Customer Reviews

Gentleman Takes a Chance

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I really liked the previous book in this world, "Draw One In The Dark". This one is a noticeably better. The characters are better developed than a many writers manage in the fourth or fifth book in a series. The world is well drawn and wider and weirder than even the first book would lead you to believe. I adore it when authors don't throw everything into the first book and let you discover new places and people along the way it is so much more realistic than covering the characters same stomping grounds over, and over, and over and over again with only very small over dramatized changes.

Kyrie & Tom, Keith and the rest of the people we knew have all grown a bit since we saw them and it is the type of growth that makes you like both character and writer more.

This is the second book in a series about people who "shapeshift" into animals (both normal animals and mythical animals). I started reading it and then realized that it was a sequel, so I went back and read the first book first. I recommend that a reader should start with "Draw One In The Dark" before reading this book, even though I think this is the better of the two novels.

The first book was just a little too slow. Hoyt seemed to think that if five paragraphs of internal deliberation about how one character felt about another character were good, then six must be better and seven must be better yet. And the plot started out in medias res, but then advanced only in fits and starts for most of the book. But ... it was still fun. The characters were intriguing, even if the love triangle aspect has been way, way overdone.

But in this second book, the plot advances at a more constant rate. It's also more complicated and more interesting. And the love triangle aspect is de-emphisized. In its place was a remarkably realistic depiction of two very private people trying to adjust to living with each other under extremely stressful circumstances. The book also delves more deeply into the interface and conflict between the world of the shifters and the world of the normal people.

The first book was interesting, entertaining, but flawed. This book was more interesting, more entertaining, and less flawed. I look forward to another.

One of the things that I love when reading a Sarah Hoyt novel is how each and every character is personal to the reader. That pattern doesn't change with the sequel to "Draw One In The Dark".

In Goldport, Colorado, someone is killing shifters. An ancient cabal of shifters, simply known as the Ancient Ones, are coming to town to kill whoever it is, be it shifter or human.

With that as the premise to "Gentleman Takes A Chance", the author picks right up where she left off in the first book of the series. The heroes (and heroine) of the novel must face old enemies and new alike, while struggling to hide their identities as shifters from the outside world.

Tremendously fun and a great followup novel.

The second in a series about urban shapeshifters, this is a fun story by itself as well as a chance to see the familiar faces from Draw One in the Dark. The characters Sarah brings to life are very entertaining and interesting. She makes shifting shape very believable. From ancient alligators to kittens you never know what's going to happen next.

This book is a fun read. A sequel to "Draw One In the Dark," itself a very good story, "Gentleman Takes A Chance" picks up right where the original left off. Kyrie and Tom are now co-owners of The George Diner, and have to balance their working lives, their needs as shifters, and their need to protect themselves from ancient enemies. As well as ancient friends who are just as bad, if not worse, than the enemies. All of this while keeping the Diner going on three shifts and also solving a murder mystery. Add in an estranged father, a Lion shape-shifting police officer and a couple of other surprises, and it is amazing how many plot elements Sarah Hoyt can keep running throughout the story.

Take a chance on "Gentleman Takes A Chance," you won't be sorry!

GENTLEMAN is a well-written urban fantasy set in present day Colorado in a remote mountain town. It presents the real life problems faced by a pair of shapechanger people, Kyrie a panther and Tom a Norse-style dragon, as they try to look out for each other and their friends as a group of old shapechangers called the Ancient Ones focus on the need to make Kyrie and Tom "pay" for the shapechanger deaths that occured in the prequel to this book. I especially liked the "real world", gotta work to pay the bills, setting of this story, along with the idea of a grotto-like aquarium set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, which place is where a lot of the mysterious deaths occur. The author has a GREAT sense of humor, as a minor plot element involves the Rodent Liberation Front, as in mice and rats and etc. The origin of some of the other shapechanger animals is handled very well, and the personal motivations of many characters (in this multiple POV story) are very well drawn. Entertaining, fun, with a thread of "can they solve the mystery and defeat multiple foes before they get killed or known to the public?" Highly recommended.

Gentleman Takes a Chance (2008) is the second urban fantasy novel in the Shifters series, following Draw One in the Dark. In the previous volume, Kyrie, Tom and Rafiel eliminated one cause of shifter fatalities in Goldport. Tom's father -- Edward Ormson -- realized the reasons for Tom's ungovernable behavior and even recognized his own shortcomings as a father.

Edward soon learned to respect his son and tried to show his newfound concern for him. He offered Tom various gifts, but Tom resisted his cash offerings. Eventually Edward came up with the perfect gift: title to the former Athens diner. Tom renamed it The George.

In this novel, Tom Ormson has been taking cooking lessons and cleaning the equipment. He proves to be quite good at the former menu and even initiates a few changes which are well received. While the former customers have mostly remained, the changes in decor and menu have attracted new ones.

Kyrie Smith is half owner of the diner with Tom. She continues to work as a waitress, but now puts in even more time in the business. The George is beginning to feel like home to her.

