Shannon K. Butcher
Author of Burning Alive
About the Author
Series
Works by Shannon K. Butcher
Associated Works
Kicking It: All-New Tales of Murder, Magic, and Manolos (2013) — Contributor — 181 copies, 10 reviews
The Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance [Anthology 23-in-1] (2010) — Contributor — 96 copies, 4 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Butcher, Shannon K.
- Other names
- Butcher, Shannon K.
Argent, Anna - Gender
- female
- Agent
- Nephele Tempest
- Relationships
- Butcher, Jim (husband)
- Short biography
- When Shannon was little, she wanted to be a daddy. When she learned the anatomical improbability of that happening, she decided instead to become what her dad was: an Industrial Engineer. After she graduated, she went to work for a big telecom company earning a steady paycheck while her husband pursued his dream to become a published author. Her husband is Jim Butcher, fantasy and sci-fi author extraordinaire. She learned to write in an effort to help him improve his own work and as soon as she discovered that writing was more a learned skill than a natural talent she knew she had to give it a try. She lives in Missouri with her husband and their teenage son and a dog.
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Independence, Missouri, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Missouri, USA
Members
Reviews
Blood Hunt
4 Stars
Synopsis
Suffering from amnesia, Hope Serrien is searching for her true identity and uses her ability to see auras to help homeless people on the street. Her charges have recently begun disappearing and while searching, Hope encounters Logan, an enigmatic stranger who promises to aid Hope in her quest. The two soon discover that the other is hiding secrets and that a terrifying foe is determined to use them for his own nefarious ends.
Review
One of the most appealing aspects show more of the Sentinel Wars is the multiplicity of story lines. While some readers may find this distracting because there is a lot going on, for me, this not only enhances the world building and the overall story arc (we are finally given details of the third group of Sentinel warriors - the Slayers), it also makes it easier to identify with the different characters because they are so well developed across the various books. However, for this reason it is crucial to read the series in order.
The focus in this book is on the Sanguinars, who have been a morally ambiguous group until now and it is particularly interesting to see things from their perspective. The suffering they must endure and the threat to their race is as compelling as that of the Theronai and explains much about their secretive behavior.
Logan and Hope are an intriguing couple with wonderful chemistry. It is a sign of Butcher's writing skill that she can create a character such as Logan who comes across both as honorable and self-sacrificing but also as manipulative and conniving. It was difficult to warm up to him in previous books but he charmed me completely in this one. Like the other heroines in the series, Hope is strong willed and plays a significant role in the action (another highlight). The conflict between Logan's growing attraction to Hope and his duty to his people is at the heart of the story. The way in which everything comes to a head and the resolution of their romance makes for a satisfying read even though the push and pull between them is frustrating at times.
As mentioned above, the secondary characters are well written and several will obviously be featured in their own books. Jackie and Iain's book is next but I'm also interested in seeing what happens with Joseph and his Slayer counterpart - Andreas.
Overall, Blood Hunt is a great addition to an excellent series. show less
4 Stars
Synopsis
Suffering from amnesia, Hope Serrien is searching for her true identity and uses her ability to see auras to help homeless people on the street. Her charges have recently begun disappearing and while searching, Hope encounters Logan, an enigmatic stranger who promises to aid Hope in her quest. The two soon discover that the other is hiding secrets and that a terrifying foe is determined to use them for his own nefarious ends.
Review
One of the most appealing aspects show more of the Sentinel Wars is the multiplicity of story lines. While some readers may find this distracting because there is a lot going on, for me, this not only enhances the world building and the overall story arc (we are finally given details of the third group of Sentinel warriors - the Slayers), it also makes it easier to identify with the different characters because they are so well developed across the various books. However, for this reason it is crucial to read the series in order.
The focus in this book is on the Sanguinars, who have been a morally ambiguous group until now and it is particularly interesting to see things from their perspective. The suffering they must endure and the threat to their race is as compelling as that of the Theronai and explains much about their secretive behavior.
Logan and Hope are an intriguing couple with wonderful chemistry. It is a sign of Butcher's writing skill that she can create a character such as Logan who comes across both as honorable and self-sacrificing but also as manipulative and conniving. It was difficult to warm up to him in previous books but he charmed me completely in this one. Like the other heroines in the series, Hope is strong willed and plays a significant role in the action (another highlight). The conflict between Logan's growing attraction to Hope and his duty to his people is at the heart of the story. The way in which everything comes to a head and the resolution of their romance makes for a satisfying read even though the push and pull between them is frustrating at times.
As mentioned above, the secondary characters are well written and several will obviously be featured in their own books. Jackie and Iain's book is next but I'm also interested in seeing what happens with Joseph and his Slayer counterpart - Andreas.
