Book 21, 2017
Jan. 28th, 2017 10:41 amI spent Friday afternoon reading an ebook, Smoke Rising, by Craig Halloran. It's the first installment in the "Supernatural Bounty Hunter" series.
FBI Agent Sidney Shaw is tabbed to work with former Navy SEAL and current prisoner, John Smoke. Smoke was a bounty hunter, and Sid and he are asked to track down a man on the secretive Black Slate most-wanted list. Sidney is designated to be Smoke's handler, keeping an eye on him as much as fulfilling her assignment. It's not going to be easy; Sid plays by the rules, while Smoke is spontaneous and prefers a direct approach.
Despite the odds, they manage to arrest their first target, but when they leave the scene and return an hour later, the other agents have been torn apart, and their target is gone. Now, Sidney is forced to entertain the idea that perhaps their target isn't entirely human.
Hm. The story is told in Sidney's pov, even though Smoke is the titular character, which surprised me. The plot veered off into family troubles for Sid (her sister is an addict), and I saw no real reason for that unless it's setting up another story down the line. Also, Smoke did not come across as a big, bad SEAL or bounty hunter or even an ex-con. He seemed like a happy-go-lucky boy scout, having a great adventure. Weird. What I definitely didn't like was that, when they got the drop on their target again, the man transformed into a werewolf in front of them. Sidney was mesmerized to the point of 'take me now, you great, hairy man-beast!'. Gag me with a silver stake. Seriously?! I guess it's obvious the story was written by a man.
Favorite line: I try, but it never feels like enough.
The story had its moments. The premise was interesting, but it would have benefited from being a longer story than it was. Editing was clean. Eh, average score:
***
FBI Agent Sidney Shaw is tabbed to work with former Navy SEAL and current prisoner, John Smoke. Smoke was a bounty hunter, and Sid and he are asked to track down a man on the secretive Black Slate most-wanted list. Sidney is designated to be Smoke's handler, keeping an eye on him as much as fulfilling her assignment. It's not going to be easy; Sid plays by the rules, while Smoke is spontaneous and prefers a direct approach.
Despite the odds, they manage to arrest their first target, but when they leave the scene and return an hour later, the other agents have been torn apart, and their target is gone. Now, Sidney is forced to entertain the idea that perhaps their target isn't entirely human.
Hm. The story is told in Sidney's pov, even though Smoke is the titular character, which surprised me. The plot veered off into family troubles for Sid (her sister is an addict), and I saw no real reason for that unless it's setting up another story down the line. Also, Smoke did not come across as a big, bad SEAL or bounty hunter or even an ex-con. He seemed like a happy-go-lucky boy scout, having a great adventure. Weird. What I definitely didn't like was that, when they got the drop on their target again, the man transformed into a werewolf in front of them. Sidney was mesmerized to the point of 'take me now, you great, hairy man-beast!'. Gag me with a silver stake. Seriously?! I guess it's obvious the story was written by a man.
Favorite line: I try, but it never feels like enough.
The story had its moments. The premise was interesting, but it would have benefited from being a longer story than it was. Editing was clean. Eh, average score:
***