fantasy, mystery
After having really enjoyed Daniel O'Malley's first two books in the
Checquy Files series (The Rook and Stiletto), I'm sad to say that Blitz fell flat for me. In
fact, about mid-way through I decided to stop reading half the book.
Bear with me one moment while I explain.
Blitz is really two stories in one- the first is the story of the Checquy during the time of the Blitz and focuses mainly on the exploits of Pamela, Usha, and Bridget who are trying to find a Nazi with Checquy-like powers who is lose in London due to their actions. Meanwhile, they stumble upon some other shenanigans that must be dealt with as well. The second story takes place in modern London. When Lynnette Binns erupts in red lightening in her kitchen one day, the Checquy swoop in to collect her, teach her to control her power and, as one would imagine, completely disrupt her life. When a serial killer is discovered in London bearing the unmistakable mark of Lyn's powers, she goes on the run to try to prove her innocence.
The problem is that those two stories don't really have anything in common. And so, midway through the book, I abandoned the Blitz storyline because I was bored to tears by it and focused on Lyn's story, which I was enjoying. I would usually read the first and last few pages of each chapter of the Blitz story to see if anything had changed (no, it had not). I enjoyed Lyn's story and never felt that I was missing part of the story or didn't understand it. Oh sure, there are small tendrils here and there that link the two storylines, but there are no big a-ha moments of connection; they can (and do!) exist as completely separate stories.
So, 3 stars for Lyn's story, a DNF for the Blitz storyline, gives us a 2 star average I'm afraid. Perhaps I'll go back and read the other story another time.
Blitz is really two stories in one- the first is the story of the Checquy during the time of the Blitz and focuses mainly on the exploits of Pamela, Usha, and Bridget who are trying to find a Nazi with Checquy-like powers who is lose in London due to their actions. Meanwhile, they stumble upon some other shenanigans that must be dealt with as well. The second story takes place in modern London. When Lynnette Binns erupts in red lightening in her kitchen one day, the Checquy swoop in to collect her, teach her to control her power and, as one would imagine, completely disrupt her life. When a serial killer is discovered in London bearing the unmistakable mark of Lyn's powers, she goes on the run to try to prove her innocence.
The problem is that those two stories don't really have anything in common. And so, midway through the book, I abandoned the Blitz storyline because I was bored to tears by it and focused on Lyn's story, which I was enjoying. I would usually read the first and last few pages of each chapter of the Blitz story to see if anything had changed (no, it had not). I enjoyed Lyn's story and never felt that I was missing part of the story or didn't understand it. Oh sure, there are small tendrils here and there that link the two storylines, but there are no big a-ha moments of connection; they can (and do!) exist as completely separate stories.
So, 3 stars for Lyn's story, a DNF for the Blitz storyline, gives us a 2 star average I'm afraid. Perhaps I'll go back and read the other story another time.
No comments:
Post a Comment