Early Review: Blood and Silver by James R.Tuck

Blood and Silver by James R.Tuck ( Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter #2)

Review request by the author


Synopsis from Amazon
He hasn't met a monster yet that could give him a scare. With ice in his veins, silver hollow-points in his chambers, and an innate ability to rise from the dead, what's to fear? The answer may be something he doesn't want to face. . .
Deacon Chalk normally has no trouble telling innocent victims from real monsters. So protecting an abused pregnant were-dog is a no-brainer. . .until a vicious lycanthrope leader and his brotherhood target Deacon, other shape-shifters, and any humans in their way. Suddenly, Deacon is outnumbered, outgunned, and unsure who--or what--to trust. The only edge he has left is a weapon hungry for his soul and his most savage impulses. And using it will exact a price even this hell-raising hunter fears to pay. . .

Release date: August 7th 2012.

 Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK(£3.72) | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond

8/10

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James R.Tuck always delivers high octane explosive action a bit like Bruce Willis in his Die Hard movies, and it's very entertaining to read about his fights and shoot-outs, however, this is a second book in the series, and I'm still struggling with his writing style.



I've noticed that with the book#1 - repetition, repetition, repetition. James is falling into this trap that Jennifer Estep struggles to free herself from. He keeps reiterating what happened to Deacon before. Yes, we do remember that his family was killed in a brutal manner, yes we do know that angel gave him a blood transfusion, that he loves his car and his big boy guns... but Gods, can we limit it to once maybe twice per book?

There is less repetition in book#2, so I can see the progress, and I would not have minded if his personal tragedy was coming back to him in flashbacks like PTSD. That would have been natural, so we'll see how it goes with later books.

I like Deacon. He is colourful, fleshed-out manly man. He knows he is bigger and meaner than most and he treats his woman very gently and tries to prevent her doing silly stuff like going and getting into a fight with monsters, because what normal human being with a healthy self-preservation instinct would want to kill themselves that way, right? So all his "baby, do what I say" in a fight or flight situations are great and realistic.

There are quite a few crazy scenes which made me sick to my stomach with worry and tension - first fight with lycantropes, Deacon's memory of looking for a missing girl, last showdown... James is masterful with his fight sequences, he is truly good at it, and sick bastards he is fighting with will give Anita Blake a run for her money.

That's why I root for the author to polish his writing style. Less repetion and more character development, especially secondary characters, please. More humor, which was present in book#1 but is absent in book#2.

This series has great potential and almost comic book-like characters, it will be perfect for fans of earlier Anita Blake and J.F.Lewis.

Blood and Bullets - 8.5/10

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Я уже упоминала, что Джеймс Р.Так хорош тем, что он делает - схватки, перестрелки, описание самых настоящих бесчеловечных монстров, главный герой в стиле Брюса Уиллиса в Крепком Орешке или Арнольда Шварцнейгера в... Терминаторе, и книги его читаются как самые настоящие боевики.

Однако, стиль автора продалжает страдать от бесконечных повторений. Да, мы знаем, что его семью убили в ведьмовском ритуале вампиры, знаем, что Дикон умер, и только переливание ангельской крови его оживило, знаем, что он любит свою машину и большие ружья... Но нельзя же об этом зудеть всю книгу и замедлить сюжет до невозможности. Помимо прочего, от такого стиля страдают второстепенные персонажи, которые совершенно не развиваются и исчезает юмор, которые просматривался в первой книге...

Джеймсу очень нужно подчистить свой стиль, так как у книг замечательный потенциал ранней Аниты Блэйк и Дж.Ф.Льюиса. От некоторых сцен сводило живот в тревоге за главных героев - например, первая схватка с ликантропами или воспоминания Дикона о поиске исчезнувшей девочки. То есть, может же автор выдавать прекрасное, когда захочет, ему просто нужен беспощадный редактор :)