Alfred Kropp: The Thirteenth Skull (Rick Yancey)

Summary:
Alfred Kropp is the descendant of Lancelot. Yes, that one. He's got a whole lot of money thanks to his late father. He's the Beloved of the Archangel, Michael. Oh, and his blood can heal anyone on Earth, except for himself. In the third book of the Kropp saga, Alfred has more people after him than ever before. There's the son of the man he killed so the man wouldn't kill him. There's the man that wants him only for his magical heal-everything blood. And there's the Company, who wants him to give back the Seal of Solomon, which he kept himself so no one else could use it. He faces betrayal at every turn, and in the places he least expects it. Will he survive, or will any of these murderous foes kill him? Again. (Yup, he's already died once.)

Thoughts:
Not bad, though it's getting a little more predictable. I think my least favorite part is the fact that Yancey has used the countdown clock as his vehicle for drama at least twice now, drawing out the endings of the last two books for an extra 5 pages both times (I read the first so long ago that I don't remember if it used this "plot device" as well) to draw out the conclusion of the story. It just feels like he's padding the page count more than anything else. If it weren't for this countdown, I think the page count would've been more like 292 or 293ish, rather than its stated 297. That doesn't even count the extra two to three pages he soaks up in having a blank page around the "change of scenery" type pages. Kropp goes from Knoxville, TN, to Helena, MO and there's just a page that says "Helena, Montana" with a blank page after it, and then the next is the beginning of the new chapter. Lazy padding of a book, Mr. Yancey. But I digress. I enjoyed the story, though not as much as the first two. It's a good, action-packed book geared mostly to a teenaged boy. (Kropp is 16.) It's just a little disturbing, though, that at sixteen, Kropp has become comfortable with the idea of killing someone. He does it with little remorse in the midst of this book, and it just about glosses over the fact that someone just died. Kropp's adrenaline is pumping too hard for him to feel anything, it seems, and then he never really goes back to the fact that he just killed the guy except to say that his replacement in the squad of people that are after him looks exactly like the murdered guy. Seriously disappointing. He's killed at least two people now, if not more that I can't recall, and he seems to only really feel bad about the first guy he had to off, and only because he was an Arthurian knight's descendant. Not really something you want a teenage boy to get used to, you know?

Book 6 of 50

Pages: 297 padded pages
Genre: Teen lit, action, and fantasy
Grade: B
Would I Recommend?: Good for a fanciful story, and lots of action, but the previous two were far better.

Jack Wakes Up (Seth Harwood)

Summary:
Jack Palms is a one-hit-wonder actor. He was in one movie (sure, a big blockbuster type movie) whose sequel got canned after Jack's crazy, drugged up, and drunk wife decided to lay allegations against Jack, saying he abused her. It's been years since this happened, and Jack's recovered from his own substance abuse issues. Jack gets a call from an old buddy of his, Ralph, the producer from Jack's movie. Ralph wants Jack to get involved with one little project, one last job for Ralph. Jack agrees, but finds out it involves some coked-up Czechs who want to score some more coke before they go on a road trip around the US.

What follows is Ralph getting killed, and Jack becoming the front man on the deal, which leads him and the Czech guys getting into a mess. There are drug cartels galore in this version of San Francisco, and one of them is trying to take the rest down, by way of shooting up the city worse than any action movie. Oh, and the cop that called the press when he went to arrest Jack for abuse is on the case now, and is forcing Jack to bring him something good. Jack's got to figure out who's at the top of all of it, and serve it up to the cop on a platter.

Thoughts:
What I read was an uncorrected proof, apparently. But as far as I could tell, it was only missing a few bits of punctuation. REALLY good story. I could do without all the drug references, sure, but for the most part, it was really good. I was figuring things out just when Jack was, so for once I wasn't three steps ahead. A few twists came out of no where on me, which is always a good thing. Plus, Jack has a '66 Mustang fastback, K-code, which means he's pretty awesome. Great writing, though. Finally another good one under the belt.

Pages: 293
Genre: Action, mystery
Grade: A-/B+
Would I Recommend?: Yes, absolutely.

17 down, 33 to go!