Graham Downs reviewed The Left-Hand Path by T.S. Barnett
Review of 'The Left-Hand Path' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
It's been over a year since I read the first book in this series, and I'd completely forgotten about it until this book came up as a random book to read.
Having been so long, I was afraid there'd be no point to reading this one, because there was no way I'd remember everything.
I was wrong. And pleasantly surprised. Okay, so it did take a while to get into the groove of Ms Barnett's writing again, but the style is such that, as each character is introduced, everything starts flooding back and they feel like old friends. She reminds us of certain pertinent events, in ways that feel neither like Info Dumps nor "As you know, Bob"s. It's difficult to explain how she does it so effortlessly, but I can tell you, it takes talent!
The story itself is enthralling, and the chapters are short and punchy. There is …
It's been over a year since I read the first book in this series, and I'd completely forgotten about it until this book came up as a random book to read.
Having been so long, I was afraid there'd be no point to reading this one, because there was no way I'd remember everything.
I was wrong. And pleasantly surprised. Okay, so it did take a while to get into the groove of Ms Barnett's writing again, but the style is such that, as each character is introduced, everything starts flooding back and they feel like old friends. She reminds us of certain pertinent events, in ways that feel neither like Info Dumps nor "As you know, Bob"s. It's difficult to explain how she does it so effortlessly, but I can tell you, it takes talent!
The story itself is enthralling, and the chapters are short and punchy. There is one expression, though, that just keeps getting used: over and over again, characters sigh through their noses. And it's not like this is a particular character's quirk - everyone does it, from the villain to the cops, to the magistrates, to the supporting characters. I just wish the author would've mixed it up a little. And if I'm not mistaken, I mentioned the same thing, with the same expression, in my review of the last book in this series.
A bigger problem is the lack of a linked Table of Contents in the Kindle Edition. This makes it impossible to know at a glance how far you are in any given chapter, and when reading on my Kindle, I rely on the little hint at the bottom which says "x minutes left in chapter".
Overall, though, this is a great read. I've been talking a lot about the Urban Fantasy genre, and how lately it's become inundated with romance, and faceless, naked male torsos on the cover. I can happily say that this isn't one of those books. It's not particularly Young Adult in nature, either. It's just the perfect example of serious adult (yet not romantic nor particularly erotic) Urban Fantasy book.
Another thing that's quite rare in series these days (and the reason why I'm very afraid of reading series) is that this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger. In the penultimate chapter, the story told in this book is wrapped up. Done and dusted. No reason to read on in the series. The foundation for the next book is laid, but your satisfaction won't be affected at all if you decide not to pick it up.
The very last chapter might potentially seem a bit "cliffhangery", if you're a puritan--but I didn't think that counted, either. Not really. A new villain is introduced, a Big Bad Evil person who will presumably be vexing our heroes in the next story.
And it's a story I want to read.