Joshua Palmatier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jpskewedthrone) wrote2013-06-24 12:00 pm
jpskewedthrone) wrote2013-06-24 12:00 pm
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Book Review: "Unsympathetic Magic" by Laura Resnick
This is the third book in Laura Resnick's Esther Diamond series. The first book is good, and the second was great, this one sort of landed in the middle of both of those. Fun and interesting, better written than the first, but it didn't have the same uniqueness as the second book. It's going to be hard to top that second book though, in terms of creativity.
In this book, Esther is working on her guest appearance on a TV cop show called The Dirty 30, but then the lead actor gets sick. During the break while he recuperates, she tries to help a man being attacked by two gargoyle like creatures and in the process gets arrested. Not only is she wearing her hooker's outfit, but the man she tried to help turns out to have been dead for weeks. She's forced to call her ex-somewhat-boyfriend Connor for help. As she begins to investigate herself, she finds herself mixed up in zombies, voodoo, and a rather unsavory snake.
I liked the book, but as I said it didn't have the uniqueness of magic that was present in the second novel. But the author still played with the magic of voodoo in all its possible incarnations well, creating a fun and at times frantic plotline and of course the usual humor and sort of slapstick situations that we've come to expect from Esther and her crew. I did like the development of the relationship between Esther and Connor in this one. It felt much more natural and believable than in the previous book--the conflict with Connor not understanding what Esther was getting into and Esther afraid to tell him everything since he'd likely not believe her, I mean.
So, a good addition to the series. Definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoyed the second novel. We get some advancement in the relationship plot, get to play around with some voodoo, with some good laughs along the way. I'm ready to move on to book four.
In this book, Esther is working on her guest appearance on a TV cop show called The Dirty 30, but then the lead actor gets sick. During the break while he recuperates, she tries to help a man being attacked by two gargoyle like creatures and in the process gets arrested. Not only is she wearing her hooker's outfit, but the man she tried to help turns out to have been dead for weeks. She's forced to call her ex-somewhat-boyfriend Connor for help. As she begins to investigate herself, she finds herself mixed up in zombies, voodoo, and a rather unsavory snake.
I liked the book, but as I said it didn't have the uniqueness of magic that was present in the second novel. But the author still played with the magic of voodoo in all its possible incarnations well, creating a fun and at times frantic plotline and of course the usual humor and sort of slapstick situations that we've come to expect from Esther and her crew. I did like the development of the relationship between Esther and Connor in this one. It felt much more natural and believable than in the previous book--the conflict with Connor not understanding what Esther was getting into and Esther afraid to tell him everything since he'd likely not believe her, I mean.
So, a good addition to the series. Definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoyed the second novel. We get some advancement in the relationship plot, get to play around with some voodoo, with some good laughs along the way. I'm ready to move on to book four.