Edward has returned to New York City to prepare for his move to Denver. After the move, he will have time to interact more with his son and maybe become a bit more comfortable as a parent. Meanwhile, he keeps asking Tom to go to Denver to set up the communication facilities.

Rafiel Trall is still interested in Kyrie, but has realized that she doesn't really think of him as anything other than a friend. He feels that friendship is better than nothing and even experiences a sense of comradeship with Tom. After all, they have both saved each other's lives and have fought together against their enemies.

Keith Vorpal is now working parttime at The George. He is helping Kyrie to wait on the tables. He apparently enjoys the companionship.

Conan Lung is the real name of Two Dragons, the Triad thug who helped beat up Tom in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Tom had ripped off his arm and beat him on the head with it. After two months of mindless wandering, Conan had finally returned to the Triad. Now he is called Red Dragon and has one arm shorter that the other while it is regrowing.

Dante Dire is an executioner for the Ancient Ones, He has centuries of experience at fighting in his shifted form and a sadistic temperament. He has come to town to investigate the death of the beetle grubs.

In this story, Goldport is having a blizzard. Such weather is nothing new to longtime Goldport residents, but the city is mostly closing down. Only emergency personnel are still working. The police are not responding to routine calls, but deaths at the Aquarium are more than routine.

Rafiel Trall is checking out the Aquarium in lion form. A human arm has been found within a shark with a cellphone still in its hand. The police initially figure that someone had fallen in the shark tank, but more human bones are found at the bottom of the tank. Then Rafiel smells the scent of a shifter.

Tom and Kyrie have never before been in such a blinding snowstorm. When Anthony calls and asks whether he should close The George, Kyrie agrees to the closing and decides to sleep in. Still, she is a little afraid of the roof collapsing.

Then Tom takes a shower and shifts accidentally in the bathroom. The Great Sky Dragon speaks to him within his head and he panics from the strange sensation. The shift totally destroys the fixtures and damages the structure.

Now they need someone to rebuild the bathroom. They also need a place to stay with a working bathroom. They decide to camp out within The George.

When they reach the back parking lot, a red dragon appears out of the blizzard. He doesn't attack them, but instead changes back to his human form. While Tom goes inside to relieve Anthony, Conan tells Kyrie that he has been sent by the Great Sky Dragon to protect Tom. When questioned about this, Conan knows little more other than his life is at stake if he doesn't redeem himself.

Showing up at The George, Rafiel exchanges information with Tom and Kyrie. They are all confused about Conan's mission and wonder what the Great Sky Dragon is doing. Conan tells them that the Great One had been trying to give warning of the Ancient Ones, but Tom had shut off the message before the great dragon could finish. Tom vaguely recalls part of the message.

Since they are already at The George, Tom and Kyrie keep the diner open and customers start to appear out of the snow. Some are their regular clientele, but others are new customers who don't want to stay home in the blizzard. Some want the company and others are like Kyrie in fearing that their roof may collapse.

Then Rafiel and Kyrie go back to the Aquarium to check out the shifter scents and discover that more than one scent is involved. While they are at the Aquarium, Dante appears in the form of a dire wolf. Dante attacks them and they are hard put to hold him off until Tom flies in.

Since they are going to keep the diner open, Tom and Kyrie get a room in the Spurs and Lace bed and breakfast across the parking lot. Soon Conan also has a room there, although he is spending much time following Tom around. Tom gives him a job waiting tables to keep him out from underfoot.

This tale takes Rafiel all over Goldport interviewing people about the deaths in the Aquarium. He also finds another shifter in The George while he is temporarily serving tables. Kyrie discovers a clue about the Rodent Liberation Front and their posters and literature.

The story also features Old Joe, who raids The George dumpster as an alligator. Old Joe tells Tom about the Ancient Ones and Dante Dire. Old Joe also knows the crab shifter within the Aquarium.

Note: the Spurs and Lace bed and breakfast mentioned in this novel is not the same as the Spurs and Lace hotel in downtown Goldport. The author says than this confusion will be explained later.

Highly recommended for Hoyt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of shapechangers, murder mysteries, and true romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This was a pretty solid sequel - but I do hope that the series continues since there are still some loose ends. This is a fun series, with a unique premise. I would have liked this one more if the whole shark aspect had been a bit more believable. I mean, it was a little ludicrous... even for a fantasy novel. Perhaps if she had mentioned the type of shark, it would have been more plausible... Still, it did make for an interesting twist. I hope that the third one is released soon!

Gentleman Takes a Chance
Characters that I really enjoyed in the first book are growing and becoming even more likeable. They are facing more and harder conflicts, and rising to meet the challenges. And they adopt a kitten! Shapeshifters, Dragons, complex plots, charcters that you care about...this series has it all. Yes, it's urban fantasy. Yes, there are dragons. Yes, there are romantic elements. Yes, there is comedy relief. This is just a thoroughly enjoyable series by an author who is head and shoulders above most. I hesitate to say 'top of her form' - because I have a feeling she's going to just keep getting better and better.

And I can't wait for the next one in this series...and the one after that...and the one after that...

Lin