Early Review: Dead Waters by Anton Strout

*This title will be released on February 22, 2011*

Title: Dead Waters Author: Anton Strout Series: Simon Canderous #4 Cover Art: Don Sipley  Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: No Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Ace (February 22, 2011) ISBN-10: 0441020119 ISBN-13: 978-0441020119 Sexual Content: Kissing   My Rating: Okay – Somewhat disappointing with significant flaws. Library/swap/borrow if you want.

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Description

With Manhattan's Department of Extraordinary Affairs in disarray (forget vampires and zombies- it's the budget cuts that can kill you), Simon Canderous is still expected to stamp out any crime that adds the "para" to "normal."  And his newest case is no exception...

 

A university professor has been found murdered in his apartment.  His lungs show signs of death by drowning.  But his skin and clothes?  Bone dry.  Now Simon has to rely on his own powers- plus a little help from his ghost-whispering partner and technomancer girlfriend- to solve a mystery that has the NYPD stumped and the D.E.A. shaken and stirred.

Review

I get stupidly excited by acronyms in Urban Fantasy.  Covert, or otherwise, organizations that deal with the supernatural and have names like the IS (Inderland Security) from the Rachel Morgan series, the UDA (Underworld Detection Agency) from the upcoming series of the same name by Hannah Jayne, or the ITF (Integration Task Force) from the Charlie Madigan series. I’m fascinated by the bureaucratic side of paranormal worlds.  It’s that little element of order in a world that breaks all the rules that draws me in every time. 

 

In this case it’s the DEA (Department Of Extraordinary Affairs) from the Simon Canderous series.  Other Worldly Division field agent Simon is a bit of a head scratcher for me.  He’s a capable early 20’s psychometric (meaning he has the ability to ‘read’ the history of an object by touching it),  he has a longtime girlfriend in the form of fellow agent Jane Clayton-Forrester with whom he’s considering taking a big relationship step with, and he’s often the go to guy for jobs no one else can--or wants--to handle.  Given all that, I was really caught off guard by how immature he was. It probably didn’t help that most of the other men in DEAD WATERS kept calling him ‘Kid’ or ‘Son.’ I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t reading about some fourteen year old.

 

I also had some issues with the pacing and plot.  There’s always a whole lot of talking around an issue before someone cuts in with a ‘so the real issue is…’ or ‘so here’s what we know…’ It was frustrating and severely stunted the pace.  On top of that, the basic plot was just not compelling until the very end.  Simon and Jane spend most of of DEAD WATERS running around Manhattan trying to solve a supernatural murder and track down a water nymph.

 

There was a nice twist at the end that involved some Greek mythology which I always love, and the relationship issues between Simon and Jane provided a few nice occasional breaks, but overall I found myself just treading water through most of this book.  Jumping in mid series is always a gamble as you never know how much backstory you’re missing, or if you’re lacking some vital piece of information that’s integral to the enjoyment of the latest book. Maybe that’s the case with DEAD WATERS.  If not, I’m sorry to say that the potential of this book was wasted on me.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Dead to Me Deader Still Dead Matters	Genre Go Round Reviews The Qwillery Paperback Dolls