Status
Available
Call number
Publication
St. Martin's Paperbacks (2008), Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages
Description
Finding her beloved foster mother Ruth brutally murdered in her kitchen, psychic Liz Phoenix begins to experience terrifying visions of horrific creatures, dreams that may be linked to her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci, who reveals to her the truth about a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time and of her role as a warrior in that battle.
Media reviews
Handeland looks to have another winner of a series on her hands!
User reviews
LibraryThing member Michael_P
I honestly cannot find one redeeming quality about “Any Given Doomsday.” Despite the fact that the cover states that Lori Handeland is a New York Times bestselling author, this book reads like an amateur first draft with character inconsistencies, bad plotting, terrible dialogue, and classic
The main character, Elizabeth Phoenix, is not the brightest crayon in the box, and frequently has to have things explained to her two and three times before she understands something, but will then follow up with the exact same question that started the long, boring, and stilted explanation the reader has just suffered through. Her actions and reactions are also inconsistent with previous experiences in the story. For instance, after fighting two demons who turned to ash upon their deaths, learning that her ex-boyfriend is a half-vampire, and killing off a town of werewolves, Elizabeth Phoenix drops the phone in shock to learn that a previous victim had the blood sucked out of her body. To the reader, that seems like the *least* shocking revelation, but not to our sharp-as-a-bowling-ball heroine.
Another moment of supreme stupidity is after Elizabeth is captured, stripped of her clothes, and seduced/raped by her ex-boyfriend turned temporarily evil, she is told that she will become a sex slave and will never again wear clothes for the rest of eternity. She leaves to take a shower, only to be insulted and shocked upon her return to find her tattered clothes missing from the bedroom with no new clothes left in their place.
The two male characters are so two dimensional that their every action seems contrived, and their feud and mistrust of each other goes beyond absurd to simply annoying and distracting. But that fits lock-in-step with the overly simplistic and predictable plot. The supremely intelligent, ancient and wise evil vampire/antagonist is killed off with the easiest of effort stolen straight from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but only after revealing his “secret” plan to our nude and captive heroine (i.e. in the classical-cheesy method: I’m going to kill you, but first I will reveal my plan to take over the world.). Then after one more poorly written sex scene, our heroine’s now reformed ex-boyfriend disappears like a cliché in the early dawn hours, leading us straight into a sequel you couldn’t pay me to read.
This novel is proof-positive that once publishers spot a hot trend or sub-genre, they will rush any ol’ title out there to grab as much cash as they can as quickly as they can, thereby smothering with certifiable crap the very market they’re trying to build. It’s just unfortunate that the authors don’t at least make an honest attempt to craft a better story.
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blunders.The main character, Elizabeth Phoenix, is not the brightest crayon in the box, and frequently has to have things explained to her two and three times before she understands something, but will then follow up with the exact same question that started the long, boring, and stilted explanation the reader has just suffered through. Her actions and reactions are also inconsistent with previous experiences in the story. For instance, after fighting two demons who turned to ash upon their deaths, learning that her ex-boyfriend is a half-vampire, and killing off a town of werewolves, Elizabeth Phoenix drops the phone in shock to learn that a previous victim had the blood sucked out of her body. To the reader, that seems like the *least* shocking revelation, but not to our sharp-as-a-bowling-ball heroine.
Another moment of supreme stupidity is after Elizabeth is captured, stripped of her clothes, and seduced/raped by her ex-boyfriend turned temporarily evil, she is told that she will become a sex slave and will never again wear clothes for the rest of eternity. She leaves to take a shower, only to be insulted and shocked upon her return to find her tattered clothes missing from the bedroom with no new clothes left in their place.
The two male characters are so two dimensional that their every action seems contrived, and their feud and mistrust of each other goes beyond absurd to simply annoying and distracting. But that fits lock-in-step with the overly simplistic and predictable plot. The supremely intelligent, ancient and wise evil vampire/antagonist is killed off with the easiest of effort stolen straight from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but only after revealing his “secret” plan to our nude and captive heroine (i.e. in the classical-cheesy method: I’m going to kill you, but first I will reveal my plan to take over the world.). Then after one more poorly written sex scene, our heroine’s now reformed ex-boyfriend disappears like a cliché in the early dawn hours, leading us straight into a sequel you couldn’t pay me to read.
This novel is proof-positive that once publishers spot a hot trend or sub-genre, they will rush any ol’ title out there to grab as much cash as they can as quickly as they can, thereby smothering with certifiable crap the very market they’re trying to build. It’s just unfortunate that the authors don’t at least make an honest attempt to craft a better story.
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LibraryThing member Ganeshaka
Uh, no.
No?
No.
[Synopsis: Twenty-five, and still a bartender, Elizabeth Phoenix, wisecracking ex-cop millenium generation female gifted with psychic powers reluctantly accepts torch for saving the world - passed to her from kindly old black foster Mom - and teams up with part-vampire ex-boyfriend
The bellybutton on the cover of "Any Given Doomsday" is your first clue. Can you hear it? Well watch it. It's morphing into a pair of pink doggy lips and a hanging tongue - a la Cronenberg's film of Naked Lunch - now, do you hear it? It's warning you: "Woof, woof...(Loook out! I'm a mutt.)"
Let me put it another way. This is the kind of supernatural-action-adventure tale that Nicholas Cage stars in when he's disappointing and pissing off all the people who loved him in Leaving Las Vegas or Wild at Heart. So, unless you're like ..."I want two large popcorns, extra butter, and a Coke."... in which case... "Ka-ching. Have a nice day."
Or let me put it still another way. This book is the TV show "Saving Grace" without the saving grace of Holly Hunter.
Or let me just quote the damn thing:
"Our gazes met. Mine narrowed; his eyes stayed wide and eerily black.
'Open yourself,' he intoned.
I lifted my hand and removed his from my chest. He blinked. His eyes went back the way they were supposed to be-human,not...whatever they'd been-and the dancing flames fell back to the earth with an audible whoosh.
'Don't touch me,' I said.
When he touched me I didn't feel like myself. When he touched me I wanted something I had no business wanting.
Him."
I should have known I had no business being an Early Reviewer of this book. But sometimes I like the thought of vampires. The dark shadow of a werewolf. I long for a touch of the supernatural. I just want some...
Some intelligent fun.
No?
No.
[Synopsis: Twenty-five, and still a bartender, Elizabeth Phoenix, wisecracking ex-cop millenium generation female gifted with psychic powers reluctantly accepts torch for saving the world - passed to her from kindly old black foster Mom - and teams up with part-vampire ex-boyfriend
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whom she loves to hate and hates to love.]The bellybutton on the cover of "Any Given Doomsday" is your first clue. Can you hear it? Well watch it. It's morphing into a pair of pink doggy lips and a hanging tongue - a la Cronenberg's film of Naked Lunch - now, do you hear it? It's warning you: "Woof, woof...(Loook out! I'm a mutt.)"
Let me put it another way. This is the kind of supernatural-action-adventure tale that Nicholas Cage stars in when he's disappointing and pissing off all the people who loved him in Leaving Las Vegas or Wild at Heart. So, unless you're like ..."I want two large popcorns, extra butter, and a Coke."... in which case... "Ka-ching. Have a nice day."
Or let me put it still another way. This book is the TV show "Saving Grace" without the saving grace of Holly Hunter.
Or let me just quote the damn thing:
"Our gazes met. Mine narrowed; his eyes stayed wide and eerily black.
'Open yourself,' he intoned.
I lifted my hand and removed his from my chest. He blinked. His eyes went back the way they were supposed to be-human,not...whatever they'd been-and the dancing flames fell back to the earth with an audible whoosh.
'Don't touch me,' I said.
When he touched me I didn't feel like myself. When he touched me I wanted something I had no business wanting.
Him."
I should have known I had no business being an Early Reviewer of this book. But sometimes I like the thought of vampires. The dark shadow of a werewolf. I long for a touch of the supernatural. I just want some...
Some intelligent fun.
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LibraryThing member xicanti
Let's take care of the background stuff, first off. I received this book through LibraryThing's EarlyReviewers program. The publisher, St. Martin's press, made 1000 copies available through LTERs. I snagged one of them, and waited more than two months for it to arrive. During that time, I read tons
I don't necessarily believe that books have to be good in order to be enjoyable. Sure, it's best if the book is both well-written and highly readable, but I don't demand it. If the story sweeps me along and entertains the hell out of me, I'm perfectly willing to overlook bad writing.
I'd heard all sorts of terrible things about ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY. I trusted the opinion-givers enough to admit that yes, the writing was likely to be terrible, but I'd hoped the story and the characters might be enough to carry me through. I like mysteries and vampires and werewolves and all that other good stuff. Maybe I'd like this.
Yeah. I didn't. Not at all.
I can see what others have enjoyed about the book. It's fast-paced; things happen bam-bam-bam, one right after the other. The narrator comes out with a whole ton of one-liners. The male love interests fit into certain time-honored romantic traditions. There's enough sex to satisfy those among us who like their books with lots of pulsating members. The whole setup is reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And... now I'm drawing a blank. I only finished it yesterday, and the story is already fading. It fell completely flat for me. I'd like to say something nicer than, "I was bored stiff," but that'd be lying.
But let's backtrack here. I'm sure you've read tons of reviews by now and have slogged through dozens of summaries, so you can just skip this next paragraph if you want.
ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY revolves around Elizabeth Phoenix, an ex-cop with psychic powers. When Ruthie, her foster mother, is murdered, Liz learns that she fulfills two roles in the upcoming battle: she's a seer, capable of recognizing the creatures that roam the world in human guise, and a Demon Killer, capable of killing them. It's now up to her to save the world from the fallen angels who want to enslave humanity. With the help of her ex, Jimmy, and her old psychic teacher, Sawyer, she sets out to do just that - starting with Ruthie's killer.
And now back to the reasons I didn't care for it.
Reason number one: the pacing. As I mentioned above, it's very fast. But fast-paced is good, right? Not when the bits and pieces fail to come together, and these ones failed to come together for me. The book was a bunch of somewhat-related incidents that lacked punch. Liz finds Ruthie in a pool of her own blood. Liz encounters a big nasty with Jimmy. Liz travels. Liz learns that she's a seer and a Demon Killer. Etc. etc. There are links between each incident, but they weren't enough to keep me involved. And the chapter endings? Handeland is evidently a scion of the "end each chapter on a cliffhanger" cult, but in most cases the cliffhangers aren't at all suspenseful. They're just one-liners, and the next chapter picks up exactly where the previous one left off.
Reason number two: the world building. Handeland has this big, sweeping mythology backing her story up, but I didn't feel that she dealt with it very well. I never had the sense that I was entering a fully-formed world. Liz encounters lots of nasties, sure, but it seemed like Handeland was developing her mythology on the fly. I mean, I'm sure there are all sorts of antecedents here that I'm not familiar with, but still. The author needs to trick me into thinking I am familiar with them, or that I'm learning all this stuff right alongside Liz. She didn't.
