LynneC’s review of The Lost (Sin Hunters, Book 1) by Caridad Piñiero
Paranormal Romance published by Grand Central 26 Jul 11
The title perfectly describes my reaction to the first part of this story. I was well and truly lost.
This is the first in a new series called The Sin Eaters, so I couldn’t use the excuse of starting part way through. I’ve read some of Piñiero’s suspense stories and enjoyed them, so I was excited to read her venture into the paranormal, but I think she takes on too much and ends up with a barely comprehensible hot mess. What saves this for me is the characters of the two main protagonists, and I’d have much rather she concentrate on them. However, I’m coming to this story with the perspective of a romance reader, and if you prefer urban fantasy or straight paranormal, you might enjoy this one a lot more than I do.
After an intriguing prologue, in which a rescued boy turns out to be a shapeshifter, we get three chapters with three different sets of people, none of which we spend enough time with for me to care about. My interest starts to unfold when we meet Bobbie, an ex-military who has suffered extreme damage after a bomb attack. She’s been stitched back together and she’s receiving physical therapy. Then she goes into a car lot and meets Adam, who is the hero, although that’s not apparent right away.
Adam has strange powers that have led him to found a company and become reasonably wealthy. His foster father is a member of the CIA, and his real parents are searching for him. They are Light Hunters, I think, and the Dark Hunters are after them. Why, I was never entirely sure.
Think of the Light Hunters as the AC part of the current and the Dark Hunters as the DC part. Or if you remember the fad a few years ago for “psychic vampires,” vampires that feed off the energy of people instead of blood, that’s more or less the idea. I think. But I do find this part of the story very confusing. That’s what you get with complicated world building. Smallpox comes into it somewhere, too, though I’m never entirely sure why that’s thrown into the mix. I get that when the evil Westerners come to the US, they infect the natives with smallpox and that affects their genes or something, but I’m not sure it’s necessary to the story.
The other part I don’t like is when it’s indicated that Light Hunters, or people with one in their ancestry, are the people who make the difference to the human race, the leaders and the innovators. It hints too much of eugenics for me. I prefer to think that some people work hard to make themselves leaders, not that it’s inbred into them, which means if you don’t have that “special” gene, you can never be anything but a drone.
There is adventure and derring-do, but this story only really comes alive when it centers on Adam and Bobbie, their growing relationship, and the evil threatening them. There are also a few stylistic problems that bother me. Too many tags tend to distance me from the characters, i.e., lots of “she thought” and “he considered,” so reminding me that I am not in their heads, only watching them, and there is a fair bit of head-hopping too, something that I really don’t like. I’d call the style omniscient, because it pops into other character’s heads without warning.
So a curate’s egg of a book. I read it to the end and found the epilogue is sequel bait. I’m not sure about going there.
Grade: C+
Summary:
Adam Bruno is no ordinary millionaire. The heir to an ancient race possessing a dark, powerful magic, he can shapeshift and create energy. His gifts make him a living weapon and have forced him to live in seclusion. But now an inhuman force hunts down Adam-just when he finds someone who makes him feel more human than he ever imagined possible . . .
Home from combat in Iraq, Bobbie Carerra wants only peace, yet soon joins Adam in a terrifying battle against paranormal enemies who hide in plain sight. She’s drawn to his strength of mind and body; he’s attracted to her courage and intoxicating energy. Their scorching passion can either transport them to the heights of ecstasy or-if Adam’s powers rage out of control-destroy them. But when an invisible brotherhood tightens its nets and someone Adam trusts betrays him, only a heartrending decision can save them.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
The Claimed – May 2012
