Footprints: Rogue Angel, Book 20

Rogue Angel #20

by Alex Archer

When her longtime friend claims to have evidence of Big Foot's existence, archaeologist Annja Creed can't resist checking it out for herself--she's been debating the subject for years. Annja's curiosity leads her deep into the woods of the Pacific Northwest, to meet Jenny where the supposed trail has been left by the one and only Sasquatch.

But when Annja arrives at the destination, a group of armed thugs warn her to leave the area, and her friend is nowhere to be found. Now the search for Sasquatch turns into a rescue mission, and Annja has only her instincts to guide her in a forest full of predators, scavengers and spirits. And someone, or something, does not want her there....

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Urban Fantasy, Ebooks, Action, Paranormal

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

A house name for the Rogue Angel series, published by the Harlequin Publishing's Gold Eagle division.

The first eight novels were written by Victor Milan and Mel Odom. New writers joining the series starting with book nine include Jon Merz and Joseph Nassise.

Reviews

[Richard Clayton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible. I have read the previous 19 Rogue Angel books and this is the worst of the lot. It is so bad in fact that I recommend that RA fans give it a miss, as it contains no information necessary to the rest of the series. Having condemned the book, let me tell you why (Spoiler Alert - I am going to give a few plot details).

First, the Anja Creed heroine in this book in no way resembles the Anja Creed of the earlier books. Instead of the dynamic heroine she comes across as a bumbling incompetent unable even to use her mystical sword properly. She essentially stumbles from situation to situation without ever quite getting a handle on things.

Second, the writing is terrible. Apparently the author likes dialogue so there is lots of it; page after page with Anja arguing and chatting with her friends and captors. In fact one conversation with her captors went on for an amazing three chapters with Anja actually smiling at the person pointing the gun at her before making any effort to fight back. It got so bad that I actually began to skim read the book just to get it over with. Even the final scene in which Anja singlehandedly takes on a gang of drug dealers features a scene in which Anja chats with the drug lord before finishing him off.

Third, the book contains highly improbably events one being the accidental killing of her "friend" when shots fired by her friend bounce off the mystical sword and still have enough energy to reverse their path and kill the one who shot at her. The book also contains fight scenes in which Anja receives fairly nasty injuries - in one case a broken rib, and in another a broken nose. Neither injury impairs her ability to fight in any way, and in fact the injuries are never referred to again.

I know that the Rogue Angel series is supposed to be escapist literature, but that does not mean it has to be so badly written. I gave it one star, but that is only because there is no lower rating. Do yourself a favour and skip on the the next book in the series; you won't regret it.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this one because I was hoping for a good Sasquatch adventure. This is my least favorite of all the ones I've read so far. Annja Creed is a good character, but she seemed a little weak in here.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

I took half a star off for the ending... Not only is Annja hard on her men, she's also hard on her friends! If she's a real person, I'd avoid her like the plague!

For once we have a fairly mundane storyline with some mysticism thrown in. But Joan's Sword does some interesting things that I hope the later books will follow up on.

[Alex Hudson]

So I actually quite liked this book and my favorite part was the scene where Anya and her friend are talking in rain-soaked woods and we really get some detail about her flaws, how she all she has is her work because she's scared of committing to anyone because she doesn't know how to commit. People who grew up as orphans as adults have trouble staying in long relationships because they weren't taught it at an early age.
"Because I'm so scared to commit to one person, one thing, one idea, I run away from anything that even remotely looks like it could be a solid foundation for my life"
She also goes into detail on why she thinks the sword chose her.
"It knows I'll never stop running towards the bad guys, the last thing it wants to be stuck with someone who has a career, kids, married, or even pets. I would never get used for its intent and purpose"
"The same powers that brought this sword into my life, will make sure I never have a moment's rest, as long I try to avoid my destiny"
"I can't live my life the way I want to, the sword controls me now"
She even admits that she has a high body count and that count is going to get higher, and those deaths don't go away.
The final act brings up some good points as well.

[Gail Sawrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally love the Rogue Angel books, because the main character, as an archeologist, is looking for an obscure relic. In this case, she visits the northwest USA to meet up with an old friend. I had high hopes, as the author wove aspects of the culture of Native Americans in that area into the plot. It started out fine, and the ending was okay; however, I kept wondering whether the author had read any of the other books. ("Alex Archer" is a pseudonym, and the books are written by multiple authors, resulting in a variety of writing styles.) There wasn't a relic, and much of the middle of the book contained two-dimensional characters in either predictable or unrealistic activities. Certainly, could have been better. However, I love the series enough that I will continue to read them.