Reason number three: the humor. Liz fires off a lot of one-liners. Some of them are mildly funny. Most of them aren't. I'm aware, though, that this is a very personal complaint. Liz's sense of humor didn't jive with mine; that doesn't mean it won't jive with yours.
Reason number four: nitpicky details and recycled descriptions. Liz's belly gets a ton of action. The first time someone's erect penis scraped against her stomach, I figured it was a good way for Handeland to show us the difference between her characters' heights. The second time, I decided it was getting a bit old. The third time, I wrinkled my nose and figured I'd better stop keeping count. So I did.
Reason number five: the characters. They didn't come alive for me. I couldn't sympathize with Liz, and I didn't find either Jimmy or Sawyer remotely attractive. Again, I recognize that this is a very personal complaint.
Reason number six: the sex. And no, it had nothing to do with the quantity. I ain't got nothin' against tons of sex, and there was actually far less that I was expecting, given all the complaints I'd heard. Quality-wise... well, if I hadn't been too bored to pay much attention, I'm sure I'd be able to tell you that the descriptions were decent enough.
No, my complaints re: the sex are all ideological. Most of the sex in this book is basically just rape with the "oh, I wanted him anyways so it's okay" excuse tacked on. And that, my friends, bothers me. One of Liz's lovers drugs her so she thinks she's dreaming. When she comes back to herself, she recognizes that it was basically date rape... but she shrugs it off after a token resistence. Her other lover strips her naked and turns her into a sex slave. She knows she's at a definite disadvantage in this situation... but she excuses the incident by telling both herself and the reader that she's trying to remind him of his fading humanity. It didn't fly for me.
I actually did like the whole idea of absorbing peoples' supernatural skills through sex. I think Handeland could've made that a very empowering thing for Liz. It's a shame she chose to take the thinly-veiled rape route instead. I hope future books in the series will be more positive, but it won't matter to me either way. I won't be reading them.
Reason number seven: I'm a big Buffy fan. And yet again, I recognize that this is a very personal complaint... but our own interests do influence our responses to any given text, and I couldn't stop thinking of ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY as a poorly-realized Buffy clone. The one-liners? The dangerous, inhuman guys, one of whom turns evil on her while the other lusts after her even as she finds him emotionally repellant? The whole "fate of the world rests in her hands" schtick? It was decidedly Buffyesque, and Handeland is no Whedon.
And that pretty well covers it. The book just didn't fly for me, and I can't really recommend it. I will, however, be sharing it with my mother - a devoted paranormal romance fan with a particular fondness for Laurell K. Hamilton - and perhaps she'll think better of it than I did.
(This review also appears on my blog, Stella Matutina).
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of reviews from others whose books had arrived much more quickly. 90% of them were bad.I don't necessarily believe that books have to be good in order to be enjoyable. Sure, it's best if the book is both well-written and highly readable, but I don't demand it. If the story sweeps me along and entertains the hell out of me, I'm perfectly willing to overlook bad writing.
I'd heard all sorts of terrible things about ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY. I trusted the opinion-givers enough to admit that yes, the writing was likely to be terrible, but I'd hoped the story and the characters might be enough to carry me through. I like mysteries and vampires and werewolves and all that other good stuff. Maybe I'd like this.
Yeah. I didn't. Not at all.
I can see what others have enjoyed about the book. It's fast-paced; things happen bam-bam-bam, one right after the other. The narrator comes out with a whole ton of one-liners. The male love interests fit into certain time-honored romantic traditions. There's enough sex to satisfy those among us who like their books with lots of pulsating members. The whole setup is reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And... now I'm drawing a blank. I only finished it yesterday, and the story is already fading. It fell completely flat for me. I'd like to say something nicer than, "I was bored stiff," but that'd be lying.
But let's backtrack here. I'm sure you've read tons of reviews by now and have slogged through dozens of summaries, so you can just skip this next paragraph if you want.
ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY revolves around Elizabeth Phoenix, an ex-cop with psychic powers. When Ruthie, her foster mother, is murdered, Liz learns that she fulfills two roles in the upcoming battle: she's a seer, capable of recognizing the creatures that roam the world in human guise, and a Demon Killer, capable of killing them. It's now up to her to save the world from the fallen angels who want to enslave humanity. With the help of her ex, Jimmy, and her old psychic teacher, Sawyer, she sets out to do just that - starting with Ruthie's killer.
And now back to the reasons I didn't care for it.
Reason number one: the pacing. As I mentioned above, it's very fast. But fast-paced is good, right? Not when the bits and pieces fail to come together, and these ones failed to come together for me. The book was a bunch of somewhat-related incidents that lacked punch. Liz finds Ruthie in a pool of her own blood. Liz encounters a big nasty with Jimmy. Liz travels. Liz learns that she's a seer and a Demon Killer. Etc. etc. There are links between each incident, but they weren't enough to keep me involved. And the chapter endings? Handeland is evidently a scion of the "end each chapter on a cliffhanger" cult, but in most cases the cliffhangers aren't at all suspenseful. They're just one-liners, and the next chapter picks up exactly where the previous one left off.
Reason number two: the world building. Handeland has this big, sweeping mythology backing her story up, but I didn't feel that she dealt with it very well. I never had the sense that I was entering a fully-formed world. Liz encounters lots of nasties, sure, but it seemed like Handeland was developing her mythology on the fly. I mean, I'm sure there are all sorts of antecedents here that I'm not familiar with, but still. The author needs to trick me into thinking I am familiar with them, or that I'm learning all this stuff right alongside Liz. She didn't.
Reason number three: the humor. Liz fires off a lot of one-liners. Some of them are mildly funny. Most of them aren't. I'm aware, though, that this is a very personal complaint. Liz's sense of humor didn't jive with mine; that doesn't mean it won't jive with yours.
Reason number four: nitpicky details and recycled descriptions. Liz's belly gets a ton of action. The first time someone's erect penis scraped against her stomach, I figured it was a good way for Handeland to show us the difference between her characters' heights. The second time, I decided it was getting a bit old. The third time, I wrinkled my nose and figured I'd better stop keeping count. So I did.
Reason number five: the characters. They didn't come alive for me. I couldn't sympathize with Liz, and I didn't find either Jimmy or Sawyer remotely attractive. Again, I recognize that this is a very personal complaint.
Reason number six: the sex. And no, it had nothing to do with the quantity. I ain't got nothin' against tons of sex, and there was actually far less that I was expecting, given all the complaints I'd heard. Quality-wise... well, if I hadn't been too bored to pay much attention, I'm sure I'd be able to tell you that the descriptions were decent enough.
No, my complaints re: the sex are all ideological. Most of the sex in this book is basically just rape with the "oh, I wanted him anyways so it's okay" excuse tacked on. And that, my friends, bothers me. One of Liz's lovers drugs her so she thinks she's dreaming. When she comes back to herself, she recognizes that it was basically date rape... but she shrugs it off after a token resistence. Her other lover strips her naked and turns her into a sex slave. She knows she's at a definite disadvantage in this situation... but she excuses the incident by telling both herself and the reader that she's trying to remind him of his fading humanity. It didn't fly for me.
I actually did like the whole idea of absorbing peoples' supernatural skills through sex. I think Handeland could've made that a very empowering thing for Liz. It's a shame she chose to take the thinly-veiled rape route instead. I hope future books in the series will be more positive, but it won't matter to me either way. I won't be reading them.
Reason number seven: I'm a big Buffy fan. And yet again, I recognize that this is a very personal complaint... but our own interests do influence our responses to any given text, and I couldn't stop thinking of ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY as a poorly-realized Buffy clone. The one-liners? The dangerous, inhuman guys, one of whom turns evil on her while the other lusts after her even as she finds him emotionally repellant? The whole "fate of the world rests in her hands" schtick? It was decidedly Buffyesque, and Handeland is no Whedon.
And that pretty well covers it. The book just didn't fly for me, and I can't really recommend it. I will, however, be sharing it with my mother - a devoted paranormal romance fan with a particular fondness for Laurell K. Hamilton - and perhaps she'll think better of it than I did.
(This review also appears on my blog, Stella Matutina).
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LibraryThing member 9days
First I need to say that I get finish this book. I just couldn’t. If you’re looking for stereotypes and some of the most badly-drawn characters, look no further.
Alright, my biggest problem is the Jimmy character. Let’s take a look at some of his highlights (and this is only a few chapter’s
-Apparently doesn’t know what “no” means
-Shoves his crotch into women’s faces (and utters some crap akin to “We can never keep our hands off eachother”. I laughed writing that)
-Is a cheater
-His idea of protection is either doing nothing or locking a woman in a barn so that she’s trapped when something bad sniffs her out
-Rips a woman’s shirt open just to see if she’s wearing a necklace. No shit.
I could go on, but you’ll just have to take my word that this guy is fantastic. The best excuse for his behavior the author could manage is that he hates himself and so punishes himself by...being a dick to everyone? Yeah.
So our protagonist, who’s tough as nails (naturally) reacts indignantly, tells him to get the hell away from her, or something. Right? No, unfortunately her reactions are something like “Gosh golly, I could just hit him!”. Keep in mind that this is also the woman he cheated on, wouldn’t take “no” from, and locked in a barn. A barn with no lights.
I also love the old black “seer” woman who helps outcast children. I think everyone else will too. That is, everyone who hasn’t already seen The Matrix.
The beastiary is haphazard. The author obviously spent some time on Encyclopedia Mythica cherry-picking from various cultures.
Stilted dialogue, hokey narration. I’ll stop.
But for all I know, the author somehow pulled the story out of its nosedive later on. I doubt it, but even if that’s the case the first half was too far gone for me to go any further.
Alright, my biggest problem is the Jimmy character. Let’s take a look at some of his highlights (and this is only a few chapter’s
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worth):-Apparently doesn’t know what “no” means
-Shoves his crotch into women’s faces (and utters some crap akin to “We can never keep our hands off eachother”. I laughed writing that)
-Is a cheater
-His idea of protection is either doing nothing or locking a woman in a barn so that she’s trapped when something bad sniffs her out
-Rips a woman’s shirt open just to see if she’s wearing a necklace. No shit.
I could go on, but you’ll just have to take my word that this guy is fantastic. The best excuse for his behavior the author could manage is that he hates himself and so punishes himself by...being a dick to everyone? Yeah.
So our protagonist, who’s tough as nails (naturally) reacts indignantly, tells him to get the hell away from her, or something. Right? No, unfortunately her reactions are something like “Gosh golly, I could just hit him!”. Keep in mind that this is also the woman he cheated on, wouldn’t take “no” from, and locked in a barn. A barn with no lights.
I also love the old black “seer” woman who helps outcast children. I think everyone else will too. That is, everyone who hasn’t already seen The Matrix.
The beastiary is haphazard. The author obviously spent some time on Encyclopedia Mythica cherry-picking from various cultures.
Stilted dialogue, hokey narration. I’ll stop.
But for all I know, the author somehow pulled the story out of its nosedive later on. I doubt it, but even if that’s the case the first half was too far gone for me to go any further.
