Broken Souls by Stephen Blackmoore (2014)
A more than worthy sequel
Book cover blurb
Sister murdered, best friend dead, married to the patron saint of death, Santa Muerte. Necromancer Eric Carter's return to Los Angeles hasn't gone well, and it's about to get even worse.
His link to the Aztec death goddess is changing his powers, changing him, and he's not sure how far it will go. He's starting to question his own sanity, wonder if he's losing his mind. No mean feat for a guy who talks to the dead on a regular basis.
While searching for a way to break Santa Muerte's hold over him, Carter finds himself the target of a psychopath who can steal anyone's form, powers, and memories. Identity theft is one thing, but this guy does it by killing his victims and wearing their skins like a suit. He can be anyone. He can be anywhere.
Now Carter has to change the game -- go from hunted to hunter. All he has for help is a Skid Row bruja and a ghost who's either his dead friend Alex or the manifestation of Carter's own guilt-fueled psychotic break.
Everything is trying to kill him. Nothing is as it seems. If all his plans go perfectly, he might survive the week.
He's hoping that's a good thing.
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My Review
I tend to steer clear of large series, preferring to read single novels and the ability to move on to something completely new once I'm finished. Until now. I recently decided to actively seek out series I might enjoy and make an exerted effort to progress my way through all the titles in those series.
I've zeroed in on several, the second of which is the Eric Carter series by Stephen Blackmoore. The first being The Dresden Files, of course. And what a choice for an early endeavour to get out of my comfort zone. I clicked with this world and its main character right away and am more than sure I can go the distance. At least I'd better, since I've bought all nine books currently available.
I loved the first book, 'Dead Things'. But this second offering is something a little different. Well, the same, but different - you know what I mean. It's got some characters and places we're already familiar with, alongside a handful of new introductions. Something I appreciate here is we aren't deluged with a plethora of new stuff. There's just enough to make things feel new and interesting without drowning the reading with characters and elements to remember and get to know.
Blackmoore seems to have settled into his world in Broken Souls nicely and is just enjoying himself without trying to prove his worth, as I think he did to a certain extent in book one. But isn't every author guilty of that with their first book? The pacing works better here, it's more even, allowing the reader more time to breathe. You feel comfortable keeping up with events instead of constantly running to catch up.
We pick up around six months after the events of book one. There are some new nasty bad guys, a new cool kick-ass chick, a number of stolen cars and umpteen beatings for our antihero, as you would expect. The story is tight and flowing, always keeping the reader interested. This is a relatively short book, page-count-wise, at just 264. But Blackmoore does a fantastic job filling every chapter with page-turning excitement and enticement.
Something a little different here is the main bad guy, a multitude of people within one person. Obviously, I can't give anything away without spoiling things for anyone who wants to read this book, but it's quite a unique twist and hard to properly fathom, even as elements are gradually revealed.
One new character I really enjoyed was Alex, one of Eric's best friends whom we met in book one before Eric had to shoot him in the head. He pops up and annoys Carter throughout the story and it's one of the best elements in the book. I found myself turning pages hoping to see Alex more. He was a real treat. Of course, he's not what he seems, but not much is in the strange, strange, world of Eric Carter.
I'll be honest, I was hoping the books in this series would all be stand-alone stories. I'm new to series reading so forgive me for not knowing better. I thought it might be easier to keep track if each book was self-contained. But I was quickly happy to accept this is a continuation. It felt like slipping into nice clean bed covers, it felt right and homely. Being informed just enough about proceedings, instead of starting completely fresh, made for a better experience, I think.
Everything is nicely wound up at the end, all the loose ends knotted up tight. The last page offering quite a blatant teaser as to what havoc Eric may be intending to cause in book three, Hungry Ghosts.
In case you can't tell, I'm a fan.
My copy of this novel
Daw paperback edition.
Published in 2014
264 pages
ISBN 9780756409425