Mary J. (jeweledturtle) -
Helpful Score: 3
I think the marketing for this book doesn't do it justice by far. I bought it since the synopsis sounded interesting and that it was likely, not going to relate much to the super hot gal on the cover. And I was right.
The heroine is Justine Clancy and she does book keeping and deposits under the counter for a mogul mafia type guy named Andre in the Zone, which is a fall out area of Baltimore that was a site of some toxic gas and liquids. People don't know that people from the Zone are becoming mutants with varying abilities and talents. Justine has seemingly unrelated powers from the Zone which give her myriad abilities. She was going to break up with her boyfriend before her law school finals, but when he rocketed towards her in her car, she damns him to Hell in a big fireball. This causes a domino effect of outsiders noticing the Zone. Justine starts investigating why her boyfriend tried to kill her and uncovers more mysteries including a shady senator in his family. She gets rewarded for dispensing Justice, and her appearance improves: new, perfect hair and her legs repaired from an injury.
At one point the main character wears a black vest and leather capris, possibly in some semblance to the cover vixen. Don't judge the book on the cover, it's not racy, there are no sex scenes, no one is from Hell and she only occasionally sends people there. I think the wrong audience will be attracted to the book. The first part held my interest, while the middle parts held more story and history. The end and final scenes fell really flat and I thought it was a fizzle. Justine seems to benefit a lot from "her friends" but remains secretive and manipulative to everyone, she also never seems to give back.
The heroine is Justine Clancy and she does book keeping and deposits under the counter for a mogul mafia type guy named Andre in the Zone, which is a fall out area of Baltimore that was a site of some toxic gas and liquids. People don't know that people from the Zone are becoming mutants with varying abilities and talents. Justine has seemingly unrelated powers from the Zone which give her myriad abilities. She was going to break up with her boyfriend before her law school finals, but when he rocketed towards her in her car, she damns him to Hell in a big fireball. This causes a domino effect of outsiders noticing the Zone. Justine starts investigating why her boyfriend tried to kill her and uncovers more mysteries including a shady senator in his family. She gets rewarded for dispensing Justice, and her appearance improves: new, perfect hair and her legs repaired from an injury.
At one point the main character wears a black vest and leather capris, possibly in some semblance to the cover vixen. Don't judge the book on the cover, it's not racy, there are no sex scenes, no one is from Hell and she only occasionally sends people there. I think the wrong audience will be attracted to the book. The first part held my interest, while the middle parts held more story and history. The end and final scenes fell really flat and I thought it was a fizzle. Justine seems to benefit a lot from "her friends" but remains secretive and manipulative to everyone, she also never seems to give back.
I had so much fun reading this book - to be honest, I thought "pseudonym of NY Times bestselling author" would mean some author attempting to do urban fantasy and failing spectacularly but that couldn't have been further from the truth. This debut reminded me a bit of Karen Marie Moning but without the noir elements, it has the same team spirit as MaryJanice Davidson and similar snark but less silly. All in all, I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel. Bravo, Patricia Rice - you created a very entertaining heroine and a quirky new world environment for her and her cohorts to explore.
