Customer Reviews

Brimstone Kiss (Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I read a lot of novels, and this was the most painful novel I've read in years. Painful because the characters and setting were so interesting and I really wanted to know more - but the editing was so bad!

Possible spoilers ahead - read on with caution...

This book read like a first draft - maybe they just printed the wrong version? There were numerous times where you could see how the writer was figuring out how to develop her story. For example, Del and Ric go to the morgue. They have a little conversation about now that the werewolves know that they dug up the boss's daughter, they need to ID the other corpse pronto. Once the police announce both ID's, they'll be a lot safer. Then Ric makes a cute suggestive comment and they enter the morgue.

Next chapter - Del and Ric are in the park having lunch. He asks her where she's been. She announces the ID of the dead woman, Ric says "That's big news!" then proceeds with the same comments he made at the morgue. Including the exact same cute comment word for word! While this was perhaps interesting from the creative process point of view (do I bring readers up to date at the morgue or the park?) it makes reading the book difficult. Especially since this was not the only occurrence of a continuity problem. With a decent editor, this could have been a much better book.

I absolutely love the character of Delilah Street. For such a rough beginning in life she is a delightfully well rounded young lady. The story line is wonderful, and I think it's fine that an author gives you hints as to the line the next book in a series might take. But WHY do authors feel they must leave you hanging? If I wanted a soap opera cliffhanger... I would just watch soap operas. If the book is GOOD we will buy the next in the series. Please, get a clue, end the book, and pick it up again where we left our hero!

I like Nelson's books and writing. I really enjoyed the first book Dancing With Werewolves. So I paid full price for a new book (I own a used bookstore so that's a big deal). Excited and sick with the flu I started reading.. and there was NOTHING new until page 288 or so of this 400 page book.

Nelson starts with a brief intro which is cool because book one was full of introductions to this person and that situation. And then Nelson retells book one for nearly 288 pages.

Example: I was in the middle of the Brimstone Kiss when Delilah again reflects how lucky she was that she lived in an enchanted cottage where two forlorn lovers found each other... and I think wait is that the third or fourth time she has said that... and as a good researcher I should go back and count the number to times she redundantly says/whines/daydreams/gloats about her cottage (shoot I should count how many times I use ... ) but I'm can't because I'm always goin' to associate this book with the flu.

Delilah revisits Howard Hughes, Snow, her horrible childhood, the weatherwitch, and that slimy police detective who gets bit in the you know what again. Sex acts with Ric... Lost count of those also(made the book read faster as I skip those) ... and a freaking cliff hanger. Bad girl Bad bad bad ....

I really enjoyed the first book, Dancing with Werewolves. The characters were interesting, the pacing moved well- it was a winner. I was delighted to pick up the second book in the series but found myself so bored with it that I finally tossed it, which is a highly unusual move for me. The same interior monologues are rehashed over and over. Deadly. There's too much deus ex machina in this book as well to resolve difficulties. You even get tired of the sex. This novel falls into the tired Anita Blake formula. Disappointing work from a good novelist.

Abandoned as a baby, Delilah Street grew up in an group homese that became her surrogate family. As an adult she saw a TV show in which a doctor performed an autopsy on a live woman who looked exactly like her.. Needing to know if it is a real person, a doppelganger or a clone, Delilah goes to Las Vegas where the show was filmed. Of course being it 2013 Post Millennium Revelation she meets the species of myths and legends wile humans are coping with a brand new world.

Now a paranormal investigator seeking her twin Lilith, she takes on other jobs in order to eat. Her lover and partner former -FBI agent Ric Montoya a dowser of the dead found two dead bodies never meant to see the light of day. The female is the daughter of the werewolf mob boss who owns Vegas, Mr. Cicereau. Nobody knows who her vampire lover is. Several people ask Delilah to find out who the dead vampire is including vampire Howard Hughes and Snow a supernatural being no one can classify. Her investigation leads Delilah to the conclusion that the vampires on planning a comeback which must be prevented at all costs because these vampires are imported evil. She takes Snow's BRIMSTONE KISS, which leads to a life and death choice re Ric.

Carole Nelson Douglas has written a wonderful second Street urban fantasy (see DANCING WITH WEREWOLVES) in which readers know the players and their roles. Delilah discovers a new power which enables her to walk through mirrors into other realms where she interacts with the inhabitants. Readers will remain drawn to her even as she still is an enigma. Fans will hope she and her cronies to include normal vampires (duh- I cannot believe I used the word normal) can defeat the enemy. BRIMSTONE KISS is a magical mystery fantasy tour.

