I'm back already with another review. I didn't think I would get another one in so quickly, but I managed to finish the book I have been reading since last month. It took a little longer than planned to get through Revels Ending by Vic Kerry. To be fair, I barely read this book while I was off work for two weeks. I just don't enjoy reading while at home just because there are so many other things I could be doing instead. I could say the same thing while I'm at work, but I am on my breaks while I read...most of the time. This was the last book from my big buy a couple of years ago. I think I know which book I want to read next if I can find it.
Ashe has everything going for him. He is going to be married and has made a device that is able to record emotions. Together with another professor who is actually recording and studying the emotions that are recorded, they are set to make waves. Before that can happen though, Ashe's fiancee is found dead. No one is sure why she died and before an autopsy can be performed, she seemingly rises from the dead and walks out after someone uses one of his own devices on her. That isn't what the device should be able to do though. Things get more than weird when a detective investigating the case finds out another woman somewhere else did the same thing. Ashe is sure that he has seen the woman at a Mardi Gras parade after she was resurrected. With the help of Cybil, a woman he is getting close to, and Smalls, a priest who thinks he knows what is going on, will they be able to figure out what is going on before something bigger happens?
Revels Ending is the first book I have read by Vic Kerry. This isn't his only book though, so I will hopefully check out his other books someday. Kerry doesn't waste any time jumping into his story. There is no leading up or background information on his characters at all. Ashe is watching the video of what happened to his dead fiancee and is apparently considered a suspect in her possible death. He hasn't heard from her at all, nor will he. He does get a warning to stay away from what happened to his fiancee though, which partly works. As a further warning, someone breaks into Cybil's apartment and completely trashes the place. So there is this mystery about what is going on. I was a little disappointed by jumping straight into the story. I like getting to know the characters a little bit before things kick off. We do end up learning a little bit about Ashe, Cybil, and Smalls, but not a whole lot really. That is fine though. It is easy to see that they are good people, even if Smalls has a bit of a secret.
The story can be pretty interesting at times and tries something new, as far as I know, with zombies. I don't want to get into too much detail about this, as I found it to be a nice surprise and I don't want to take that away from any of you if you give Revels Ending a read. I will say that it deals a little bit with possession, but I won't say who or why it is happening. That is what made it interesting though. While the body remains dead, it is up and walking around and is still rotting. I don't see how that helped the big plan that was going on, but that wasn't the only thing that I found a little lacking in the story. Before I go there, I did find these new things with zombies to be refreshing. They aren't the main focus of the story, but they do play out some important plot points. I was a bit surprised at the direction that the story went with the zombies and what the overall evil plan ended up being. Surprised in a good way that is.
Other things I found a little lacking was the ending especially. The way things ended with the main bad guy almost felt like a cop-out to me and on top of that, it ends rather quickly. I thought there might be more to the story, what happens to some of the characters after type thing. I was actually hoping for that because things between Ashe and Cybil are left up in the air. Maybe Kerry has plans on a sequel, which could work I think. Ashe ends up feeling guilty about starting a relationship with Cybil so close to his fiancee's death. This is touched on a few times during the course of the story but is never resolved. The reason I think there could be a sequel is because of a deal that Ashe ends up making at one point in the story. This isn't really resolved either, so maybe there will be another story there.
I was a little surprised when a minor character was killed off. I kind of get why she was, as she was talking to our main characters. She doesn't know anything though, so I didn't really understand why she was killed off. Maybe it was just an evil thing to do is all. The story and the bad guy has been done before, but I admire that Kerry looked for a different way to tell it. It doesn't always work, like I didn't really care for how he would sometimes describe the police work in the story, but the story is enjoyable and it ended up being a fairly quick read for me because of that. I didn't always get the reasoning as to why some characters weren't hurt or killed while others were. That didn't take me out of the story all that much though.
I can't say that I fell in love with this book, but I enjoyed it a lot and that is just fine with me. It has some interesting ideas and themes going on, so that helps move the story along at times. The reveal as to who the main bad guy actually is was a nice little surprise. I think that Revels Ending is worth checking out. I haven't found a lot of other reviews for this book, but they have always been three stars or better. I'm not real big on books and/or movies that deal with religion and this one delves into that a little bit, but it is never really a large plot point until towards the end and even then it wasn't that big of a deal. If you can find it, as I believe it is out of print now, it is worth checking out if it sounds like something you could get into. I do hope more people do give it a try and let others know what they thought of it.
