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83 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Effort, January 8, 2008
This review is from: A Rush of Wings: Book One of The Maker's Song (Paperback)
I picked this up at the airport, and was immediately sucked in. So I bought it (despite the outrageous airport prices) and pretty much finished it off in the day I was traveling.
The first third of the novel is quite good: the crime, police involvement, the introduction of our two protagonists, as well as various other plotlines, are deftly woven in.
Both of the leads are about as cliched as they come; one gorgeous but determined police detective - check; one stunningly sexy, dark and mysterious vampire male - check. They are, at least initially, saved by the complexity of their backgrounds, characterizations and motives.
Unfortunately, about the second third of the book, things go downhill.
Heather Wallace is supposed to be an FBI profiler who is heading the investigation into an infamous serial killer - but damned if I can figure out why. I'm honestly not sure how a profiler is heading a case, instead of a detective; but the point is, she's not a field agent. So what she is doing hot-dogging it around solo is beyond me. It also becomes clear that she is far too young (and oh so coincidentally gorgeous) to be doing this job.
She makes several very stupid mistakes; her gun magazine is stolen and she doesn't even realize it; she walks into a fight with her purse; etc. There is also the fact that she hooks up with her main subject after two days; this despite knowing he is a possible pschopath.
As for Dante Prejean, he has a fascinating build-up. But he also makes some very stupid mistakes, at least one of which resulted in the person he was trying to save being killed. There's a definite angry teenager here rather than an actual adult, complete with massive amounts of melodrama and angst. It also cannot help but call into question even further Heather Wallace's judgement in getting involved with him.
The supporting characters are numerous and generally well fleshed out. I actually thought De Noir would have been far more attractive as the main male lead. His backround, history and involvement come out gradually, but are never fully explained. Also, fair warning to the reader; there are several strange terms he uses which require referral to the back of the book.
The last third of the book picks up again. But at this point, a lot of connection with the story has been lost. The author, I think, tried to take on too much for her first novel. But all the various subplots do come together and most questions are answered.
The characters do not impress you with their intelligence, and the book lacks in the realm of realism, originality and consistency. You can find reworkings of these themes in other novels and fanfiction all over the web. The melodrama is high, the romance is overdone, and the police procedural fizzles badly. But it's still very entertaining, fairly interesting, and has good charaterization. The writing is above average, and the author manages to hold onto the complex plot.
Bottom line; nice effort for a first time author. If you like Kim Harrison, Carrie Vaughn, Mary Janice Davidson, Tanya Huff and Karen Chance, then you'll want to check this out. It's a fairly solid addition to the genre, and holds promise for improvement.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
hero of this book not to my taste, December 7, 2009
This is one of those rare books I just couldn't finish; I got about halfway through and gave up. As a result, I'll keep the review short.
The whole book seemed to be about adoring, warshiping, idolizing, whatnot, Dante Prejean. Dante is a sexy, rock-star vampire which ought to be pretty cool, but he's also fragile, weak, self-destructive, and childish. He seemed like a little boy to me, always needing to be coddled and taken care of, and I didn't like him.
Because I didn't understand the worship of Dante, none of the other characters made sense to me - because their lives seem to revolve around idolizing Dante and making sure he gets all the cossetting he needs. The protagonist, FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace, was brought into the fold while I read...she goes from tough investigator to passionate defender of man-child Dante.
I just lost interest. A reader either has to fall in love with Dante or put the book aside, there's nothing else in it.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
...will have readers of urban fantasy begging for more, January 12, 2008
This review is from: A Rush of Wings: Book One of The Maker's Song (Paperback)
For the past three years, FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace has been on the trail of a sociopath serial killer known as the Cross Country Killer (aka the CCK) , but when a body turns up outside a local club, Heather follows the CCK's path of destruction straight into New Orleans and Hell itself.
Club Hell is New Orleans's popular Goth club for vampire wannabes. Because after all, everyone knows that there are no such things as real vampires. Right? The only problem with that theory is that at Club Hell, it's not only the wannabes that hangout there. Dante Prejean rules supreme at Club Hell. He's also the lead singer of the popular Goth band, Inferno, and his hordes of fans adore and worship him.
In an attempt to find out more about Dante, Heather begins to investigate his past, but things just don't add up. Dante has a juvie record a mile long, yet no social security number, no known birth date, and no license. It's almost like he doesn't exit, or so it would seem. To top things off is the mysterious man who always seems to be in Dante's shadow -- Lucian DeNoir. What exactly is his connection to Dante? Lover? Close friend? Something...more?
I loved this first book of Adrian Phoenix's as-yet-unnamed series. I found that not only was the chemistry between Dante and Heather sensual, but also profound. Due to Dante's horrendous upbringing and his subsequent inability to trust others, he's taken aback when he looks into the depths of Heather's eyes to find she is sincere in both her claim to not only want to protect him but also to befriend him. Having experienced a tragic loss of her own, Heather finds she can relate to Dante's pain.
It's not often that I find a character with such a tortured past as Dante's and I found myself aghast with what Dante has had to endure, yet filled with compassion and awe for his ability to move forward at all.
Adrian Phoenix hits the jackpot in her first full-length novel. A Rush of Wings is a very dark, gothic, and original tale that will no doubt have readers of urban fantasy begging for more. Unfortunately for us, book two will not be released in 2009. Regardless, I, for one, cannot wait to dive back into Dante and Heather's dark world.
Reviewed by Mippy Carlson
ParaNormal Romance Reviewer
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