Gods & Monsters by Lyn Benedict (Shadows & Inquiries #3)
Urban Fantasy
April 26, 2011
Paperback
Ace

My book buddy, May who loves romance and urban fantasy is guest reviewing today. Find her on Goodreads and Twitter.

I don’t believe that I would like to be a no-talent private investigator in the paranormal world. If my only real skill was hitting a target with my gun, yet bullets don’t stop the nasties that are all around up in my Florida world… well I think I’d find another line of work. In my mind, this would be the smart thing to do.

Of course after reading Gods & Monsters I’m not convinced the heroine (Sylvie) has a high IQ, or any kind of common sense.

This is the third book in the shadows inquiries series, though it is my first with this author. When I realized that I had no previous experience with her I gathered information about the first two books so that I wouldn’t be hopelessly lost, or unfairly harsh in my review.

There are a lot of rules and beings in this world. Everything from Gods to witches – and it seems like our heroine doesn’t like any of them. Sylvie owns a private investigation firm, and as this story opens she is searching for a missing woman, and finds that somebody is using dark and nasty magic to drain women of their very souls out in the Everglades. That case is the main focus of the book, though there are also some threats to her life and side plots that get resolved that I believe are carried over from the previous installment in the series.

The novel worked for me as a stand-alone story. While I didn’t have all the details about her former lover or her relationship with the witch housing her sister and such, enough was given that I could piece it together and focus on the real plot of this story – the creepy man/sorcerer out in the swamp. The book was fast paced and kept me guessing, and I enjoyed the style of this author’s writing.

“We don’t have bears around much. You think there are more shape-shifting bears in the West? Were-bears? Like Care Bears, only not?”

The book had a lot of good conversation, even some humor sprinkled in with the mostly serious content. Each scene added something to the overall story, and I never found myself bored or wanting to skip ahead.

My real problem with this book, is the heroine.

Sylvie’s always got a gun. That’s the one detail shared about this character. I’m not sure if she can cook, what her vices are, her guilty pleasures or hobbies… but she is a big fan of having a gun. The only nice thing I can think of to say about this heroine is that she does think of others, and doesn’t seem like a selfish person.

This really doesn’t seem to be enough to recommend reading a series for. If I’m going to invest in a series told from a single person’s perspective, follow her around so to speak, I want to get to know her. In this kind of a series where the heroine is just that – saving the day and beating the baddies – I want to like her too. Not only did I notice a lack of detail about the heroine herself, but I continuously felt like this character was beyond clueless, judgmental, and utterly boring. She underestimates a government agency (that focuses on the paranormal/supernatural), uses bullets each time she meets up with the bad guy (who is an alchemist and turns bullets to dust), and generally jumps right in, qualifications be damned. In fact, from a necromancer to her researching assistant to a Fury it seems like the people around her are much more competent, interesting, and generally getting things done.

As interesting as the world was, and as much as I’d like to read more about some of the supporting characters, I won’t be picking up more books in this series. I just don’t want to spend more time with Sylvie. 

Rating: C

Recent Reviews:
Urban Fantasy Investigations – 4/5
All Things Urban Fantasy – 4/5
Dangerous Romance
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