Customer Reviews

The Better Part of Darkness (Charlie Madigan, Book 1)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story starts off strong. Charlie Madigan arrives at her daughter's school, after she overhears a call for paramedics being needed. (As a mother myself, I can relate to the urgency, to make sure that her daughter was alright and safe.) Once there, she discovers the body of her daughter's friend/babysitter on the girl's bathroom floor. The good news, she isn't dead. The bad news, an underworld narcotic called, "ASH" appears to have reached the uptown schools. Charlie, along with her sexy Siren partner Hank, make it thier misson to get the drug and those who are behind the drug off the streets.

Charlie has the mentality, determination, and heart of a good cop. But she is too stubborn and self absorbed. There is too much emphasis on her self analyzing everything, it gets boring. Yeah...yeah....get on with it already. This happens many times throughout the book. What I do like, is Charlie being a divorced mother. It gives her crediablity and makes her a bit more likable. I also appreciate her not being able to push aside years of feelings for her ex-husband and the inner struggles that those feelings cause. Her relationship with her partner is refreshing as well, they genuinely care for each other. Their bickering interaction, is well done. I have come to the conclusion that they are both smartasses. Charlie's and her daugher's relationship is endearing. I do like that, at times, it seems like the daughter is taking care of the mother, than the other way around.

With exception of Hank and Emma, I feel the remaining characters lack depth, substance and are unnecessary. None are very engaging and feel as if they are just thrown in to fill up space. Those who do have a purpose, don't have enough back story to make me find them believable.

Although, the character depth isn't the greatest, the world building is cleverly done and perhaps the book's strongest attribute. The world is not what it used to be, since the "discovery" of two other planes of existence. Kelly Gay's universe has alot of potential, that has room to grow. I really dig the possible religious ramifications and the idea of a Heaven and Hell on Earth, and the mention of Legend, darkness, demons, angels, aliens, etc... It supports the unending struggle of good versus evil, thus giving it a strong base for a plot. If only, it is the main focus. Unfortunately, to many subplots and not enough main plot.

All in all, it is a good read, but not a great book. Turning the last page, I am left feeling unsatisfied. There are too many subplots still open, that leaves me without closure. Most of the characters lacked depth, substance and purpose. I did feel that the protagonist wasn't so much ass kicking, but smart mouthed. That being said, as urban fantasies go, it didn't suck. For me, it is probably a one time read.

I'm not sure what I think about this book. Gay did a good job of creating a believable world with different supernatural figures. Charlie is the kick-ass heroine, a police officer with supernatural talents that she doesn't understand yet. I liked the plot making and the character development. So what is it I don't like? I had a hard time keeping up with all the various characters. Someone would pop up who had obviously been introduced early, but several times I couldn't remember who they were. I was also unsure of several characters' motivation, especially someone (not giving a spoiler) who was supposed to be on the other side, but who wasn't.

There were a lot of hanging events. I think I would have liked it better if the author had wrapped up a little more of the plots. So I guess I'll give it a positive but not glowing rating. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book.

The Better Part of Darkness, told from Charlie Madigan's point of view, was an exciting, fast-paced read for me. I finish this book in nearly one sitting. What kept me glued to the pages was how clues were dropped at just the right place, and the mystery just kept building. The pace of was perfect. The unique world and atmosphere of this book had the right combination of dark and gritty paranormal aspects.

The biggest attention grabber for me was the colorful personalities of the characters. From Hank, Charlie's gorgeous off-world partner to Byrn, her eclectic sister who runs a herb shop in the Underground. Charlie, mother of a pre-teen, is a gusty heroine, who has heart. But she's tough as nails when the situation calls for it and it's called for many times. She presents everyone with a tough exterior and acts like she can handle whatever comes her way on her own, but on the inside she is always questioning herself. I could see Charlie as a real person.

The thing that can make a book really pop for me is when the bad guys are truly evil and vile. You get that kind of scary here. So when your reading a scene with the bad guys, your on the edge of your seat with worry and dread. More than once I was wondering how Charlie was going to save herself.

