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Crying Woman Road #2
The Dwarf Assassin
A dwarf secret. A renegade assassin. Prehistoric evil.
A shape-shifter is murdering dwarves in a local colony, and Amanda, the Sibyl’s apprentice, agrees to find this assassin who hides in plain sight. When the renegade killer stalks her one night on the dwarf reservation, she knows this is her warning . . . next comes death.
To stay alive, Amanda must sharpen her psychic powers into mental weapons and flush out this cunning killer. She must also learn the secret her dwarf friends are keeping from her. Clues lie scattered in the Sibyl’s orchard, among a shaman’s stones, in a sacred blue crystal cavern, and inside a mountain fortress called Saint Peter’s Door.
When the unthinkable happens, she realizes her power is not strong enough to defeat this killer alone. She must unleash an ally, a supernatural evil she might not be able to control. Then she must force this ally to fight the ruthless assassin for her.
Is she willing to risk the dwarf colony to protect a life more precious than her own?
A shape-shifter is murdering dwarves in a local colony, and Amanda, the Sibyl’s apprentice, agrees to find this assassin who hides in plain sight. When the renegade killer stalks her one night on the dwarf reservation, she knows this is her warning . . . next comes death.
To stay alive, Amanda must sharpen her psychic powers into mental weapons and flush out this cunning killer. She must also learn the secret her dwarf friends are keeping from her. Clues lie scattered in the Sibyl’s orchard, among a shaman’s stones, in a sacred blue crystal cavern, and inside a mountain fortress called Saint Peter’s Door.
When the unthinkable happens, she realizes her power is not strong enough to defeat this killer alone. She must unleash an ally, a supernatural evil she might not be able to control. Then she must force this ally to fight the ruthless assassin for her.
Is she willing to risk the dwarf colony to protect a life more precious than her own?
- GenresFantasy
328 pages, Paperback
Published December 2, 2017
About the author
Erik Bundy
8 books44 followersAs for myself, I live in a magical forest where female chipmunks are called chipnuns and mice claiming to be cousins move in for the winter then take the towels when they leave in spring. I am a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop, a grand prize winner of the Sidney Lanier Poetry Competition, and a winner in the Writers of the Future Contest with a number of stories and poems published. My novel, “Magic and Murder Among the Dwarves,” was published by Untold Press in March 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 7, 2019
I didn't realise that this was the second book in a series. I thought the author did a good job of laying enough backstory that I mostly had a feel for how things had resolved, even though I'm fuzzy on the details.
I found this to be a solid read - the writing is crisp and moves along at a good pace. The action sequences are very well handled.
I think there's room for more world-building. I felt a little bit lost as to the finer points of dwarf culture as well as the role of the Sybil in relation to the dwarves as well as humans. As this is a series, I understand the desire to hold back on some detail in order to continue to enrich the world later, but I would have liked to see more.
The character development was also generally good, but limited a bit by the choice to have it narrated by the main character. (The readers only know what she knows and experience characters through her eyes). There are characters I would have liked to have gotten to know better in their own right, and I think there were ways to weave in snippets to flesh the other characters out better.
The one element that I found vague (until near the end of the book) was whether the existence of dwarves was secret. For about 2/3 of the book, I thought that only a handful of people were even aware of the dwarf colony - that turned out to be incorrect. I think playing up looky-loos trespassing on their territory, for example, would have felt more natural.
It was very refreshing for the main focus to be on dwarves. This is not something I've encountered especially often and I think the author did a very good job to develop their society. I also really appreciated the elements of spirituality that were woven through the story - I find that to be a fascinating element and it's often overlooked.
All in all, I enjoyed reading the book and would certainly be interested in reading more from this author.
I received a copy of this book through Voracious Readers Only.
I found this to be a solid read - the writing is crisp and moves along at a good pace. The action sequences are very well handled.
I think there's room for more world-building. I felt a little bit lost as to the finer points of dwarf culture as well as the role of the Sybil in relation to the dwarves as well as humans. As this is a series, I understand the desire to hold back on some detail in order to continue to enrich the world later, but I would have liked to see more.
The character development was also generally good, but limited a bit by the choice to have it narrated by the main character. (The readers only know what she knows and experience characters through her eyes). There are characters I would have liked to have gotten to know better in their own right, and I think there were ways to weave in snippets to flesh the other characters out better.
The one element that I found vague (until near the end of the book) was whether the existence of dwarves was secret. For about 2/3 of the book, I thought that only a handful of people were even aware of the dwarf colony - that turned out to be incorrect. I think playing up looky-loos trespassing on their territory, for example, would have felt more natural.
It was very refreshing for the main focus to be on dwarves. This is not something I've encountered especially often and I think the author did a very good job to develop their society. I also really appreciated the elements of spirituality that were woven through the story - I find that to be a fascinating element and it's often overlooked.
All in all, I enjoyed reading the book and would certainly be interested in reading more from this author.
I received a copy of this book through Voracious Readers Only.
February 28, 2019
*I received a free copy of the ebook from the author through Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.*
I did not realize that The Dwarf Assassin is the second book in the series until I was a good ways in and sections were clearly recapping previous events that I had never seen before. However, this did not detract from the story or readability of this novel, so I would still consider it a stand-alone book.
