Customer Reviews

The Syndicate

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

 

 

Vampires, in Lawson's world, have a secret culture with their own laws and their own methods of law enforcement. Lawson dispenses justice to lawbreakers with extreme prejudice. He protects the Balance, keeping the existence of vampires hidden from humans. Lawson is a man of honor and duty. He's also a sarcastic pain in the neck, but that's just part of his charm. The characters and story lines in the Syndicate (and other Lawson books) are intelligent, strong and complex. The action scenes, especially the hand-to-hand fighting, are so realistic I worked up a sweat just reading. The Lawson universe is ripe with potential that begs to be explored through many sequels.

I've been a die-hard fan of Jon Merz since his debut with The Fixer. His novels sizzle with action and dialog. Lawson's a great character and Merz's version of vampires is really one of the best I've ever seen. The best part is Merz seems to get better with every book he writes. The Syndicate involves Lawson going to New York to search for his missing cousin who wanted to be a professional dancer. But as soon as Lawson arrives, he gets tangled up with his cousin's roomate, has people taking shots at him, and eventually winds up meeting with the head of a vampire gangster family that reminded me of the weird creature from the Island of Doctor Moreau. As usual, there's alot of conspiracy, backstabbing, and awesome humor. Merz uses great villains and characters to bring his books to life in ways few new authors can. He also introduces us to some new vampires as well, including an elite class known as Specters. I'm hoping to see more of them in future books. This brings me to the point of my review: there's no chapter excerpt from the next book! Is there going to be another one? This series is incredible and if his publisher isn't going to continue it, I surely hope another publisher picks it up. It would be a shame to not have anymore Lawson books to pass the time with. This guy has literally gone around the world with me! In the meantime, BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!

A friend gave me a copy of this book, The Syndicate by Jon Merz. I'm glad it was free, since I would have been angry had I paid for it. I still think Mr. Merz owes me for the hours of my life I wasted reading it. That's pretty harsh, so I guess I should tell you why I feel this book is a waste of your time.

First: does it even have anything to do with vampires?
The book is presented as one in a series about vampires and thier "hidden society". The novel could have easily been set in a "secret society" or "alternate universe" genre, with nothing to do with vampires. The main character, Lawson, is a vampire cop. Does he act like a vampire? Not really. He walks around in the sunshine without problem. He doesn't seem to need to drink blood, and only does so from a flask or canteen. He never even bites anyone. Does he sleep all day? No. Is he afraid of crucifixes? We don't know, as it never comes up. But suffice to say, Lawson's character could have just as easily been human, with little or no change to the story. So if you're expecting any of the "classic" vampire genre tidbits, forget it.

Second: major plot flaws. The story starts out with Lawson getting a call that his cousin Marilyn is missing. Since he's a vampire cop, he goes looking for her. Mind you, he's got a friend that is a clairvoyant that can find anyone anywhere. Does he call this Jack up? Nope. He screws around in NY for a couple hundred pages before resorting to his ace in the hole: Jack. Even when he gets Jack's help, does he ask where Marilyn is? Nope. Lawson is more insterested in the location of some secondary character who is probably dead. All while the vampire-cop equivalent of a SEAL/SWAT team is scouring NY for Marilyn. Hmm. Does Lawson ever ask Jack where Marilyn is? Nope. He just goes back to NY and stumbles across Marilyn. Is that a plot twist or just really bad writing? I won't waste your time recounting the other major plot flaws. Suffice to say that these "plot twists" could have been believable with a little explanation, creativity or just plain better writing.

Third: lack-luster and illogical fights
OK, Lawson is a big bad SEAL-equivalent vampire cop. So you figure he's going to kick some butt, right? You figure the fights will be cool, right? Sorry. Again Merz shows his poor writing skills and imagination with fight scenes that either don't make sense to that just plain put you to sleep. In one fight, our hero blatently ignores a loaded submachine gun lying on the floor, looses his own pistol, and resorts to hand-to-hand with a deadly opponent. Does this add to the excitement? Sorry, it just made Lawson seem stupid. Would a "real" professional killer pass up the opportunity to end the threat to his own life quickly? I doubt it. You don't become an old hero by passing up those opportunities - you become a dead hero.

Fourth: cardboard characters
Mr. Merz just doesn't seem to have the ability that some writers have of creating characters with depth. The main character is a carbon copy of the classic loner-tough-guy-hero. How many times have we seen this? Millions. You gotta give the guys some depth to differentiate him from the pack. Oh, yeah, this guy is different - he's a vampire! Oh, yeah, we've never seen that before. OK, he likes human girls! Uh, yeah, vampires never do that. (Angel anyone?) OK, this guy is the best-of-the-best of the vampire tough guys. Uh, yeah. Heard that before too. Cardboard. The supporting characters are even worse. Only one bad guy even has a personality, it wasn't enough to bring life to the book.

To sum it up, this book is a waste of paper. The publisher would have been better off making notepads.

The Syndicate is another worthy entry in the Lawson Saga. The main story totally satisfied, but after finishing it, I get the feeling Merz is revving up for a foray into new territory.

Here's looking forward to Book 5.

I Read a lot of books and this is a good read and fun.
I paid for my Book and would pay for anything Mr.Merz wrote.

As I read through The Syndicate, I couldn't help but wonder where volume II was - it ends in what seems like such an abrupt fashion that there simply has to be more to this particular story. All of Jon's writing is excellent, but the Invoker remains my favorite.