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LibraryThing member saltypepper
If you like urban fantasy, this book has potential. The premise is interesting, the main character likeable enough. Handeland's writing is choppy, but no worse than many others working in the genre. Unfortunately the book is also loaded with stereotypes, many of them racial. Where to begin? "I
After I read the book I was unsurprised to see that on the back cover Handeland says she discovered urban fantasy through Laurell K. Hamilton and wanted to write "just like that." You're almost there, Lori!
I could have given the plot a better rating (3.5 or a 4), because really, it's not bad, and is better than plenty of other urban fantasies I've read recently, sloppy, choppy writing and all. It's the rest of the awful baggage the plot is asked to carry that knocked it down to 1.5 stars.
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raped you because it was your deepest desire?" Check. "Black male character is a basketball player." Check. "White main character must be taught to control her psychic powers by inscrutable but lusty native american?" Check. "White character cared for by strict but loving older black character who sacrifices herself to give white character the ability to save the world?" Check. "Bad guys have accents?" Check. "Bad guys have harems?" Check. "New York City taxi drivers aren't from NYC and have unpronounceable names?" Check. I could go on and on. I know it's a paranormal, but that is no excuse for the Magical Negro stereotype, people. Enough, already. After I read the book I was unsurprised to see that on the back cover Handeland says she discovered urban fantasy through Laurell K. Hamilton and wanted to write "just like that." You're almost there, Lori!
I could have given the plot a better rating (3.5 or a 4), because really, it's not bad, and is better than plenty of other urban fantasies I've read recently, sloppy, choppy writing and all. It's the rest of the awful baggage the plot is asked to carry that knocked it down to 1.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member Alixtii
Any Given Doomsday is a book with a female viewpoint character (given how much she is acted upon rather than acts, I hesitate to call her a protagonist) which still manages to just barely pass the Bechdel test; of the two other female characters in the work, one is a Magical Negro who dies by the
The novel mostly focuses on the narrator's two love interests: the first attempts to rape her within the first sixty-one pages; the second does rape her, with the use of drugs; and then the first (albeit now freed from the responsibility for her his actions by a little plot magic) takes over again at the novel's climax by raping her multiple times by keeping her captive. Lovely cast of characters we have here.
I don't doubt that that rape fantasies, as real responses to a patriarchal order experienced by real women, have their place in a feminist-friendly literature. I just don't think this is it. It reminds me more than anything else of the similar rape scene to be found in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. But at least (a) Rand owns her anti-feminism and doesn't pretend to be anything else, and (b) uses it in a masterful if misguided treatise on ethics and value. By contrast, Handeland's Left Behind-style window-dressing (which, on its own, would probably be quite interesting and potentially the inspiration for quite a decent book) doesn't even work as an excuse for, let alone a point to, the sex.
The other obvious comparison is Anne Rice with her vampires series. But when Rice's vampires murder and rape, they do so as something beyond good and evil, a look at how alluring ultimate power can be. They don't stoop to anything so plebian as waving away these acts with an implicit "She was asking for it." (Cf. Rice's Sleeping Beauty trilogy, which is basically just three books of "She was asking for it," but at least doesn't pretend to be anything other than porn.)
And at the end of the day, and politics aside, Handeland simply isn't as good a wordsmith as either Rand or Rice. Not that the novel is ever as clunky as a Dan Brown novel, but in a novel in desperate need of a saving grace, the quality of the writing isn't it.
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end of the first chapter (the fact that characters of color outnumber white characters would probably be impressive if everyone weren't a vampire or werewolf or medecine man), and the other is a (former?) sex partner to one of the POV character's love interests--sexual jelousy is so explicitly underlying all of this (white) character's scenes that I hesitate to count any of them towards passing the test.The novel mostly focuses on the narrator's two love interests: the first attempts to rape her within the first sixty-one pages; the second does rape her, with the use of drugs; and then the first (albeit now freed from the responsibility for her his actions by a little plot magic) takes over again at the novel's climax by raping her multiple times by keeping her captive. Lovely cast of characters we have here.
I don't doubt that that rape fantasies, as real responses to a patriarchal order experienced by real women, have their place in a feminist-friendly literature. I just don't think this is it. It reminds me more than anything else of the similar rape scene to be found in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. But at least (a) Rand owns her anti-feminism and doesn't pretend to be anything else, and (b) uses it in a masterful if misguided treatise on ethics and value. By contrast, Handeland's Left Behind-style window-dressing (which, on its own, would probably be quite interesting and potentially the inspiration for quite a decent book) doesn't even work as an excuse for, let alone a point to, the sex.
The other obvious comparison is Anne Rice with her vampires series. But when Rice's vampires murder and rape, they do so as something beyond good and evil, a look at how alluring ultimate power can be. They don't stoop to anything so plebian as waving away these acts with an implicit "She was asking for it." (Cf. Rice's Sleeping Beauty trilogy, which is basically just three books of "She was asking for it," but at least doesn't pretend to be anything other than porn.)
And at the end of the day, and politics aside, Handeland simply isn't as good a wordsmith as either Rand or Rice. Not that the novel is ever as clunky as a Dan Brown novel, but in a novel in desperate need of a saving grace, the quality of the writing isn't it.
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LibraryThing member MelindaLibrary
I received this book as part of Early Reviewers and I was excited to read it. I have enjoyed this author's previous works and was glad to see she had started a new series. But then. Oh, the premise is interesting. For awhile. And Handeland addresses one of my pet peeves about women who suddenly
[Spoiler Alert]
But, seriously? We are supposed to buy that the only way Lizabeth can "learn" is by having sex with men and "absorbs" their powers? What a long way we have come where women must use their sexuality and have sex with men to gain men's powers.
Handeland does an excellent job of conveying hopelessness, despair, and demented sexuality. It's impossible to feel that the sex scenes are erotic as most of the sex is coerced except, then, boom! we are supposed to believe Lizabeth is "empowered" and chooses to have sex with the rapists.
And once and for all: "Oriental" refers to things and "Asian" refers to people.
The book lost a star because of a preponderance of religious zealotry and heterosexism that undermine the plot.
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find themselves with power and then do absolutely nothing to educate themselves about it. At least the main character in this book doesn't do that, though she does pull a Luke Skywalker. [Spoiler Alert]
But, seriously? We are supposed to buy that the only way Lizabeth can "learn" is by having sex with men and "absorbs" their powers? What a long way we have come where women must use their sexuality and have sex with men to gain men's powers.
Handeland does an excellent job of conveying hopelessness, despair, and demented sexuality. It's impossible to feel that the sex scenes are erotic as most of the sex is coerced except, then, boom! we are supposed to believe Lizabeth is "empowered" and chooses to have sex with the rapists.
And once and for all: "Oriental" refers to things and "Asian" refers to people.
The book lost a star because of a preponderance of religious zealotry and heterosexism that undermine the plot.
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LibraryThing member fictiontheory
While the author and the novel are both well meaning, the execution, plot, and characters of this novel leave plenty to be desired. It reads like a copy of a copy of most of the common paranormal romance tropes out there, without offering up anything original or new for readers to sink their teeth
The plot panders on and doesn't do anything that any reader would find remotely surprising, and there is not one moment of genuine tension or suspense.
The protagonist is a rather erratic narrator who's voice is, like the novel, a copy of a copy of all the other (and much better) snarky, wisecracking heroines of the genre. She takes time out of her own life-or-death situations to sigh longingly and contemplate how crazy her life is or how she feels about her ex-flame. Not only that, but the protagonist quickly checks all the Mary Sue check boxes without having any redeeming or enjoyable qualities. She has the prerequisite tragic past, the (supposedly) smoldering chemistry with any good looking guy around, and unlikely skills that she has no reason to have, not to mention that the universe (of course!) revolves around her for no good reason.
Not only that, but more interesting characters are left to be a background. The character of Ruthie - who actually would be interesting to read about, as a woman of color in a mostly white neighborhood trying to raise foster children with supernatural powers and dealing with her own place in a war of good and evil - doesn't even get to be alive in the novel. She's only there as part of the Mary Sue show, which is sad.
The writer also has fundamental problems with understanding the use of expositions and introductions of characters. Throwing a random name the readers have never seen before into a conversation or scene with absolutely no explanation made me believe that the writer had actually changed one of the characters' names mid-scene and the copyeditor had missed it.
This is to say nothing of the magical turquoise necklace that the heroine always wears and which saves her, but doesn't show up around her neck until the beginning of chapter 12, and isn't mentioned in the previous 11 chapters, despite the fact that we even have seen where the protagonist and her ex-lover are stripping each other clothes' off.
The narrators reactions to her powers, to her "destiny" (*eyeroll*, they all have destinies, don't they?), to her ex-flame being a Dhampir were inconsistent, unbelievable and frankly frustrating.
Copy editing isn't this novel's problem. Content editing is. I think one should take hints from the fact that the author thanks her editor for being her cheerleader, and that the "Dear Reader" letter on the back of the book cites that the author got into the urban fantasy/paranormal romance game via Laurell K. Hamilton should warn you. Taking nothing away from Ms. Hamilton, but reading a copy of a copy of a copy of Anita Blake is the last thing I have time for.
There were no moments in this novel which were sexy, scary, or funny, as the author promises. The main character is not like me or anyone I know (and not in any positive way).
I wouldn't recommend this book even for plane flights or beach reading, it's not even that good. If you really are hankering for a good paranormal romance, go elsewhere. This book will only make you want to throw it across the room.
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into. It's typical of the genre, without being interesting in the slightest. The plot panders on and doesn't do anything that any reader would find remotely surprising, and there is not one moment of genuine tension or suspense.
The protagonist is a rather erratic narrator who's voice is, like the novel, a copy of a copy of all the other (and much better) snarky, wisecracking heroines of the genre. She takes time out of her own life-or-death situations to sigh longingly and contemplate how crazy her life is or how she feels about her ex-flame. Not only that, but the protagonist quickly checks all the Mary Sue check boxes without having any redeeming or enjoyable qualities. She has the prerequisite tragic past, the (supposedly) smoldering chemistry with any good looking guy around, and unlikely skills that she has no reason to have, not to mention that the universe (of course!) revolves around her for no good reason.
Not only that, but more interesting characters are left to be a background. The character of Ruthie - who actually would be interesting to read about, as a woman of color in a mostly white neighborhood trying to raise foster children with supernatural powers and dealing with her own place in a war of good and evil - doesn't even get to be alive in the novel. She's only there as part of the Mary Sue show, which is sad.
The writer also has fundamental problems with understanding the use of expositions and introductions of characters. Throwing a random name the readers have never seen before into a conversation or scene with absolutely no explanation made me believe that the writer had actually changed one of the characters' names mid-scene and the copyeditor had missed it.
This is to say nothing of the magical turquoise necklace that the heroine always wears and which saves her, but doesn't show up around her neck until the beginning of chapter 12, and isn't mentioned in the previous 11 chapters, despite the fact that we even have seen where the protagonist and her ex-lover are stripping each other clothes' off.
