Precinct 13 in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jan 22, 2019 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

A shame that Hallaway hasn’t continued with this series. I really enjoyed the mix of urban fantasy and police procedural.

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Feb 16, 2023 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: what-modern-fantasy, what-uniforms-and-investigations

Book: precinct 13

So this is a long review so I’ll summarize in one paragraph: the plot, characters, pace, believability (for UF), research and the like, even copy editing were fine. But the wording was often wrong, missing sentences or whole paragraphs that would explain something including a whole character that popped into play with a backstory that was relevant but never discussed let alone shown. But I liked it enough that I’m willing to give the next one a try.

I tried to make the spoilers Book: precinct 13

So this is a long review so I’ll summarize in one paragraph: the plot, characters, pace, believability (for UF), research and the like, even copy editing were fine. But the wording was often wrong, missing sentences or whole paragraphs that would explain something including a whole character that popped into play with a backstory that was relevant but never discussed let alone shown. But I liked it enough that I’m willing to give the next one a try.

I tried to make the spoilers vague so if you don’t read too much into it, you won’t learn much about the actual writing from this.

I like the character. I like that she has a history of forensics so she isn’t just talking out of her ass. I love the positive stuff about mental illness in the beginning even if she got to that point by people who wouldn’t believe her. She says people shouldn’t make fun of her for that, that she’s got it under control (not cured) that she’s doing what she’s supposed to do and capable of working, etc.

I love love love the snake. I also love Devon and don’t get why everyone hates him. I really hate how he’s treated. I think it’s really funny how her magic works and how she summons it.

(Slavery is not okay. Even if ownership was accidental and biological, and even if the recipient is loathsome, acting upon it is not okay and everyone should be horrified. A familiar is different because they have a choice and it’s a co-relationship. And it’s almost always a regular animal.)

I like how she puzzles out things like noticing that something that happens to them should have happened to the first people to get to the crime scene and why. But then she makes assumptions like some spiders they are presented with are poisonous.

The first half read more like a cozy mystery than a standard UF. Not enough crustiness. Then it changed. And the love interest became the dark dangerous figure het romance readers love and I hate. He’s nit awful here though as she rescues herself or he is just a second to her saving both of them.

This book was in serious need of a content editor. The plot was fine as was the progression, most things really but the details like where there were at one point and where they were next were off. I can’t tell you how many times I paged back to figure out something thinking what? There were times I didn’t get what they were saying no matter how I parsed it and I’m a pretty smart person.

There was never a time she was needed back at the morgue for normal bodies yet her assistant wasn’t around. Even in small town people die. I suspect things were deleted in an effort to make the book shorter to get it in the key sellable range.

But there was one big problem. Either there was a section missing from my ebook or there was a HUGE plot hole. There’s a character she’s trying to find that she’s never met and never does until out of the blue she gets a call from the person. She rushes to where the person is and says that the character is dressed differently than last time. I did a search under the characters name, the brands of clothing, the role, etc., and the person did not appear until that moment when their clothing from “the last time” they’d met was revealed. Argh! Where had the character been and when were they found? The scene was probably edited out because the character only appears twice, the first time in a few paragraphs and the second in one and a half sentences. I’m guessing they tried to edit out the whole character but needed someone to get them back to another location. One time that it was clear how they got somewhere and it was way worse. Double Argh!

How does everyone know what he is the moment they see him but she doesn’t even after her magic is unleashed?

You don’t hang up cashmere. I’m an aging goth so I’ve never owned cashmere in my life but even I know that. ...more

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Feb 12, 2015 Deidre rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, fantasy-contemporary, fantasy-urban-fantasy, fantasy-paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi-or-fantasy-cops-pi-etc, box-d

This book was better than I expected. I had never read anything by this author, who usually writes romance, but this was well-done and funny, with a different take on the paranormal cop/PI genre (sci fi or fantasy with cops/PIs combines my favorite types of fiction).

Alex Connor is elected coroner in Pierre SD (trivia, pronounced Peer there, which the book doesn't mention, or maybe I missed it). She is performing an autopsy when "something" happens.

Between her backstory (view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Steph marked it as to-read

Shelves: author-웃, series-book1, series-ongoing

Per author's website, "I'm currently hard at work on the first book of what will hopefully be a new adult series. It's called Precinct 13 and I've been describing as CSI/X-Files meets urban fantasy (and cow mutlation mystery!) I'm still in early stages yet, so I can't tell you much about it. But look for it sometime in 2012." ...more

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