Harriet Klausner

I've read the two previous books in the series but this one is just a rehash - the author needs to come up with something new. I find myself bored and just wading through same old - same old. Too much wardrobe changing and description, same characters, same or similar scenes - and most of the characters aren't particularly likable, unfortunately, which is probably why they are getting boring. The author is attempting to draw out the mystery of the one character but is losing her audience in the process because the attempt is not going too well. The new "surprise" at the end isn't all that interesting. Delilah needs a few new characters and/or a change of scenery, not to mention more action and less wardrobe. Let's pick up the pace!

I may take a little flack for this, but I'm going to admit to you that I'm writing a review without finishing the book.

I realize that some might think it's unfair, but I think that the fact that I was unable to finish the book speaks volumes in and of itself. I did read more than half of the book before I couldn't continue.

I was not familiar with the author prior to reading this and I understand that this is the second book in the series. Maybe if I'd read the first book, I might have enjoyed this more.

The first quarter of the book seems to be "information dump". It's a lot of catch up information so that those of us unfamiliar with the series will know what's happening in the author's world.

The main problem is that the information dump is tirelessly repetetive. I can only imagine that had I read the first book, I would feel like I was reading it again - and again, and again, and again.

In addition, the book is badly in need of editing. In one case, whole paragraphs are repeated with a few pages of each other. Characters know a bit of information on one page and then five pages later react in shock when told the same bit of information. In addition, the author seems to have too many interesting ideas (enough for many books) - and she puts them all in the first half of the book. It's overwhelming and confusing.

While the basic plot line seemed interesting, I read half the book without the author ever really getting into the plot. It was maddening and, honestly, boring.

Finally, when I realized I was half way through the book, didn't care about the characters, the plot was in the same place it started with on page one, and the repeated scenes and paragraphs were driving me nuts, I stopped reading.

Sorry, this one just wasn't for me!

I like Delilah a good bit. She has a very engaging "voice" and is fun to spend time with. That said, her adventures are kind of all over the map. Rather than a logical progression of the plot, it seems that she has meetings with people kind of at random until finally she gets a big idea, also kind of at random. I particularly didn't believe she figured out who the new bad guys were, what their plan was, and who they must be holding captive at a computer in her semi-enemy's office -- especially since it didn't make much sense in the first place. (For that matter, Nightwine's motivation for giving her a place to live is very thin as well).

Also, usually in an urban fantasy setting, you gradually get a feeling for the rules of the world, and what is possible and what is not possible. I have the feeling that in Delilah's Las Vegas, anything is possible if the author needs it.

As I said, I like Delilah. I'll probably buy the next book too, but they could hang together better.

I'm not sure what changed so much from the first book, Dancing with Werewolves, to this one, but I didn't like Brimstone Kiss at all. It was blah and boring. It lacked the pizazz of the first book. As Brimstone Kiss jumps right in without covering any background, reading Dancing with Werewolves first is an absolute must. The only problem with that is that Dancing with Werewolves was a much better book - full of action, mystery, and an interesting new world. This time around, I felt that Delilah and Rick's "love" was not believable. There was lots of story-building and mystery, but very little action. Almost nothing was resolved from what was left open in the first book, so the plot seemed repetitious and mind-numbingly slow.

Nightwine is still Delilah's landlord. The enchanted cottage still has a mirror that shows the dead. Delilah can still travel through mirrors. Delilah and Rick are still investigating the identities of the skeleton couple from the park. Howard Hughes the vampire still has the hots for Delilah. Snow still wants to give Delilah the Brimstone Kiss. She's still looking for her CSI actress doppelganger, Lilith. The only new theme, hidden Egyptian stuff under Las Vegas, (seen it written better elsewhere) was dry and unimaginative. I felt like banging my head against a wall (but didn't). Even killer zombie mummies couldn't revive the book, since the "fight" scenes were too simple and quick.

I like the main character and enjoyed the first book. The second in this series is disappointing, however. First, you really have to read the first book to follow this one. Second, I kept tripping over the lack of editing. Third, the development of Delilah's relationship with her boyfriend is underdeveloped. Fourth, Snow is not all that interesting. Fifth, who are the various versions of Christophe. And sixth, what is that dog........really?