Roadkill (Book Review)

Roadkill

Rob Thurman

Copyright 2010

This is the fifth book in the Cal and Niko Leandros series by Rob Thurman, a pseudonym for Robyn Thurman.  I have LOVED Cal, half demon-half mortal, his brother Niko and Robin (Puck) since 'Nightlife', the first book in the series.  It was the first Urban Fantasy genre book, besides for the Sookie Stackhouse books, that I read and I have inhaled the series.  'Roadkill' was highly anticipated by myself and I was giddy the day it came out.  Urgh, sooo disappointed.

Compared to the previous 4 books in the series, 'Nightlife', 'Moonshine', 'Madhouse' and 'Deathwish' this book is by far the weakest.  First, it didn't have the humor I've enjoyed in the last books.  I didn't find myself laughing like I have in the past.  Secondly, it was an annoying and overly drawn out re-hash of the main characters and their relationship that spanned the first three chapters of the book.  Yes Cal, you love your brother and he loves you.  I got that over the first 4 books and a one or two paragraph remembrance of this relationship would suffice.  Not a paragraph every three paragraphs.  This made the first few chapters drag for me and a lot of it seemed repetitive with Thurman reminding us that the villain in the book was the Plague of the World, Abelia-Roo was a hateful bitch and that my beloved whoring Robin was trying to partake in a monogamous relationship.  Third, the lack of 'Puck'.  Yes, he was in the book and along for the ride but his main storyline revolved around his attempt to be an an uncharacteristically exclusive relationship with his new partner which, again repetitive, was so boring by Puck standards.  Puck can be so much more!  Lastly, I don't like Delilah.

As with 'Deathwish', the author split the chapters in the book into two perspectives.  In 'Deathwish' it was between the two brothers, Cal and Niko.  In 'Roadkill' the perspective was split between Cal and Catcher, a 'sick' werewolf stuck in wolf form.  I am not a fan of this style of writing because the characters tend to mix together in my head.  In 'Deathwish' it was easier to differentiate the two characters because they tended to be in different places at the same time.  In 'Roadkill' Cal and Catcher were everywhere together.  They were also similar in personality which made it harder keep the two separate.

Minus my nitpicking the book did have a good storyline.  It brought back a character from the second book who is apparently more hateful than I remembered. It dealt with the repercussions of Cal enjoying  some of the perks of being half demon.  It answered some questions that were opened in the first book about Rafferty and Catcher, although I'm not sure they needed to be answered.  It also dealt with Kin politics what happened after the Kin found out about the relationship between Cal and Delilah.

Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to highlight about 'Roadkill' because nothing really 'stood out'.  The more I think about it the more I am left flat when it comes to this book.  I won't scream bitter disappointment because I did get my Cal, Niko and Robin fix although in an unsatisfactory form.  I will gladly read the next installment when it comes out and hope that Thurman redeems herself.