Like others, I have read this book feeling as if I'm joining a series in the middle. It's not a pleasant feeling. The author should have used any number of ways to indicate characters had a shared past other than the ones used. ( )

Feels very much like a Book Two, not a debut. I had to double-check to make sure this wasn't a sequel to another book or series, due to all the references to What Has Gone Before.

Otherwise, neat world and solid setup; I'm looking forward to more of the series. ( )

Amazon preorder

SINS & SHADOWS was buried in my old eReader app, a read from pre-Goodreads times. When a copy of GODS & MONSTERS came my way, I had to go back to where it all started.

SINS & SHADOWS is dark, dark, dark, but in a way that I appreciate more than some others (the Dante Valentine series, for example, often goes too close to horror and melodrama for me). The pacing is very quick, and very well done. Even though the eBook is missing some formating that helps show place/time transitions, I enjoyed the ride.

Ultimately, I bought SINS & SHADOWS at a time when it was the only book in the series, and the ending was demoralizing enough that I forgot to keep my eyes open for book two. As a savvier urban fantasy reader, I can now see some hope for Sylvie (and her love life), and look forward to seeing where Benedict takes the series. ( )

The premise: After a colleague is murdered right in front of her, Sylvie Lightner has decided she's had enough of the PI business, enough of magic, and enough of anything remotely the supernatural. Unfortunately, just as she's closing up shop, she meets a man who won't take no for an answer, a man who claims to be a god. This man's lover is missing to the point where even a GOD can't find him, and he needs Sylvie to track him (yes, the man's lover is a he) down. If she doesn't, it's not just her family and friends who will be in danger from the god's wrath, but the whole world. Sylvie's in a race against time, because the longer it takes her to find the god's lover, the more control the god loses, and the world's at stake.

My Rating

Give It Away: you'll have to forgive me, because it's been several days since I finished this book and that distance makes discussing the text rather difficult. There's stuff in this urban fantasy debut that Benedict does well. I like the prose, the descriptions of magic and how Benedict blends various mythologies into a working world that doesn't come off clumsy or cheesy. It's definitely more dark fantasy than paranormal romance on the scale of urban fantasy, and that's important to note. However, for me this book lacked the addiction factor, and I'm not sure if it's because of the third person POV or the fact I really didn't like the heroine or a mixture of both. It took me much longer that I'd like to finish this book, and I can't say I'm going to rush out and get a sequel, at least, not until I get a chance to hear other readers' reactions. That said, fans of Lane Robins's Maledicte should check out this urban fantasy debut under a pen name (and I'm curious why Robins chose to write under Lyn Benedict instead of her real name), because there are similarities in the darkness, in the romantic/sexual relationships of the characters that know no gender trappings, as well as the fact that the use of angels and gods dominates the story, just as it does in Robins's Maledicte. This didn't really work for me on the whole, but there are a lot of ingredients in this book I really like, which I think makes this debut worth checking out for the urban fantasy reader, especially those tired of fangs, fur, and fey.

Review style: this time, I'm dividing the review into three categories: what I liked and what I didn't. Pretty straight forward, eh? The full review (NO SPOILERS) may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Lyn Benedict's SINS & SHADOWS

Happy Reading! :) ( )