There’s “hard to kill”—and then there’s Bellamy Vale.After narrowly preventing the destruction of Cold City, PI Bellamy Vale needs a rest. Or rather, he needs a plain and simple vanilla case—no monsters or otherworldly creatures involved!When foreign businessman Eli Smith shows up at his doorstep with a thick wallet and a request to find his missing sister, Vale doesn’t think twice before … think twice before agreeing.
If he’d known body-hopping demons and smoke monsters came attached to this job, however, he might have.
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—3.5 Stars—
This book is an interesting, intriguing, suspenseful, mystery, urban fantasy read!
When I first saw the book cover, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. To be honest, I found the cover to be a bit scary and creepy, but still intriguing enough that I was excited to check out this book!
This book focuses on P.I. Bellamy Vale and the adventures he gets tangled up in while trying to solve his client’s cases. Vale has just come off a major win by defeating Mayor Galatas and her minions in book one and he is looking for some R&R when a new client, Eli Smith, bursts in on him at his home. Eli, a strange businessman hires Vale to find his sister, Sarit, who has been missing for a few days. However, Eli has no picture of Sarit, no phone number, and pretty much no information about her – this is definitely not going to be a simple missing persons case.
This book has an interesting storyline, very detailed writing style, well-developed characters, is fast paced, and keeps you entertained.
I liked that this book started out fast paced with an action scene and kept the adventure stride mostly on par throughout the book.
Unfortunately, I think that the worldbuilding wasn’t as strong and powerful as it needed to be. I felt that there were gaps and inconsistencies within the current worldbuilding setup. This created several confusing passages and misunderstandings amongst the storyline.
This book genre is marketed as an urban fantasy book and yet the author found a way to throw in adventure, mystery, intrigue, and suspense elements into the book. It definitely added a fascinating extra component to the story!
This book has many unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming! I really wasn’t sure which way this book was going to go as it seemed quite unpredictable!
This book is Book Two of The Vale Investigation Book Series. I had not read the first book before reading this book. There are many references to the previous book and the characters significantly overlap. It could technically be read on its own as a standalone. I wasn’t completely confused or lost. I just occasionally felt out of the loop and that I was missing important information about the characters and how they got to the point at where they are when book two starts. So, I personally would recommend reading the first book, before you start book two.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it! I think all urban fantasy, science fiction, and mystery readers will like this book, too!
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/2020/08/17/review-evil-embers-by-cristelle-comby/
Urban Fantasy, Magic: This second book has been an improvement from the previous one in the fantasy side of the story. The first book was too much of gunslingers for my taste. This story embraces the magical part tighter, making the action parts feel more varied and colourful.
Mystery: As in the one before, this story also relies pretty heavily in the mystery element. I don’t say that as something bad. The opposite, actually. I also have to point out this new mystery is way easier to follow than the one we were told in the first book. More focused and less cumbersome.
First Person: Vale is a great character to have as the designated driver in this saga. The only problem I have is it feels like he should be more fun to read. I mean more banter and caustic humour. There is some, but this character kind of asks for more. Does it make any sense?
I wish I had read the first book, because it sounds like I missed a heck of an adventure, but Book 2 is stand alone enough that I wasn’t lost in this dark, gritty world. I was completely drawn in from Page 1. Bellamy Vale reminds me of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, although on the surface they are very different guys. Bellamy has no innate magic, but he works for Lady Death righting paranormal wrongs beyond the scope of the regular folk in Cold City.
When foreign businessman Eli Smith shows up at his doorstep with a thick wallet and a request to find his missing sister, Vale doesn’t think twice before agreeing.
I love the fact that Eli hires Bellamy and then stalks him to check on progress. I really like the characters in this fully fledged world, especially Kennedy, a reporter who helps Bellamy get the info he needs. All the characters were like real people, with hopes and fears and distinct personalities that occasionally clash. I love when well-meant help actually impedes and the characters have to adapt. The twists and turns and setbacks kept me turning pages, and the characters made me laugh and stress and care.
I loved hanging out in this urban landscape, and hope to make many more trips here!
First book I have read. It took me a bit to get into the story but I did enjoy it. With the suspense elements mixed with the paranormal ones, it became interesting. Bellamy Vale was a very intriguing character as this was the first book I read in this series. He had me rooting for him once the story got going.