Speaking of reviews…
The first East End Irregulars novel, After Dark, was reviewed over at OnlineBookClub. I’m happy to say it’s a positive review! Here are some highlights:
…the reader not only meets a cast of compelling characters but also encounters a futuristic dystopia* complete with hovercraft, the future’s smartphone, and variant political divisions across the present United States. It is a sufficiently familiar landscape that it is completely relatable with only minor additions slipped casually into the story and often explained in the accompanying glossary. That said, the changes to the world as we know it allow for a more engrossing suspension of disbelief – an incredibly useful tool when supernatural abilities abound.
The story-telling itself is charming. Told in the voices of two teenagers, the reader is allowed to feel their struggles and listen to their thoughts, but the story isn’t eclipsed by teenage angst. The primary narrator, Sebastian, is both earnest and humorous, which makes for an enjoyable and entertaining story. On the whole, it is fast-paced and definitely leaves the reader wondering what will happen in the next installment.
Think X-Men meets The Incredibles, but in a book. It was quick and entertaining, but I think there is enormous potential for a powerful societal critique coming…
Go on over and read the whole thing at OnlineBookClub, leave a comment, and ask questions.
*N.b. As long-time readers of this site will know, the setting is not actually futuristic, but an alternate present, although I’m not explicit about that. I also don’t think of the setting as dystopian, but actually rather better than our own world in important ways, though YMMV.