The narrators reactions to her powers, to her "destiny" (*eyeroll*, they all have destinies, don't they?), to her ex-flame being a Dhampir were inconsistent, unbelievable and frankly frustrating.
Copy editing isn't this novel's problem. Content editing is. I think one should take hints from the fact that the author thanks her editor for being her cheerleader, and that the "Dear Reader" letter on the back of the book cites that the author got into the urban fantasy/paranormal romance game via Laurell K. Hamilton should warn you. Taking nothing away from Ms. Hamilton, but reading a copy of a copy of a copy of Anita Blake is the last thing I have time for.
There were no moments in this novel which were sexy, scary, or funny, as the author promises. The main character is not like me or anyone I know (and not in any positive way).
I wouldn't recommend this book even for plane flights or beach reading, it's not even that good. If you really are hankering for a good paranormal romance, go elsewhere. This book will only make you want to throw it across the room.
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LibraryThing member drneutron
I knew Any Given Doomsday was in trouble when I looked at the back of the book and saw "I discovered urban fantasy with Laurell K. Hamilton. I wanted to write something just like that." And frankly, Handeland did, except nowhere near as good. Since my opinion of Hamilton isn't all that high, that's
The urban fantasy scene these days reminds me of the fantasy scene in the 1980's. The genre was just catching on, and there was some really good stuff out there. The market was big enough that pretty much any derivative stuff could get published, and usually did. Thankfully, the fans finally worked through that phase, and a new generation of really creative writers came along. I hope that the urban fantasy genre works through those same issues, but it ain't there yet.
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saying something. In this book, the characters are weakly conceived, and their actions just don't make sense in context. The writing's so-so at best, and the sex scenes are ripped right out of the pages of a Harlequin romance. The plot seems to have been created by checklist - feisty heroine with magic powers (check), bad boy to which heroine is insanely attracted against her better sense (check), rape that heroine secretly wants (check)...The urban fantasy scene these days reminds me of the fantasy scene in the 1980's. The genre was just catching on, and there was some really good stuff out there. The market was big enough that pretty much any derivative stuff could get published, and usually did. Thankfully, the fans finally worked through that phase, and a new generation of really creative writers came along. I hope that the urban fantasy genre works through those same issues, but it ain't there yet.
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LibraryThing member brendajanefrank
Note: This review is of a pre-publication version in the Early Reviewer program.
The fact that the publisher dumped 1,000 copies of “Any Given Doomsday” into the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program should have been a clue that this novel was not destined for 5-stardom. However, whether you love
The protagonist, Elizabeth Phoenix, is gifted with psychic powers which develop into vampire, werewolf and other weird creature-killing abilities, gaining her the status of a “seer.” This means that, although she began as a woman, albeit a bit strange, she ends as a being that is no longer human.
I laughed out loud when Lizzy kissed Jimmy, her boyfriend, smelled blood, saw a flicker of fangs, and learned that he wasn’t a human but half-vampire. I continued to find the story so outrageous that it was hilarious. I thought that it was actually supposed to be funny, until I read the numerous reviews calling the novel clichéd, disappointing, heavy-handed, flawed and trashy.
In short, Lizzy and Jimmy have many monster-killing adventures glued together with lots of explicit sex. I don’t see how could anyone take this story seriously. For example, Lizzy meets the main bad guy, a kind of super vampire living in New York City. He has his own personal vampire army, all dressed in conservative business suits. Lizzy says, “They all look like lawyers . . . which I guess makes sense. Bloodsuckers.”
The dialogue, actions, characters of “Any Given Doomsday” are so outrageously ridiculous as to be camp. When read in this light, the novel is quite a success.
The fact that the publisher dumped 1,000 copies of “Any Given Doomsday” into the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program should have been a clue that this novel was not destined for 5-stardom. However, whether you love
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this book or hate it may be a matter of approach.The protagonist, Elizabeth Phoenix, is gifted with psychic powers which develop into vampire, werewolf and other weird creature-killing abilities, gaining her the status of a “seer.” This means that, although she began as a woman, albeit a bit strange, she ends as a being that is no longer human.
I laughed out loud when Lizzy kissed Jimmy, her boyfriend, smelled blood, saw a flicker of fangs, and learned that he wasn’t a human but half-vampire. I continued to find the story so outrageous that it was hilarious. I thought that it was actually supposed to be funny, until I read the numerous reviews calling the novel clichéd, disappointing, heavy-handed, flawed and trashy.
In short, Lizzy and Jimmy have many monster-killing adventures glued together with lots of explicit sex. I don’t see how could anyone take this story seriously. For example, Lizzy meets the main bad guy, a kind of super vampire living in New York City. He has his own personal vampire army, all dressed in conservative business suits. Lizzy says, “They all look like lawyers . . . which I guess makes sense. Bloodsuckers.”
The dialogue, actions, characters of “Any Given Doomsday” are so outrageously ridiculous as to be camp. When read in this light, the novel is quite a success.
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LibraryThing member richardderus
Getting an Advance Reader’s Copy of a book is, sad to say, still a thrill to me. “Sad” because I should, at my age and having been in the publishing industry a time back, be over the idea that I am SPECIAL when I get one of these.
Lori Handeland’s Any Given Doomsday won’t change my
Part of a hot publishing genre called “paranormal romance,” this is an old-fashioned horror story at its heart. It’s also an old-fashioned kind of storytelling, where beginning begets middle leads to end, which is carefully crafted to close this story and prepare us for the next. Since this is the first of a series to be called “The Phoenix Chronicles,” that makes sense. The series features Elizabeth Phoenix, a former homicide cop with a dead partner and a job bartending in a cop bar for her partner’s widow. She’s gifted, we’re told in her voice, with gifts she doesn’t want, and her life is bereft of people she loves and cares for because she’s got these gifts.
It’s very well executed on several levels. Ms. Handeland is a dab hand at characterizations. Her economical, almost laconic, descriptions are both atmospheric and character specific. Elizabeth Phoenix, the psychometric foster child wounded and abandoned early in life, responds to what she understands as a sexual dream about Sawyer, a “skinwalker” (male witch with the power to change into animal form) and man of incredible magical power: “His eyes glittered…making me glad for the clothes I’d been wishing away only moments before. This man wasn’t a pet; he wasn’t a friend. He was dangerous.”
She feels what we would feel; she views the world through these eyes for reasons we’re brought up to speed on with fullness and depth earlier in the book; and yet this small passage brings a slightly darker tinge to the character, letting us in on her borning awareness that everyone and everything in her world is dangerous and no matter how familiar to her, carries depths she only slightly and dimly senses.
The author gives us a chance throughout the book to grow in awareness with Elizabeth Phoenix. We are part of her unfolding identity as a leader in an underworld-for-good that battles an underworld-for-evil that we, the overworld I suppose you’d call us, are possessed of bad and mangled information about. This gives the story its forward momentum and its hook into one’s feeling levels.
While the novel is possessed of these good qualities, there are moments that ring false to a reader’s ears: Elizabeth uses locutions like “Black widow much?” that sound like the author aiming at cute and hitting stupid. A former cop and a woman without a lot of social anxiety to fit in such as Elizabeth wouldn’t use such self-conscious wording. The character of Jimmy, Elizabeth’s long-ago first love and, like her a foster child, wounded soul, comes directly from Character Central and could be called “Dirk” or “Will” or some other four-lettered romance hero’s name.
Why did St. Mutant's send a copy to me? I'm nobody from nowhere, I have no blog, and my reviews MIGHT be read by a few people here if I'm lucky. But in the interweb age, where else can publishers find even a few readers gathered together in one easy-to-access place? Hence we few, we happy few who score books get a chance to convert at least one or two proven readers to our opinions...and that's becoming enough. Should I be scared? I think I am....
But for fans of paranormal romances, this is a treat; for fans of Lori Handeland’s it’s bound to be an event since it starts a whole new series. It’s a nice piece of fiction, it’s a fun way to pass a few hours, and it’s only as much to buy as a fast-food combo meal and much better for you.
Lori Handeland’s Any Given Doomsday won’t change my
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feelings about getting ARCs, but it will change my ideas about why publishers send them out. I thought the purpose of the exercise for the publisher was to garner praise and reviews from established critics and people with big marketing megaphones. I guess, like so much else in the interweb age, that’s a dead idea. Goody!Part of a hot publishing genre called “paranormal romance,” this is an old-fashioned horror story at its heart. It’s also an old-fashioned kind of storytelling, where beginning begets middle leads to end, which is carefully crafted to close this story and prepare us for the next. Since this is the first of a series to be called “The Phoenix Chronicles,” that makes sense. The series features Elizabeth Phoenix, a former homicide cop with a dead partner and a job bartending in a cop bar for her partner’s widow. She’s gifted, we’re told in her voice, with gifts she doesn’t want, and her life is bereft of people she loves and cares for because she’s got these gifts.
It’s very well executed on several levels. Ms. Handeland is a dab hand at characterizations. Her economical, almost laconic, descriptions are both atmospheric and character specific. Elizabeth Phoenix, the psychometric foster child wounded and abandoned early in life, responds to what she understands as a sexual dream about Sawyer, a “skinwalker” (male witch with the power to change into animal form) and man of incredible magical power: “His eyes glittered…making me glad for the clothes I’d been wishing away only moments before. This man wasn’t a pet; he wasn’t a friend. He was dangerous.”
She feels what we would feel; she views the world through these eyes for reasons we’re brought up to speed on with fullness and depth earlier in the book; and yet this small passage brings a slightly darker tinge to the character, letting us in on her borning awareness that everyone and everything in her world is dangerous and no matter how familiar to her, carries depths she only slightly and dimly senses.
The author gives us a chance throughout the book to grow in awareness with Elizabeth Phoenix. We are part of her unfolding identity as a leader in an underworld-for-good that battles an underworld-for-evil that we, the overworld I suppose you’d call us, are possessed of bad and mangled information about. This gives the story its forward momentum and its hook into one’s feeling levels.
While the novel is possessed of these good qualities, there are moments that ring false to a reader’s ears: Elizabeth uses locutions like “Black widow much?” that sound like the author aiming at cute and hitting stupid. A former cop and a woman without a lot of social anxiety to fit in such as Elizabeth wouldn’t use such self-conscious wording. The character of Jimmy, Elizabeth’s long-ago first love and, like her a foster child, wounded soul, comes directly from Character Central and could be called “Dirk” or “Will” or some other four-lettered romance hero’s name.
Why did St. Mutant's send a copy to me? I'm nobody from nowhere, I have no blog, and my reviews MIGHT be read by a few people here if I'm lucky. But in the interweb age, where else can publishers find even a few readers gathered together in one easy-to-access place? Hence we few, we happy few who score books get a chance to convert at least one or two proven readers to our opinions...and that's becoming enough. Should I be scared? I think I am....
