Thursday, May 10, 2012

Review: Dead on the Delta

Why on earth did I wait so long to pick up this book?  I enjoyed it so much!  It's a fresh Urban Fantasy with a wonderfully flawed heroine.  And two potential love interests that I can't seem to get a fix on... but I'll come back to the guys in a minute.

Annabelle Lee is one of the rare humans immune to the bites of fairies.  And that is a very big deal in a world where fairies have mutated and enjoy the taste of human blood. Fairy bites can kill or drive a person insane; and only iron can keep the little monsters away.  Few people venture out of the iron-infused cities.  So when there is a problem that involves the fairies, only one of the immune can deal with the situation.

Annabelle works with law enforcement, helping them with fairy-related cases --or those crimes that require someone to leave the protection of the city.   Her job is hard on her.  She sees and deals with horrors and deaths which drive her to drink every day.  She finds comfort in a small group of friends and her lover, Cane, a police officer in the Louisiana town where she lives.

The book centers on the investigation in the death of a little girl whose body was dumped outside the city limits.  It turns out that she may be the latest victim of a serial killer, which draws the attention of the FBI --and Annabelle's former lover, Hutch.  And so begins the love triangle.

I really enjoyed Annabelle's character.  She's not a superwoman, or an ass-kicker. She is vulnerable and conflicted and damaged.  Part of it is her job. Part is the trauma of losing her sister in a deadly fairy attack. And part of it is the fact that she was so heartbroken when she lost Hutch years ago, that she never really recovered.  But despite her emotional handicaps, she tries to do the job she is so uniquely capable of doing.  It beats her down, but she does it.  As the book progresses, she puts her own safety and feelings on hold to solve the case and save a friend.  But she doesn't exactly do it with style and, frankly, she makes a terrible investigator. She struggles and she drinks and she screws up, which makes me want her to find happiness all the more.

I went back and forth and back and forth in my head over who is really the right man for her.  At times, I felt sure it was Hutch, the man who never really let go of her heart. The man who left her over a misunderstanding that she never explained.  Then, he would be cruel or piss me off and I'd be sure Cane was the HEA. After all, he loves her with quiet strength and understanding. But then, he would piss me off or I'd wonder if Annabelle could ever really get over Hutch... and around and around I would go. One of them or the other. Both. Neither. I still don't have the answer, which bothers me a little.  I like to have someone to root for.

I was very emotionally invested in Annabelle.  Not only in her love life (which felt like a punch in the gut once or twice) but the action and the danger she found herself in.  As if the fairies and a killer weren't enough, something more is happening to our heroine --something that's changing who she is.  I can't explain or I'll spoil it.  But I definitely didn't want to put this book down. The world-building is so, so good. It's different, but easy to understand and believe in.  The story is sexy and nail-biting and has some really funny one liners. Plus a crotchety cat named Gimpy. I can't wait to start book 2.

Rating: B+

Click to purchase: Amazon
Dead on the Delta
by Stacey Jay
Release Date: May 31, 2011
Publisher: Pocket Books

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10 Comments:

At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 9:18:00 AM CDT , Blogger Book Savvy Babe said...

ah, I have this one on my shelf, I am hoping to get to it soon, I had to catch up on the review books... great review, I really can't wait to read it! Book Savvy Babe

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 9:51:00 AM CDT , Blogger Jen at Red Hot Books said...

Thanks Heather. I liked it a lot. Though the second one really pissed me off.

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 9:54:00 AM CDT , Blogger Amber I @ Awesomesauce said...

I love this book. Just wait for book 2! Its even better.

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 9:59:00 AM CDT , Blogger BookaholicCat said...

I have this book for quite a while, I really don't know why I haven't read it. I may have to move it up on my TBR.

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 9:59:00 AM CDT , Blogger Jen at Red Hot Books said...

But book two made me so mad, Amber!!

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 10:00:00 AM CDT , Blogger Jen at Red Hot Books said...

If you read it, come back and let me know what you think!

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 10:02:00 AM CDT , Blogger Amber I @ Awesomesauce said...

Why? The new guy?

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 10:15:00 AM CDT , Blogger Jen at Red Hot Books said...

The last chapter made no sense at all. Yes, the guy, in a way, but not because I took issue with him, but because there was no discernible build to that conclusion.

It's hard to go into all the things about it that bothered me without spoiling. But it basically felt like the author took everything we've been building with Annabelle and the things we knew about her and tossed it out of the window with a quasi-epilogue that she pulled out of thin air.

I felt like it was an insult to my investment in the characters and it was a huge blow to how I viewed Annabelle as a person.

The review/rant will be up tomorrow.

 
At Friday, May 11, 2012 at 10:38:00 AM CDT , Blogger Jennifer @ The Book Nympho said...

Great review. I'm hoping to finish up book 2 this weekend if real life and naps stop getting in my way. LOL

 
At Friday, May 11, 2012 at 11:00:00 AM CDT , Blogger Jen at Red Hot Books said...

LOL. I look forward to hearing what you think!

 

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