My rating: 3.5 of 5 flames
Opening with a payroll coach robbery and ending with a demon getting his butt kicked, this novel has it all. The Slayer is book 2 in a Western Steampunk plus vampires, shifters, and demons series…got my attention, that’s for sure.
With the Jackson brothers, Remington, Colt and Winchester (I just LOVE the gun names for the brothers) each searching for a part of a book that had been separated into thirds, we enter into Winn’s book. The steamcoach is held up, and out steps a beautiful lady. Winn’s only complaint is that she’s also a vampire.
Winn comes from a line of Slayers, or Hunters. He and his brothers are the Chosen, even if Winn doesn’t want to admit it. The vampires have come for his help, which is unusual for a couple reasons. One, the vampires live in Transylvania. Two, Winn doesn’t help Darkin, he hunts them. And three, there are plenty of Hunters in Europe, why come all the way to America, to the Wild West, to find him? What is it they really want from him?
The author is very descriptive, and it’s easy to picture the landscape, the characters, the setting, as evidenced by adding in the newly completed Brooklyn Bridge (nice touch!) I had a harder time picturing some of the Steampunk gadgetry. Unfortunately the Steampunk aspect wasn’t utilized to its fullest potential, in my opinion. I’m sad to say that I feel we could take out all Steampunk aspects from this book and you wouldn’t notice. It’s like, “add an airship and goggles and your PNR becomes instant Steampunk.” It’s a fantastic plot, but I want more than a few gadgets thrown in here and there.
That being said, I did buy the first book in this series so I can find out all about Colt and Lilly. I really enjoy the author’s voice and writing style, and I will definitely be reading the next book.
This is a quote I really liked because I feel it really described Winn, the hero (who I totally pictured as Kurt Russell from Wyatt Earp—so hot).
“Why is it you prefer to operate behind the curtains?”
He tugged at the edge of his mustache. “When you live life in the shadows, the spotlight’s a shade too bright for comfort.”
***thanks to Kensington for the ARC