Ever since the Big Uneasy woke ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and more, the life of New Orleans private investigator Dan Chambeaux has been a little more
interesting... as has his death. First his girlfriend Sheyenne was poisoned, then Dan wakes six feet under after a bullet to the head. But cases don't solve
themselves, and the first thing Dan did - after crawling out of his own grave - was report back to work. With Robin, a lawyer specializing in nonhuman rights
cases, and Sheyenne, the firm's new receptionist, Dan investigates cases ranging from exploited Egyptian mummies to harrassed vampires... all the while hoping
to catch a lead in the greatest murder of his career: his own.
Review
This urban fantasy's tongue-in-fang tone starts out on a fun note, but with some bite. New Orleans's unnatural citizens are just as messed up as any human,
making for a colorful cast of characters. Unfortunately, that cast sprawls all over the city, tangled in numerous cases large and small that seem to exist
primarily to distract Dan from his investigations into his own demise. The characters also lean heavily on classic PI stereotypes, sometimes with a slight
supernatural twist. Once in a while, Dan proves rather dense for a private investigator, and the name of one of the characters gives away what I expect was
supposed to be a major plot twist. That obvious case of telegraphing, plus an eye-rollingly blatant setup for sequels at the end, cost it the extra half-mark
that the (initially) light tone almost earned it. On the whole, I've read far worse stories, but this just felt too unfocused, telling its own joke a few times
too often to keep me amused to the end.
The X-Files series Kevin J. Anderson HarperPrism Fiction, Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi Themes: Cryptids, Lost Worlds ***
Description
When a team of American archaeologists disappears while exploring the newly-discovered Maya ruins of Xitaclan, FBI agents Mulder and Scully are called in to
investigate. The site, deep in the unexplored jungles of the Yucatan peninsula, is rumored to be under a curse by the elder gods, with stories of continued
blood-sacrifices and sightings of the mythical plumed serpents that figure so heavily in pre-Columbian mythos. The jungle isn't the only hazard, as treasure-hunters,
native practitioners of the ancient gory religion and a local liberation army are already on the scene. To further complicate matters, the Pentagon detects
mysterious signals emanating from the lost city, and sends in a team of commandos whose mission is to terminate them, at any cost.
Review
I guess I should've been suspicious when, instead of praise for the book, the first page of hype lists reviewers' favorable comments on the TV show. Nevertheless,
it was at Half-Price Books (for half price), so I decided to give it a try. In the end, I found it a mediocre read. Especially toward the beginning, I felt like I
was reading a novelization of a "field trip" episode; you know, those annoying episodes filmed on location in an exotic place, where roughly 1/3 of their air-time is
filled with stock footage of scenic views and colorful natives. The plot drug in spots, the characterization wasn't accurate or consistent, and the ending seemed
contrived for the reason of pyrotechnics and the obligatory violent confrontation with the liberation army. Another "finale" scene, just a little later (which I won't
reveal in case you intend to read this book, but I guarantee you'll know it when you see it), felt hokey and tacked-on, as did the whole sub-plot leading up to it.
Still, I liked parts of the story, and some nice ideas were presented. I enjoyed a few scenes, though I didn't quite feel I was reading about Mulder and Scully except
in a few rare moments. Ruins wasn't lousy, it was just uneven and ultimately nothing special. I even found myself thinking that I could've written some parts
better... a bad sign, I think.