The ending left me feeling very satisfied but full of anticipation for the next book. This was a story that left me thinking about it long after I finished reading it. I will be picking up the next book in Charlie Madigan's universe. This one is going down in my top 10 reads of this year.

It took me awhile to get through this book. The world building is unique, and I can see where quite a few stories could be spun off from all of the threads in book 1, the problem for me is that there are too many threads.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS:
First there is the drug that leads to coma and death in humans, the interaction between all of the different types of beings (mages, sirens, djinn, "demons", "angels", regular folks), Charlie's family drama (the ex who wants back in, her kid in danger), her family history (her twin, her sister), genetic manipulation, politics, and so on. Things came together for the most part at the end, but it was a tangle. There is a lot left hanging, and I'm curious about the next book, but still on the fence since it took me so long to finish this one.

On the plus side, I did find Charlie to be believable as she came into her power, and in her love for her family and friends. That was endearing, and she showed strength as well as vulnerability.

I'm not quite sure what to think of this series. I managed to finish the book, and it did have some good points (world-building elements of Elysia and Charbydon) and some not so good points (did not really bond with the main character, felt the plot was lacking in certain areas). I think my main problem is that there wasn't much to this book that I haven't seen done elsewhere before. Atlanta seems to be the popular choice anymore for AU urban fantasy settings, we have the spunky kid in danger, the tough as nails female protagonist who is pushing everyone away to hide her inner hurt.... I guess the one thing that makes the book stand out from the rest is that most of the attractive male characters seem destined for relationships with other characters than Charlie, which is a refreshing twist in that we have less focus on romance and more on plot (if you're so inclined).

I just wish I liked the main character Charlie better. As I mentioned, she didn't seem very original, and I'm always leery of the set-up of 'no, I'm nothing special' and then '*boom* I have powers' (to try to not give away too much else). There's a bit of contradiction elsewhere in the book, all bad guys/but not quite so, some plot elements that I have some problems with (and seem a little too contrived to make things either too easy or too difficult for our heroine). I guess the most negative thing on the whole I can say about this series is I've no strong desire at the moment to continue it if future books are going to be similar to this one. I'd rather look for something that's more original and makes a bit more sense.

I give credit to Kelly Gay for an original world and a definite uniqueness to this debut urban fantasy series. Just about everything about the idea of underground Atlanta and the denizens of both dimensions were fascinating. And the concept for the story was also a winner. Integration Task Force detective Charlie Madigan has lived for thirteen years in a world that has acknowledged the existence of the inhabitants of two diametrically opposed worlds - Elysia, the "good" world full of happy shiny creatures, and Charbydon, far more hellish in nature with lots of darkworld jinn and nobles that bear striking resembles to vampires of a sort. The inhabitants from these two worlds have been visiting ours for millennia, and are the thread of truth in our mythological and perhaps theological past. The ITF that Charlie works for is sort of like the police force for the immigrants of those worlds. And all is not well in Atlanta when a drug called Ash is showing up on the street and in the private school that Charlie's own daughter attends. Finding out where it's coming from and who's responsible for it is the job of Charlie and her Siren partner Hank. But what they find could bring darkness like no other to their city and threaten the lives of human and otherworlder alike.

I wish that Gay had left the focus of this novel at the mystery of the deadly narcotic and the world-building for her series, because not long into The Better Part of Darkness, things go a bit awry. I think mostly because the author tried to do too much at once. The first major problem I had was the lead character, Charlie. Eight months ago she was beaten to death and resurrected. But she came back wrong somehow, and hasn't slept much since. And things just keep getting stranger and stranger with her, as her ex-husband starts coming around again and she's hit by unreasonable rages, inhuman strength, and the freaky new healing ability. She's got a daughter she loves immensely, and ex-husband she loves but can't trust, after his addiction to the same dark magics that killed her twin brother years ago. She's also got a sister she tries to protect and a partner she loves like a dear friend - and she's told no one of the turmoil she's carrying around since the night she died.

