Wake of the Bloody Angel

I looked up at the stars. Finding one pirate after twenty years was a lot like picking one star out of this sky. Just when you thought you had it, a cloud slid by and you had to start all over when it the passed.

Yet that's just what Eddie LaCrosse sets out to do – find the unfindable, track the untrackable. For those of you who don't know – Eddie lives in a fairly standard fantasy realm, and makes his living as a “sword jockey” – what we'd call a P.I. in our world. These books are first person narratives and read a lot like good detective novels – but with swords, horses and the occasional dragon or whatnot.

Eddie doesn't go alone on his search for a pirate – he brings along his old friend/colleague, Jane Argo. Jane's a former pirate turned pirate hunter turned sword jockey and is as tough as that résumé suggests. Having her come along on this adventure as the Hawk/Joe Pike figure was a great addition to a series that I didn't think required it. But now, I want more of her – back in Eddie LaCrosse #6, or in Jane Argo #1. I could be pleased either way, as long as it's soon.

There's adventure, piracy, sword-play, banter, friendship, and a bit of betrayal. Enough to keep you engaged, if not turning pages as quickly as you can. Every now and then, in the middle of this fun read, Bledsoe reminds you he can do more than tell a fun action story, and drop a sentence, or phrase that shows he's just a good writer, period. One such line that stood out to me, and I've tried to find excuses to use in the last couple days is:

Hawk's been called many things over the years, but you know what captures him best, in my opinion? That he's simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

Let the Right One In

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He Drank, and Saw the Spider