Cal's voice in his head has gotten a bit more persistent
since his monstrous half merged more thoroughly with the
human (Blackout) but that was to be expected. Living
with yourself when you are half Auph, top of the food chain
where supernatural creatures are concerned is a challenge at
best of times. Although having a Gollum-like voice as
counterpoint to almost every thought is odd, it is hardly
the most worrisome of his quirks.
Still, things are going swimmingly for Cal and Nik Leandros
until Robin Goodfellow hires them as security for a family
reunion, a Puck family gathering giving old school meaning
to the term 'Pan'ic. Barely released from the plague of
horney trickster locusts, Cal finds himself confronted with
a living machine too tough for even him to dent. Then Nik's
Rom father Kalakos turns up and makes clear that Cal is not
the only half-monster in the family. He brings further news
of the ancient evil that almost killed Caliban, a machine
made partly sentient with reason to hunt down the Rom.
Rob Thurman's books have become favorites. The grim horrific
reality of the world Cal inhabits is viewed through a
sarcastic lens and softened with the love between brothers.
Touching and at times hilarious, yet intensely compelling
Thurman's storylines are among the darkest in urban fantasy
but she uses that grim supernatural backdrop and the
internal struggles of her antihero Caliban to heighten the
sense of what it truly means to be a power for good. Any
book by Thurman is worth the purchase, but the Cal Leandros
series shines, each one better than the one before.
DOUBLETAKE is the seventh in the series.
Half-human/half-monster Cal Leandros knows that family is a
pain. But now that pain belongs to his half-brother, Niko.
Niko's shady father is in town, and he needs a big favor.
Even worse is the reunion being held by the devious Puck
race-including the Leandros' friend, Robin- featuring a
lottery that no Puck wants to win.
As Cal tries to keep both Niko and Robin from paying the
ultimate price for their kin, a horrific reminder from Cal's
own past arrives to remind him that blood is thicker than
water-and that's why it's so much more fun to spill.
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