#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with “a gripping, twisty-turny, thrill ride of a read (Karin Slaughter) in which Lizbeth is hired onto a new crew, transporting a crate into Dixie, the self-exiled southeast territory of the former United States. What the crate contains is something so powerful, that forces from across three territories want to possess it.In this … it.
In this second thrilling installment of the Gunnie Rose series, Lizbeth Rose is hired onto a new crew for a seemingly easy protection job. She is tasked with transporting a crate into Dixie, just about the last part of the former United States of America she wants to visit. But what seemed like a straightforward job turns into a massacre as the crate is stolen. Up against a wall in Dixie, where social norms have stepped back into the last century, Lizbeth has to go undercover with an old friend to retrieve the crate as what’s inside can spark a rebellion, if she can get it back in time.
“Another winning series from a sure-bet author” (Booklist) Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse mysteries and Midnight, Texas trilogy) is at her best here, building the world of this alternate history of the United States, where magic is an acknowledged but despised power.
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Alternate History | Urban Fantasy
While I’m really enjoying this series, I felt like A Longer Fall was VERY SLOW. It took me quite a while to read this one and while I WAS interested in all the action that was happening, I have to admit much of it dragged for me. Am I shocked? Not really. Her books, while being favorites of mine, always manage to either excite me to the fullest or make me feel indifferent. This book falls in the latter.
So on with the story. In the latest installment of the Gunnie Rose series we find that Lizabeth is once again fighting for her life. After a train derailment and a missing trunk (that may or may not hold Holy remains) Lizabeth finds herself in a predicament that could cost her and those she holds dearly, life. Remember Eli from the first book? Well, he’s back as well! He and Lizabeth must work together before the town of Dixie turns into a chaotic mess. Gun fights, magic, and so much more ensues and readers are taken on another fantastical adventure! Even though I personally found the book to drag in some areas, there is a TON of action within this one and Charlaine writes it in an exciting way. So, if you like your books with a ton of it you won’t want to miss this one.
The ending of A Longer Fall felt a bit unsettled and I hope Charlaine has plans to continue the series as I have many questions. I know many readers will feel the same.
Will I continue this series? You bet! This one may not have been my favorite, but it WAS GOOD. Plus, I’m a diehard Harris fan and will read anything she writes!
This is the second book in the series a bit different from her other books. A cross between fantasy Western and alternate reality I found this to be a quick read can be read along but would be better reading book one first good world building an interesting characters looking forward to see where the series goes
Western gunslinger woman, Russian Mob type wizard, dead bones, train robberies, slavery, bloodhounds, backstabbing, dead bodies and alligators. The West is indeed a wild place in this series. A good continuation of the series with many open ends when it’s done.
Liz is back and she’s working to guard a box traveling on a train with a new crew. Things happen as they do often on trains in the Westerns, bullets fly, people die and Liz is left bewildered. Till Eli shows up out of the blue looking worse than the last time she saw him in Mexico. There are questions, but they’ll have to wait because somebody just got murdered and Liz wants to stay alive. This town they are stuck in is not welcoming. Together again, the pieces slowly come together in many ways.
I like Liz and Eli. I like them working together, each of them is different enough to make the usual unusual. The sex scenes are not up to Ms Harris’s ability, she choose to make them there but not interesting. I would have liked to see a little R rated sex, it was so PG. I will read the next book because of them.
It’s hard to place this in a time. My brain needs to nail it down, old west/modern/future. the mix of old West and modern throws me off sometimes. It felt forced in bits, trying too hard to be a Western and yet not. I’m not loving the world, but I love the characters.
I liked this book more than I did the first, but still only give it an OK rating. The world Harris is developing is quite murky. When does it take place? It has an old west feel, but in this one it seems a bit 1950’s as well. Why are some areas of New America so deprived/backward and others not?
There wasn’t much action until near the end, most of the page is spent on some investigation, but more about learning about the town of Sally and it’s inhabitants focusing on the racial problems. It’s really heavy on the black/white issue, gender inequality and xenophobia. Definitely not an escapist read.
I’m warming up to Gunny Rose, but she still remains a fairly one dimensional character.
There was also more time spent on the relationship between Lizbeth and Eli. True urban fantasy fans might find it a bit much. True paranormal romance fans probably won’t get their needs met (heh) either.
I’ve read everything Harris has written, so I’m sure I’ll read the next book in this series, but it’s not hitting the spot for me setting or character wise yet.
I got my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
A Longer Fall starts slow, builds up speed and takes us crashing into a fantastic read. This book is better if you’ve read the first An Easy Death as the world building is better explained there. The author has created a vivid landscape where your imagination can immediately see what the author intends. This book is filled with beauty and horror and I absolutely loved it. I look forward to more in this world.
