nicer ones. Now, Bell is a fugitive, living in a poky apartment in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, making ends meet in a dead-end job while trying to stay one step ahead of the revenge-thirsty Cassels, who have not forgotten and definitely not forgiven the theft of their greatest treasure. His biggest problem, however, is the treasure itself … for she has a mind of her own, and plenty of unorthodox solutions to every one of his many problems.

Archer is a demon, but she’d rather you didn’t hold that against her. She’s perfectly willing to live by the rules – the important ones, anyway. All she wants to do is eat a good meal, meet interesting people, and enjoy the freedom that her new master has given her … and make sure that nobody kills him first. Life on the run isn’t easy, but Archer loves a good challenge – which is a good thing because in Wallace, vampires are not the scariest things lurking in dark alleys.

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 26, 2015

Reviews

[MB (What she read)]

I made it further (57%) this 2nd time try. But I don't have the patience or the oomph to continue on.

(The writing itself is fine, but by 57%, I should know who, what, where, when, why and how. Or be getting there at least...)

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book - and that's not meant to be a backhanded compliment. The author has a blog that I enjoy, and when I saw she had written a book I was curious, but admittedly skeptical when I saw it was self-published. My experience with self-published books in the past has not been positive. I am a voracious reader but also a book snob, and don't have the patience for poor writing and/or poor editing. I initially downloaded the free sample of the book to see what it was all about, and was immediately impressed by the quality of both the writing and the story, so I went on to purchase the entire thing. It did not disappoint.

I read probably 3-4 books a month on average - mostly popular fiction - and this book easily stood up to any other book I've read in recent memory, and was in fact better than quite a few of them. I think the concept and format was very unique, and the quality of the prose was excellent. I found some of the stories more compelling than others but on the whole found it to be an enjoyable and fulfilling read. I'd definitely read whatever she comes out with next, and would encourage any publisher to take notice.

[Patti Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. The interaction between the characters was sarcastic and yet simultaneously genuine and made me laugh often. I found myself thinking about the stories long after I finished reading, and am hopeful for a follow up in the near future.