Customer Reviews

Cold Moon Rising (Tales of the Sazi)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't understand why I keep buying her books expecting them to be as good as the very first book? Once again too many characters with too many motivations. Too many people get new powers and the basic storyline is confusing. Borrow this from a friend.

the story itself was very intersting. The very abrupt way in which Tony and the other male characherter were mixed psychially back and forth was very interesting , but made it very hard to follow and enjoy the book. With Tony's new skill he suddenly see and feels what the king snake is doing and seeing. He does this with very little warning. The writing can change the perspective from one man to another in the same sentence. it usually take me a sentence or two to figure whats going on and i have to reread that part of the story again.Even when Tony is talking to himself , he does not have ' ' marks around his sentences. This was probably to give the reader a hint of how hard it is to have this occuring to the two men. All it does for me is think of an editor's neck I would like to strangle. I think some correct punctuation and maybe some type in itialized or bold font, would be a good clue that the perspective had changed beweet the two leads. Also to a certain extent this occurs between to the otheer sazi who are able to speak mind to mind. you are not always certain of who it speaking at any one time. I had bought the kindle edition, so this may not occur in the paperback book. But it was enough of a distraction that it really slowed down the book and i will probably reread it soon so that I can really tell what happened in the whole story.

The last is a SPOILER ALERT>.>>>>>>

Usually in a series of books uou do get a few mini type endings while the whole saving the world is still going on. But in this book you were given a suprise or two , but no real mini endings. A very frustrating book. Lots of unanswered questions and not all of them about the big picture. How is Tony to procede about making his old boss happy? What about mate and her new attitude. What about the drugs, the rival cartel, the egg? What about the snakes that got away? And what about the drugged humans? What about the spelled phoenix/raptor? Waht will happen next? This feels like a old saturday seriel cartoon with people about to go over the falls and the only one safe is the one watching it happen.

It was an interesting book and you did care about the characters. i just wish it had been written/ and or editied it bit better. I have read all their books and I still felt lost a great deal of the time. I hope they read the blog and consider the editing/typing of their future books so that they may become more reader friendly.

Thanks.

K.H.

I enjoyed reading Cold Moon Rising. However, I have to agree with one rater that this book was not as easy to follow as the others. The story was filled with lots of character surprises. Many of the characters were deep undercover so you were not always sure who was on what team and this was an interesting twist. What I did not like was how the book ended. The ending was abrupt and I was left with too many questions.
Spoilers:
How could Ahmad's former lover not know Jack was dead? It seemed strange that once he stopped calling that there was not a contingency plan. Tony's debt to his old boss is left unresolved. The ritual that changed his wife's personality is also not addressed. What about the Raptor that was drugged and turned into a traitor without her knowledge?
I definitely was left wondering will all my questions be addressed in a new book and how long will I have to wait to get the answers. Even with all my questions I still recommend reading this book.

Sazi Wolven law-enforcement operatives Tony and Sue Giodone are still struggling with their mixed marriage with him being a recently converted werewolf and she a human. As he learns to control his new paranormal skills, Tony also deals with being on the law side of life as a pack leader instead of his previous employment that of a Mafia hit man.

Tony is currently working on a hostage rescue assignment when he suffers an out-of-body experience for the first time in his life; something that is not typical of a werewolf. He finds himself able to see what Ahmad al-Narmer of the Cobras sees as the council member is stunned to face a woman he thought dead. Ahmad also believes Tony's new skill will prove valuable as the "snake" goes undercover trying to unravel a deadly plot to destroy the werewolves, snakes and humans by some of the former mobster's previous associates led by a personal "friend" of Ahmad.

As great as the previous Sazi urban fantasies have been, COLD MOON RISING is one of the best, if not the best. The strong story line is the usual fast-paced and action-packed from start to finish. However, it is character driven predominantly by Tony, but also to a degree by Ahmed, who fans normally hiss at. There is a terrific twist involving the two natural (not sure that is the right adjective with paranormals) enemies having to work together against a deadly cabal led by a woman one of them loved and thought dead because of his betrayal.

