Also! In between finishing the first manuscript read-through and starting the second, Myra Grant’s book DEADLINE arrived. The sequel to FEED, right? Which I really enjoyed even though I found the bag guy INCREDIBLY obvious and also annoying, right?
So I grabbed Deadline when I had a break, especially because on July 2nd it was way too hot to do anything outside and I didn’t even take the dogs for a run at dusk the way I usually do in the summer (seriously, I hate to disappoint them, so that means it was really really hot). I handed out extra chew toys instead and sat on the couch in the air conditioning and read Deadline.
And I really enjoyed it! I stopped on page 380 to give myself a break, because it’s a long sucker, and finished it the next day before getting back to work on my own manuscript.
The pluses: nonstop action! great writing! great characters! I really liked Shaun as the protagonist. I really loved what Grant did with him. Loved the characters. Maggie’s a little over the top, but in a good way.
The minuses: once again villains I do not believe in. In the first book I didn’t believe in the bad guy because he was too campy and stereotyped; in this case I didn’t believe in the bad guys because OH COME ON THAT IS JUST OVER THE TOP. I am trying to avoid spoilers so no details, except apparently two can keep a secret if one of them is dead OR IF THEY ARE JUST SO EVIL AND THEN ANY NUMBER CAN KEEP A SECRET, I guess.
Also, worse — I get that explanations for the unbelievable stuff may be provided in the third book, but! Grant is going to have to come up with one WHOPPER of an explanation for how a clone remembers the life of the dead person it was cloned from. Because right now, it looks like this happens, and I have to tell you, I don’t believe it for a minute.
Clones, I’m fine with. Magic clones that are somehow adult copies of people who somehow remember every detail from the life of the person they were cloned from? Not so much.
Awaiting the third book now. I will enjoy it, I’m sure, but SO MUCH MORE if some plausible explanation is offered for the clone thing.
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