While Westerns are not usually something I like to read, a CS book can’t really be considered a true Western when the Wild West has a dash of magic in it. This latest installment of Ginnie Rose starts off with a bang. Because it’s going to take magic and a gunslinger to solve this mystery and be successful. I adore Liz and her no non-sense attitude.
Where CS dealt with allegory in her prior books, there’s no missing the in-your-face issues of racism that Lizabeth and Eli deal with as they travel through “Dixie” territory in this book. It’s a different direction than the Sookie books, but the potential is there. With characters that can give it more depth.
** Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this ARC for my honest opinion. **
I did not read #1 so I was a bit lost with the setting/time period as well as some of the characteristics of it. I enjoyed Lizbeth and Eli’s relationship for the most part. The romantic side of it was a bit wanting as if the story couldn’t make up its mind if they were or just convenient bed partners. Lizbeth was a strong female character while Eli was the magical one. Liked this switch of roles. The mystery chest part of the story was not as developed as I would have liked and seemed to end with a whimper. This would have been a 3.5 star but due to the unique story line I bumped it to a 4 star.
I’m finding this series to be very intriguing. First, the heroine is kind of a badass. She’s a gunnie who’s starting to become famous with her ability to shoot and being the last one standing. Nothing seems to faze her. She has a good sense of right and wrong but she also has no qualms about killing people when they need killing. Lizbeth is only 19 years old and that girl is as cool as cucumber. She’s the biggest reason I’m enjoying these books.
The storyline is just as intriguing. In the first book, I described Lizbeth’s world as like an old western set in modern times with fantasy thrown in there. It’s still the same in this book, however when her job takes her to the town of Sally, they are thrown back into the old ways. It’s weird to say that when this already seems decades old as it is. What I mean is that the town of Sally has a certain outlook on gender and race that we all know was there back in our old western world. It’s not anything Lizbeth is used too and it hinders her ability to do her job.
There’s a lot of action going on in this book which means a lot of killing. The magic used in this series sometimes give me the heebie jeebies. They have a dark tone to it even when it seems to be used for good. All of these elements combines into one unique series and I’m hooked. I’m looking forward to the next book.
Second in the Gunnie Rose urban fantasy series set in an alternative history and revolving around Lizbeth Rose and set in a very different, gunslinger-oriented not-US.
This eARC was sent to me by NetGalley and Saga Press for an honest review.
My Take
I do like Lizbeth. She doesn’t tolerate spousal abuse, and she has the chutzpah to stand up to abusers. Ahem. This girl just ain’t gonna fit in with what a “proper woman” is in Sally. Nope. Harris plays this up with Liz’s matter-of-fact approach to being herself and to sharing a room…and a bed…with Eli, contrasting this with the townspeople’s “moral” attitudes. It’s all helped along by first person protagonist point-of-view from Lizbeth’s perspective. Lol, I can’t help it, I do adore Liz’s attitude and her commentary as she attempts to fit in.
Conflict…mmm. Seems that Harriet, Liz, and Eli are all after the same thing, although Eli has a greater incentive to succeed — after events in An Easy Death, 1, he’s not in favor at court anymore. There’s such potential for drama with each of them having a different goal, but it all slides together too easily.
It’s odd how Harris uses lowercase for proper names of people’s name tags and businesses.
Oh lord, I HAD to crack up at Liz’s deft handling of Miss Mercer’s invasion of Liz and Eli’s hotel room, lol. It’s an incident that leads to that dinner invitation where Millie Fielder receives unexpected support.
I like A Longer Fall, but there are issues in this that bug me. Harris is an accomplished writer. Between her Sookie Stackhouse series, Harper Connelly series, and Midnight, Texas series, I’d pick up anything of hers to read. But A Longer Fall slips back and forth between callow and experienced writing.
It wasn’t helped by the naive thinking of the do-gooders in Sally about that drastic change coming up. This is a thought process that needed to evolve and not simply jump out at us. I also have a bone to pick with the lack of background. Admittedly, I haven’t read the first book in the Gunnie Rose series, but it’s still a good idea to figure a reader will happen on a book and read it, without having read the preceding tales in a series. Or that it may have been awhile since they read the previous book. I know it would have lessened my confusion as to whether Texoma is a country, a county, or a town. As for Segundo Mexia… Is it a town? A country?
Although, how the hoped-for change actually does come about was quite unexpected. It’s so perfect with how everyone wants to see it go down. Too perfect, really. Too easy.
There is plenty of action in this, and it’s driven by A Longer Fall’s characters. And with all the references (I’m guessing) back to An Easy Death, I reckon I’ll have to read it to get the answers to my questions…
The Story
The crew’s destination is a small town in a country not far from Dallas. A town very few travel on to. Sally. In Dixie.
The cargo is a crate filled with a chest with unimaginable power, intended to free the downtrodden Blacks of Sally. A promise made by a husband to his dying wife.