Harriet Klausner

I've read quite a few books in Adams/Clamp's Sazi series but upon commencing this book it became clear to me that I hadn't read at least one of them before this one... the story of Tony Giodone. This story follows on in Tony's life which made it a bit awkward that I didn't know the previous history, although it was doled out now and again within the narrative.

There's something about the Sazi series that doesn't quite work for me, and never has. I think it's because I'm never entirely sure what's going on and everyone always seems to be rushing around on hunches which come right. The same is true in this book, with several plot lines which somehow all merge together.

Tony Giodone is a wolf and former contract killer. He finds himself strangely linked to the snake Ahmad which means that together they are able to investigate a plot within the snake community. At the same time there are issues with a newly-turned woman who is a badger shifter, Tony's wife Sue seems to be ailing as a result of their bond, and various mafia people seem to have got onto Tony's trail. These disparate threads didn't all work too well for me, particularly as I often wasn't sure what was actually going on.

The writing is good, as usual, and there's no hint that it's the work of two different authors. However I didn't find it gripping as I was reading it and also felt that the characters were all rather one-dimensional. Those who like this series know what they're going to get with this book but it's not one I expect to want to read again.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010

I've read all the Sazi books and enjoyed them, but this one I had to just give up on. I made it to about page 220, so I was over half done when I gave up on the story. I can tell you that I was bored out of my mind! Clamp and Adams returned to their orginial character from the first book, Tony. There was really no built up or romance in the story. Tony's wife changes and I'm not even sure it worked the story. I mean, if Tony was in love with her before and was happy with her before, why is he so happy that she lost weight and her entire personality changed radically? That so doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Also, the story jumps around all over the place. Being a Reading/Language Arts teacher, prehaps I'm use to stories actually having a conflict, a plot, etc. This one moved from one adverage problem to another. I'm not even sure why the characters were jumping from one local to another when they did not even contribute to a plot, theme, storyline, or anything resembling a story.

Sorry to sound so tough, but I was just so disappointed.

I have devoured all the Moon books in this series. I had to force myself to finish this one. I found the transistions between Ahmed(?) and what's-his-name(See? I can't even remember their names) to be awkward and confusing. The story seemed forced and without any general direction. I hate that this one was such a disappointment. It won't stop me from reading the next one though. I figure every series deserves to have at least one bomb.

Read this series for a new twist...beware, some books happen at the same time, so they can overlap. Read in order and pay attention!

Ms. Adams and Ms. Clamp have done it yet again!

In this story Tony's back, and with a vengeance you could say.

The blurb on the back reads - Tony is Back
Former Mafia hit man Tony Giodone has been through a lot - he's been turned into a werewolf with a human mate and has a pack leader tougher than his old Mob boss. And he's developed a powerful psychic ability - he can see into the past through other people's memories.

Being mated with a human is difficult in more ways than one. Tony and Sue's relationship is full of struggle. Adding to Tony's trouble is a new problem with some old mobster "friends"... who also happen to be a cabal of Sazi mass murderers trying to extinguish the human race.

Only one man might be able to help Tony and the Sazi stop the cabal; Ahmad, the leader of the snakes. He and Tony have a deeper psychic connection than Tony has with anyone else - even his mate! Now Tony is along for the psychic ride of his life as the crown prince of an ancent empire is faced with his deadliest enemy; a woman he once loved, whom he was forced to betray...one who may now betray Ahmad, Tony, and all of humanity.

This is book # 7 of the Sazi series and each centers around one or more of the shapeshifters, this one centers as you might be able to guess from the blurb around Ahmad, with Tony and others being a close second. Since I haven't to date particularly liked the character of Ahmad I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this story. Even though Ahmad is the "main" romance you also get to exeperience Tony and Sues' relationship a bit more. If you haven't read the other books in this series I HIGHLY RECOMEND doing so, it's NOT necessary, but it does give a person more insight into the characters. The other books are - Hunter's Moon, Moon's Web, Captive Moon, Howling Moon, Moon's Fury, and Timeless Moon.

I love this series. Couldn't wait for this latest book to come out. I would definately recomend.