Review: The Dragon Factory

The Dragon FactoryThe Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. Honestly, this was a bit of a letdown from Patient Zero. It had plenty of action and suspense, and plot and characters. It just didn't have the bullets-flying kick assery of the first book.

Still, pretty good stuff. Some of the villains were stereotypically dastardly, but others were good. I didn't care for the increase of POV switches away from Joe Ledger that this one took. It was jarring for his story to be first person, and then about half the rest of the chapters were third.

The extra .5 star comes from the ending. I was rather impressed with the way the final shakedown came about. Nice heartstring play there, Mr. Maberry.

ETA: Oh yes, at least a half-star must go to Ray Porter for his reading. Very nice. His character voices were excellent.


View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Driving to Geronimo's Grave: and Other Stories

Image
Driving to Geronimo's Grave: and Other Stories by Joe R. Lansdale My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review copy eARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley Joe R. Lansdale has been on my radar for many years, and always seemed to be an author I’d enjoy. But the shame of it is that until now, I’ve only read one or two short stories of his. This collection was fantastic, and if it’s any indication of a consistent writing style from Lansdale, I’ll certainly be reading more of his work in short order. “Driving to Geronimo’s Grave” – I had no idea where this story was going as it got started, but wasn’t disappointed. Terri was the best part of this. I really got a feel for the Great Depression setting here. “In the Mad Mountains” – You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually read an HP Lovecraft story. But even so, I recognize when something is “Lovecraftian”, and this is certainly it (confirmed by the author’s notes after the story). Besides that, it remin...
Read more

Review: The Trials of Empire

Image
The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. This really brings everything full circle and packs a punch, wrapping up the trilogy. The way things were unraveling through the last book and a half or so, I didn't expect the ending to satisfy, but was surprised that it wrapped up the story pretty well. View all my reviews
Read more

Review: Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale

Image
Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley... Joe R. Lansdale knows how to craft a story, with an instinctive grasp of character development. His language is such that he connects with readers and makes the task of reading an enjoyable escape. While all of the stories in this book fall into the "crime" category, this is a very loose grouping. There is such a mixed bag of offerings here, from the noir to the really freaking weird. As with most collections, some stories hit with me better than others, but there really aren't any duds here. View all my reviews
Read more