Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Deadworld

Title ~ Deadworld
Series ~ Jackie Rutledge, #1
Author ~ J.N. Duncan
Publisher ~ Kensington
Published ~ 1 April 2011
Genre ~ Urban Fantasy/Suspense

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5


Jackie Rutledge is a Chicago FBI agent. Laurel, her partner of five years, is a psychic. Like any other FBI agent they hunt down and put away bad guys. However, whenever something supernatural is involved then Jackie and Laurel are the team to lead the way.

When a twelve-yr-old boy is found not just murdered, but drained of blood Laurel says that something evil is going on. Evil and pertaining to Deadworld. Their investigation leads them to a private investigator named Nick Anderson. Nick and his partner Shelby Fontaine know more than what they’re telling Jackie and she intends to get to the bottom of it. But when she finds out the truth will she believe it or dismiss it? And will she survive the coming battle between Nick and the killer?

As a first book in a new series this isn’t a bad start. Well-written with a fairly fast plot, well-developed characters and an interesting world it keeps the reader engaged to the end. I will say I’m not much of fan of Jackie. Some of her actions are annoying and her personality needs work. I do appreciate that she is a flawed heroine, but she’s really hard to like in this first book. She’s not so bad that I don’t want to continue with the series though and I’m looking forward to reading Book 2, The Vengeful Dead.

*Many thanks to Kensington for providing me with a review copy. Please see disclaimer page.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for the review! You aren't the first person to have a hard time with Jackie (trust me, lol). She's a difficult character and emotionally pretty messed up. My goal when writing this series was to give an emotional arc as big as the story arc, that is, Jackie isn't a quick fix. Getting from a bad emotional place back to something resembling healthy isn't an easy or short road, and given the time frame of the books, having her suddenly get better didn't work for me. It takes time, and Jackie, as you can see, is a little reluctant to work on herself, but I do hope you enjoy the books enough to keep reading and keep following her journey. She does start to heal. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To me Jackie is very reminiscent of Anita Blake (by LKH) only more messed up. :) I agree that there shouldn't be a quick fix because then where do you go? However, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to smack Jackie upside the head. lol I'm almost done with book 2 and I do see some improvement in her, but there are still moments I want to tie her to a spanking bench and use my flogger on her. ;) I look forward to book 3 (which I will also be reviewing) and hope you find a home for the rest of the series.

      Delete
  2. Oooh I have this book on my nook...and so need to read it. This sounds right up my alley. Maybe I will get to this month!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jackie is one messed up heroine, but she gets the job done in spite of her issues. Try to bump it up. I'd be interested in your opinion.

      Delete