3 out of 5 Death by music is always a good thing...sort of
Ashe has everything going for him. He is going to be married and has made a device that is able to record emotions. Together with another professor who is actually recording and studying the emotions that are recorded, they are set to make waves. Before that can happen though, Ashe's fiancee is found dead. No one is sure why she died and before an autopsy can be performed, she seemingly rises from the dead and walks out after someone uses one of his own devices on her. That isn't what the device should be able to do though. Things get more than weird when a detective investigating the case finds out another woman somewhere else did the same thing. Ashe is sure that he has seen the woman at a Mardi Gras parade after she was resurrected. With the help of Cybil, a woman he is getting close to, and Smalls, a priest who thinks he knows what is going on, will they be able to figure out what is going on before something bigger happens?
Revels Ending is the first book I have read by Vic Kerry. This isn't his only book though, so I will hopefully check out his other books someday. Kerry doesn't waste any time jumping into his story. There is no leading up or background information on his characters at all. Ashe is watching the video of what happened to his dead fiancee and is apparently considered a suspect in her possible death. He hasn't heard from her at all, nor will he. He does get a warning to stay away from what happened to his fiancee though, which partly works. As a further warning, someone breaks into Cybil's apartment and completely trashes the place. So there is this mystery about what is going on. I was a little disappointed by jumping straight into the story. I like getting to know the characters a little bit before things kick off. We do end up learning a little bit about Ashe, Cybil, and Smalls, but not a whole lot really. That is fine though. It is easy to see that they are good people, even if Smalls has a bit of a secret.
The story can be pretty interesting at times and tries something new, as far as I know, with zombies. I don't want to get into too much detail about this, as I found it to be a nice surprise and I don't want to take that away from any of you if you give Revels Ending a read. I will say that it deals a little bit with possession, but I won't say who or why it is happening. That is what made it interesting though. While the body remains dead, it is up and walking around and is still rotting. I don't see how that helped the big plan that was going on, but that wasn't the only thing that I found a little lacking in the story. Before I go there, I did find these new things with zombies to be refreshing. They aren't the main focus of the story, but they do play out some important plot points. I was a bit surprised at the direction that the story went with the zombies and what the overall evil plan ended up being. Surprised in a good way that is.
Other things I found a little lacking was the ending especially. The way things ended with the main bad guy almost felt like a cop-out to me and on top of that, it ends rather quickly. I thought there might be more to the story, what happens to some of the characters after type thing. I was actually hoping for that because things between Ashe and Cybil are left up in the air. Maybe Kerry has plans on a sequel, which could work I think. Ashe ends up feeling guilty about starting a relationship with Cybil so close to his fiancee's death. This is touched on a few times during the course of the story but is never resolved. The reason I think there could be a sequel is because of a deal that Ashe ends up making at one point in the story. This isn't really resolved either, so maybe there will be another story there.
I was a little surprised when a minor character was killed off. I kind of get why she was, as she was talking to our main characters. She doesn't know anything though, so I didn't really understand why she was killed off. Maybe it was just an evil thing to do is all. The story and the bad guy has been done before, but I admire that Kerry looked for a different way to tell it. It doesn't always work, like I didn't really care for how he would sometimes describe the police work in the story, but the story is enjoyable and it ended up being a fairly quick read for me because of that. I didn't always get the reasoning as to why some characters weren't hurt or killed while others were. That didn't take me out of the story all that much though.
I can't say that I fell in love with this book, but I enjoyed it a lot and that is just fine with me. It has some interesting ideas and themes going on, so that helps move the story along at times. The reveal as to who the main bad guy actually is was a nice little surprise. I think that Revels Ending is worth checking out. I haven't found a lot of other reviews for this book, but they have always been three stars or better. I'm not real big on books and/or movies that deal with religion and this one delves into that a little bit, but it is never really a large plot point until towards the end and even then it wasn't that big of a deal. If you can find it, as I believe it is out of print now, it is worth checking out if it sounds like something you could get into. I do hope more people do give it a try and let others know what they thought of it.
3 out of 5 Death by music is always a good thing...sort of
