Blackout (Cal Leandros, Book 6) by Rob Thurman

 

Blackout is the 6th book in the Cal Leandros series, and one that fixes a problem I wasn't sure the author was going to be able to fix.

Rob Thurman created a monster who happens to also be sort of human, but the monster bits have been winning out over the human bits, and I wasn't sure how Ms. Thurman was going to deal with that long term. I wasn't happy with where the series looked to be headed. Blackout goes a long ways towards reorienting things. It's not a "fix", but it certainly gives Cal some perspective. The blurb doesn't tell us much, but here it is:

I was alone, and I was lost. I didn’t know where I was; I didn’t know who I was. It doesn’t get more lost than that. Knowing what I knew and not knowing anything else at all, why would I want to be in the darkness where monsters hide?

Because killers hide there, too…
_____
Half-human Cal Leandros has always walked a bloody line between keeping his mortal soul free and clear (sort of) and unleashing the horror of his otherworldly heritage. The one thing that’s always saved him is the memory of his brother, Niko, his friends, and those he loves.

Until now.

Cal wakes up on a beach littered with the recently slaughtered remains of a variety of hideous creatures that were obviously looking for trouble. The fact that he was the one doing the slaughtering doesn’t bother him. The fact that he feels like a natural-born killer doesn’t either. What bothers him is that Cal doesn’t remember Cal anymore…
 
And he’s not sure he cares.

So we know Cal is going to have amnesia. I wasn't thrilled about that, to be honest. But it works. It's a good plot, and it goes a long ways towards fixing the direction the series had been going.

That's not to say there aren't any issues. Towards the end there are major pacing issues. Big time. When you can easily put a book down at 75% of the way through and go to sleep an hour earlier than you'd planned, the pacing is off.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was a good one, and was a nice change of pace for the series.
• Pacing had issues, as I've already mentioned.
• Prose was good, dialogue was fantastic.
• Character development took some interesting twists in Blackout, but that's okay. It was well done.
• World-building continues to be nicely done in this series.

The snark in this series is top notch, and Cal's amnesia didn't make him lose his general all around smart-assed-ness.

The series has been at an 8 of 10 in the past, and I'll be keeping it there. I'm going to give Blackout a 9 of 10. It was a good plot and a nice story but the pacing issues took away some of the enjoyment factor.

• Book Rating: Blackout: 9 of 10
• Series Rating: 8 of 10

The Books in the Cal Leandros series are:

1. Nightlife

2. Moonshine

3. Madhouse

4. Deathwish

5. Roadkill

6. Blackout

Roadkill (Cal Leandros, Book 5) by Rob Thurman

The Cal Leandros series has not been one of my favorites in the past. After Deathwish I rated the series a 6 of 10. Even at that low of a rating, I've continued to read it, because I've enjoyed the worldbuilding, the clever use of old mythologies, the closeness of the brothers... though there were problems that bugged me.

But Roadkill? Oh. My. Goodness. This is the best book, by far, of the series. I laughed - a Lot. I cried a little. And there were philosophical points that I read and re-read and allowed to soak into my psyche.

Oh, and there was a plot, and an adventure or two (or three) along the way.

The weird thing? I read some of the book while at my daughter's dance class. And there was a 13 year old talking about Flowers for Algernon, right while I was reading the parts of Roadkill that... well... there are parallels. I stopped reading and talked to her for a bit, even showed her that my book had mentioned the book she was reading. She thought that pretty cool, though she looked at me strange when I started talking about werewolves. Her definition of werewolves is defined by Twilight at this point in her life.

But I hated Flowers for Algernon when I first read it, because I couldn't stop crying. I cried for days after I read that book. I think I was 8 or 9, and I just wasn't emotionally ready for it. I still can't read it without going into a depressed funk. Thankfully Roadkill didn't affect me quite so dramatically, there were some tears and sniffles and I needed to blow my nose a few times, but now that I've finished the book, I'm good.

Cal and Niko and Robin are back, and we get Rafferty the healer along with his cousin Catcher. And as you can tell from the cover, Delilah plays a decent part as well. We do not see Promise, or Georgie. Promise does at least get a mention, but George does not.

