2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
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Book Review: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise, Ed.)

“He stank of formaldehyde and bad decisions.”
– Craig Schaefer, Sixty-Six Seconds

What a GREAT collection this was!! It is an exceedingly rare occurrence to have almost every story in an anthology be written by a well-known, established author… Add that to a great premise – tales from the point of view of established series’ villains – and you have a definite recipe for success. I will admit, I couldn’t read all of them – I wasn’t familiar with a few of the series, so it was difficult to understand why the villains were so villainous, or what their relationship was to the other characters/events in the stories. BUT, the upside of that, is that I gathered a handful of new series onto my To Be Read list, and that’s always a good thing!

My particular favorites:
– Even Hand, Jim Butcher (I’ve been jonesing for my Dresden Files fix, and even though Harry didn’t make an appearance, the focus on Gentleman John Marcone should tide me over handily…)
– Sixty-Six Seconds, Craig Schaefer
– The Naughtiest Cherub, Kevin Hearne
– Down Where the Darkness Dwells, Joseph Nassise
– Altar Boy, Jonathan Maberry
– Unexpected Choices, Diana Pharaoh Francis

I like when series shift their perspective to give you a glimpse of a well-known world from an alternative point of view. I think it gives depth to the series, and its universe, and helps round out the stories and characters by making them multi-dimensional. In the stories that covered series that I know extremely well (e.g., Dresden Files, Harmony Black/Daniel Faust world), I found myself wanting to reread the novels with the added knowledge about the characters and their individual stories (back and otherwise). It’s a great concept, and I will definitely be returning to this collection after I’ve had a chance to dig into a few of the series that were new(er) to me!

My review copy was provided by NetGalley.

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