Novella Review: Spider’s Lullaby by James R. Tuck
Author: James R. Tuck
Tittle: Spider’s Lullaby
Release: June 26th 2012
Series: Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty-Hunter 1.5
Reviewer: Kitt
Source: Author
Purchase: | Barnes&Nobles NookHe lives to kill monsters. He keeps his city safe. And his silver hollow-points and back-from-the-dead abilities take out any kind of unnatural threat. But between this bad-ass bounty hunter and rescuing the most helpless of victims stands the one evil he can’t defeat…
For Deacon Chalk, loyalty is worth dying for. And now that something has taken were-spider Charlotte’s un-hatched children and one of his closest friends, he’ll tear up the human and supernatural underworlds to find them. But with his allies stripped away by an invincible Yakuza hit man and time running out, Deacon must face down the most ancient of demonic entities. And his last hope means surrendering to the inner darkness waiting hungrily to consume him …
“Deacon Chalk, Occult Bounty Hunter, at your service. No monster too big or too small. Have silver bullets, will travel.”
Spider’s Lullaby starts after celebrating the defeat of the vampire from hell, Appolonia, with a night on the town. Deacon, Tiff, and the Were-spider Charlotte return to find Charlotte’s cluster all murdered. To make matters worse, Ronnie – babysitter for the night and Deacon’s close fiend – plus Charlotte’s sac of eggs have both gone missing. Now it’s up to the three of them to figure out what has happened before the spider’s hatch at dawn.
As a short novella of 65 pages, Spider’s Lullaby follows only a few months after author James R. Tuck’s debut, Blood and Bullets. Deacon Chalk is a badass character with a penchant for guns and a big heart. You can really see how he cares for those he lets into his small inner circle, but he likes to pretend he’s the bigger older brother to all his girls and the effect has him coming off as a bit patronizing. The fact that he likes to call Tiff “little girl” is really irksome to me, especially since this is a woman he’s supposedly interested in.
I was extremely excited to read Spider’s Lullaby since it is the first time I’ve ever read from a male’s first person pov. It was intriguing to me given that it gave me a new perspective in a genre filled mostly with the female persuasion. I really liked the fast-action-pace and the use of different mythologies and supes to bring the story to life. However, it bothered me that I didn’t read the series’ first and I could tell there was a ton I missed out on from not reading Blood and Bullets even if I was still able to read the story without confusion. I’m usually not one to read urban fantasy books out of order and in this case, I truly don’t recommend it. For those of you who are up to date, keep a look out for Blood and Silver, due to hit shelves this August.
[...] For Deacon Chalk, loyalty is worth dying for. And now that something has taken were-spider Charlotte’s un-hatched children and one of his closest friends, he’ll tear up the human and supernatural underworlds to find them. But with his allies stripped away by an invincible Yakuza hit man and time running out, Deacon must face down the most ancient of demonic entities. And his last hope means surrendering to the inner darkness waiting hungrily to consume him … READ REVIEW [...]