But there are those opposed to these rebellious intentions.
The Characters
Lizbeth Rose, a.k.a., Gunnie Rose, is a famous shooter based in Segundo Mexia. Candle is her mother, a school teacher married to Jackson Skidder, Liz’s stepfather. Felicia is Liz’s half-sister, a granddaughter of Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin’s bastard son Oleg Karkarov had been Liz and Felicia’s father.
Eli Savarov, a.k.a., Prince Ilya Savarov, is a friend, a grigori, a wizard of the Holy Russian Empire with whom Liz has worked before. Eli’s father, Prince Vladimir Savaorv, had been a traitor. Peter is a younger brother as well as a grigori with an affinity for air. There are also two sisters, all of whose futures depend on Eli’s success. Paulina had been Eli’s partner.
The Lucky Crew is…
…Liz’s new crew led by Jake Tutwiler. Jake’s boyfriend is Burke Printer. The rest of his crew includes Maddy Smith, Charlie Chop , and Rogelio Socorro.
Harriet Ritter is partnered up with Travis Seeley, and they work for Iron Hand Security, a company based in Britannia, North Carolina.
Sally, Dixie, is…
…where women are second-class citizens and all magic is godless. Mr Mercer owns the Pleasant Rest Hotel. Nellie Mercer is his snooty, nosy daughter. James Edward Johnson is a Black waiter who is part of the conspiracy.
Clyde Lathrop is the sheriff of the county and investigating the train explosion. Dr Jerry Fielder is a decent guy, as is his wife, Millie. Nurses Finch, Underwood, Allen and Dr Gimball work at Ballard Memorial Hospital.
Galilee Clelland had been Liz’s best friend. Freedom is her son who has a daughter of his own. Reva and Hosea Clelland are Galilee’s Black parents.
The Ballards are the power family in Sally. Samuel had been Amanda’s father. Mrs Ballard is the matriarch. Holden is Amanda’s violent brother. Juanita Poe is a servant.
Mrs Evvie Moultry neé Ballard sounds like she’s a nasty piece of work. Willa May is a Black girl hired as her caregiver. Her son, Norman Moultry, is a lawyer.
Sarah Byrne is an unemployed shooter.
The Holy Russian Empire (HRE) consists of…
…California and Oregon these days. Tsar Alexei has a bleeding disease and is kept alive through Grigori Rasputin’s blood. Amanda Ballard had been Alexei’s first wife. Felix is a fairly new grigori.
The church of Holy Russia is Christian Orthodox which believes in Saint Moses the Black.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a cloudy brown background with pale gray gender symbols set in a half-moon, bottom-based outline of fire, lined up in a row above the orange-and-yellow gradation of the title at the very bottom. At the top is an info blurb in pale gray. The author’s name is immediately below it in the same gradated orange. In the center is a sulky looking Lizbeth in profile, her arms crossed, but her face turned to glare at us and wearing a tan short-sleeved, round-necked blouse and deeper brown trousers. Her left hand is holding a smoking gun. Her dark hair is done up in a braid and twisted together at the back of her head.
The only reason for the title I can think of is that it is A Longer Fall yet, for Liz, when Eli makes his decision.
A LONGER FALL by Charlaine Harris is the second book in the new Gunnie Rose series. This series spans several genres including urban fantasy, western, alternate history, and thriller with magic adding another level.
The story begins with our protagonist Lizbeth Rose (Gunnie Rose) on a train heading from Texoma to the country of Dixie with a new gunnie crew guarding a crate they need to deliver in Sally, a town in Dixie. By the end of the first chapter there has been an explosion and the train has been derailed near their destination. What started as an easy protection job has now evolved into something else. Lizbeth’s friend from book one, Eli Savarov shows up shown after the train derailment and they join forces to continue the mission. Both Lizbeth’s weapons expertise and Eli’s magic are needed to help them succeed. Who are their friends and who are enemies?
Dixie has some very old-fashioned beliefs that women should be wearing dresses, not pants. Additionally, this book takes on the underlying themes of racism and social stratification. There is not quite as much action in this book as in book one in the series, but there is still plenty of it as well as a couple of slightly steamy, but not graphic scenes.
Charlaine Harris is one of my favorite authors and she did not let me down with this unique addition to the new series. The worldbuilding is fantastic and the characters are compelling. Lizbeth’s motivations are believable and well-drawn and the secondary characters were well-rounded and enhanced the story. Lizbeth is a strong, and capable female protagonist. The plot twists were believable but several were unexpected. The story moved at an appropriate pace. The scenes were well described and gave me a clear sense of place.
I recommend that those that are interested in this series read the books in order. The first book in the series explains the alternative history aspect that is not fully explained in book two. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. If you like blended genre books, then this may be a book that you would enjoy.
Many thanks to Saga Press / Gallery and Charlaine Harris for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.