But for fans of paranormal romances, this is a treat; for fans of Lori Handeland’s it’s bound to be an event since it starts a whole new series. It’s a nice piece of fiction, it’s a fun way to pass a few hours, and it’s only as much to buy as a fast-food combo meal and much better for you.
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LibraryThing member kd9
Ho hum. A young woman has special psychic powers that she does not want and an ex-boyfriend that she hates and still lusts after. She spends 90% of the book trying to avoid her destiny of saving the world from EVIL. As in most fantasy noir, the sentences are short, the banter pointed, but not
But what lost the author at least one and half stars are the unrelenting rape scenes that dominate the last half of the book. I am certainly not a prude, but I do not find the dozens of scenes of forced sex to be entertaining. Yes, the author provides plausible reasons for the sex and the force, but Rachel Caine (The Weather Warden series) wrote this entire genre with much more panache and skill. This is just more hard core porn for bored housewives. I have better things to do with my time and much better books to read.
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actually witty. Possibly if I hadn't just read two remarkably well written books, I would not find the writing in this book so juvenile. Most of the scenes contain only two people and most of the action and the environment is not well described.But what lost the author at least one and half stars are the unrelenting rape scenes that dominate the last half of the book. I am certainly not a prude, but I do not find the dozens of scenes of forced sex to be entertaining. Yes, the author provides plausible reasons for the sex and the force, but Rachel Caine (The Weather Warden series) wrote this entire genre with much more panache and skill. This is just more hard core porn for bored housewives. I have better things to do with my time and much better books to read.
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LibraryThing member tortoise
(Early reviewers book.) Unmemorable prose, forced humor, a disjointed plot, a derivative premise, and creepy sexual politics all combine to make this the worst book I've read in quite a while.
LibraryThing member thekoolaidmom
Oh my god… where do I begin. Let’s start with the good things about it. The plot is an interesting concept. The Nephilim were the biblically mention sons and daughters of the forbidden union between the angels who were suppose to keep an eye on people and those whom they were suppose to watch.
So where does it go wrong?
There is vulgar and graphic sex scenes that go on for pages. I’m not a prude, I can enjoy well-written love-making when it’s appropriate to the story, as in Bedlam, Bath and Beyond. Even more barbaric and twisted sex like in Bentley Little’s The Store is okay, because it was a necessary part of the story. But what soils the pages of this book is just gaggy. The first event occurred within the first 50 pages in which the female narrator describes how she wants to give the guy a blow job. Later she’s date-raped by the guy who’s suppose to be teaching her how to use her powers, then forcibly raped for a few chapters toward the end. The sex is bestial and perverse, and isn’t gentle “love” until it’s too late. No, you don’t have your heroine being raped all over the book, then try to slip in some sweet-lovin’ to make the reader forgive the rape.
And it’s not just the whole rape thing, but it’s the way in which it’s shown. I swear these are straight out of some guy’s rape-fantasy magazine, because as she’s being raped, she reaches orgasm over and over, as if she has to be taken to have pleasure. And if all that wasn’t enough, you get to the big boss bad guy’s lair and it’s Gor all the way. Women waiting around wearing nothing but a chain around their waist, desperately hoping to be used next. It just started turning my stomach after awhile.
Besides the rape and lack of any moral fiber of anyone, good or bad, except Ruthie who dies in the first chapter, there is the way the book is put together. At times, the writing is less-than-descriptive (which never happens during the porn), events and sections of the story seem thrown together and not woven in well, and it seems like Handeland wanted to make sure to use ever supernatural being anyone has ever heard of, whether it worked or not. Case in point: The half-Nephilim (called breeds) who is a werehyena who fights the cougar (in rural WISCONSIN in April) that’s possessed by a chindi (what the hell is that?), but is defeated when it touches the turquoise necklace our heroine just happens to be wearing that was given to her by her “teacher” who is a skinwalker and hates her dhampir ex-boyfirend who turns out to be a dream-walker. Oh, and the reason he’s an ex is because she had a psychic vision of him screwing a chick who turns out to be a fairy.
Stretch the limits of credulity much?
Oh yeah, and I got a very strong feeling the two lovers here will turn out to be brother and sister.
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The creation of this new race gave them a variety of supernatural powers and it is they who are the vampires, werewolves, gods, etc of our mythologies. Opposing them is a federation of good who seek out and destroy the evil Nephilim. Another thing I liked about the book was the action (not the action, btw) of demon hunting and solving the mystery of who killed Ruthie, everyone’s favorite mentor.So where does it go wrong?
There is vulgar and graphic sex scenes that go on for pages. I’m not a prude, I can enjoy well-written love-making when it’s appropriate to the story, as in Bedlam, Bath and Beyond. Even more barbaric and twisted sex like in Bentley Little’s The Store is okay, because it was a necessary part of the story. But what soils the pages of this book is just gaggy. The first event occurred within the first 50 pages in which the female narrator describes how she wants to give the guy a blow job. Later she’s date-raped by the guy who’s suppose to be teaching her how to use her powers, then forcibly raped for a few chapters toward the end. The sex is bestial and perverse, and isn’t gentle “love” until it’s too late. No, you don’t have your heroine being raped all over the book, then try to slip in some sweet-lovin’ to make the reader forgive the rape.
And it’s not just the whole rape thing, but it’s the way in which it’s shown. I swear these are straight out of some guy’s rape-fantasy magazine, because as she’s being raped, she reaches orgasm over and over, as if she has to be taken to have pleasure. And if all that wasn’t enough, you get to the big boss bad guy’s lair and it’s Gor all the way. Women waiting around wearing nothing but a chain around their waist, desperately hoping to be used next. It just started turning my stomach after awhile.
Besides the rape and lack of any moral fiber of anyone, good or bad, except Ruthie who dies in the first chapter, there is the way the book is put together. At times, the writing is less-than-descriptive (which never happens during the porn), events and sections of the story seem thrown together and not woven in well, and it seems like Handeland wanted to make sure to use ever supernatural being anyone has ever heard of, whether it worked or not. Case in point: The half-Nephilim (called breeds) who is a werehyena who fights the cougar (in rural WISCONSIN in April) that’s possessed by a chindi (what the hell is that?), but is defeated when it touches the turquoise necklace our heroine just happens to be wearing that was given to her by her “teacher” who is a skinwalker and hates her dhampir ex-boyfirend who turns out to be a dream-walker. Oh, and the reason he’s an ex is because she had a psychic vision of him screwing a chick who turns out to be a fairy.
Stretch the limits of credulity much?
Oh yeah, and I got a very strong feeling the two lovers here will turn out to be brother and sister.
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LibraryThing member jjmachshev
Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Nov08
I’m a sucker for the paranormal. The first adult-book I read was “The Exorcist” by Blatty when I was 11 and I was hooked. So the recent upswing in paranormal and urban fantasy titles has been my own little heaven and I jumped at the chance to
Reading as much as I do and with the glut of paranormal and urban fantasies on the market today, I’m delighted when I find an author that can provide a new take the same old subjects. “Any Given Doomsday” is about, of course, the end of the world (like…duh…I guess you could’ve guessed that from the title)! And, again of course, we have our hero/heroine—Elizabeth (Liz) Phoenix in this case. She’s not exactly your normal gal. She’s an orphan, never knew her parents, spent a lot of time on the street. She’s a little psychic in that she sometimes gets flashes of thought or scenes of the recent past when she touches something. And now, she has to save the world from the dark side. Oh, and did I mention that she finds out all this after finding her foster mother dead in a pool of blood and her old boyfriend is suspect #1? She’s definitely had better days.
So this is where the tale begins, and what a finely detailed tale it is. Handeland has drawn from everything and everywhere—from the Bible to Native American shamanism to create her world and it’s creatures. We meet skinwalkers, werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires, nephilim (Biblical creatures sometimes translated as giants), dhampirs (vamp + human = dhampir), witches, shamen, strigas (Italian high witch types), angels, demons, etc.--all with differing talents and requiring different methods to kill them. It’s enough to make you really pity Liz, especially once she learns that the death of her foster mom was the opening move in the Doomsday war…unless she (and, of course, ONLY she) can learn about and harness whatever powers she can get and use them to stop it. Liz really just wants to be normal. Unfortunately for her, she isn’t. She has to grow up and learn that nothing worth having is easy and anything worth having is worth fighting for. It’s a tough lesson that many in our society today seem to never learn!
I loved the storyline. I loved the relationships Liz had to struggle with (and will apparently have to continue to struggle with in the next book) and accept. There was no easy path for her. No, BAM!, she knows just what to do. Oh no, she has struggles, she feels like she’s in the dark for most of the book. Is this a romance? Well…there is sex. Pretty hot sex in fact. There are relationships and changes in said relationships and feelings and all the other stuff that characterize a romance, but the romance isn’t what drives the plot. So I would shelve this book in the ‘hot urban fantasy’ section (and why doesn’t my bookstore have that section?) with Laurell K. Hamilton, Marjorie M. Liu, Angela Knight, J.R.Ward, Keri Arthur, Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc. If any of those authors sound good to you, you should definitely check out “Any Given Doomsday” by Lori Handeland when it hits the shelves in November 2008. And be sure to let your bookstore know about that missing ‘hot urban fantasy’ section, OK?
I’m a sucker for the paranormal. The first adult-book I read was “The Exorcist” by Blatty when I was 11 and I was hooked. So the recent upswing in paranormal and urban fantasy titles has been my own little heaven and I jumped at the chance to
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read “Any Given Doomsday” by Lori Handeland. I’m already a reader of her ‘Moon’ series about werewolves and werewolf hunters, so I expected to enjoy this book. I was right. I absolutely devoured “Any Given Doomsday” in one sitting and am now pouting because book 2 “Doomsday Can Wait” won’t be out until May 2009! Bummer…Reading as much as I do and with the glut of paranormal and urban fantasies on the market today, I’m delighted when I find an author that can provide a new take the same old subjects. “Any Given Doomsday” is about, of course, the end of the world (like…duh…I guess you could’ve guessed that from the title)! And, again of course, we have our hero/heroine—Elizabeth (Liz) Phoenix in this case. She’s not exactly your normal gal. She’s an orphan, never knew her parents, spent a lot of time on the street. She’s a little psychic in that she sometimes gets flashes of thought or scenes of the recent past when she touches something. And now, she has to save the world from the dark side. Oh, and did I mention that she finds out all this after finding her foster mother dead in a pool of blood and her old boyfriend is suspect #1? She’s definitely had better days.
So this is where the tale begins, and what a finely detailed tale it is. Handeland has drawn from everything and everywhere—from the Bible to Native American shamanism to create her world and it’s creatures. We meet skinwalkers, werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires, nephilim (Biblical creatures sometimes translated as giants), dhampirs (vamp + human = dhampir), witches, shamen, strigas (Italian high witch types), angels, demons, etc.--all with differing talents and requiring different methods to kill them. It’s enough to make you really pity Liz, especially once she learns that the death of her foster mom was the opening move in the Doomsday war…unless she (and, of course, ONLY she) can learn about and harness whatever powers she can get and use them to stop it. Liz really just wants to be normal. Unfortunately for her, she isn’t. She has to grow up and learn that nothing worth having is easy and anything worth having is worth fighting for. It’s a tough lesson that many in our society today seem to never learn!