Amanda is a paranormal detective training to be the spiritual leader of the nearby colony of dwarves. Her husband, Tristan, is dying of cancer and she spends much of her time trying to find a magical means of healing him. A murder occurs in the dwarf colony and Amanda is called in to help solve it and track down a shape-shifting assassin.
Positives: There are a few scenes where dialogue is worded to specifically keep the reader in the dark, but for the most part, we know what Amanda knows, which I appreciate. I dislike reading 1st-person detective novels where the MC knows way more than the reader does. While most urban-fantasy detective books I read deal with the Fae, this series includes dwarves instead, which I found interesting. Amanda is fairly competent, and trains to obtain new/stronger abilities and does not simply rely on others or luck to solve her problems.
Negatives: I found that the story lagged a little bit in parts and the sections dealing with Amorph (a carryover from the previous book) felt disjointed, like I was reading two different books at the same time, until the ending. My biggest pet peeve has to do with the pregnancy: she drinks A LOT of alcohol after finding out about the pregnancy. For a character that spends a lot of time thinking about the future and safety of her child, she seems to have no problem downing two glasses of wine and a couple shots of whisky.
I did not realize that The Dwarf Assassin is the second book in the series until I was a good ways in and sections were clearly recapping previous events that I had never seen before. However, this did not detract from the story or readability of this novel, so I would still consider it a stand-alone book.
Amanda is a paranormal detective training to be the spiritual leader of the nearby colony of dwarves. Her husband, Tristan, is dying of cancer and she spends much of her time trying to find a magical means of healing him. A murder occurs in the dwarf colony and Amanda is called in to help solve it and track down a shape-shifting assassin.
Positives: There are a few scenes where dialogue is worded to specifically keep the reader in the dark, but for the most part, we know what Amanda knows, which I appreciate. I dislike reading 1st-person detective novels where the MC knows way more than the reader does. While most urban-fantasy detective books I read deal with the Fae, this series includes dwarves instead, which I found interesting. Amanda is fairly competent, and trains to obtain new/stronger abilities and does not simply rely on others or luck to solve her problems.
Negatives: I found that the story lagged a little bit in parts and the sections dealing with Amorph (a carryover from the previous book) felt disjointed, like I was reading two different books at the same time, until the ending. My biggest pet peeve has to do with the pregnancy: she drinks A LOT of alcohol after finding out about the pregnancy. For a character that spends a lot of time thinking about the future and safety of her child, she seems to have no problem downing two glasses of wine and a couple shots of whisky.
March 3, 2019
I received this book for free through Voracious Readers Only.
Mandy is an unwilling apprentice of the Sybil, an oracle serving the godess of the dwarves.
When a mysterious shapeshifter assassin starts stalking Mandy and wreaking havoc in the nearby dwarf colony, Mandy has to figure out what it is, where it came from, and how to stop it. Which is not easy. Mandy is an outsider, and ever though she is a friend to the dwarf leaders she is often kept ignorant and at a distance.
The world building is phenomenal! The dwarves have their own politics, science, medicine, religion, sports, language and economy. In all of this there is an interesting mix of the old and the new, the dwarves seem to have adapted quite well to the modern world even while keeping much of their ancient culture. The book covers all this in intricate detail.
The prose is rich, and the characters and their relationships complex.
The thing that frustrated me throughout was that Mandy doesn't just call the police. Surely dealing with a serial killer is a job for professionals, rather than a reluctant apprentice-oracle with no relevant skills?
Perhaps this was explained in the first book in the series, Magic and Murder Among the Dwarves. I did feel like the story often referenced events that must have happened in the previous book, so you might want to read that first.
The Dwarf Assassin is a fantasic murder mystery novel for lovers of both dwarves and dinosaurs.
Mandy is an unwilling apprentice of the Sybil, an oracle serving the godess of the dwarves.
When a mysterious shapeshifter assassin starts stalking Mandy and wreaking havoc in the nearby dwarf colony, Mandy has to figure out what it is, where it came from, and how to stop it. Which is not easy. Mandy is an outsider, and ever though she is a friend to the dwarf leaders she is often kept ignorant and at a distance.
The world building is phenomenal! The dwarves have their own politics, science, medicine, religion, sports, language and economy. In all of this there is an interesting mix of the old and the new, the dwarves seem to have adapted quite well to the modern world even while keeping much of their ancient culture. The book covers all this in intricate detail.
The prose is rich, and the characters and their relationships complex.
The thing that frustrated me throughout was that Mandy doesn't just call the police. Surely dealing with a serial killer is a job for professionals, rather than a reluctant apprentice-oracle with no relevant skills?
Perhaps this was explained in the first book in the series, Magic and Murder Among the Dwarves. I did feel like the story often referenced events that must have happened in the previous book, so you might want to read that first.
The Dwarf Assassin is a fantasic murder mystery novel for lovers of both dwarves and dinosaurs.
February 26, 2019
I just downloaded this book today and couldn't put it down til I was finished! It was an excellent read. Loved the interactions between human and dwarves. Although I did do some crying at some points. I do hope there are more books to come. I can't wait to see how Amanda's child turns out and her training as the Sibyl. I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Voracious Readers Only.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews