Review of Gypsy Revenge
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Wy_Bertram
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Review of Gypsy Revenge
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Gypsy Revenge" by Charles Alexander.]
When two of her colleagues are kidnapped and one is fatally injured, Annie Steele realises that someone on her long list of enemies might be out for revenge. All signs lead her to Turkey, where Annie rescues her friends from the clutches of a mad, bereaved crime boss, but this foe is relentless and will go to any lengths to get his pound of flesh. Upon returning to the US, Annie is roped into a government investigation, but she unwittingly stumbles into the crosshairs of another madman with a bone to pick. Surrounded by enemies, and ensnared in a web of betrayal and ulterior motives, the stakes have never been higher for Annie Steele. Read to find out just how the super detective makes her way out of her greatest challenge yet.
Similar to the previous books in the Annie Steele series, Charles Alexander's Gypsy Revenge is a fast-paced action thriller which combines combat, espionage and a little mystery into an exciting read. In this volume, the reader gains a bit more insight into the origins of Annie Steele’s strange nanobiotics; and sees the closed-off protagonist begin to open up to the idea of love – though, the romance plays out just as quickly as the rest of the book. With lots of interesting characters and some duplicitous writing on the author’s part, it is nearly impossible to guess what happens next in this story.
Also typical of the author’s writing style, however, was the intense focus on the physical aspects of characters, particularly breast sizes. “The face of a model, and the body of an ‘adult entertainer’” to paraphrase, was one such description I encountered, which, in addition to being blatantly gratuitous, is also incredibly vague, because which model and which adult entertainer are we talking about? I enjoyed Alexander’s writing otherwise, but he seems to populate his books with characters on the extremes of some attractiveness scale and has them be gratingly aware of their position on it.
Another issue I had with this book would be the author’s flippant use of the word “Gypsy,” and the casual indulgence in harmful stereotypes, like painting people of this descent as a dangerous, vengeful bunch that ought to be feared. This was incredibly tone-deaf, and especially distasteful coming from the main character.
On the objective end of things, this book was riddled with errors from start to finish, and most likely was never looked at by a professional. I also found this volume to be distinctly lacking in tension when compared to the author’s other works, and I believe this might be because the first conflict was resolved too quickly, thus significantly lowering the stakes of the story. Plus, with the protagonist being more or less indestructible, the reader is never truly convinced her life is in peril, even when being targeted by countless assassins.
Due to all the issues raised, my rating of this book is 2 out of 4 stars.
I recommend this book to readers already invested in the Annie Steele series, and new readers looking to dive into a world of close calls, flying bullets and a tenacious female detective will find this book very fitting.
This work is intended for mature audiences only. Enjoy.
******
Gypsy Revenge
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
When two of her colleagues are kidnapped and one is fatally injured, Annie Steele realises that someone on her long list of enemies might be out for revenge. All signs lead her to Turkey, where Annie rescues her friends from the clutches of a mad, bereaved crime boss, but this foe is relentless and will go to any lengths to get his pound of flesh. Upon returning to the US, Annie is roped into a government investigation, but she unwittingly stumbles into the crosshairs of another madman with a bone to pick. Surrounded by enemies, and ensnared in a web of betrayal and ulterior motives, the stakes have never been higher for Annie Steele. Read to find out just how the super detective makes her way out of her greatest challenge yet.
Similar to the previous books in the Annie Steele series, Charles Alexander's Gypsy Revenge is a fast-paced action thriller which combines combat, espionage and a little mystery into an exciting read. In this volume, the reader gains a bit more insight into the origins of Annie Steele’s strange nanobiotics; and sees the closed-off protagonist begin to open up to the idea of love – though, the romance plays out just as quickly as the rest of the book. With lots of interesting characters and some duplicitous writing on the author’s part, it is nearly impossible to guess what happens next in this story.
Also typical of the author’s writing style, however, was the intense focus on the physical aspects of characters, particularly breast sizes. “The face of a model, and the body of an ‘adult entertainer’” to paraphrase, was one such description I encountered, which, in addition to being blatantly gratuitous, is also incredibly vague, because which model and which adult entertainer are we talking about? I enjoyed Alexander’s writing otherwise, but he seems to populate his books with characters on the extremes of some attractiveness scale and has them be gratingly aware of their position on it.
Another issue I had with this book would be the author’s flippant use of the word “Gypsy,” and the casual indulgence in harmful stereotypes, like painting people of this descent as a dangerous, vengeful bunch that ought to be feared. This was incredibly tone-deaf, and especially distasteful coming from the main character.
On the objective end of things, this book was riddled with errors from start to finish, and most likely was never looked at by a professional. I also found this volume to be distinctly lacking in tension when compared to the author’s other works, and I believe this might be because the first conflict was resolved too quickly, thus significantly lowering the stakes of the story. Plus, with the protagonist being more or less indestructible, the reader is never truly convinced her life is in peril, even when being targeted by countless assassins.
Due to all the issues raised, my rating of this book is 2 out of 4 stars.
I recommend this book to readers already invested in the Annie Steele series, and new readers looking to dive into a world of close calls, flying bullets and a tenacious female detective will find this book very fitting.
This work is intended for mature audiences only. Enjoy.
******
Gypsy Revenge
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings by Mike L Junior