I loved the storyline. I loved the relationships Liz had to struggle with (and will apparently have to continue to struggle with in the next book) and accept. There was no easy path for her. No, BAM!, she knows just what to do. Oh no, she has struggles, she feels like she’s in the dark for most of the book. Is this a romance? Well…there is sex. Pretty hot sex in fact. There are relationships and changes in said relationships and feelings and all the other stuff that characterize a romance, but the romance isn’t what drives the plot. So I would shelve this book in the ‘hot urban fantasy’ section (and why doesn’t my bookstore have that section?) with Laurell K. Hamilton, Marjorie M. Liu, Angela Knight, J.R.Ward, Keri Arthur, Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc. If any of those authors sound good to you, you should definitely check out “Any Given Doomsday” by Lori Handeland when it hits the shelves in November 2008. And be sure to let your bookstore know about that missing ‘hot urban fantasy’ section, OK?
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LibraryThing member mamajoan
*** WARNING: this review contains fairly massive plot spoilers! ***
I received a copy of this book thanks to LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. This book is part of a genre that I'm not too familiar with, which I believe is called paranormal romance: romance novels with supernatural stuff
All that is just to say that I'm not very familiar with the genre so I don't know how this book stacks up against others of its ilk. But it definitely borrows heavily from the "Buffy" paradigms. I'm not saying that Joss Whedon should be on the phone to his lawyers right now, but there are a LOT of similarities.
The story goes something like this: Elizabeth Phoenix is an ex-cop (who isn't?) who has psychic abilities. Since leaving the force after the death of her partner, she apparently has been living a life of self-flagellation. But one day her Spidey Sense tells her to visit Ruthie, the woman who raised her as a foster child, and when she gets there, she finds Ruthie bleeding to death from what appear to be animal bites. Before you know it Elizabeth is in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil, because it turns out that Ruthie was a big-shot on the side of the good guys, and with her gone, it's up to Elizabeth to take her place. She has to lead the human race against the demons of Hell, as the time is coming soon for the final battle in the war that has been brewing ever since God kicked some of his angels out of Heaven.
I'll pause at this point to wait for your eyes to finish rolling. Okay? We good? Okay, onward.
Now, you can't have a romance novel without a love interest, so enter (heh heh, she said "enter") Jimmy Sanducci, Elizabeth's ex-boyfriend, former co-foster-child, and possibly the love of her life. Maybe. But Jimmy is - wait for it - not all that he appears to be. (I'll give you a hint: David Boreanaz would be ideal to play Jimmy in the movie.) And he knows a lot more about what's going on than Liz does, so he spews exposition at an alarming rate of speed while he and Liz are alternately arguing, struggling to keep their hands off each other, and incidentally taking out a pack of werewolves.
It seems that the people whose job is to kill bad guys -- the Demon Killers or DK's -- get their marching orders from seers, whose job is to have visions about the where and who of evil, and pass that info on to the DKs. Via cell phone. Again, if this sounds awfully familiar, you're probably a "Buffy" fan. But Liz doesn't know how to use her new powers, so Jimmy bundles her off to Sawyer, a centuries-old shape-shifting Navajo medicine man. His job is to teach Liz how to, um, open herself up. Did I make that sound dirty enough? Well, let's just say that Sawyer might be taking the idea of the mind-body connection a little far.
After a couple days of mind-blowing, uh, instruction, Liz finally has her first vision, which tells her - surprise! - that Jimmy is in trouble. So she hares off to find him; a variety of fights and sexual encounters ensue, and in the end, of course, Liz defeats the bad guy and good triumphs over evil. For now. The stage is already set for a sequel, so don't get too comfortable.
From a feminist standpoint, the notion of a woman who can take on anyone else's superpowers - but only by having sex with them - is, to put it mildly, problematic. Or, to put it bluntly, horrifying. It's exactly the kind of thing that "Buffy" tries to counteract; the idea that if you're a woman, sex is your primary tool, regardless of whether your job is typing, teaching, bartending, or saving the world. Of course, at the same time, it's a great plot device and makes for some pretty interesting twists (not to mention lots of opportunities to throw in yet another sex scene, which I guess is de rigueur when you're writing a romance novel). I have to say I found the final twist a bit suspect - it kind of felt like the author was violating her own rules - but it does make for a heck of a denouement.
The bottom line is that this book is not my cup of tea. The writing is of acceptable quality - not great, but Liz does get off a few good one-liners that got me smiling - the plotting is fast-paced, the paranormal stuff appropriately creepy and the sex scenes fairly steamy. But the whole thing just feels kind of hackneyed. There's nothing new here, from a literary perspective, and the sex stuff just seems gratuitous and, as I said above, borderline offensive. But again, I'm speaking as one who has thus far intentionally avoided this entire genre, so take it with a grain of salt. If this genre is your thing, you will probably enjoy this book, and its sure-to-be-multiple sequels.
I received a copy of this book thanks to LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. This book is part of a genre that I'm not too familiar with, which I believe is called paranormal romance: romance novels with supernatural stuff
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thrown in. I guess we have "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to blame/thank for the popularity of this genre. I'll freely admit to being a Buffy fan, but when it comes to reading, I tend to prefer hard scifi. All that is just to say that I'm not very familiar with the genre so I don't know how this book stacks up against others of its ilk. But it definitely borrows heavily from the "Buffy" paradigms. I'm not saying that Joss Whedon should be on the phone to his lawyers right now, but there are a LOT of similarities.
The story goes something like this: Elizabeth Phoenix is an ex-cop (who isn't?) who has psychic abilities. Since leaving the force after the death of her partner, she apparently has been living a life of self-flagellation. But one day her Spidey Sense tells her to visit Ruthie, the woman who raised her as a foster child, and when she gets there, she finds Ruthie bleeding to death from what appear to be animal bites. Before you know it Elizabeth is in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil, because it turns out that Ruthie was a big-shot on the side of the good guys, and with her gone, it's up to Elizabeth to take her place. She has to lead the human race against the demons of Hell, as the time is coming soon for the final battle in the war that has been brewing ever since God kicked some of his angels out of Heaven.
I'll pause at this point to wait for your eyes to finish rolling. Okay? We good? Okay, onward.
Now, you can't have a romance novel without a love interest, so enter (heh heh, she said "enter") Jimmy Sanducci, Elizabeth's ex-boyfriend, former co-foster-child, and possibly the love of her life. Maybe. But Jimmy is - wait for it - not all that he appears to be. (I'll give you a hint: David Boreanaz would be ideal to play Jimmy in the movie.) And he knows a lot more about what's going on than Liz does, so he spews exposition at an alarming rate of speed while he and Liz are alternately arguing, struggling to keep their hands off each other, and incidentally taking out a pack of werewolves.
It seems that the people whose job is to kill bad guys -- the Demon Killers or DK's -- get their marching orders from seers, whose job is to have visions about the where and who of evil, and pass that info on to the DKs. Via cell phone. Again, if this sounds awfully familiar, you're probably a "Buffy" fan. But Liz doesn't know how to use her new powers, so Jimmy bundles her off to Sawyer, a centuries-old shape-shifting Navajo medicine man. His job is to teach Liz how to, um, open herself up. Did I make that sound dirty enough? Well, let's just say that Sawyer might be taking the idea of the mind-body connection a little far.
After a couple days of mind-blowing, uh, instruction, Liz finally has her first vision, which tells her - surprise! - that Jimmy is in trouble. So she hares off to find him; a variety of fights and sexual encounters ensue, and in the end, of course, Liz defeats the bad guy and good triumphs over evil. For now. The stage is already set for a sequel, so don't get too comfortable.
From a feminist standpoint, the notion of a woman who can take on anyone else's superpowers - but only by having sex with them - is, to put it mildly, problematic. Or, to put it bluntly, horrifying. It's exactly the kind of thing that "Buffy" tries to counteract; the idea that if you're a woman, sex is your primary tool, regardless of whether your job is typing, teaching, bartending, or saving the world. Of course, at the same time, it's a great plot device and makes for some pretty interesting twists (not to mention lots of opportunities to throw in yet another sex scene, which I guess is de rigueur when you're writing a romance novel). I have to say I found the final twist a bit suspect - it kind of felt like the author was violating her own rules - but it does make for a heck of a denouement.
The bottom line is that this book is not my cup of tea. The writing is of acceptable quality - not great, but Liz does get off a few good one-liners that got me smiling - the plotting is fast-paced, the paranormal stuff appropriately creepy and the sex scenes fairly steamy. But the whole thing just feels kind of hackneyed. There's nothing new here, from a literary perspective, and the sex stuff just seems gratuitous and, as I said above, borderline offensive. But again, I'm speaking as one who has thus far intentionally avoided this entire genre, so take it with a grain of salt. If this genre is your thing, you will probably enjoy this book, and its sure-to-be-multiple sequels.
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LibraryThing member amurphy
Elizabeth Phoenix is a psychic ex-cop who is drawn into the ultimate war when her foster mother is brutally murdered. Her first love, who betrayed her trust once, must now try to guide her through a world that she knows nothing about.
The author states that she was inspired by Laurell K. Hamilton's
I have two criticisms of the book. The first is more of a personal taste. I confess I wasn't expecting the sex scenes and they caught me off guard. The last half of the book is orgasm after orgasm and unnecessary in my mind. If this is a staple in urban fantasy and what you are looking for, then you'll enjoy this book.
But more damaging to my enjoyment of the book is the level of writing. Written in the first person view of the protagonist, Phoenix's voice doesn't ring true. The author tries to hard to make her cynical and hard, but the attempts seem more like a caricature. Phoenix's connections and feelings for other characters in the book seem shallow & ill defined.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to people new to urban fantasy and only recommend it to fans of the genre with a warning of the poor character development.
The author states that she was inspired by Laurell K. Hamilton's
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works. Having never read any of Hamilton's books, nor really any other urban fantasy works, I cannot authoritatively say how Any Given Doomsday compares to other books in its genre. (You may be asking why I decided to request this book. I enjoy traditional fantasy & I enjoy thrillers. The book's description sounded interesting & I decided to take a chance.)I have two criticisms of the book. The first is more of a personal taste. I confess I wasn't expecting the sex scenes and they caught me off guard. The last half of the book is orgasm after orgasm and unnecessary in my mind. If this is a staple in urban fantasy and what you are looking for, then you'll enjoy this book.
But more damaging to my enjoyment of the book is the level of writing. Written in the first person view of the protagonist, Phoenix's voice doesn't ring true. The author tries to hard to make her cynical and hard, but the attempts seem more like a caricature. Phoenix's connections and feelings for other characters in the book seem shallow & ill defined.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to people new to urban fantasy and only recommend it to fans of the genre with a warning of the poor character development.
