Any Given Doomsday

I honestly cannot find one redeeming quality about “Any Given Doomsday.” Despite the fact that the cover states that Lori Handeland is a New York Times bestselling author, this book reads like an amateur first draft with character inconsistencies, bad plotting, terrible dialogue, and classic blunders.

The main character, Elizabeth Phoenix, is not the brightest crayon in the box, and frequently has to have things explained to her two and three times before she understands something, but will then follow up with the exact same question that started the long, boring, and stilted explanation the reader has just suffered through. Her actions and reactions are also inconsistent with previous experiences in the story. For instance, after show more fighting two demons who turned to ash upon their deaths, learning that her ex-boyfriend is a half-vampire, and killing off a town of werewolves, Elizabeth Phoenix drops the phone in shock to learn that a previous victim had the blood sucked out of her body. To the reader, that seems like the *least* shocking revelation, but not to our sharp-as-a-bowling-ball heroine.

Another moment of supreme stupidity is after Elizabeth is captured, stripped of her clothes, and seduced/raped by her ex-boyfriend turned temporarily evil, she is told that she will become a sex slave and will never again wear clothes for the rest of eternity. She leaves to take a shower, only to be insulted and shocked upon her return to find her tattered clothes missing from the bedroom with no new clothes left in their place.

The two male characters are so two dimensional that their every action seems contrived, and their feud and mistrust of each other goes beyond absurd to simply annoying and distracting. But that fits lock-in-step with the overly simplistic and predictable plot. The supremely intelligent, ancient and wise evil vampire/antagonist is killed off with the easiest of effort stolen straight from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but only after revealing his “secret” plan to our nude and captive heroine (i.e. in the classical-cheesy method: I’m going to kill you, but first I will reveal my plan to take over the world.). Then after one more poorly written sex scene, our heroine’s now reformed ex-boyfriend disappears like a cliché in the early dawn hours, leading us straight into a sequel you couldn’t pay me to read.

This novel is proof-positive that once publishers spot a hot trend or sub-genre, they will rush any ol’ title out there to grab as much cash as they can as quickly as they can, thereby smothering with certifiable crap the very market they’re trying to build. It’s just unfortunate that the authors don’t at least make an honest attempt to craft a better story. show less

Any Given Doomsday pretty much epitomizes the cookie-cutter nature of urban fantasy today: authors think that all you have to do is have one snarky female, add two hot guys, sprinkle in some sex and supernatural elements, and you have a hit. The problem here is that Handeland doesn't add anything new to the recipe: she simply picks bits and bites from the work of others and mushes it up. The last line, the very cliché "For now, doomsday can wait", kinda says it all: if doomsday can wait (doesn't that sound like a lame James Bond knockoff?), then you can likewise put off reading this book—forever.

This was a very quick read for me. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect as I started. It seemed like a mystery at first, but swiftly turned into the urban fantasy that it is. Elizabeth Phoenix, our heroine, was both gritty and real, and her background while never explicitly explained peeked through the narrative at times to give us a glimpse of why she turned out the way she did. I found her to be a delightful protagonist that had the perfect amount of spunk balanced by realistic flaws. Hopefully, that will continue through the series as book one gave her some pretty fantastic powers.
The other characters were all given enough depth that you either loved or hated them. Or were confused enough that you wanted to love or hate them but show more couldn't decide which would stick. Much like Phoenix's feelings, mine vacillated wildly on the two male powers in the book.
The fantasy part, was explained just enough to suspend belief for the reader, and not overly romanticized, so was a pure enjoyment that furthered the plot and the characters convincingly. The protagonist's place could easily turn her into a mary-sue, but so far, she is believable and likable on her own merits, and seems to be a well-rounded character.
Any Given Doomsday was interesting and quickly paced right up to the end, where it turned more into an erotic read than the conclusion to the first part of an adventure/mystery. I'm not sure where the author was going with it, it seemed a bit gratuitous. However, there was a satisfying conclusion, which nevertheless left the reader ready for more. show less

Upon the death of her foster mother, a mysterious and ancient power is passed to Elizabeth Phoenix. She’s always been psychic, but now her powers have grown and she learns she is now the leader of a secret force that fights against an evil supernatural force who would destroy mankind. Oh, and her warriors just happen to be supernatural too.

Not only that, but now she must work closely with her childhood friend and ex-lover, Jimmy Sanducci – a man she would be happy to never lay eyes on again.

Now that she has, she can’t deny the effect the man still has on her libido, curse him. His supernatural senses let him sense just how much, too.

But which side is Jimmy really on? Is he really fighting for the good side or will the secrets in show more his past threaten them all? Can Elizabeth master her new abilities quickly enough to save the world?

I have never read Lori Handeland before, but with just one book, I’m a fan! ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY is an auspicious start to a very promising new series, and I cannot wait to read the next installment of THE PHOENIX CHRONICLES.

