It doesn't have a happy ending. But, it has the right ending. ( )

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S WAKE OF THE BLOODY ANGEL ABOUT?

I looked up at the stars. Finding one pirate after twenty years was a lot like picking one star out of this sky. Just when you thought you had it, a cloud slid by and you had to start all over when it passed.

Yet that's just what Eddie LaCrosse sets out to do—find the unfindable, track the untrackable. For those of you who don't know—Eddie lives in a fairly standard fantasy realm, and makes his living as a "sword jockey"—what we'd call a P.I. in our world. These books are first-person narratives and read a lot like good detective novels—but with swords, horses, and the occasional dragon or whatnot.

Eddie doesn't go alone on his search for a pirate—he brings along his old friend/colleague, Jane Argo. Jane's a former pirate turned pirate hunter turned sword jockey and is as tough as that résumé suggests. Having her come along on this adventure as the Hawk/Joe Pike figure was a great addition to a series that I didn't think required it. But now, I want more of her—back in Eddie LaCrosse #6, or in Jane Argo #1. I could be pleased either way, as long as it's soon.

A KILLER LINE
Every now and then, in the middle of this fun read, Bledsoe reminds you he can do more than tell a fun action story, and drop a sentence, or phrase that shows he's just a good writer, period. One such line that stood out to me, and I've tried to find excuses to use in the last couple of days is:

Hawk's been called many things over the years, but you know what captures him best, in my opinion? That he's simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.

You get a real clear idea about this Hawk guy, the image is pretty creepy in and of itself, and yet, it looks and sounds breezy unless you think about it. I like Eddie and the rest of his world plenty—but it's that kind of thing that keeps me coming back to Bledsoe.

What I found interesting as I re-read what I wrote years ago is this very line. I'd completely forgotten it in the intervening years, but when I heard it, I mentioned it to a coworker and at least one family member, and even tweeted about it. It struck me as a perfect line in 2014, and it did the same again in 2020. I clearly have a well-defined taste and will probably rave about it the next time I read/listen to this novel.

THE PARANORMAL
The last thing I can think to note is that this book briefly features the creepiest little girl I can remember since Let the Right One In. I really can't talk about her without ruining too much, but let me just say that absolutely loved the way that Bledsoe used her. And no, I'm not going to talk about why I mention her under "The Paranormal."

For a Fantasy series, Bledsoe is very careful—almost stingy—with his use of magic and the paranormal. But when he uses it? It's so effective. We get just a few incidents of it here and I love watching the choices Bledsoe makes regarding them.

THE NARRATION
Obviously, as it was over 6 years ago that I read the book, I could be wrong about this, but I think that Rudnicki's narration added another layer to the novel, and it struck a deeper chord with me. It's not like I didn't enjoy the book when I read it, but listening to it seemed to be more effective. I attribute that solely to Rudnicki. He just does a great job not only with Eddie, but with all the other characters—Jane Argo and the last new character we meet in particular.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT WAKE OF THE BLOODY ANGEL?
There's adventure, piracy, sword-play, banter, friendship, and a bit of betrayal. That's pretty much what you want in a novel like this, right?

Bledsoe did a great job of nailing the life of a ship (says the guy who gets too seasick to even contemplate a day-long voyage)—both the tedium of day-to-day and the excitement of boardings (or other adventures at sea).

I couldn't have seen the ending coming, nor the details it revealed. But it worked, it absolutely worked both as interesting plot development, and as strong character moments. So well done.

I've only got one novel in this series to go, and I'm excited to get to it, but I don't want things to end. That's a good place to be. ( )

Great fun read, fast paced and action packed.
http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2013/11/wake-of-the-bloody-angel/ ( )

Eddie LaCrosse is back, as tough and laconic as in previous books. This time, his client is his landlady, Angelina, about whom we know very little, except that she has a Past. Angelina engages Eddie to find her lover who turned to piracy many years ago and may or may not be dead, and who may or may not have a fortune in gold.

Eddie's investigation takes him to faraway towns, to unwilling witnesses, and finally to see along with a crew of pirates turned pirate-chasers (hooray - here is a book in which pirates are criminal scum).

Before Eddie reaches the end of the trail, he'll find out a few things that he didn't want to know along with the things he did, and have to work out which of those things he should tell and which he should keep to himself. He also has to think about the consequences of catastrophic youthful mistakes (of which, if you have read the previous books, you know he made at least one himself) and when, if ever, it is right to acknowledge that someone screwed up, and then move on, rather than to hold it against them forever.

You don't have to have read the previous novels in the series to enjoy each one individually, but it does help.

If you like fantasy and hardbitten-PI novels, then you'll be in heaven here - the Eddie LaCrosse novels are a mix of the two; narrated by Eddie, it's like Philip Marlowe, but with more swords. ( )

Dang! Another review I let languish. Sorry Alex Bledsoe, especially since I really enjoyed the book. I picked it up because I was so taken with the Tuva series, that I wanted to see how your other books were. Couldn't get the first in the series, but I was able to jump right in with this one, thankfully. Some books are great romps through whatever world they're set in, and this was one. There was enough history similar to our own, and enough that had nothing to do with this one to keep me both amused and on my toes. (I'm partial to pirate tales, being from Charleston, where they once sailed our seas, and where Anne Bonny got her start, and nearly her finish, and Sted Bonnet graced the gallows at White Point Gardens.) You did give me an ear worm though, and I'll have to see how son plays in the next book of yours I read. I like Eddie La Crosse.

(Quietly hums "Brandy, you're a fine girl, What a good wife you would be, But my life, my love and my lady is the sea.") ( )