[Al Cormier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with some of the less positive reviews, in that our protagonist seemed a bit off compared to her previous adventures. While the story itself was pretty good, I continued to ask myself why she wasn't using any of the disciplines learned in her past journeys. Such are the pitfalls of using different authors, each with a slightly different view of the continuing story.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty typical Rogue Angel fare. On to the next.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Laurla2]

i'm peeved at the ending where her friend dies. getting tired of EVERYONE annja runs into getting killed off.

multiauthor series - jon f. merz

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Footprints is the 20th installment of the Rogue Angel series featuring Annja Creed. Annya is a world-traveling archaeologist with a penchant for adventure, lost cities, mysterious codes and puzzles, and shadowy history that was never recorded. Heir to Joan of Arc's mystic sword, Annja finds herself drawn into the webs of darkest villainy with lives on the line.

Holding the sword itself, she finds that she has better agility, strength, and quicker reflexes. The sword seems to find ways in saving Annya's life, and this story is no different. She is also host of Chasing History's Monsters but finds herself questioning whether or not she wants to continue working.

Annya is asked by her friend, and former college friend Jenny Chu, to come to the Pacific Northwest in order to search for the mythical Sasquatch. Jenny unwittingly walks into a situation that is entirely too familiar to sub-characters in this series. Jenny is one sighted, and that is totally on the discovery of Sasquatch. She doesn't see that things aren't always black and white having been a professor for too long.

Annya, on the other hand, is completely cynical it exists at all. You would think that with Annya holding a mythical sword, and her travels over the last 20 books, she would be less skeptical about things like Sasquatch. Seriously, she was just in Tibet, and found a lost city and then told nobody.

Probably the most interesting character of this book was a 14 year old boy named Joey, or Creeping Wolf. Yes, this book does actually delve into several Indian mythologies, including skin walkers and spirit travels. Joey's keen awareness of the woods that Annya and Jenny find themselves in, is masterful.

If you are a fan of Roux and Garen, you will be sadly disappointed that they don't show up; again. Yes, Annya mentions them in passing, but that's it. This story turns from the hunt of a mythical creature, into betrayal, lies, possible government coverups, possible aliens, and in the end, drugs.

Annya, Joey and Jenny find that not everyone is who they say they are including the mysterious Sheriff David, that Jenny finds so attractive.

If you are looking for a wonderful ending to a story, one that has lots of action and a twist, then you will enjoy this one. The ending actually throws readers for a loop at what eventually happens with Annya and Jenny. We also learn more about Joey and how he is able to quickly transverse the woods at ease.

Overall, just an okay story, but not the worse I've read either.

[Michael Rohrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good up until the end.

[Cindy]

OK I read previous reviews about this book and nearly didn't read it. I am so glad I chose to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. Especially since it was set in the Pacific Northwest and related to a creature that a town just a few miles from me has a festival every year to celebrate. LOVED the 14 year old young man character. I could totally be his friend. DON'T pay attention to the negative reviews of this book. I have read all of the books in this series thus far and I LOVED THIS ONE. 5 STARS from me

[Michelle Kampmeier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was one of the more interesting ones. It took a while to get to this next book in the series, but I enjoyed this one. Joey was a neat character, and the twists this one took were less predictable than other books in the series. Her friend Jenny was a sad story. The whole thing had a more personal touch to it, went a little deeper into the lives of the characters.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to love this book series but this book was just too badly written. I wasn't going to finish it at first but decided to in the end. The premise of this wasn't very interesting and the conversations seemed forced and unrealistic. I'm very disappointed in this book and won't be continuing with the series.

[K.A. Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, my least favorite of these books overall. The story just felt loose and didn't flow well. I was not surprised when one of Annja's "friends" turns on her and I wanted to be. I did enjoy meeting a new character, Joey, and I didn't quite expect the surprise at the end. I'm undecided if I'm going to read more of this series. I will say this one was a fast read, taking me less than a day.

[Kelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite to date. Plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, petty girly cat fights (which are sooo not Annja), villains that are just caricatures, cheesy dialogue. The only thing keeping this from being a 1 or no star book is that we got anew surprise as to what exactly The Sword can do to protect Annja.

[Vanda Bromwich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annja Creed is asked by her friend to go with her to find evidence of Bigfoot.
This was not as good as others in this series. I think more could have been done with the character of the native American boy and his grandfather,

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough that I wanted to finish it. Not good enough that I'm searching for the rest of the series.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice story. Little light on action. But the story was interesting enough to keep me reading. The ending was very good also.

[Hildegart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to get through this book. I was hoping it would be fun like some of the other Rogue Angel books, but no.

[Heather Willson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Rogue Angel book. Good enough to make me look for more

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. It was a decent enough read. Search for Bigfoot. hehe. =)

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

It may have been more interesting if they actually had been chasing Big Foot.