Review of Black Howl by Christina Henry

Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Series: Black Wings #3
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository


Book Blurb (from book cover):

Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Maddy's boss wants her to figure out why. At the same time, the pact that Maddy unwittingly made with the local werewolves comes back to bite her when their alpha is kidnapped. As Lucifer's heir, she should be able to discover who-or what-is responsible for both occurrences, but the fallen haven't been too happy with her since she agreed to harbor Gabriel's half brother, Samiel. 

And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems, too. Now that Gabriel has been assigned as her thrall, their relationship has hit an impasse. At least her sleazy ex-fiance, Nathaniel, is out of the picture-or so she thinks...

Teaser:

When it was over, all the demons were gone.

I fainted.

I woke up in Gabriel's arms, everyone huddled around me at the edge of the forest.

"What?" I croaked. My throat was very dry. I felt like I hadn't felt in a long time-like my magic had run out, and that it would take a good long time for it to come back. 

"You fell out of the sky," Beezle said. "For some reason, everyone's concerned."

"I can get up," I said to Gabriel.

"I am not sure that you should," he replied.

"Well, we all know how Maddy feels about what she should do," Beezle said.

I pushed to my feet and immediately stumbled. My legs felt like jelly.

"You see how well she listens," Beezle said.

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed the first book, "Black Wings", in this series; it wasn't great but it was good and I looked forward to more. I somehow missed the second book, but happily that wasn't a problem with this book. Henry worked in information about the second book, without doing an info dump, so that I had no trouble keeping up.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. I did like the continued world building, the relationships between Maddy and her friends as well as those with her enemies, and the twists and turns in the story. Maddy is loyal, stubborn, and not one to back down from a fight; which leads to what I didn't like.

Maddy is impulsive, careless, reckless, and ridiculously contrary (see teaser above for an example). She doesn't stop to think and has a teenagers attitude about rules - she thinks that they don't apply to her, unless they're in her favor and then she's all about her wants, her rights, her needs. There were times when I didn't like her very much, she was so childish and careless. Yet, she's fiercely loyal and keeps her word, despite the cost to herself (or others). She's a mix of vices and virtues, and a bit of a contradiction at times, which makes her human, so well done there, Ms Henry.

What really bothered me were the cliches and stereotypes, which were plentiful: 1) Reckless, know it all heroine, check; 2) love triangle, check; 3) mega-powerful and powers still increasing heroine, check; 4) magic can fix anything, do anything, check; 5) lack of female friendships but every male (or so it seems) is drawn to her and can't get enough, check. You get the picture.

Henry has an original world, interesting characters, and a good mix of political intrigue, mythology, religion, action, humor, and romance, but then undermines it all with the cliches. The ending, wow, I didn't see that coming. If Henry stays true to the ending and doesn't backtrack or magically fix it, well, it and an earlier story twist, will make for a fascinating and eventful change in Maddy's world. I will definitely read the next book, in hopes that Henry can pull it off.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Review: Black Wings by Christina Henry

Book Blurb:

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It's a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package.

Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.

Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.

Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell...

My Thoughts:  This is the first in a new series, and although definitely an urban fantasy, it's roots are in Christian mythology. It uses stories that are not are an official part of the bible, though they have been around just as long, and tweaks them. That caught my eye, and my interest, right off the bat.

The story starts off fast and never lets up the pace. In short order Maddy has a new mysterious tenant (though, for me, the name was a dead giveaway), her job goes awry, other Agents of Death start dying themselves when it's not their time, and Maddy comes up against her mother's murderer. Before she knows it, she's neck deep in mysteries and plots both old and new, finds herself attracted to her tenant Gabriel (who I keep wanting to call Gabe), and discovers powers hidden within her. She also discovers her father and his somewhat dysfunctional family. Interspersed with all this, she finds herself having visions that she comes to realize are actually seeings of past events.

Although a lot is going on, Henry doesn't forget about the character development. I particularly liked when she had Maddy realize that however chaotic things were, she really needed to slow down and look, really look, at what's happening instead of just jumping from one crisis to the next. Too often, that's what the lead character in urban fantasies (and other genres) do and it gets old very quickly. I also liked that Maddy wasn't quick to trust Gabriel despite her attraction to him. She realizes that something is not right with him and pursues that before pursuing him. Maddy is no shrinking violet, she has backbone in spades, yet is also compassionate and likable.

I was less thrilled with the obstacles thrown up in the path of the possible relationship between Maddy and Gabriel, though Maddy's newfound fiance is one of those obnoxious guys you enjoy not liking. He thinks he's better than she is but he's just starting to see what she's really made of. The other obstacle, though it follows from what Henry has already established, still felt a bit fake to me.

I got a bit confused at times, and occasionally had to go back and reread sections but overall I really enjoyed this book and am ready for the next one to come out.

Publisher: Ace

Release Date: November 30, 2010

The book was provided by the author in paperback form. This review originally appeared at Book Lovers Inc.