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carol26388's review
3.0
Three and a half stars.
Teeth of beasts is the third in a series, and while it's not necessary to have read the prior books to understand the plot, it undoubtedly helps with some of the intricacies of the antagonist and magical mechanics. Overall, typical of Pelegrimas' work to date, with some improvements in plotting and character relationships. I found it more enjoyable than previous books, with perhaps less emphasis on gritty minor skirmishes and a greater focus on the final face-off. Definitely a fast read.
I've always felt his main character, Cole, is believable, just not particularly sympathetic. The story begins with him driving to Seattle, meeting with his old boss, a conversation the obliquely helps people new to the series establish setting and prior events. It really comes as a surprise to no one but Cole when he is fired. He then drives to Minnesota to meet Abby, a close contact from MEG and a potential love interest who talks him into joining her on a Chupacabra hunt. Talking with her gives the reader even more background and opens up one of the most potentially interesting aspects of the series, the morality of the Skinners' work.
Cole returns to Chicago, meets up with Paige at their squat. They are soon surprised by a Nymar at their door, and end up shooting him when he won't comply with their directions to stand still. They realize he's diseased, call Q Daniels, their Nymar chemist-of-all-types, and decide to head to St. Louis to investigate. Within a day of arrival, they find themselves fighting the local Mongrels, who let important information about Kansas City drop. From there, they team with two other Skinners Paige familiar with Paige, and try to work out the details of the contagion. I'll save the rest to avoid spoilers, but we know from the prologue that Henry will play a role in the confrontation.
I've never felt a great deal of attraction or sympathy for Peter, and its hard to identify why. He originally starts out such a normally, geeky guy who loves his games, it should be someone I could identify with. He rises to the challenge of taking a role in fighting against the monsters, but maybe because he is slow at questioning the moral compass of the role, and allows Paige to dictate terms and actions, I find him less appealing.
The setting is modern Chicago and St. Louis, without too many details that would date it. For the most part, action is in more seedy nondescript locations. I found the "purple temple" device odd; most strip clubs in midwestern cities seem to go for a low profile, or are far outside the city. It would seem to draw undue attention, but what do I know about strip clubs? More importantly, the disease mechanism seemed excessively clunky and a struggle to understand biologically. There are more hints at the moral struggle and compromise of the Skinners; do they engage in all-out war with all altered beings, or do they make compromises? Given that Pelegrimas shows us Henry's thoughts in the prologue, Mongrels as thinking beings, as well as snippets of Full Blood interactions in other books, it seems he might be ambivalent about the ethics of Mongrel/Nymar/Full Blood genocide as well.
Overall, a good, action oriented read that lacks sophistication in character or wording that would push it into greatness. There is one sex scene, which came as a surprise; I'm not sure who the intended audience was. It seemed incongruent with the rest of the book. Worthy of reading, but I won't be adding to my personal library.
Teeth of beasts is the third in a series, and while it's not necessary to have read the prior books to understand the plot, it undoubtedly helps with some of the intricacies of the antagonist and magical mechanics. Overall, typical of Pelegrimas' work to date, with some improvements in plotting and character relationships. I found it more enjoyable than previous books, with perhaps less emphasis on gritty minor skirmishes and a greater focus on the final face-off. Definitely a fast read.
I've always felt his main character, Cole, is believable, just not particularly sympathetic. The story begins with him driving to Seattle, meeting with his old boss, a conversation the obliquely helps people new to the series establish setting and prior events. It really comes as a surprise to no one but Cole when he is fired. He then drives to Minnesota to meet Abby, a close contact from MEG and a potential love interest who talks him into joining her on a Chupacabra hunt. Talking with her gives the reader even more background and opens up one of the most potentially interesting aspects of the series, the morality of the Skinners' work.
Cole returns to Chicago, meets up with Paige at their squat. They are soon surprised by a Nymar at their door, and end up shooting him when he won't comply with their directions to stand still. They realize he's diseased, call
I've never felt a great deal of attraction or sympathy for Peter, and its hard to identify why. He originally starts out such a normally, geeky guy who loves his games, it should be someone I could identify with. He rises to the challenge of taking a role in fighting against the monsters, but maybe because he is slow at questioning the moral compass of the role, and allows Paige to dictate terms and actions, I find him less appealing.
The setting is modern Chicago and St. Louis, without too many details that would date it. For the most part, action is in more seedy nondescript locations. I found the "purple temple" device odd; most strip clubs in midwestern cities seem to go for a low profile, or are far outside the city. It would seem to draw undue attention, but what do I know about strip clubs? More importantly, the disease mechanism seemed excessively clunky and a struggle to understand biologically. There are more hints at the moral struggle and compromise of the Skinners; do they engage in all-out war with all altered beings, or do they make compromises? Given that Pelegrimas shows us Henry's thoughts in the prologue, Mongrels as thinking beings, as well as snippets of Full Blood interactions in other books, it seems he might be ambivalent about the ethics of Mongrel/Nymar/Full Blood genocide as well.
Overall, a good, action oriented read that lacks sophistication in character or wording that would push it into greatness. There is one sex scene, which came as a surprise; I'm not sure who the intended audience was. It seemed incongruent with the rest of the book. Worthy of reading, but I won't be adding to my personal library.
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