Book Review -- Viper Moon

Title: Viper Moon
Author: Lee Roland
Genre: Urban fantasy
Pages: Paperback, 332
Published: 2011
Opening Lines: "Mama wanted me to be a veterinarian. She'd probably have settled for a nurse, teacher, or a grocery story clerk."

In the small town of Duivel, Missouri, Darkness awaits . . .

"Cassandra Archer is the Huntress. She has faithfully served the Earth Mother for years, rescuing kidnapped children from monsters -- both human and supernatural -- dwelling in the abandoned ruins of the Barrows district of Duivel, Missouri.

"When Detective Flynn's twelve-year-old sister goes missing, he suspects her was taken to the Barrows, and he goes to Cass for help. The two clash, but Cass still finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tough, no-nonsense cop.

"After another child goes missing, all clues point to a cataclysmic event during the next dark moon. Cass and Flynn must race against the clock to save the children and prevent a sacrifice that could destroy the entire town . . ."

~ Jacket copy

Thoughts: One thing that will turn me off of a book is bad editing. The inconsistencies were so glaring in this book, I am surprised it even made it past the first round of editing! That is my biggest beef with this book. To start with, the main character makes it clear that her friend Abby is not a psychic; however, no more than five pages later, she is going on and on about Abby's wonderful ability to tell the future. Then, about 100 pages from the end of the book, she is again saying that Abby is a psychic. In another instances, she makes it clear that a low-life, scumbag took Maxie with aspirations of making a quick buck with a badly put together kiddie porn. However, later in the book, it comes out that Maxie was not kidnapped by this low-life, but was taken by the biggest dude int he kiddie porn business. What? Did I miss something?

Even though later it turns out to be rather justified, I couldn't understand Cass's belligerent attitude towards the Earth Mother. If you are called into her service, act has her Huntress, and have her as a pseudo-deity, I don't understand getting in her face and calling her a bitch or a whore.

Another thing, read history and mythology before you slap names onto deified characters. The Darkness is named Aiakos, which is the name a king in Greek mythology. This king was renowned in all of Greece for his justice and piety. Explain that to me in relation to the Darkness!

Aside from the glaring issues, this book wasn't terrible. It provided a little bit of entertainment, but it was a meh read for me. It didn't have a wow-factor, or anything that really stuck out to me. If you're looking for an extremely mindless read with some good action, steamy sex scenes, and a lot of guns and ammo, then pick this one up.

For explanation purposes, I am giving this two stars because I cannot get over the poor editing and the inability of the author to even crack a history book and do a little research. Others, however, might really enjoy this mind-numbing read.

Rating: ☆ ☆
Currently: Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay
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