This isn't a review so much as me venting.
Ugh.
I've mentioned before that I am a fan of Keri Arthur, the author of the Riley Jensen novels. They're apparently classified as Paranormal Romance, but I always find her books stocked with the Sci-fi/Fantasy novels. The basic concept is that Riley Jensen is werewolf/vampire half-breed. She and her twin brother Rhoan work for an agency known as The Directorate. The books cover her shift from mere secretary to a full-fledged Guardian, and also her attempts to find true love (Stop snickering! It's good!).
Anyway, Arthur released another book called Destiny Kills. Since I have to wait until September (OMG) for another Riley Jensen novel, I thought I'd read about Destiny McCree. It was, how can I say this nicely? Disappointing is the nicest word.
I finished the book last night and learned it was meant to be a stand-alone unlike the Riley Jensen novels. Also, I'm wondering of she wrote Destiny Kills before she wrote the Riley Jensen novels. Maybe she had no luck selling it, and once the Riley Jensen novels started selling, her publisher opted to pick up Destiny Kills too? If that's the case, I can see why Destiny Kills wasn't originally picked up.
It could very well be that my reading the Riley Jensen novels made my expectations higher than they should have been, but while I won't go so far as to say Arthur is the best writer ever, she is a hell of a story-teller, and her abilities to make a compelling plot keep improving with each book. I've had Destiny Kills sitting on my bookshelf for a while, and I read it after reading the latest Jensen installment Deadly Desire. Maybe that's why Destiny came off as, to be blunt, a very bad Riley Jensen rip-off.
There are many, many similarities between Destiny and Riley. Riley is a half-breed (werewolf/vampire), and so is Destiny (sea dragon/air dragon, though she takes after the sea dragon half). Riley had a lover/boyfriend do drug experiments on her with interesting results (she had no idea, and it was because he knew about her heritage). Destiny has spent the last eleven years locked in a research facility in Loch Ness being given drugs, poked, and prodded. In the first few books, Riley is having to constantly run from and escape people who would love nothing more than to run experiments on her and attempt to clone/breed her. The scientists are tracking Destiny and would love nothing more than to run more experiments and...you get the picture.
( Cutting for spoilery stuff. )
Ugh.
I've mentioned before that I am a fan of Keri Arthur, the author of the Riley Jensen novels. They're apparently classified as Paranormal Romance, but I always find her books stocked with the Sci-fi/Fantasy novels. The basic concept is that Riley Jensen is werewolf/vampire half-breed. She and her twin brother Rhoan work for an agency known as The Directorate. The books cover her shift from mere secretary to a full-fledged Guardian, and also her attempts to find true love (Stop snickering! It's good!).
Anyway, Arthur released another book called Destiny Kills. Since I have to wait until September (OMG) for another Riley Jensen novel, I thought I'd read about Destiny McCree. It was, how can I say this nicely? Disappointing is the nicest word.
I finished the book last night and learned it was meant to be a stand-alone unlike the Riley Jensen novels. Also, I'm wondering of she wrote Destiny Kills before she wrote the Riley Jensen novels. Maybe she had no luck selling it, and once the Riley Jensen novels started selling, her publisher opted to pick up Destiny Kills too? If that's the case, I can see why Destiny Kills wasn't originally picked up.
It could very well be that my reading the Riley Jensen novels made my expectations higher than they should have been, but while I won't go so far as to say Arthur is the best writer ever, she is a hell of a story-teller, and her abilities to make a compelling plot keep improving with each book. I've had Destiny Kills sitting on my bookshelf for a while, and I read it after reading the latest Jensen installment Deadly Desire. Maybe that's why Destiny came off as, to be blunt, a very bad Riley Jensen rip-off.
There are many, many similarities between Destiny and Riley. Riley is a half-breed (werewolf/vampire), and so is Destiny (sea dragon/air dragon, though she takes after the sea dragon half). Riley had a lover/boyfriend do drug experiments on her with interesting results (she had no idea, and it was because he knew about her heritage). Destiny has spent the last eleven years locked in a research facility in Loch Ness being given drugs, poked, and prodded. In the first few books, Riley is having to constantly run from and escape people who would love nothing more than to run experiments on her and attempt to clone/breed her. The scientists are tracking Destiny and would love nothing more than to run more experiments and...you get the picture.
( Cutting for spoilery stuff. )