Matt Abraham

This was an entertaining murder mystery set in a world filled with superheroes and villains of varying levels of fame and notoriety. The noir/hardboiled feel was a lot of fun, both in terms of voice and plot. It didn't feel overdone or belaboured. I'm not fond of grim, pessimistic stories, and this one didn't feel too dark for my tastes.

As we'd expect for the genre, nearly everyone's out to double-cross everyone else. I'm not sure I completely followed all the switches in alliances and loyalties as I tagged along to see what trouble Curse would end up in next. Additionally, there seem to be a lot of characters with superpowers, and I didn't always manage to keep track of who could do what. However, I was more than happy to just go along for the ride.… (més)

After getting off the rollercoaster that was book one of the Dane Curse series, I quickly bought a ticket for The Coconut Swindle, hoping for equal chills and thrills. It doesn't quite match book one, but it's still a top-notch genre-blender.

OK, the prequel aspect: I have mixed feelings about prequels, so having book two in the series jump back in time was a gamble, in my opinion. A lot of the character development is fascinating – the insanely ambitious yet scrupulously honest Laars Monday being a good example – but if you've read book one, you know a lot of these characters aren't in any real danger. This throws a few pails of water on the otherwise scorching action, and is a general weakness in prequels.

I also thought the story started out a little slow, but I figured Abraham would get revved up eventually, and my faith wasn't misplaced. The witticisms are just as sharp as book one; there are plenty of battles, explosions, and ingenious escapes; the pulp is pulpy; and the characters are just as awesome.

Overall, Abraham's writing is stronger. The museum scenes are especially well-written, and in fact I'll reread them so I can savor the details. I do have a gripe, though: Abraham loves to begin sentences with “And” and “Then," which is off-putting, especially during the action scenes.

The case itself is far more technical and convoluted than the first book's. I was hooked at first, but the layers of complexity just kept coming, and I found myself wishing for book one's relatively straightforward case. The payoff also wasn't as good as book one's nuclear-grade finale. Oh, there's an epic battle, of course, and Abraham does his best to keep the tension and emotion high, but the last few pages just don't have that oomph.

Of course, this book still gets four stars, because it's so damned inventive and witty, and I'll be ready for “Old Iron” whenever Abraham drops it onto the indie world.… (més)

Warning: a few minor spoilers below.

Dane Curse is a rip-roaring, clever yarn, filled with countless one-liners, high-octane action, strong characterization, and a complex whodunit plot – it's the whole kit and caboodle.

Let's start with the strongest weapon in Abraham's arsenal: his wit. Literally every page has some “wow” bit of dialogue from one of his snarky, street-wise characters. Dane himself, our PI protagonist, is a veritable fountain of funny and caustic observations – “heels so high the guy who made them needed a building permit,” for example. Since it's his story, and his perspective, he gets the lion's share of the good lines, but pretty much every other character can hold their own when it comes to witty repartee.

The characters themselves are unique, with their powers – if they have any – being well-developed, and incorporated into their personality.

The plot moves along at a breakneck pace, with Dane driving, fighting, intimidating, bargaining, and in general wreaking havoc and ruffling feathers all over Gold Coast City. There's plenty of action and cliffhanger-ending chapters, but Abraham knows when to slow down and give us a breather so we can catch up with the plot.

Like a good detective tale, the story is complex without being inscrutable. We whip from culprit to culprit and motive to motive until we finally get to the climactic scene, which is of course a doozy of a brouhaha.

So why only four stars?

I thought Abraham built up Dane to be far too awesome during the first three-quarters of the novel, with his adversaries far too inept. There's also a standard “wade through cannon fodder” comic book scene, but I expect that sort of thing from Captain America, not a guy who's been billed as a “small-time PI.”

Abraham may have been building Dane up only to lay him low towards the end, but if so, it didn't work for me. Don't get me wrong, Dane gets into plenty of trouble, but I never felt like things were truly serious until the novel's ending.

Don't let these complaints deter you from purchasing this book, though. I guarantee you'll enjoy it, even if you aren't a fan of noir or superhero-style stories. If you are, this is a gem you don't want to pass by.

“Do you like pulp?”

“What do you think?”… (més)