The dialogue and prose in Roadkill is excellent. Roadkill is written so well that it would be interesting without a plot. If you enjoy Dexter then you'll enjoy the Cal in this book, the thoughts that run through his head are laugh out loud funny at times. I've complained in the past about this series being too dark even for a dark fantasy, but Roadkill has enough humor and lightness to keep the darkness from being so overpowering.

Here is the official blurb:

Niko could have died because of her. I don't forget things like that...not ever. I wanted a little payback for those she'd cheated in the past. For those she'd cheat in the future. For what she'd allowed to happen to my brother.

For good old fashion revenge.

Once, while half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko were working on a case, an ancient gypsy queen gave them a good old-fashioned backstabbing. They barely made it out alive. Now, as their P.I. business teeters on insolvency, guess who shows up with a job?

The gypsy crone wants them to find a stolen coffin. Cal would rather help her into one, but this coffin contains an evil known as the Plague of the World--and it makes the Black Death seem like a fond memory.

But the thief has already left town, so the Leandros brothers are going on the road. And if they're very, very lucky, there might even be a return trip...

I'm going to give Roadkill a 10 of 10, and I'll raise the series to an 8 of 10.

Book Rating: Roadkill:  10 of 10

Series Rating: Cal Leandros series: 8 of 10

1. Nightlife

2. Moonshine

3. Madhouse

4. Deathwish

5. Roadkill

Deathwish (Cal Leandros, Book 4) by Rob Thurman

I haven't reviewed the Cal Leandros series before now, but it's one I've enjoyed in the past. I didn't love it, but I liked it enough that new books were an automatic buy. Until this book, I would have given the series a 7 of 10.

The series is considered dark fantasy, so it seems wrong to complain about it being too dark. It is pretty dark, though.

But more than the darkness factor, the most troubling thing is that in Deathwish the author jumps back and forth from Cal's voice to Niko's voice. (In previous books, we only had Cal's view). Jumping back and forth was jarring, and at times confusing. I'd think we were hearing from Cal and then suddenly realize it was Niko talking. Or, I'd be sure it was Niko, then think maybe I was wrong and it was Cal, and then realize I was right in the first place and it was Niko. But there was a lot of backtracking to try to figure it out.

The storyline was good, the plot was good... but the book just didn't work for me. It took me five nights to read it. I would usually read a book this long in one evening. Maybe one and a half. But on two nights I fell asleep reading it, and on the other nights it just didn't go that fast. I did finish the book, but mainly because I'm invested in the characters. Had this been a first book I don't think I would have made it to the end.

I enjoyed hearing Niko's voice, understanding what makes him tick, and exactly why he sticks by his brother the way he does. But I wish the author had given us Niko's voice in another way. Perhaps a short story in an anthology, or even by giving him his own book. The back and forth thing just didn't work for me. I understand it would have been near impossible to tell this particular story using only Cal's voice, but I wish she'd found a way.

The blurb on this one is short:

Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko are hired by the vampire Seamus to find out who has been following him—until Seamus turns up dead (or un-undead). Worse still is the return of Cal’s nightmarish family, the Auphe. The last time Cal and Niko faced them, they were almost wiped out. Now, the Auphe want revenge. But first, they’ll destroy everything Cal holds dear...

So, the Auphe are back. And there is some relationship stuff between Promise and Niko... trust issues that Niko has to figure out whether he can work through or not. We learn a bit about Promise's history, too. And we learn a bit more about Robin and Ishiah. And we see Cal having to deal more and more with his Auphe heritage, with who he is and who he wants to be.

As I said, after reading the first three books I would have likely given this series a 7 of 10. But after Deathwish, I'm thinking it's a 6 of 10. As for rating Deathwish, I'm giving it a 4 of 10. The things that kept it from being a 2 of 10 are the relationship discussions, the perspective gained by hearing Niko's voice, and the brief sentences here and there of comic relief. And yes, even the plot. It was a good plot. But it wasn't a fun read. And in the end, I want to enjoy reading. It doesn't mean I always have to like what happens, but it does mean that I shouldn't have to wrestle through the prose in order to get through the book.

Book Rating: 4 of 10
Series Rating: 6 of 10

The biggest question of all has to be whether I will buy the next books (the author has contracted for three more after Deathwish). I believe the answer is that I will probably wait a few weeks after the release date and read through the reviews before I make that decision.





1. Nightlife
2. Moonshine
3. Madhouse
4. Deathwish