36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five stars is not enough, February 26, 2008
This review is from: Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
Lady luck allowed me to get my hands on a copy of Madhouse before the official street date, and after quickly devouring it I've eagerly awaited a chance to leave my review. Since the first book of the series I've been anticipating each subsequent title. It should come as no suprise by now that Rob Thurman is such a gifted writer with a flair for smart and witty dialogue but I'm repeatedly amazed.
The latest installment of the Leandros brothers' adventures revolves around a serial killer returned from the dead. What begins for the brothers as a simple investigation into an apparent museum break-in leads to a personal battle to take out the cannibalistic and nigh invulnerable Sawney Beane and his increasing body count. Complicating matters, at the same time, someone is trying to kill the world's favorite puck, Robin Goodfellow. The problem is, with having angered so many people over his long life, it's tough for our heroes to narrow down the list of suspects. Madhouse also finds our young Cal starting to expand his horizons and grow to make his own decisions out from under the protective (but still present) wing of his brother Niko.
Madhouse has everything we've come to expect from Rob Thurman, just more of it. More exotic, fresh monsters, more drama, more humor, more snark, more werewolves, more violence, and much more puck. Horror and humor exist side by side with seemingly little effort. Five stars isn't enough.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I Really Wanted To Love It... But Couldn't, November 2, 2008
This review is from: Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
Sawney Beane, a crazy sociopathic killer has risen from the dead, and it is up to Cal and Niko to stop him(with the help of the usual gang-Goodfellow and Promise).
I really wanted to love this book like I did the first two, but just couldn't. The story lacks the energy, interest and excitement of the other two. The subplot with Robin draws you in and then disappoints, and the George subplot just doesn't deliver.
The entire Sawney plot is is boring, and the character is too much of a MarySue(if you don't know the term, Google it). Besides being risen from the dead, and being really fast, he comes off no different than any other insane serial killer(even down to the maniacal laughter).
The Goodfellow subplot was probably the most interesting part of the book . . . until the resolution. I felt like I was being built up for something great, going to discover something amazing about Robin's past, the whole time wondering who could possibly be behind the assassination attempts, and then, the people behind it, and the reason was not that interesting. It also seemed as if she forgot about the subplot and then threw it in at the end to resolve it. When it takes place why, and the quick resolution seemed forced.
The George subplot was also uninteresting. The entire "getting laid" subplot seemed out of place as well. Did we really need it to understand the Cal doesn't want to involve George in his issues?
There were other parts of the book that bothered me and kept me from enjoying it fully. One being the ending! If your books are good enough there is no need to make the ending a cliff hanger(which her first books were good enough). Give me a little credit, I know when an author is trying to hook me into buying the next book(and I don't appreciate it).
Another issue I had was, we never found out who cleaned up the bodies. It's a minor point, but it is brought up in the beginning and the end, as if it means something. Cal mentions supernatural cleaning crews, but it almost sounds as if it could be something else, but you don't know and do not find out. Why have it in the beginning(the bodies in the trees), and mentioned at the end, if it is left a mystery. You're left not knowing if it is significant or not.
Another issue I had was Isaiah. All through the book you get the impression that there is more to Isaiah and Robin's relationship. They hate each other, yet Robin hangs out at Isaiah's bar, and Isaiah warns Cal of the assassination attempt. Isaiah keeps Robin from blurting out a secret while he is drunk(and is angry about it), which made me feel as if Isaiah was apart of his past, but again, nothing came from all of that. Left me wondering if Isaiah was supposed to be important, or she just needed him to annoy Cal, refuse to help, and drop little hints about what may be happening.
Another minor issue I had was the revenants. They keep mentioning that they are more organized, seemed different than the average reverant, but we are never told why. Are we just supposed to accept that Sawney was such as God to them that they changed their usual behavior? I felt as if she needed Sawney to have minions, so she used the established reverent characters, but since they were previously described with more zombie like characteristics(kill for the sake of killing, etc), she changed their character and expected you to just go with it.
My last issue contains spoilers, and may ruin a surprise... however it wasn't that great of a surprise to begin with. Probably the worst feeling of "why did she even bother adding this", happens when we find out who raised Sawney.
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Spoiler Space
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While I am grateful she did reveal who did it(since there were so many other instances of things not being reveled/resolved), it seemed like she picked it out of a hat. The reason given for raising Sawney left an empty feeling... I'm sorry but "I was bored" is not a good reason. I was expecting something great, and then it turns out the loner who lives in the museum basement was bored one day, so he decided to raise a serial killer from the grave.
The was also not pleased that Wahanket shows up, tells Cal he did it, and then runs away. It left me feeling as if she needed someone to have done it, they had to reveal why, but she didn't really want to bother with that part of the plot.
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End Spoiler
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As I said, I really wanted to enjoy this book, but there were far too many issues. I hope she does better with the next book, which I will read(I'm not ready to give up on this series quite yet). I think she needs to up the anti as far as plots go, not be afraid to develop her characters more.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sawney Beane Returns, March 29, 2008
This review is from: Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
You've probably heard that name before. If you have not, Sawney Beane is a Scottish legend. Beane allegedly led a tribe of followers on a cannibalistic spree which killed almost 50 victims.
Now, Sawney's managed to rise from his ashes, which were ensconced in the New York Metropolitan Museum, and come back to life. He's preying on the 'travelers' of New York City and has gotten himself a band of revenants to help.
Brothers Cal and Niko Leandros are on the case along with Niko's vampire honey, Promise, and the puck, Robin Goodfellow. Along the way, they're going to find some new friends, Delilah, the sister to Flay the werewolf and a mother boggle. They'll also have a brief meeting with the Pied Piper of Hamelin in an interesting new guise.
Also, someone's trying to kill Robin Goodfellow. Considering his long and checquered past, it could be anyone. Keeping the Puck alive is going to be a challenge for the whole team.
"Madhouse" definitely delivers the action the other books have and the relationship between Cal and Niko is just as strong. "Madhouse" moves you from more of an urban fantasy into horror. Still, good territory, but it's much stronger in the imagery and not for the squeamish readers.
I've loved this series from the beginning, but am deducting one star from this particular book because this third book doesn't quite hold up as well as the others. The storyline does not pull you along as strongly as the others. I could actually put "Madhouse" down and did--twice for more than two days. Finally, while the end will get me to read the next book, I preferred the previous two books of the series because they were stand-alone. The final chapter of "Madhouse" is written as a precursor for Book 4, which I'm going to bet right now is a hardcover.
Below are links for the previous two Rob Thurman novels, which are strongly recommended.
Nightlife (Cal Leandros, Book 1)
Moonshine (Cal Leandros, Book 2)
Rebecca Kyle, March 29, 2008
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