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Chrysalis, the glass-skinned queen of the Joker underworld, has been found brutally murdered in her popular restaurant, the Crystal Palace. New two men are out to find her killer: Jay Ackroyd, the Ace private investigator who discovered her ruined body, and the vigilante archer known as the Yeoman, who has been framed for the crime. Their quest leads them on a nightmare odyssey of madness, violence, passion, and political intrigue that will forever alter the fates of Aces and Jokers show more everywhere. Experience this gripping tale of mystery and suspense, brought to you from the incredible imaginations of George R. R. Martin and John Jos. Miller in their first collaborative novel."--Page [4] of cover. show lessTags
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This is a strange book. Rather than the previous format of two short story collections and a mosaic novel, this subseries has two collections and now two mosiac novels ([b:Ace in the Hole|1281216|Ace in the Hole (Wild Cards, #6)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328368345l/1281216._SY75_.jpg|1270234] being the other). What's strange is that it continues the same plotlines of the first two books and mostly takes place at the same time as Ace in the Hole. Rather than focusing primarily on Puppetman and the political plotline in Atlanta, [b:Dead Man's Hand|147912|Dead Man's Hand (Wild Cards, #7)|George R.R. show more Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391680749l/147912._SY75_.jpg|142745] is set mostly in New York and deals with the death of Chrysalis, the investigation of Ti Malice.
As a stand alone or complete alternative to Ace in the Hole, I think it would have been a lot stronger. Once the stories merge and start replaying events we've already seen in Atlanta (albeit with a different point of view), it feels a lot more repetitive.
Characterwise, I actually found myself liking Jay "Popinjay" Ackroyd as a point of view. He's surprisingly fun and has an amusing power that doesn't make problems feel trivial for the most part. Yoeman on the other hand has never been my favorite. He's got a quest for vengeance... and that's about it? Even his relationship with Wraith feels more like a plot point then anything.
Oh, that Ti Malice plotline though. As the characters do finally acknowledge towards the end: if only everyone talked a bit more, life would go so much smoother. I will say, this book does the whole body horror thing relatively well. I'm glad to see that particularly plotline done (for now).
Overall, a decent book, if weakened by going over ground we've already covered.
Since this is the last audiobook currently out, I'll put the series on hold for a while. I'll probably read the paper copies eventually (albeit Kindleially). Some day. show less
As a stand alone or complete alternative to Ace in the Hole, I think it would have been a lot stronger. Once the stories merge and start replaying events we've already seen in Atlanta (albeit with a different point of view), it feels a lot more repetitive.
Characterwise, I actually found myself liking Jay "Popinjay" Ackroyd as a point of view. He's surprisingly fun and has an amusing power that doesn't make problems feel trivial for the most part. Yoeman on the other hand has never been my favorite. He's got a quest for vengeance... and that's about it? Even his relationship with Wraith feels more like a plot point then anything.
Oh, that Ti Malice plotline though. As the characters do finally acknowledge towards the end: if only everyone talked a bit more, life would go so much smoother. I will say, this book does the whole body horror thing relatively well. I'm glad to see that particularly plotline done (for now).
Overall, a decent book, if weakened by going over ground we've already covered.
Since this is the last audiobook currently out, I'll put the series on hold for a while. I'll probably read the paper copies eventually (albeit Kindleially). Some day. show less
Unlike the previous books in this series, this is a complete novel written by George R.R. Martin and John J. Miller. This one is a murder mystery.
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81 works; 7 members
Author Information
721+ Works 243,592 Members
George R. R. Martin was born on September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began writing at an early age, selling monster stories for pennies to neighborhood children. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Journalism from Northwestern University. In 1986, he worked as a story editor for the CBS series The Twilight Zone. He was also an executive show more story consultant, producer and co-supervising producer for CBS's Beauty and the Beast. In 1970, he sold the story The Hero to Galaxy magazine. Since becoming a full-time writer in 1979, he has written many novels, stories, and series including A Song for Lya, Portraits of His Children, The Pear-Shaped Man, and the Song of Ice and Fire series. He has won numerous awards including five Locus Awards, three Hugo Awards and two Nebula awards. In 2013 he made The New York Times Best Seller List with his titles A Dance with Dragons and A Game of Thrones: a Clash of Kings, a Storm of Swords, a Feast for Crows. His title's Rogues and The Ice Dragon made the New York Times List in 2014. Martin's title, A Knight of Seven Kingdoms, A Song of Fire and Ice novel, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2015. He is number 4 on the Hollywood Reporter's '25 Most Powerful Authors' 2016 list. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
20+ Works 827 Members
John J. Miller is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Dead Man's Hand
- Original publication date
- 1990
- Disambiguation notice
- This is a co-authored novel not the more usual mosaic anthology.
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- Members
- 449
- Popularity
- 68,101
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- 6 — English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 4