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LibraryThing member Alisande1
If you like fantasy, vampires or any other creatures of this genre then I cannot recommend this book. I won't spend any time writing a synopsis as others have already done a fabulous job. I will say the book was shallow and juvenile (but certainly NOT suited for teen reading). Full of soap opera
I wanted to like this book but after 2 chapters I wanted to throw it away. I'll pass it along maybe someone will find a use for it.
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scripted language that was tiring to read. The sex/rape scenes were long and cheapened the plot. The parade of vacuous characters became almost pitiful. You could have deleted 3/4ths of the book and not missed a thing.I wanted to like this book but after 2 chapters I wanted to throw it away. I'll pass it along maybe someone will find a use for it.
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LibraryThing member hobbitprincess
I read this book so that I could review it, and I finished it, but only because I felt obligated to see it through to the bitter end. Where to start??
First, the good, because there was actually some good in here. I really did grow to like the main character Lizzy. She was tough in a kind-hearted
The use of vampires is getting old, and I wish that writers would get away from this trend. As a middle school teacher, I see vampires in way too many books geared towards the teeny-bopper crowd, so I have precious little patience for it in adult books. The religious angle was mildly interesting, but the further I got in the book, the less I liked it. I rapidly got confused in all the types of demons and the fact that every human Lizzy encounters turns out not to be human. Please! I almost needed a chart of powers and who had them and whether they were good or evil – way too much information here! The book then disintegrated into pornography. Lizzy gets her powers through sex?? The torrid overly descriptive sex scenes actually get boring after awhile. I assume now that the next books will chronicle Lizzy’s sexual conquests of various people in order to obtain their powers. That is just something I don’t care to read.
I can appreciate the author’s efforts in writing this, and I respect her opinions, but I won’t waste my time reading anymore of this series. There’s too much good stuff out there.
First, the good, because there was actually some good in here. I really did grow to like the main character Lizzy. She was tough in a kind-hearted
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sort of way. I would like to have seen some of her back story. What was her life like before Ruthie came along? What happened to her partner that she obviously cared a great deal about? Is there another book that I’ve missed, perhaps? The book actually did start out rather promising, but then it went rapidly downhill.The use of vampires is getting old, and I wish that writers would get away from this trend. As a middle school teacher, I see vampires in way too many books geared towards the teeny-bopper crowd, so I have precious little patience for it in adult books. The religious angle was mildly interesting, but the further I got in the book, the less I liked it. I rapidly got confused in all the types of demons and the fact that every human Lizzy encounters turns out not to be human. Please! I almost needed a chart of powers and who had them and whether they were good or evil – way too much information here! The book then disintegrated into pornography. Lizzy gets her powers through sex?? The torrid overly descriptive sex scenes actually get boring after awhile. I assume now that the next books will chronicle Lizzy’s sexual conquests of various people in order to obtain their powers. That is just something I don’t care to read.
I can appreciate the author’s efforts in writing this, and I respect her opinions, but I won’t waste my time reading anymore of this series. There’s too much good stuff out there.
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LibraryThing member lahochstetler
I had much higher hopes for this book than what were met. I enjoy the odd paranormal thriller, mystery, etc., but this book simply did not deliver. The premise of this book is that Elizabeth Phoenix discovers upon the death of her foster mother that she is now responsible for leading the worldwide
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fight against evils of all sorts. Vampires, demons, berserkers, they're all here. Theoretically, these might be the elements of a good story, but those elements are never actually drawn together into a good story. There's very little plot, and almost no character development. We know little about Elizabeth except that she was abused and abandoned in her past, and there's no discussion of how this has shaped her thoughts and her life. All we really hear from Elizabeth is her distaste for the new responsibilities that have suddenly landed on her shoulders. The lack of character development is magnified by the fact that the book is narrated in the first person, but there's absolutely nothing to the character who is the narrator. And then we have the content issues. This book is replete with gratuitous sex scenes that read more like a bodice-ripping romance novel than anything else. The descriptions of the sex scenes go on for pages. I'm just not interested in all that pulsing and throbbing. If I was, I'd read a romance novel. It's not just the fact that the book is full of sex, though. If that was the only problem, a reader could easily skim the sex scenes. The problem for me is that the book is full of sexual violence. I'm not really sure what gratuitous sexual violence is meant to accomplish. And the violence really is gratuitous. Sexual violence can have its place in writing if it works to tell a story or contribute to a larger theme. But when its just there, for no reason, it really serves only to be disturbing. Ultimately, I see little value in this heroine. She's described as kick-butt and no-nonsense, but she's presented as a victim who is only capable of giving in to her sexual urges, and can only accomplish her goals if she sleeps with a variety of men she'd rather avoid. Show Less
LibraryThing member aviddiva
I wanted to like this book, and I DID like it, for about the first 150 pages. The heroine, Liz Phoenix , is a psychic ex-cop, whose life up to now has been rough in places. She's been damaged, but she's muddling through. Then the woman who raised her is murdered, her ex-boyfriend is the prime
Any Given Doomsday is full of supernatural beings: berserkers, chindi, fairies, vampires, dhampir and others from across the fantasy spectrum. There is a lot of action, and the action drives the plot , until Liz reaches New Mexico, and the Navajo shaman who will teach her how to use her powers so she can assume her new role as general of the Light. At this point, sex enters the book, and unfortunately sex takes over for the action during most of the rest of the story. There is a lot of sex in the second half of any given Doomsday: mystical sex, vampire sex, a little quasi-romantic sex, and even an imaginative new use for sex that pretty well guarantees that there will be plenty more sex in books to come.
Hadeland's premise is intriguing and her anti-hero characters are appealing, but I felt as though she fell into the trap that sometimes snares romance writers, and let coupling take the place of character development. Any Given Doomsday really isn't a romance, it's urban fantasy, and so perhaps I shouldn't be bothered by this, but I was. The beginning was so engaging that I wanted the rest of the book to keep expanding Hadeland's world in a way it simply didn't. Even though Liz is supposed to be the leader of a whole host of folks battling evil, we never meet them. Liz may be snarky and talk a good line, but she is essentially passive for much of the story while the men drive the action, though they are relying on her talents for information. Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton or Sherilyn Kenyon may love this book, but I didn't.
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suspect, and it turns out that her foster mother was leading the battle between good and evil. Her death has set off Armageddon, and she's leaving Liz in charge to save the world. Kind of like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Left Behind. Any Given Doomsday is full of supernatural beings: berserkers, chindi, fairies, vampires, dhampir and others from across the fantasy spectrum. There is a lot of action, and the action drives the plot , until Liz reaches New Mexico, and the Navajo shaman who will teach her how to use her powers so she can assume her new role as general of the Light. At this point, sex enters the book, and unfortunately sex takes over for the action during most of the rest of the story. There is a lot of sex in the second half of any given Doomsday: mystical sex, vampire sex, a little quasi-romantic sex, and even an imaginative new use for sex that pretty well guarantees that there will be plenty more sex in books to come.
Hadeland's premise is intriguing and her anti-hero characters are appealing, but I felt as though she fell into the trap that sometimes snares romance writers, and let coupling take the place of character development. Any Given Doomsday really isn't a romance, it's urban fantasy, and so perhaps I shouldn't be bothered by this, but I was. The beginning was so engaging that I wanted the rest of the book to keep expanding Hadeland's world in a way it simply didn't. Even though Liz is supposed to be the leader of a whole host of folks battling evil, we never meet them. Liz may be snarky and talk a good line, but she is essentially passive for much of the story while the men drive the action, though they are relying on her talents for information. Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton or Sherilyn Kenyon may love this book, but I didn't.
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LibraryThing member Jacey25
I have to admit that I am a big fan of the supernatural genre. Half driven by my love of anything offbeat (although this is an ever increasingly popular genre) & half driven by my love of horror and the desire to see what "monsters" do in there off time when not slaughtering teens for having sex in
This being said I was excited to get an ARC copy of this book and I thank you for my selection. When I started reading the book however I wasn't hooked. I continued reading out of what I feel my duty to the writers and publishers constitues- finish it so you can write an honest review which is what follows....
The beginning was weak- I wasn't drawn into Elizabeth's character because I didn't have a strong sense of her as a real person. The first encounter (and subsequent) with Jimmy alternately bored me or turned me off to him- simply put he's a jerk. The first 70 pages were a snooze filled with cardboard characters- the few characters I wanted to know more about were killed instantly- the old black lady, the young black basketball player. Once Jimmy and Elizabeth go on a road trip to see Sawyer the novel picked up a bit for me- the scene in the town on the way there wasn't bad at all.
The middle is the only part of the book I reccomend truly- Once I met Sawyer's character I was hooked. He was fascinating and while having jerky tendencies himself I felt like HE (not Jimmy) was that bad news guy you would actually fall for in real life.
Unfortunately just when I was truly enjoying the book Elizabeth has a vision of Jimmy and a Stragi (Italian witch) in NY- figures Jimmy is in trouble and goes to save him. (Booo let Jimmy get killed.)
The book ends up going far far downhill for me here. I'll tell you so -true spoilers to the end at this point.
Jimmy has been given his father's blood which has awakened his EVIL side. Elizabeth is captured by his father and given to Jimmy- he asked for her specifically.
Why?- you ask. Well so she could become his sex slave and he could slowly kill her by a combination on more than daily doses of the BIG Jimmy (if ya know what I mean) and blood sucking. Lots and lots of sex that I have to admit to skimming but it all looked very cliched romance novel fake rape (she enjoys/tries to enjoy it/thinks of who "he really is/was" during it). Well anyways this all gets resolved in a ridiculous manner and then when Jimmy "comes to" he says how horrible she was and the ninny pulls him close to comfort him and THEN invites him to have sex with her to ERASE the memories of him using her. Lame, lame, lame ... I would have been pissed even if "it wasn't really his fault".
Elizabeth gets just what she deserves however- he leaves the morning after and leaves her a note- he isn't sure he can control his dark side *eye roll* and then to truly establish what an idiot the girl is she decides to go after him and find him and heal him (with more restorative sex? I bet).
Oh yes and silly me- the actual "concept" behind this thinly veiled romance novel is that the doomsday (the events building to the apocalypse) is at hand and Elizabeth is the only person who can make a difference... sorry world but I need to get my lying, cheating, raping man back... Eh whatever.
The excerpt for the second book in the series was strong and it focused on Sawyer's evil goddess mother which might be enough to get me to pick up the next one. Especially if Jimmy is killed by her.
Overall- Characters- weak with one standout exception
Plot- cliche but neglected and abused anyways
Writing- Compelling at times but slow more often
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the barn. This being said I was excited to get an ARC copy of this book and I thank you for my selection. When I started reading the book however I wasn't hooked. I continued reading out of what I feel my duty to the writers and publishers constitues- finish it so you can write an honest review which is what follows....
The beginning was weak- I wasn't drawn into Elizabeth's character because I didn't have a strong sense of her as a real person. The first encounter (and subsequent) with Jimmy alternately bored me or turned me off to him- simply put he's a jerk. The first 70 pages were a snooze filled with cardboard characters- the few characters I wanted to know more about were killed instantly- the old black lady, the young black basketball player. Once Jimmy and Elizabeth go on a road trip to see Sawyer the novel picked up a bit for me- the scene in the town on the way there wasn't bad at all.
