Monday 11 November 2013

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY - CROSSROADS - A DEMOS CITY NOVEL BY JONATHAN LISTER

ISBN: 978-1937744342
Series: A Demos City Novel
Publisher: J Taylor Publishing
Pages/File Size: 284pages
Formats Available: Paperback
Release Date: 04th Novemeber 2013

BLURB from Goodreads
Werewolf. Bar bouncer. Dad. Standard traits for any self-respecting, reformed criminal, living under the radar in Demos City. For Leon Gray, normal is what he wants — for himself and his not-yet-changed teenage daughter.

Playing bodyguard to crusading reporter David Hastings would totally ruin Leon’s peace, especially since Hastings has hired killers on his trail, pros who know how he takes his espresso in the morning, and where Leon lives.

The payoff, though, would fill up Shauna’s empty college fund, and in a battle between opportunity and ordinary, money wins. He just has to keep Hastings alive long enough to cash the check.

If only he didn’t have to save his daughter, too.

As a budding wolf, she’s piqued the interest of a local pack Alpha — one Leon knows will steal Shauna right out from under him the first chance he gets.

Leon isn’t about to give up on his daughter or Hastings, and will fight for both longer than it took Demos City to see werewolves as equals to humans.

He can only hope it doesn’t take a thousand years.


INITIAL THOUGHTS
It's different to my usual genre, but am enjoying it, especially the werewolf aspects and Shauna's character and relationship with her dad. In parts it feel's a little like two different books running alongside of one another, the David Hastings part where Leon is the hired bodyguard and the werewolf story part of Leon and Shauna's relationship, learning about her mother and the Poole pack. It may seem an odd way of saying it but I want more of the "human" aspect of the werewolves, like their everyday life, loves and relationships etc.

MY REVIEW
I received this e-arc from J Taylor Publishing in exchange for my honest review. I am also scheduling my review on my blog as part of the Author Jonathan Lister's Blog Tour too.
The cover is a night skyline picture of Demos City where the book is actually set. The title is really good as the main character werewolf Leon Gray is at a "crossroads" and his teenaged daughter Shauna is at a crossroads in her life as she is approaching the time of her first change into a werewolf.
So do I like the cover and would I pick it up in a store? I think I would take a look at the blurb, though being totally honest it maybe wouldn't be the first book I picked up purely on the strength of the cover itself. 
Now to the book itself, we begin with getting a first impression on Leon Gray who is a werewolf, who happens to work at a local bar as a bouncer. So Leon is a large, fit man who "normal, sober" people would not want to cross in any way! So Leon is good at his job and get's on really well with the owner of the bar, but refuses to take the relationship further as if it didn't work out he couldn't afford to lose his job. He needs his wages for the most important thing in his life, his teen daughter Shauna. Leon has mixed in crime circles and in fact did go to prison when Shauna was very young but he is now determined to be there for his daughter and help provide her with the stability he wants for her. Leon's wife and Shauna's mum disappeared and left them years ago. Which is strange as to be with Leon and have Shauna she had to turn her back and leave her pack. Something that werewolves do not take lightly. Leon has kept Shauna away from her mother family due to prior disagreements and the fact they turned Shauna's mum out when she chose him over the pack.
Shauna is at a crucial time in her life as she is approaching her first change into her werewolf form. she's okay living with her dad, ad her dad's boss at the bar is a sort of female role model for Shauna to turn to if she wants to.
Leon is offered a job, a job so well paid that it would enable Leon to put Shauna through college, something he will struggle to do on his barman work. It means working with dangerous people but Leon knows he can handle the job.
I won't go into the story at that stage any more, but one major incident in the book is when Shauna Leon's daughter goes missing and there's the question of who has her . . . is it the men that are wanting to silence the man Leon is protecting in his new job or is the the Poole Pack that Shauna's mum was part of all those years ago.
I enjoyed this book, the beginning you find out who everyone is and their jobs and situations etc then in the middle the book seemed to slow down and concentrate on the new job Leon is doing and the guy he was protecting when I felt like I wanted to know a little more about Shauna and what was happening with her. I love the character of Shauna and hope that book two features more chapters from her point of view as well as Leon's. there's quite a lot of scope of where the second book can take us. I'd like to see more of the relationship between Shauna and her pack grandmother ,maybe we could even learn more about her mother too.
So enough of my rattling lets sum up! Did I enjoy the book? Yes, I loved the werewolf politics and hierarchy and the story around Shauna, it was the David Hastings bit that slowed the pace a little too much for my liking. I want more of the "human" aspects of being a werewolf and the day to day life and relationships too. Would I recommend the book? Yes I think it will appeal to a wide age range from teen boys as well as girls to adults too. Would I read a BK#2? Yes, as I'd really like to learn more about Shauna, her grandmother, her mother, the Poole Pack and Leon. I am also interested Leon and David's new job which I think may be even more captivating than their sections in BK#1. Would I read other books by Jonathan Lister?I'd definitely give a book by him a closer look over!


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1 comment:

  1. Thanks for hosting me on the tour! You run a fine ship over here to be certain.

    ReplyDelete