 | Title: Uncertain Allies
 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to homosexuality. Rating
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Description
After a night of riots and fires, the Boston neighborhood known as the Weird is in ruins. And when a body is found drained of its essence, ex- Guild investigator Connor Grey is drawn into the case against his will. And he has reason to be wary. Because the case will lead to an explosive secret that threatens to tear apart the city-and the world.
Review
Boston’s Weird is the setting for the latest Connor Grey urban fantasy featuring the former Guild investigator who lost his Druid powers and now ‘does favors’, as he puts it. It was instant love for me when I read about the magic wreaked city populated with shunned Fey including trolls, elves, and all types of Irish and German fairies. All of whom are fully integrated into the human world since the Convergence more than a century ago. It’s the kind of rich and dense world that urban fantasy junkies live for, and in this case, it softened the blow of a few shortcomings.
One of the bigger shortcomings was the action scenes, or lack there of. Even the showdown at the ending of UNCERTAIN ALLIES is about as action free as I’ve ever read in an urban fantasy. That’s really indicative of the type of character Connor Grey is. He’s not a fighter. He’d be willing to take up arms if the situation called for it, but he prefers to think his way out of tough situations. And not a lot ruffles him. He doesn’t have any real high or low emotional swings. He’s the definition of an even-keeled, easy going guy. In reality, you need those kind of people, in fiction, they can be a bit boring.
In addition to steady-as-a-rock Connor, the supporting cast is huge. So much so that I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. That confusion wasn’t helped by the fact that apart from Connor’s semi girlfriend Meryl, they didn’t really distinguish themselves. That could be due to the fact that I haven’t read the previous books, but even still.
Del Franco does do an amazing job of bringing new readers up to speed on the previous installments of the Connor Grey series in a nice concise opening and then continues to drop little reminders throughout UNCERTAIN ALLIES as to the significance or history whenever new characters popped up. Given the density of the worldbuilding, which again was excellent, I can see both old and new readers appreciating this.
Overall all, Connor Grey is a laid back guy with a lot of guilt who accepts the knocks he’s taken in life as his due and doesn’t complain. And that’s basically how UNCERTAIN ALLIES feels as a book. It’s a steady, solid read set in a very intriguing world with plenty of mystery in lieu of the usual urban fantasy adrenaline.
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This looks great lady!!! Adding it to my TBR!
ReplyDeleteBookish - I'm so glad you read something that made it appeal to you :)
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