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It’s been four months since Jane helped bring down the murderer who had been after her and the other Halflings and she is now kept busy learning about her new powers and daydreaming about her long-distance vampire boyfriend. Ryu. As Valentine’s Day approaches Jane receives a special gift from Ryu, an airline ticket to Boston, so that she can come visit him. With no additional encouragement needed, Jane is on a plane to Boston, eager to make up for lost time in the bedroomBut the romantic weekend comes to a halt when Jane and Ryu are attacked by an angry Halfling seeking vengeance. Jane rushes home to Rockabilly as Ryu sets out the catch the Halfling, Conleth, who is on a rampage, bringing a fiery death to those he believes to have wronged him.
Unfortunately Jane quickly discovers that returning to Rockabilly is not a solution as Conleth has taken a sudden interest in her and comes after her personally. In order to keep her friends and family safe, Jane returns to Boston where she insists on participating in the investigation, despite Ryu’s protests. Though, Jane will soon begin to regret her involvement as the murders get more personal and the villains more frightening and dangerous.
Tracking the Tempest is a fun fast-paced adventure that rarely slows down once the story gets moving. Jane is delightful protagonist who reminds me of Sookie from Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire books. She is an average girl who finds herself a part of a world she never new existed, and now has to do her best to straddle the two worlds while developing her own magical skills. Jane is a funny, down to earth heroine who readers will enjoy spending time with. There are also plenty of interesting and quirky side-characters that add additional flavor to the story
With that said, Tracking the Tempest didn’t really charm me quite as much as its predecessor, Tempest Rising. The first book was an adventure of discovery where we met Jane for the first time and were won over by her personality even as we sympathized with her struggles. We also learned about the interesting supernatural world that Peeler created and watched as Jane developed a romance with the suave vampire Ryu.
Tracking the Tempest has a lot of themes found in many other urban fantasies, such as a werewolf vs. vampire love triangle (a situation which is still only being set up), a heated search for a dangerous villain, political intrigue involving a possible traitor, and lots of dead bodies. There is just not as much fresh and unique material here as there was in Tempest Rising.
Jane and Ryu are now a couple and I found their relationship to be far less interesting than it was in the introductory stages. There is no real romance here, though there is plenty of lustful thoughts and sex, which some people might enjoy reading about but I don’t really find entertaining. Though things do a get a bit more interesting when the barghest Anyan appears…
It’s mostly Jane’s personality that differentiates Tracking the Tempest from other books in the genre, though there are some interesting supernatural creatures here that I haven't yet seen elsewhere, which also gave the book a bit of an edge. So while Tracking the Tempest didn't quite live up to my expectations I did still enjoy it enough to complete the book in one day and I do look forward to following it up with the sequel, Tempest's Legacy.
Tracking The Tempest is scheduled to be released on July 1st though my copy was preordered through The Book Depository and was received early.
8 comments:
I'm still looking forward to this book. I think am I Anyan fan rather then Ryu though and it felt that way in the reading the first book (I am not so lucky to get this book prior to its release). The relationship with Ryu felt more about the sex and less about friendship.
WonderBunny: The book does kind of set the stage for a relationship between Jane and Anyan but I still thought things could have been more interesting b/w Jane and Ryu, especially since it's so much part of this book.
Btw, this isn't a book I received for review. I preordered it from The Book Depository and just got it early.
That's awesome that you got it early! I was just teasing because it doesn't matter how you got it. :)
Though I haven't read this series, I have often found that second books in a series of three can often be rather lackluster. The situations aren't new and fresh anymore, but the author's not ready for the smash-bang grand finale yet - it can be tricky to strike a balance.
WonderBunny: No problem, I just wanted to let you know where I got the book in case you wanted to order it for yourself as well. Though the special preorder price is no longer being offered :( I really should have posted about it.
Jenny: You summed up the problem with this book quite nicely. That was exactly the problem, though the fact that all the humor was in the form of sexual references and jokes also really irritated me, though somehow I only realized this after looking back at the book a few days later.
I am at the half way point, well a little over, and I am really loving the character Jane has become. She has really come out of her shell. I love Anyan since book 1 and just got to some time with him. I am hoping to get done with the book and have a review up around the weekend. :)
I finished this! I don't like Ryu at all. He drove me nuts in the first book and I liked him even less in this book. I kept waiting for Jane tell him to go away (but in a stronger manner). I did like the action of this book and how it kept moving. I did like how Jane is getting better in a fight though. I did like this one a lot but I missed some of the Rockabill characters.
WonderBunny: I've read a number of other positive reviews of this book so I suppose my opinion is in the minority but Tracking the Tempest just didn't really do it for me. The story wasn't very unique and Jane's backstory and it's effects on her life, which made the first book so interesting, did not extend at all to the second book. I also didn't like that most of the humor relied on sexual jokes and references, a style just doesn't appeal to me though I know that others do really like this kind of humor.
I didn't necessarily dislike Ryu but he just isn't as interesting or romantic as the other guy (whose name I can't remember) which I think is probably the point. I did like the character of Jane and because of that will probably be getting the sequel.
I'm glad you liked the book though.
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