Jamie Davis (1)

I have been a fan of this book series since I read the prequel and book 1, and after following the adventures of paramedic Dean as he cares for supernatural patients in Elk City throughout 6 books, it was only a matter of time before I completed the series.

The verdict? Read the final book if you are a real diehard fan of the series and just want one last adventure featuring Dean, Gibbie, Jaz, Brynne, James, and the others. Otherwise, since we know from a prior book Dean's teenage daughter show more Joanna visits him from the future, the End of the World foretold centerpiece story of the final book doesn't seem so urgent after all.

I mean, if the world really did end, then the book where Joanna shows up to help Dean save the day would have never taken place. Ergo, it was expected that this book's story has no real feeling of urgency because you already know the ending. Given the lack of complexity of the plot, it is rather strange this book despite being the finale would be so short. If you were a fast reader, you could finish it in 90 minutes. And I thought Mockingjay was a quick read!

I do like some parts of the book, and the humorous scenes starring Gibbie are great as always. Unfortunately, with such a simple plot that doesn't have much conflict, the book rehashes conflicts from a prior book where the bad guys share videos on the internet of werewolves shifting and angry mobs burning down the fairy trailer park that was supposed to be rebuilt and refurbished by James. How could it burn down so easily after he spent money to fix it?

Brynne's super vampire powers are sadly underused. I would have enjoyed it during the scene where she arrives to attend to the wounded in Asha's house, that she didn't even need Dean to tell her the number and location of the wounded because she is supposed to be able to sense everyone's heartbeats. Furthermore, she wouldn't need to worry about falling debris because she now has superstrength and could lift wooden beams with ridiculous ease. A real lost opportunity!

I did enjoy discovering a little bit about Celeste's personal love life which gives us hints as to the reason why she and James stopped being a couple. In a book so otherwise devoid of tension, maybe giving us the chance to learn more about these previously ignored side characters would have been nice. At least we finally learn how Gibbie gets his packets of donated hospital blood. And no, despite being a hero during so many books, James doesn't give him a blood dowry. No, he doesn't steal blood.

All in all, the book definitely has some fun moments and if you really loved the series and just wanted one final adventure, this book is worth it. As for casual readers, the prior books hint at most of the secrets answered in this book, so if time is a constraint, reading the finale isn't obligatory. show less

Marshal the Stars is a new old-school space opera done with refreshing energy. Think Top Gear with aliens and space pirates. Beau Ward, call sign Lobo, does not fit neatly into the orderly world of the Federation Fleet. His last chance to avoid being cashiered is to form a makeshift squadron of misfits like himself and bring law and order to an outpost station in a system where kidnapping and hijacking have become routine. One bit of fun: the station’s AI has become fixated on early show more television and thinks of itself as June Cleaver. She confuses Beau Ward with the dad in the show and a young ensign with the Beaver. 3.5 stars. show less

The final part of the first arc of Extreme Medical Services, Dean is framed for a murder he never committed in order to have him suspended and the Unusual community too terrified to ask paramedics to help them. Dean’s angel girlfriend Ashley urges him to become friendlier to vampire lord James because both of them have to team up and make several key decisions that could spell salvation or doom for their city.
Along the way, Dean finds ways to continue handing medical service to the needy show more by bending the rules of his suspension in his favor, starts to like James more than before, and then meets an old rival of James: the even more ancient and very malignant vampire Arctur who is up to no good and Dean has just been tossed in the middle of a feud between both vampires along with his legal woes.
The medical cases continue to be varied and fun to read, but one thing that truly suffers from this book is the fact that it is a 1st POV story. Things are okay when Dean was just starting out and getting the hang of his special patients, but now that James’s peaceful ruler ship of his fiefdom is being threatened, I feel like this story could have been a whole lot better if it had a few characters seen from James’s POV, maybe even exploring the inner workings of the Unusual community rule of law and how even he has to respond to far more important individuals in the totem ladder that can cause friction due to his far more liberal views. Above that, Dean makes a careless decision that seals the fate of his future child for information that he could have equally easily discovered on his own which could upset a lot of readers. One last gripe I had regarding the book was how cops framed Dean so damn easily. Doesn’t anyone watch CSI? A body who was stabbed to death a few times and clumsily moved to a new place is not going to show the same pool of blood a still alive person would have! Furthermore, violent stab wounds cause blood marks in a room that could not be replicated with a few jabs done post mortem. Any coroner would notice a few stab wounds were done postmortem and the size of the knife would not match the body. The murderers could have just tasered the guy and killed him afterwards and then frame the good guy without looking like complete n00bs. Yeah, that part of the book drove me nuts.
I personally enjoyed the somewhat bittersweet ending and didn’t precisely expect it, I don’t wish to spoil it though. All in all, I continue to love James as a misunderstood good guy and wish to continue this very fun series despite the bad. 3 ½ stars from me! show less

The final part of the first arc of Extreme Medical Services, Dean is framed for a murder he never committed in order to have him suspended and the Unusual community too terrified to ask paramedics to help them. Dean’s angel girlfriend Ashley urges him to become friendlier to vampire lord James because both of them have to team up and make several key decisions that could spell salvation or doom for their city.
Along the way, Dean finds ways to continue handing medical service to the needy show more by bending the rules of his suspension in his favor, starts to like James more than before, and then meets an old rival of James: the even more ancient and very malignant vampire Arctur who is up to no good and Dean has just been tossed in the middle of a feud between both vampires along with his legal woes.
The medical cases continue to be varied and fun to read, but one thing that truly suffers from this book is the fact that it is a 1st POV story. Things are okay when Dean was just starting out and getting the hang of his special patients, but now that James’s peaceful ruler ship of his fiefdom is being threatened, I feel like this story could have been a whole lot better if it had a few characters seen from James’s POV, maybe even exploring the inner workings of the Unusual community rule of law and how even he has to respond to far more important individuals in the totem ladder that can cause friction due to his far more liberal views. Above that, Dean makes a careless decision that seals the fate of his future child for information that he could have equally easily discovered on his own which could upset a lot of readers. One last gripe I had regarding the book was how cops framed Dean so damn easily. Doesn’t anyone watch CSI? A body who was stabbed to death a few times and clumsily moved to a new place is not going to show the same pool of blood a still alive person would have! Furthermore, violent stab wounds cause blood marks in a room that could not be replicated with a few jabs done post mortem. Any coroner would notice a few stab wounds were done postmortem and the size of the knife would not match the body. The murderers could have just tasered the guy and killed him afterwards and then frame the good guy without looking like complete n00bs. Yeah, that part of the book drove me nuts.
I personally enjoyed the somewhat bittersweet ending and didn’t precisely expect it, I don’t wish to spoil it though. All in all, I continue to love James as a misunderstood good guy and wish to continue this very fun series despite the bad. 3 ½ stars from me! show less