She's the sort of stoic, carries-all-the-load-herself sort that can become very frustrating very quickly, when that character stubbornly refuses to admit that she can't take on the world singlehandedly. And emotionally, she's all over the map. She's got hot lusty thoughts about ex-hubby...but is mortified to an almost puritanical degree to go into an Elysian bathhouse. She's spent the years since the death of her twin walling off her emotions to do the job of protecting her sister, then her daughter, but with a few short comments by her sister reevaluates her entire life. Wants to knock around anything or anyone who gets in her face and mouths off when discretion is the better part of valor, but gets paralyzed by fear more than once in less threatening situations. She's a mess, really, and I didn't see her as kick-ass as I'd heard her described for the first 3/4 of the book. Something happens towards the end that DOES push her into the realm of kick-ass heroine, but up until then she was way too self involved and wishy-washy.

There were also some plot holes, conflicting developments, a lot of weird random character encounters (the lab rat? Shameless and ham-handed set up for the second book), too many two dimensional secondary characters (her partner Hank and sister Bryn in particular should've been fleshed out more), and too many unresolved issues at the end for me to rate this read higher. And I still don't fully understand what the drug Ash had to do with the rest of the goings on with the major baddie in the book. On the bright side, it was a reasonably engaging read that kept my attention, and while ultimately I think I'll probably check out the second book when it comes out, I don't think I'll read more than two if that one is as messy as this one and without some major character development for Charlie and the rest.

Detective Charlie Madigan of the Integration Task Force was resurrected from the dead. Though she has no memory of exactly how that happened, her nightmares may very well be inspired by real life occurrences. As a divorced mum of a pre-teen, Charlie is level-headed. However, tremendous anger whilst working leads her to kill, and a demotion to a desk job is imminent. But first she has investigate the manufacturing and distribution of the otherworldly drug ash, which has already damaged Charlie's daughter's baby-sitter.

Drug investigation and repressed memories are fascinating enough, but what tops them here is the intriguing world-building. Kelly Gay's vision of Atlanta is richly imagined, and far more memorable than any other author's attempts to immortalise this city. THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS hosts some awesome characters I'm looking forward to encountering again: namely Hank and Rex, and on a lesser note Sian. Charlie faces some harsh truths, but she also manages to get the freaking job done. I'm eagerly awaiting information on the author's next novel.

This was a phenomenal start to a new dark urban fantasy! Detective Charlie Madigan of the Integration Task Force, was revived from the dead eight months ago, after having been savagely killed on the job by an "off-worlder.......

Thirteen years ago a scientist discovered Charbydon, a parallel world to earth. Charbydon is sectioned into two disgruntle civilizations, Charbydon and Elysia. Ever since the great revelation, "off-worlders" have been coming to earth in droves for citizenship. Atlanta's underground has become home to countless powerful mythical beings, some looking for a peaceful new home, and some looking to dominate earth.

Ash, a highly deadly and addictive drug also makes its way onto earth's soil. Once Ash is ingested, it's only a matter of time before the user expires in a glorious haze of euphoria. The distribution of Ash touches Charlie's life personally when her beloved daughter's babysitter falls into an Ash induced coma.

The clock is ticking for Charlie to try and find an antidote. Unfortunately for Charlie, the dark-powers-that-be move devastating obstacles in her way to ensure her failure. For the first time in Charlie's life she decides to lean on her friends and together they pool their earthly and other-worldly powers. During this time Charlie makes a strange discovery about herself and soon discovers that her resurrection from the grave wasn't without a price.........

This book is on my short list of highly anticipated new releases. This action-packed, police procedural fantasy was so original, interesting and fascinating; I completely devoured it and could hardly put it down. Charlie Madigan is a tough, smart and formidable heroine with twisted-humor that kicks butt and takes names. The dark world that Kelly Gay built is so dismal, bleak and mysterious it felt like danger lurked around every corner. I highly recommend this book to fellow dark urban fantasy readers and anxiously await the next book The Darkest Edge of Dawn due out 8/31/2010.

