Wake of the Bloody Angel

Wake of the Bloody Angel is the fourth novel in Alex Bledsoe???s EDDIE LACROSSE MYSTERIES series. Like its predecessors, it crosses traditional noir crime fiction with well-known tropes from fantasy literature. Not an easy thing to do well, I???d think, but Alex Bledsoe makes it work. In the previous novels, we???ve met some manifestation of Epona the horse goddess, Rhiannon from the Mabinogi, dragons, and the Arthurian Legends. I???m not going to tell you who/what we meet in Wake of the Bloody Angel because that would spoil the big mystery ??? I???ll just say I didn???t see it coming.

This time, Eddie is hired by Angelina, the beautiful middle-aged woman who owns the tavern below Eddie???s office, to find her old lover ??? a pirate she hasn???t seen in 20 years. Eddie and Jane, a buxom swordswoman who???s an ex-pirate-turned-pirate-hunter, set out on the high seas to find him. Needless to say, they find a lot more than they bargained for.

If you???ve liked Bledsoe???s crime/fantasy mashups before, you???ll be pleased with this latest installment. Eddie LaCrosse continues to be a terrific hero ??? he???s mature (a nice change from the na??ve farmboy with a Destiny), masculine, smart, and tough, but he???s also gentle and caring. If anything, Eddie???s a little too noble to be believed at times, but I adore him. Each of the EDDIE LACROSSE books is well-paced, well-plotted, and has just the right amount of humor to ease the tension. Wake of the Bloody Angel has a healthy dose of horror, too.

Tor picked up Alex Bledsoe after his first novel was so well received, but this is a series that I insist on reading in audio format (Blackstone Audio) because I???ve got a crush on Stefan Rudnicki, the narrator. His voice is absolutely perfect for Eddie LaCrosse and, once again, he delivers an excellent performance with Wake of the Bloody Angel.

Each of the EDDIE LACROSSE MYSTERIES can stand alone, but if you have the opportunity to read them in order, that would be ideal.

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 the 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.

There's adventure, piracy, sword-play, banter, friendship, and a bit of betrayal. Enough to keep you engaged, if not turning pages as quickly as you can. 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 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.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

Let the Right One In

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He Drank, and Saw the Spider