Friday, March 30, 2012

Book Review: Anasazi by Emma Michaels


by Emma Michaels 

Genre: Mystery/Paranormal
Reading Grade: New Adult
Publication Date: August 3, 2011
Source: publisher review copy
Age Rating: 14+

One year ago, something happened to David. Following the only clue he had he headed out into the desert. Now he has asked me to come see him. But when I arrived, he was gone. The people in town claim they have never heard of him and everyone wants me to leave. 
 
But I know he was here and he is in trouble. He can't survive out there for long.

Can he?

David. I will find you. 

 
My Review

  • Plot: Anasazi is the second book in the Sense of Truth series, and it picks up about a year after the first one left off. The main character is a young woman named Megan who never appears in the first book, but she is already a friend of David's. David is the first book's protagonist's ex-boyfriend. He texted Megan to come meet up with him in the Arizona desert, and already being keen on him, she didn't hesitate to hop on her motorcycle and head out there. But, David is nowhere to be found in the small desert town mostly inhabited by Hopi Native Americans. He had something to do with the town's big archeological dig, but she spends the novel trying to find him because someone has decided to eliminate him for his research on the dig.
  • Characters: Megan is an interesting girl with a troubled past who can kick-butt when needed. She's sassy and sarcastic and very stubborn about finding the missing David, even in an area she doesn't feel completely welcome in. David is a character I already like from the first book, but he's missing for most of Book 2. Still, he's the same old charming character I liked from The Thirteenth Chime. Lucas is a teenage Hopi character who ends up being the only character Megan can really trust to help her out, and I thought he was cute.
  • Technical Writing: I really didn't like how the first book was written, but this one shows good improvement on the technical side.
  • Storytelling: I think the storytelling shows continuous improvement in this installment, which I liked in the first one. I know nothing about the Hopi Nation, but this author clearly did her research. How she weaved this mystery together is a mystery to me, me being someone who just doesn't get how mystery authors do it. I'm very impressed. How she tied everything together from what was discovered at the dig site, the Rock City (which may or may not be fictional), and how the ancient Hopi could use a calendar to figure out when to plant crops so they'd grow perfectly... It was all so very expertly done.
  • Overall Quality: The quality of Anasazi is overall higher than The Thirteenth Chime, although I feel I might prefer the first book because I like David, and he appears in the first book a lot more. I think the mystery plot of the first book appealed to me more, as well.
  • Favorite Moment/Scene: When Megan finally finds David after searching for him for so long. He's in terrible shape, but he manages to help her help him because he's an EMT. Also, I was impressed with how Megan found him. She used a hawk, something straight out of Native American folklore/mythology, to locate him and I thought it was really cool, for lack of a better word.
  • My Score: 3 out of 5 stars.

*I received an e-copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Buy this title from | Amazon | for $2.99.

Read my review of the first book in this series, The Thirteenth Chime.


11 comments:

  1. Hmm I'm assuming that since David is in his one on his own that he didn't end up with Destiny? it's a very interesting premise. I really like it when books weave a bit of mythology into things. Although mysteries aren't really my thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Lan: Yeah, David doesn't end up with Destiny, at least not so far. It was a really interesting read.

      Delete
  2. I haven't read this series before ,,, but i will check it up soon ,,, Nice review :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't even read The Thirteenth Chime. Sigh! The cover to this one is awesome, though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Jenny: The first book is a good mystery. Yeah, the cover is nice.

      Delete
  4. I didn't realize The Thirteenth Chime was part of a series. I'm glad the author's writing had

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Has gotten better. I look forward to reading it.. Great review!

      Delete
    2. @Andrea: She did improve! Thanks....

      Delete
  5. Huh, I never would have guessed from the covers that The Thirteenth Chime and Anasazi were "sister" books. I'm intrigued by the Native American aspect of this novel - they're definitely underrepresented in the spec fic world. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the novel!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Camille: Yeah, I think the covers don't look enough alike to be part of a series.

      Thanks for your comment!

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...