Battle Axe by Carsen Taite

Battle Axe
by Carsen Taite
Pages: 264
Date: May 13 2013
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Series: Luca Bennett Bounty Hunter (2nd in series)

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: April 25 2016

My second book by Taite, and third story in this specific series. I just have a few notes to add to this middle of the series book.

1) My prior knowledge, given to me from reading the short story that appeared after the third novel, actually had a deeper impact on my enjoyment of the story this time around, than in the prior book. Mostly because I 'know' how things are supposed to turn out; the first book was relatively 'smooth' and didn't bother me too much with how things evolved; while the second book had me frustrated with the relationships occurring. In a 'come on already, get with it' kind of frustration.
2) I was actually surprised, considering how much time is spent with the side character Teresa Perez in the first book, the short story that occurs after the trilogy, and supposedly in the third book, that Perez does not appear at all in this book. Not even a mention (unless I missed it).
3) There was a mystery, it was interesting, it was not as interesting as in the short story, or in the first book of the series.
4) To a certain extent, a greater bit of time seemed to be spent on romances/relationships/miscommunications/missed communications/etc. than in either the prior book or in the short story.

Luca continues to be a player, and has a new person to play with this time - though that 'new person' is a return of someone from a prior case. Which reminds me - that whole referencing Diamond Collier and Luca's interactions with her in the past, and the undercover case Collier had been working on? Just made me keep thinking that I'd yet again missed a book somewhere along the way. It would probably be a less frustrating experience, and might even have been intriguing, if I hadn't already started the series in reverse order (which, fair enough, is my own fault). Right, as noted, indirectly, the new person Luca played with is Diamond Collier - a government worker.

Oddly, this time around, Jessica Chance also had someone to play with, and it wasn't Luca. That was somewhat unexpected.

April 26 2016