The middle is the only part of the book I reccomend truly- Once I met Sawyer's character I was hooked. He was fascinating and while having jerky tendencies himself I felt like HE (not Jimmy) was that bad news guy you would actually fall for in real life.
Unfortunately just when I was truly enjoying the book Elizabeth has a vision of Jimmy and a Stragi (Italian witch) in NY- figures Jimmy is in trouble and goes to save him. (Booo let Jimmy get killed.)
The book ends up going far far downhill for me here. I'll tell you so -true spoilers to the end at this point.
Jimmy has been given his father's blood which has awakened his EVIL side. Elizabeth is captured by his father and given to Jimmy- he asked for her specifically.
Why?- you ask. Well so she could become his sex slave and he could slowly kill her by a combination on more than daily doses of the BIG Jimmy (if ya know what I mean) and blood sucking. Lots and lots of sex that I have to admit to skimming but it all looked very cliched romance novel fake rape (she enjoys/tries to enjoy it/thinks of who "he really is/was" during it). Well anyways this all gets resolved in a ridiculous manner and then when Jimmy "comes to" he says how horrible she was and the ninny pulls him close to comfort him and THEN invites him to have sex with her to ERASE the memories of him using her. Lame, lame, lame ... I would have been pissed even if "it wasn't really his fault".
Elizabeth gets just what she deserves however- he leaves the morning after and leaves her a note- he isn't sure he can control his dark side *eye roll* and then to truly establish what an idiot the girl is she decides to go after him and find him and heal him (with more restorative sex? I bet).
Oh yes and silly me- the actual "concept" behind this thinly veiled romance novel is that the doomsday (the events building to the apocalypse) is at hand and Elizabeth is the only person who can make a difference... sorry world but I need to get my lying, cheating, raping man back... Eh whatever.
The excerpt for the second book in the series was strong and it focused on Sawyer's evil goddess mother which might be enough to get me to pick up the next one. Especially if Jimmy is killed by her.
Overall- Characters- weak with one standout exception
Plot- cliche but neglected and abused anyways
Writing- Compelling at times but slow more often
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LibraryThing member roquinn
I received AGD as an ARC, and I read it right away. I was excited to read it - I really like both urban fantasy & paranormal romance, and I also enjoy a good mystery. But let me tell you the story of how it took me so long to review it.
My normal way of reviewing a book is to read it, let it
Except that the plot I was remembering wasn't from this book, as I found when I went to read it again. Perplexed, I spent the next few days trying to figure out which book I was remembering, and it turned out to be Sherrilyn Kenyon's Devil May Care. Completely forgot, again, about AGD. Spent another few months not thinking about it at all.
Again, I was reminded, and again, tried to remember the plot. This time, I remembered the plot from Apocalypse Array. But I couldn't find AGD to find out. I have a lot of books, and they're constantly being swirled about the 3 story house in which I live. I did eventually find Apocalypse Array (maybe I confused them because the covers are similar), though, and realized that this was not the book I had been looking for. So I set my brain to keep looking for AGD, and eventually, I found it.
So, to the book itself: labeled as urban fantasy, paranormal romance and mystery.
The mystery is who killed the heroine's mentor. There are no real clues or investigation, the protagonist fumbles about doing other things until the murderer delivers a smackdown on her, and tells all. So it obviously fails on that count.
Paranormal romance: I'm sorry, but rape is not romantic. At all. Especially not rape that is glorified into some sort of ecstatic experience for the victim. There is no romance in this book. There's barely even any sex: all but one of the so-called sex-scenes are in fact rape, and I'm surprised (though I probably shouldn't be) that more people didn't speak to that in their reviews. Seriously, in one scene, the victim is drugged & raped (and then told that she really wanted it, and that the drugs only brought that out), and in the others she is beaten, imprisoned and raped repeatedly. Nearly killed by the end of the experience. But it's all described as if it is the most exciting, wonderful thing that could happen to a woman. So another genre failure, IMO, as well as being a complete turn-off to anyone who actually has a concept of what rape is and can do to a person.
Urban fantasy: Okay, I'll buy that. It's got lots of supernatural creatures, and takes place mostly in cities. But frankly, the story was "meh" at best, and the characters flat & uninteresting - except when they were annoyingly stupid or self-centered. Which was annoying, but at least added some interest.
So, in summary: a mystery that really isn't, rape, rape and more rape, a lukewarm plot and flat, annoying characters. I won't be pursuing this series or this author, as there are tons better in all of the above genres to be found. Try Kim Harrison, Carrie Vaughn, or Karen Chance instead.
My normal way of reviewing a book is to read it, let it
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percolate for a week or two, and then read it again, reviewing as I go. So I gave this one a first reading....and then didn't think of it again for months! I got the reminder from Library Thing to review it, and tried to remember the story. Finally, I thought I remembered the basic plot. Except that the plot I was remembering wasn't from this book, as I found when I went to read it again. Perplexed, I spent the next few days trying to figure out which book I was remembering, and it turned out to be Sherrilyn Kenyon's Devil May Care. Completely forgot, again, about AGD. Spent another few months not thinking about it at all.
Again, I was reminded, and again, tried to remember the plot. This time, I remembered the plot from Apocalypse Array. But I couldn't find AGD to find out. I have a lot of books, and they're constantly being swirled about the 3 story house in which I live. I did eventually find Apocalypse Array (maybe I confused them because the covers are similar), though, and realized that this was not the book I had been looking for. So I set my brain to keep looking for AGD, and eventually, I found it.
So, to the book itself: labeled as urban fantasy, paranormal romance and mystery.
The mystery is who killed the heroine's mentor. There are no real clues or investigation, the protagonist fumbles about doing other things until the murderer delivers a smackdown on her, and tells all. So it obviously fails on that count.
Paranormal romance: I'm sorry, but rape is not romantic. At all. Especially not rape that is glorified into some sort of ecstatic experience for the victim. There is no romance in this book. There's barely even any sex: all but one of the so-called sex-scenes are in fact rape, and I'm surprised (though I probably shouldn't be) that more people didn't speak to that in their reviews. Seriously, in one scene, the victim is drugged & raped (and then told that she really wanted it, and that the drugs only brought that out), and in the others she is beaten, imprisoned and raped repeatedly. Nearly killed by the end of the experience. But it's all described as if it is the most exciting, wonderful thing that could happen to a woman. So another genre failure, IMO, as well as being a complete turn-off to anyone who actually has a concept of what rape is and can do to a person.
Urban fantasy: Okay, I'll buy that. It's got lots of supernatural creatures, and takes place mostly in cities. But frankly, the story was "meh" at best, and the characters flat & uninteresting - except when they were annoyingly stupid or self-centered. Which was annoying, but at least added some interest.
So, in summary: a mystery that really isn't, rape, rape and more rape, a lukewarm plot and flat, annoying characters. I won't be pursuing this series or this author, as there are tons better in all of the above genres to be found. Try Kim Harrison, Carrie Vaughn, or Karen Chance instead.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
Elizabeth Phoenix is suddenly and shatteringly made aware that the world around her is not as it seems. We walk in two realms, the natural and the supernatural. As she is struggling with this discovery, and with the fact that she has been chosen to lead one faction of the supernatural army, she
I really wanted to like this book. The staccato rhythm with which it started reminded me of the hard boiled mysteries I enjoy, then it took a plunge into the fantasy realm. This also was good and intriguing. A fantastical explanation for demons, gods and demigods which melded seamlessly into the story of the book. It was a page turner. Phoenix, though annoyingly dense about what she must do, was funny and I could identify with her in her crisis. Sadly, for me, about halfway through the book, it devolved into one sex scene after another. Rather than being titillating (or whatever the author aimed for), it simply became tedious, almost humorous. I have never read urban fantasy before, but if this is what happens in all of it, I suppose it isn’t for me. I like sex in my books like sex in film noir, suggested, but not explicit.
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must fight for her life and come to terms with who she is. Two men try to help her, or are they trying to destroy her? That is what she must discover.I really wanted to like this book. The staccato rhythm with which it started reminded me of the hard boiled mysteries I enjoy, then it took a plunge into the fantasy realm. This also was good and intriguing. A fantastical explanation for demons, gods and demigods which melded seamlessly into the story of the book. It was a page turner. Phoenix, though annoyingly dense about what she must do, was funny and I could identify with her in her crisis. Sadly, for me, about halfway through the book, it devolved into one sex scene after another. Rather than being titillating (or whatever the author aimed for), it simply became tedious, almost humorous. I have never read urban fantasy before, but if this is what happens in all of it, I suppose it isn’t for me. I like sex in my books like sex in film noir, suggested, but not explicit.
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LibraryThing member DNWilliams
I'm a big fan of the fantasy genre. A well written fantasy novel can take me out of this world and offer a variety of getaways that can erase any bad days, at least for a few hours. An especially well written novel can make me wish that I lived in that world. I had high hopes for Any Given
To be fair, I've never read a Handeland novel and so I can't be sure if this is typical for her novels, but it was so promising and then I was so very disappointed. There's nothing I hate more than an author falling back on sex in order to move the story forward. Don't get me wrong, I love a good love story and have nothing against sex in a story, but not when it is used as a device to move the story forward. Fantasy, by its very definition, opens up numerous worlds, possibilities without end and shouldn't require sex as a plot device. I really lost interest in the story after that. I'll probably finish the book, and I might change my mind again. But for now, meh.
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Doomsday, a combination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and your typical Armageddon story. When Elizabeth Phoenix inherits seer powers from Ruth, the woman who raised her, she is taken on a journey that is intended to unlock her untapped powers and also prepare her for her duty as leader of the DK's, or Demon Killers (and believe me I couldn't stop rolling my eyes every time someone mentioned DK's and used the acronyms in conversation. That was just too much.) Phoenix is hesitant to use her powers and is afraid of the man who has to teach her, despite the urgency in that the end of the world is nigh, Phoenix continues to be stubborn and refuses to listen or even try. Until her guide, Sawyer, leads her into the mountains, makes her mind fuzzy with some vague Native American herbs, and then has sex with her all night long, thereby opening her mind to the supernatural world and forcing her on the first steps toward tapping her powers.To be fair, I've never read a Handeland novel and so I can't be sure if this is typical for her novels, but it was so promising and then I was so very disappointed. There's nothing I hate more than an author falling back on sex in order to move the story forward. Don't get me wrong, I love a good love story and have nothing against sex in a story, but not when it is used as a device to move the story forward. Fantasy, by its very definition, opens up numerous worlds, possibilities without end and shouldn't require sex as a plot device. I really lost interest in the story after that. I'll probably finish the book, and I might change my mind again. But for now, meh.
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Original publication date
2008-11-04
Physical description
352 p.; 6.84 inches
ISBN
0312949197 / 9780312949198