With Elizabeth Phoenix, we have one kick-butt heroine – the kind that is full of good but with enough foibles she feels real to the reader. Yeah, she’s a decent person who wants the best for everyone, but she isn’t without her own issues.

Written in first person, the tale is told entirely from Elizabeth’s perspective, and is very much her story. That would make sense, given the series name, I suppose. LOL While some readers may shy away from books written in first person, that viewpoint works very well for this book, as you are really immersed fully in Elizabeth’s head, experiencing every event along with her. The lack of omniscient view keeps the suspense high, and kept me turning the pages as quickly as I could read.

Although the book is Elizabeth’s story, her relationship with Jimmy figures greatly in the plot. The chemistry between these two is palpable, and no matter what happens between them, you find yourself hoping they can work it out in the end.

In the style of series books like Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry saga, Elizabeth Phoenix’s story is an ongoing one that will be continued in the next book. While ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY wraps up some mysteries, there is very definitely an ongoing storyline that I expect will not be completed for several books. I will definitely be coming back for more when the next edition of this addictive paranormal series releases! show less

SO BORING. I took this on a plane trip as my only reading material and wound up re-reading inflight magazine articles rather than trying to finish it. I'm a great fan of urban fantasy, but this book does only meager worldbuilding, and none of the supporting characters feel like more than a cardboard cutout of a real person. And I hated that the white protagonist gains her mystical abilities through the death of her African-American adopted mother figure, whose only purpose is to be saintly and wise and die early to give the protagonist power. The fantasy genre needs more characters of color, but the magical negro is NOT the way to do it.

I left my copy in an airport lounge. Maybe some traveler got more out of it than I did.

First I need to say that I didn't finish this book. I just couldn’t. If you’re looking for stereotypes and some of the most badly-drawn characters, look no further.

Alright, my biggest problem is the Jimmy character. Let’s take a look at some of his highlights (and this is only a few chapter’s worth):

-Apparently doesn’t know what “no” means
-Shoves his crotch into women’s faces (and utters some crap akin to “We can never keep our hands off eachother”. I laughed writing that)
-Is a cheater
-His idea of protection is either doing nothing or locking a woman in a barn so that she’s trapped when something bad sniffs her out
-Rips a woman’s shirt open just to see if she’s wearing a necklace. No shit.

I could go on, but show more you’ll just have to take my word that this guy is fantastic. The best excuse for his behavior the author could manage is that he hates himself and so punishes himself by...being a dick to everyone? Yeah.

So our protagonist, who’s tough as nails (naturally) reacts indignantly, tells him to get the hell away from her, or something. Right? No, unfortunately her reactions are something like “Gosh golly, I could just hit him!”. Keep in mind that this is also the woman he cheated on, wouldn’t take “no” from, and locked in a barn. A barn with no lights.

I also love the old black “seer” woman who helps outcast children. I think everyone else will too. That is, everyone who hasn’t already seen The Matrix.

The beastiary is haphazard. The author obviously spent some time on Encyclopedia Mythica cherry-picking from various cultures.

Stilted dialogue, hokey narration. I’ll stop.

But for all I know, the author somehow pulled the story out of its nosedive later on. I doubt it, but even if that’s the case the first half was too far gone for me to go any further. show less

Any Given Doomsday is a supernatural mystery/romance about Elizabeth Phoenix. Elizabeth has psychic abilities - when she touches objects or people she has visions about them. When her foster mother Ruthie is murdered, Elizabeth also inherits Ruthie's visions of monsters, and the responsibility for sending Demon Killers out to kill them and thus protect humanity. The book starts off fairly well, but it really goes downhill. I don't usually like to give away too much of the plot, but I have a huge problem with a couple of things that happen in the book that I have to mention. First, Elizabeth goes to see her former teacher to learn how to use the abilities she's inherited. He drugs her and has sex with her. She's angry at first and show more accuses him of raping her, but when he explains that he used drugs to lower her inhibitions because he didn't want to waste time convincing her to have consensual sex, she decides she doesn't mind. Next, Elizabeth is lured into a trap by her half-vampire ex-boyfriend Jimmy, who has been taken over by his vampire side and wants her as his sex slave. He holds her captive and rapes her repeatedly over the course of several weeks. I find it really disturbing that there are several detailed scenes in which Elizabeth enjoys being raped. After Jimmy gets his vampire side under control, Elizabeth seems completely unperturbed by being held prisoner and raped repeatedly, and has sex with Jimmy so he won't feel bad about what he's done. The romanticized view of sexual violence presented in this book is incredibly disturbing. I don't know why any writer, especially a woman, would write about rape as if it's sexy and fun, and I don't know why anyone would want to read this. My copy went straight into the recycling bin. If you like supernatural mysteries, avoid this series and read Jim Butcher's excellent Dresden Files series (which begins with Storm Front) or Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan books (which begins with Dead Witch Walking) show less