Blood and Bullets, That Thing at The Zoo by James R.Tuck EARLY REVIEW

Blood and Bullets by James R.Tuck (Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter #1)

review request from the author


Synopsis from Goodreads
He lives to kill monsters. He keeps his city safe. And his silver hollow-points and back-from-the-dead abilities help him take out any kind of supernatural threat. But now an immortal evil has this bad-ass bounty hunter dead in its sights…

Ever since a monster murdered his family, Deacon Chalk hunts any creature that preys on the innocent. So when a pretty vampire girl “hires” him to eliminate a fellow slayer, Deacon goes to warn him—and barely escapes a vampire ambush. Now he’s got a way-inexperienced newbie hunter to protect and everything from bloodsuckers to cursed immortals on his trail. There’s also a malevolent force controlling the living and the undead, hellbent on turning Deacon’s greatest loss into the one weapon that could destroy him…
US/UK Release: 7th Feb 2012

 Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK |  The Book Depository US/UK

 That Thing at The Zoo by James R.Tuck (Deacon Chalk short story)


review requested by the author


Synopsis
What the name suggests. Deacon hunts a supernatural monster eating zoo animals.
US Release: 27th Jan 2012

Amazon kindle US/UK

* * *

Narcissistic and overly repetitive with descriptions. However, the core of this book - high octane action, some sly humour and almost comic book-like characters is undeniably entertaining.


I would say Deacon Chalk is some sort of a mix reminiscent of early Anita Blake, Sin City and Split Second. Deacon is a Southern gentleman through and through, very gentle with women, covered in tattoos and looking very bad-ass. His admission of being irresistible to a certain type of ladies, and a very scary vampire lusting after him frankly made me giggle. A lot of cheese in this book made me giggle. 

There are also cheeky passages like this...

Vampires seem to inspire the most monster fighting in this world, probably because of all the books and movies about them. I have taken out my fair share of vamps, but it is not the only thing I do. There are few proclaimed vampire slayers and they range all kinds. Anita out in St. Louis, but she has a lot of stuff going on, not just vampire executions. Cat and Bones run their crew killing vampires and do a fine job of it. I hear whispers about the Blue Woman now and again, but it’s hard to pull the fact from the fiction on that one. There’s some folks in California. L.A. and a small town east of it, who do mostly vampire slaying, but I haven’t met them yet. The black guy and old man combo who roam around do nothing but vampires, but from what I hear they have a personal stake in it, so to speak. Sam and Dean will tussle with a vampire, but usually they are chasing down daemons.

Admit it, that was pretty funny. Unfortunately the humour is toned down in the book and is more prominent in the short story. I would have loved to have more of things like that...

“What if it is a pterodactyl?” I started walking again, throwing back my best Roy Scheider impression. “Then we’re gonna need a bigger gun.”

  The sidekicks are fun, the villains are very villainous. Deacon himself owns a strip club which supplements his monster hunting, and all the girls there have their personal guns and always ready to rock-n-roll. The hatred towards all vampires is very refreshing, and the cavalier attitude reminds me of Joss Whedon.

Give it more humour, less repetition, and the series will shine. I'm certainly interested in reading more about Deacon and Co. mis/adventures.

* * *

Смешная серия, немного напоминающаю мне раннюю Аниту Блэйк в плане ненависти к монстрам-вампирам и нарциссизма. Персонажи прям как вылезли из комиксов наподобие Sin City, да и сам Дикон Чолк напоминает мне чем-то Рутгера Хауэра - полу-клише, полу-безвкусица.

Если подчистить бесконечные повторения описаний различных пистолетов и быстрых машин и не сосредаточиваться так сильно на том. как крут Дикон, добавить юмора, который скупо разбросан на страницах книги, серия напомнит произведения Джосса Ведона и  будет просто прекрасна.

Несмотря на недостатки книги, Кровь и Пули читается весело. Злодеи очень злодейские, помощники Дикона до смешного нелепы и красочны - ботаник-студент, девушка-хакер и католический священник, курящий сигары и похожий на итальянского мафиози . Дикон сам заведует стрип-клубом, девушки которого в любой момент готовы схватить свой М-16 и косить вампиров направо и налево.

В общем, читать можно и может даже нужно, но я надеюсь, что автор подчистит свой стиль и серию улучшит.

8.5/10