Friday, July 16, 2010

Mini-Impressions: The End of the Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon

This is the truth here... I meant to write reviews for both Death of a Pirate King and The Dark Tide after I finished reading them back in May. The funny part of the story is that I was so caught up reading this series and the stories, I kept forgetting to well... write a review. 

So, what did I do instead? I kept going back to the books and just kept re-reading them and forgetting to write a thing. I just wanted to enjoy them, over and over again. It became what I'll be calling: My Adrien English Obsessive Cycle.

It has happened to me before where I find a favorite book and become selfish. I want to keep these books to myself. These are books I loved so much that I can't write or talk about them, and/or sometimes it takes me a while to share my thoughts. These books become my private joy and I hold them tight. 

The following are actually my first impressions of the books after I finished them with a few minor edits. 

Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 4) by Josh Lanyon

I loved Death of a Pirate King. Lanyon begins this book two years after The Hell You Say ends, and I think the way he used the timeline was just brilliant. The timeline allowed for character growth for Adrien, and what I thought was more subtle character growth for Jake. It also allows the reader to experience the maturity to relationships established in The Hell You Say, as well as the long term consequences to Jake's questionable actions. I also loved the way Lanyon weaved the mystery and the main character's personal lives in this installment. The end was stunning and the perfect set up for the last book of the series. Grade: A-

The Dark Tide (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 5) by Josh Lanyon

When I finished the Adrien English series all I could think was... I love the way Lanyon finished it off and I want to read it again! The mystery in The Dark Tide parallels Jake's own life in many ways and it has a wonderful retro atmosphere that I just loved. Adrien's character really blooms, as we see just how far he has come from the time we met him. Jake is still a bit of mystery at the end and frankly I like him that way. I loved that Lanyon kept Jake's character true to himself to the end. Both characters go for an emotional ride in The Dark Tide as does the reader, and I think it is an excellent ending to what turned out to be a fantastic series.

I'll admit here that once I finished The Dark Tide, I went back and re-read favorite passages and scenes throughout the whole series and had a bit of a problem letting go of it -- addictive series, addictive characters. What more can I say? Grade: A

Visit Josh Lanyon here.


9 comments:

  1. Isn't it a bit sad to finish them? I still re-read my favorite scenes... then get sucked in and read the entire book/series. LOVE LOVE this series.

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  2. Mariana, I wasn't ready to finish them when I did. That's definitely what kept happening to me too. It has been a while since that's happened to me with a series.

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  3. LMAO! I read the first part of this post and I was like YES exactly what I went through!! haha I still haven't reviewed the last book. I want to reread it...but in the meantime, I've been re-reading my favorite passages and kinda sorta reread the first two again. LOL I just love Jake and Adrien.

    But I need to reread the last book because I was distracted the first time I read it. I was visiting at a relative's house and people kept asking me about my ebook reader and yeah, cut into my reading.

    What did you think of Jake in the 4th book?

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  4. Reading your posts make me want to pick them up again! What a wonderful way to feel about a book/series. Though I'm glad you did get around to posting about them. ;-)

    "it has a wonderful retro atmosphere that I just loved."

    The series has always had a noir-ish feel for me. I can totally imagine it in the style of a 40's noir thriller. And, I guess the covers, too, reinforce that style.

    I really suggest (if you haven't already read it) Lanyon's novella "Lover's and Other Strangers" in The Art of Dying anthology co-authored with Jordan Castillo Price. The hero, Finn, reminds me in some ways of Adrien. (And, Finn, imo, doesn't suffer for the comparison.)

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  5. Ames! My AE obsession partner! LOL! Goodness yes! I loved this series (Jake and Adrien).

    What did I think of Jake in the last book? I liked his sincerity with Adrien... even when it was tough for Adrien to deal with it. I liked that Adrien realized that HE himself had not asked the right questions along the way. I loved Adrien's character growth and the way Jake dealt with the changes. We didn't get all the nitty gritty details about what Jake was going through outside of his relationship with Adrien, (except for a few) but that was okay with me. I loved the end. :)

    Renee... by the time I got to the last two books I just wanted to hug these books and keep them to myself. *g*

    I loved the atmosphere in all the books. Both Death of a Pirate King and The Dark Tide had that retro atmosphere... they transported me to another time, yet kept me in the here and now -- loved it!

    I have a couple of Lanyon's other books in my TBR pile, but I have to check and see if I have your recommendations, if not I'll be sure to get them. Thank you!

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  6. LOL. You say you finish reading them in May, but it seems it's been longer, Hils! Or perhaps I'm confusing you with Ames :P

    I'm definitively going to start reading them soon :)

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  7. Ohhh, no. I started this series in April and finished the last two books in May. :D I just read so much in between, it seems like a long time ago, lol!

    I hope you begin these soon and that you enjoy them as much as Ames and I have. ;P

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  8. *SIGH* I love this series and especially the last book! I want more... I guess I'll just have to read other JL books *grin*

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  9. LOL, I loved the whole series, *sigh*

    I'm getting ready to read a whole bunch of other JL books myself, orannia... and I'll re-read this series whenever I need some AE love. :D

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