Overall, Blood Hunt is a great addition to an excellent series. show less
All the heroine wants is to find the person who's capable of blocking her visions. Fiercely independent and unwilling to show any hint of weakness or allow anyone to help her, she finds herself in a dark alley fighting off hordes of demons, knowing death is close at hand. Then she's saved by a mountain of a man with a sharp sword. Past experiences with betrayal and loss hinder her from accepting him help and he practically had to kidnap her in order to get her to a safe house. The hero is show more close to death himself. He's down to his last 2 leaves on his tree of life and with no hope of finding a mate to ease the pain within him he knows it's only a matter of time before he's driven mad with agony. Then he meets the pink haired goddess and inside there comes a tiny spark of 'what if'. But he's been hurt before. Once there was a woman who he thought could be the one to complete him but instead she chose another. Also, his daughter-his adopted daughter but his by love- has broken ties with him to travel the world but he knows it's really because he couldn't save her when she was kidnapped and tortured by demons. These rejections have both convinced him he is unworthy of love and happiness. So when he meets the heroine, he vows to see her safe and protected but never could she be his. She only suffers his presence because skin to skin contact with her stops her visions. But once contact is broken, the pain and agony of withdraw causes her more pain than before. It also nearly destroys him as his decaying soul returns 10 fold. But despite her strict independence and steel emotional walls, the thought of seeing him in pain drives her to inadvertently accept him as her mate- at least until she can find a way to block her visions. He takes what he can get and even though it's temporary, the sense of completeness washes over him. But the heroine has become the target of a demon possession which drives her towards suicide and madness and now she has no choice to accept help from the powerful soldier, help he willingly offers if only she can allow herself to trust again. This was by far the best of the series and I absolutely adored both the heroine and her and found myself lost in their story. It could have been so easy to hate the heroine because she is all that I usually dislike in a female lead. She is insanely stubborn and stupidly unwilling to trust or accept help from anybody. But there was something about her that I couldn't help but admire. There's a reason she's so emotionally distant and untrusting but that doesn't mean she can't feel for the hero. She accepts that she cares deeply for the strong man, loves him before she can really understand what that means and it's the fear of losing him the way she's lost everybody else that urges her to push him away. It becomes worse when he's injured and she can see for the first time that he's not all powerfully, that he cane be hurt and it scares the shit out of her. So when he offers her everything he is, he's hurt when she doesn't do the same. The hero was so patient and selfless. He cared only for what she wanted and did what she wanted even if the knowledge that when she rejected him, he would die. But that didn't mean he was a doormat. When it came down to it, he was the solid rock in her life. He was her guardian, her protector, her lover and when she needed it he was her push to see reason. I loved their dynamic and thoroughly loved this book. show less
I really wanted to like BURNING ALIVE. I'm a big Jim Butcher fan and I was all ready to love his wife's debut paranormal romance. Plus, I figured - Butcher has written a pretty amazing guide about how to structure a novel. She'd have to pick up a few of his tricks - like good structure and pacing - right?
No. No, no, and no.
BURNING ALIVE is bad. Painfully bad. I wish I could say something else but - everything about it seemed wrong. Helen's disbelief when she found out about superhuman show more protectors of the earth was comical; and then her acceptance too easy. She has an instant love/hate relationship with Drake, a very intense one - but there's no foundation for either emotion. I've heard of love at first sight...but love/hate at first sight? That's hard to swallow.
Whenever the plot started amping up and danger was near, Butcher would cut away to long, dreamy passages of Helen or Drake having lustful thoughts and wondering if they really had a future as a couple. Whenever the romance got intense, Butcher would cut away to a scene of danger. Instead of building suspense, I felt like I was in the literary equivalent of a spluttering car - revving up, but never going anywhere.
As for the paranormal elements - they were very romancy. Not even JR Ward romancey - more like Keri Arthur or Gena Showalter. A little exaggerated, not so frightening. I seriously doubt this will please many Jim Butcher fans, so I hope she can find readers elsewhere. show less
No. No, no, and no.
BURNING ALIVE is bad. Painfully bad. I wish I could say something else but - everything about it seemed wrong. Helen's disbelief when she found out about superhuman show more protectors of the earth was comical; and then her acceptance too easy. She has an instant love/hate relationship with Drake, a very intense one - but there's no foundation for either emotion. I've heard of love at first sight...but love/hate at first sight? That's hard to swallow.
Whenever the plot started amping up and danger was near, Butcher would cut away to long, dreamy passages of Helen or Drake having lustful thoughts and wondering if they really had a future as a couple. Whenever the romance got intense, Butcher would cut away to a scene of danger. Instead of building suspense, I felt like I was in the literary equivalent of a spluttering car - revving up, but never going anywhere.
As for the paranormal elements - they were very romancy. Not even JR Ward romancey - more like Keri Arthur or Gena Showalter. A little exaggerated, not so frightening. I seriously doubt this will please many Jim Butcher fans, so I hope she can find readers elsewhere. show less
I finished this, but it really didn't work for me. I didn't much like either of the main characters, and the plot wasn't particularly original. Noelle especially bothered me. First she was determined never to work for the military because someone might use her work to hurt other people. Her strong feelings about this were due to some experience her scientist parents had that was never fully explained. I thought this showed an excessive faith in her own ability to predict all the possible show more applications of her research and a failure to understand that not working for the military couldn't prevent negative repercussions. Then David showed her some pictures of what the Swarm did and she decided they were demons and killing them was not only OK, but pretty much mandatory. Talk about moral whiplash. It felt like she didn't actually have morals of her own, she just went from doing what her parents said was right to doing what David said was right. Considering that her ideals were her defining characteristic and that she was willing to die for her beliefs it seemed like she should have thought them through a lot more. show less
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