I also recommend:
Bitter Night: A Horngate Witches Book
Mark of the Demon
Dying Bites: The Bloodhound Files
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)
On the Edge (The Edge, Book 1)

"The Better Part of Darkness" by Kelly Gay has all of the elements that I look for in a good urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel. An interesting, take charge heroine with a complicated home life and compelling back story. A plot to take over the world by some major bad guys, that the heroine and her trusty band of sidekicks must stop. An interesting world filled with goblins, vampires, elves and the like. All of the elements were there. But somehow, it just didn't work.

Charlie Madigan has a problem. Several huge ones actually. Her daughter's babysitter is in a coma from a drug overdose and she has to figure out how the drugs are getting on the street. Her ex-husband wants her back and she is unsure what to do about it. Plus, she died a few months ago and she hasn't been herself since.

Charlie is typical of the heroines in this genre. She is a tough talking, smart ass, that can take care of herself and her partner. While I typically love these types of characters, I wasn't feeling the love with Charlie. I found her to be mildly annoying and short-sighted.

I also found the plot to take over the world and Charlie's place in it to be confusing and boring all at the same time. The source of her post-death difficulties are explained, but it was a mash of "new", convoluted mythology that just didn't ring true to me.

I also found the number of supporting characters to be confusing as well. There was at least six different, supporting characters helping Charlie thwart this plot. I started getting confused with all the names. A sexy siren for a partner and a powerful witch as a sister were bright spots, but even they couldn't save this one for me.

After reading this book, I asked myself why didn't it work for me. The only thing that I could come up with is that it lacked heart. It was as if someone wrote down all the elements what a great book should have , but left out the thing that makes the story sing. The intangible that makes a reader desperate to read more about these characters.

While it wasn't the worst thing I have read, it certainly wasn't even close to the best. "The Better Part of Darkess" has a long way to go before it comes close to any of the great urban fantasy series out there. I don't think I'm interested enough to see if it makes it.

I can't decide: is this novel a masterful appropriation of cultural mythology in the Joseph Campbell style, or a sprawling, derivative mess, an author in search of a story? Just as I think Kelly Gay may be the brightest debut fantasist in years, she'll lob something so goofy that I can't help a reflexive facepalm. Then she'll do something absolutely brilliant, and I don't know where I stand.

Charlie Madigan patrols the mean streets of Atlanta Underground, the ghetto of spellwrights and supernatural refugees from parallel dimensions. She's half supercop and half mean mama bear; either way, you don't want to get in her way. When Atlanta's baddest demon politician gets her in his crosshairs, she promises an epic throwdown. But then she discovers her secret link to the blackest sins her city has ever produced.

The first three-fifths of this book drag. Charlie busts bad guys' chops, Charlie gets in hot water, Charlie loves her daughter, Charlie needs sex. Over and over again. I stopped counting the fights Charlie ought to back down from, but gets in deeper and deeper trouble because she insists on every dust-up, always refusing help. And she regards herself and every man she meets in tedious sexual terms.

Then suddenly the story open up. Past page 200, the author finds the story she wants to tell. With her family in jeopardy, the city in turmoil, and her face on wanted posters, Charlie finds the real fight she's been spoiling for. Backed with a fellowship of spirits, wizards, and demigods, she pulls out the superpowers she's denied and plunges into the battle like a true avenging angel.

Why did it take that long for the story to move? Why does Gay change principal characters' natures that late? Why do characters who made salutary appearances in the first few dozen pages suddenly become heroes? Why didn't she start with this story, since this is when the book finally moves, and it's clearly the story she wants to tell? Seriously, I'm asking because I want to know.

When it finally moves, it moves hard, and though I question some choices, the meat of this story is taut and muscular. But it takes ages to get there, slogging through material that impedes the real story. I wish Gay had trimmed the fat during the drafting process. The real story is electrifying, but you have to really want to reach all the way to that real story.