Hard Day's Knight (Black Knight Chronicles, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 27, 2010 Cee rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal

Has anyone noticed that vampires are always sexy? In contemporary fiction you can tell someone is a vampire when: he sparkles/has enough sex drive to feel the need to hit on anything or anyone that crosses his path/is so damn gorgeous you can't resist him. Now, lets throw that image overboard. You're about to meet the dorkiest vampires in fiction.

When Mr. Hartness was talking about his book on a forum on Goodreads, I knew I had to read this book. The concept of two fanged creatures that have sup Has anyone noticed that vampires are always sexy? In contemporary fiction you can tell someone is a vampire when: he sparkles/has enough sex drive to feel the need to hit on anything or anyone that crosses his path/is so damn gorgeous you can't resist him. Now, lets throw that image overboard. You're about to meet the dorkiest vampires in fiction.

When Mr. Hartness was talking about his book on a forum on Goodreads, I knew I had to read this book. The concept of two fanged creatures that have super strength and yet not the perfect physique and countenance we are used to seemed perfect to get a break from all those vampire books out there. He has also been so very kind to tell a bit more about his extraordinary characters in a post below, check that out too!

Jimmy and Greg have been best friends since well, about forever. So logically, when they both are turned into creatures of the night, they rent a basement and live together as private detectives. When a lot of mysterious disappearances start to happen they end up in a mess they had never expected. I won't spoil the plot too much, but it involves zombies in trunks, unreliable witches, fighting some demons from hell and a conversation with God.

I really liked the bantering between our two "heroes". They both seem so.. human. At the end of a long night of doing detective work, they like to kick off their shoes, get a bag of blood and game a bit. They're not super brave and do get scared at times. There even was a tiny bit of romance in the book, which I though was extremely cute and I liked how that turned out.

There's a lot going on in Hard Day's Knight, making this book nicely paced. Action scenes are alternated with talking and other bits and pieces that tell us more about the background of the boys. The sometimes a bit heavy side of the book is brightened by the completely inappropriate commentary of Jimmy. Some of his sarcastic remarks really made my day.

The only critique I would like to point out is that this book is too short. I wanted to know more, hear more background, be more sucked into this story. I really liked these guys, but I wish I could connect to them more. It could be a case of minor FBISD (First-Book-In-Series-Disease), and this problem will disappear in the next book of the Black Knight Chronicles, Back in Black. I would definitely read another book by this author. ...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Wenj rated it it was amazing

Shelves: for-review, read-2011

Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:

Hard Day's Knight, the first novel in the Black Knight Chronicles by John G. Hartness, was something of a pleasant surprise. Fun, witty and above all else utterly entertaining, this novel had me laughing within minutes and completely engaged by the characters. Written with wit and a healthy dose of sarcasm, this novel has been touted to appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Dresden Files, and as a fan of both, I whole heartedly agree!

First, le Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:

Hard Day's Knight, the first novel in the Black Knight Chronicles by John G. Hartness, was something of a pleasant surprise. Fun, witty and above all else utterly entertaining, this novel had me laughing within minutes and completely engaged by the characters. Written with wit and a healthy dose of sarcasm, this novel has been touted to appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Dresden Files, and as a fan of both, I whole heartedly agree!

First, let me start with the writing. It was fun, fluid and fresh managing to capture the darker world of vampires while making them utterly human and lovable. But, still there was a great sense of mystery and adventure about the story keeping it quick and interesting. The premise was well developed with lots of great aspects and elements spanning from a mere vampire tale to one that delves in to greater demons, fallen angels, zombies, creepy child minion demons and even a quick cameo by the Man Upstairs himself. With such a wide range of creatures, the story still maintains a great focus and wraps up the tale nicely while still leaving the reader wanting more of this dynamic duo.

The characters themselves were wonderful! I really adored them and their subtle quality of dorkdom. And honestly, who doesn't think the suave creature of the night thing is a bit tired. Okay, so definitely not, but still, this was a fresh approach creating a duo of vampires that I really, really loved. They had fun personalities and I enjoyed all of the pop culture references. Truly, if most vampires are ones that you would want to date and fall in to bed with, then these are the two vampires you would most want as friends. The fun banter between them, even the story of their creation, was just plain entertaining and the chemistry between them was wonderful. And there's even a splash of romance in the form of tough as nails detective reminiscent of Murphy from Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files. And really, all of the characters were just as unique and interesting, from the good guys to the 'client'.

The world building was just as well done bringing to life a dark and mysterious Charlotte filled with all sorts of things that went bump in the night. While the atmosphere is mostly fairly light hearted, there is an overlying sense of doom coming, but this is in no way a 'dark' tale. I've seen it posted that fans of Buffy the Vampires Slayer and the Dresden Files will enjoy this series, and I couldn't agree more as a fan of both fandoms. It has a lot of the same qualities bringing to life a supernatural environment that still manages to be fun and dangerous at the same time.

Honestly, this is one of the best books that I've read this year and certainly a new series that I will additively be following from here on out. Hartness has a great voice and writing style that I loved, and my only complaint about the novel? It was too short. Seriously, that's it. So, needless to say, I highly recommend this novella to any one who loves Urban Fantasy with some great humor!

...more

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