There's a large pitfall if you decide to do an investigation sort of book in the first person. If the character is not interesting, you are toast.

That is how I find Andrea Cort after two tries at it - somewhat dullsville.

The plot here isn't as interesting as in the first novel either, involving assassins, the stopping of such and the prevention of a large outbreak of mortally challengedness.

One target of such is said Cort, of course.

It is all serviceable, but just too blah.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/10... ( )

The premise: in the second book of Castro's series, Andrea Cort has been summoned to the Bettelhine homeworld for reasons unknown. The AISource, her secret employers, won't tell her why other than to stress how important it is that she must go, so despite the fact she despises the family and what they stand for--providing civilizations with powerful weapons which are used to destroy neighbors--she goes, and finds herself in the middle of a gruesome murder mystery, where she might very well be the next target. Not only must she uncover the assassin before the assassin does her in, but she must learn the truth behind her mysterious summons, because that might destroy her more than an assassin's weapon ever could.

My Rating

Worth the Cash: I don't feel this second installment is as solid and as good as the first book, Emissaries of the Dead; however, it's still a solid, enjoyable read that has me looking forward to the third book in the series. The Third Claw of God is definitely told with a more traditional mystery flair, with Andrea Cort being the genius detective tasked to solve an assassination aboard a space elevator before the assassin targets her, and while I found the structure a little predictable, I enjoyed the revelations that came out of her investigation and I really enjoyed some of the little details of world-building, namely, the weapons used for assassination! I do think that this book could be read as a stand-alone without any trouble, though I will say that because I think Emissaries of the Dead is better, you should start with that one instead. But wherever you start, Andrea Cort is definitely a fascinating, well-rounded heroine who isn't always the most likable person in the universe, but you can't help but root for her anyway.

Review style: I really don't have a whole lot to say about this book, so this review is more of the stream-of-conscious variety so that I can stress the points that really matter. There's one major plot spoiler in this review, but that is marked off CLEARLY so that if you don't want to read it, you can skip over it without any damage.

The full review, which a spoiler you can easily skip over, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Adam-Troy Castro's THE THIRD CLAW OF GOD

Happy Reading! ( )