Helpful Score: 6
Lead character Connor Grey has a similiar feel to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden or Simon Green's John Taylor. But has his own distinct personality. He's the exact opposite of both Taylor and Dresden in power scale -- He's a crippled druid who uses what little power he has left to help out his friend in the police department. For someone who was once a rising star in the Fey Investigations Bureau that is a very bitter pill to swallow.
I found it an engaging read that made it hard to put down once I started it. And I love the cheekiness of one of Connor's fey friend's Stinkwort AKA Joe the pyksy (pixie) is an absolute hoot.
I found it an engaging read that made it hard to put down once I started it. And I love the cheekiness of one of Connor's fey friend's Stinkwort AKA Joe the pyksy (pixie) is an absolute hoot.
Helpful Score: 3
This was a police procedural first of all, except with some unusual types of people as the victims (male fairy prostitutes), the murderer, and the people after him (Connor, the protagonist, and his cop friend Murdock). What was most interesting to me was that Connor is going through a rebirth - he's weak and handicapped (magically) and you feel his frustration at not being able to do things he used to do, but he's learning how to deal with this. He's learning how to treat people better as well. Several of the secondary characters point out that he burned bridges when he was powerful, and now he has to rebuild them. This redemption was a strong storyline and something I want to see more of in the next books. Also because of it, I think we have some strong secondary characters that interact with Connor. The other thing I liked is the strong sense of the place that everything happens. A gritty Boston that I had no problems visualizing. My only complaint was there is so much focus on Connor and it IS from his point of view that we see very little of the villian of this piece.
Helpful Score: 3
Really good read! If you like Jim Butcher or Simon Green, this is a book in that vein. Nice alternate universe. NOT a quick read, but a nice one you want to pick up all the details on.
Helpful Score: 3
This is the first book in the Connor Grey series by Mark Del Franco. The fifth book in this series, Uncertain Allies, is due out the end of April 2011. This was a decent book. It is an investigative urban fantasy. The world created is interesting, there is good humor in here, and there is a lot of attention to detail for the investigation.
Connor Grey used to be a high-powered druid until his powers were stunted during one of his jobs. Now he is on disability and does investigative work on the side to make ends meet. He lives in the Weird, the region of the city where faeries made their home after the Convergence between their world and the human world. Now fairies are turning up dead and the human police force seeks out Connor to ask for his consultation on the case. Little does Connor know these murders are tied in with the druid organization he used to belong to.
This is a solid urban fantasy with an investigative bent to it. Definitely no romance in this book. The descriptions in the book are very intricate and detailed and weave an interesting plot and mystery. The book is fast paced and the action scenes well done. There is humor throughout the book which I also enjoyed.
Connor is a likable character; he wallows in self-pity some but in general tries to make a good life for himself with what he's got to work with. At times the reader gets a glimpse of the power he used to wield and of the hero he might someday become. Some of the side characters are even more interesting though. In general all of the characters have depth and are interesting to read about.
There were points where I thought the story was a bit dry. This was one of those books where I wasn't sucked right into the story, but once I sat down and took time to read a chunk of the story I had trouble putting it down. The idea of the Weird is interesting but similar to other books I have read where a faerie world merges with the human one.
Overall I enjoyed the book and will definitely read the second one. I loved the humor, the intricate mystery, the idea of the Weird, and the interesting characters. The book took a bit to get into and got a bit dry at times. That being said it was nice to read another book with a male hero and I really enjoyed the intricate details of the mystery and how everything was pieced together. You can't help but draw comparison to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher or the Felix Castor series by Mike Carey. This book is similar in quality to the Felix Castor series, but not as good as the Dresden series.
Connor Grey used to be a high-powered druid until his powers were stunted during one of his jobs. Now he is on disability and does investigative work on the side to make ends meet. He lives in the Weird, the region of the city where faeries made their home after the Convergence between their world and the human world. Now fairies are turning up dead and the human police force seeks out Connor to ask for his consultation on the case. Little does Connor know these murders are tied in with the druid organization he used to belong to.
This is a solid urban fantasy with an investigative bent to it. Definitely no romance in this book. The descriptions in the book are very intricate and detailed and weave an interesting plot and mystery. The book is fast paced and the action scenes well done. There is humor throughout the book which I also enjoyed.
Connor is a likable character; he wallows in self-pity some but in general tries to make a good life for himself with what he's got to work with. At times the reader gets a glimpse of the power he used to wield and of the hero he might someday become. Some of the side characters are even more interesting though. In general all of the characters have depth and are interesting to read about.
There were points where I thought the story was a bit dry. This was one of those books where I wasn't sucked right into the story, but once I sat down and took time to read a chunk of the story I had trouble putting it down. The idea of the Weird is interesting but similar to other books I have read where a faerie world merges with the human one.
Overall I enjoyed the book and will definitely read the second one. I loved the humor, the intricate mystery, the idea of the Weird, and the interesting characters. The book took a bit to get into and got a bit dry at times. That being said it was nice to read another book with a male hero and I really enjoyed the intricate details of the mystery and how everything was pieced together. You can't help but draw comparison to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher or the Felix Castor series by Mike Carey. This book is similar in quality to the Felix Castor series, but not as good as the Dresden series.
Stephanie C W. (stephanie13w) reviewed Unshapely Things (Connor Grey, Bk 1) on + 300 more book reviews
I liked this book alot, kinda reminds me of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. Definitely will read the next one in the series!
Amazing and interesting,these books are on my keeper shelf.
I normally prefer paranormal books about vampires and werewolves, not fairies and magic. So at first I was not sure I would like this book. But once I started reading it, I really enjoyed the characters and the world it is set in. It has a dark tone, with the main character working with the police to solve a string of paramnormal murders in "The Weird"- the bad part of Boston where the surpenatural characters live.
I am looking forward to more books in this series!
I am looking forward to more books in this series!
I really enjoyed this book. Connor Gray's world is quite interesting and well thought out, and the characters are well developed. I hunted down the other 3 books in this series and ordered them from Amazon, so they will eventaully be available on PBS.
Connor Grey is a druid who's powers have gotten stolen from him. He helps the Police investigate strange cases in the Weird.
As Connor gets on a case he realizes that this is no ordinary fairy killing. Fairies are being ritualistcly killed and Connor wants to know why, when the 4th is killed and he and his Flit sidekick Joe are almost killed he starts to realise they are in over their head deep.
As Joe and Connor investigate they find dark secrets in the Druid Guild and ramifications...
As Connor gets on a case he realizes that this is no ordinary fairy killing. Fairies are being ritualistcly killed and Connor wants to know why, when the 4th is killed and he and his Flit sidekick Joe are almost killed he starts to realise they are in over their head deep.
As Joe and Connor investigate they find dark secrets in the Druid Guild and ramifications...
There is a serial killer on the loose and Druid Connor Grey is helping the Boston police with Fey elements of the investigation. Has fairies, elves, dwarves, humans and druids. I found this boring with too much of Connor's social life and not nearly enough action. I own book two but I won't be reading it.
It was a little slow but the more I read the more I liked it. I'll read the next one, that's for sure.
