The Mutant Files

Today I'm going to be reviewing the first two Mutant Files books courtesy of the publisher. I was actually sent the second book to review and the first book I assume because I haven't read the first one. Now, these books aren't what I usually go for and they're not my usual cup of tea, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway! 

Deadeye
Rating: 2/5
Buy or Borrow: Borrow

Detective Cassandra Lee of Los Angeles’s Special Investigative Section has built a fierce reputation taking down some of the city’s most notorious criminals. But the serial cop killer known as Bonebreaker—who murdered Lee’s father—is still at large. Officially, she’s too personally involved to work on the Bonebreaker case. Unofficially, she’s going to hunt him to the ends of the earth.
 
In the meantime, duty calls when the daughter of Bishop Screed, head of the Church of Human Purity, is kidnapped by mutants and taken into the red zone to be used for breeding. Assigned to rescue her, Lee must trust her new partner—mutant lawman Deputy Ras Omo—to guide her not only through the unfamiliar territory but through the prejudicial divisions between mutants and norms…

Right, so, as you can tell from my rating, clearly I didn't like the book, but I'm doing the review because I feel like I should seeing as I got sent both from the publisher. This review should probably be taken with a large pinch of salt because as I have already stated, I don't usually read this type of book and it's not my usual cup of tea, I wanted to give it a go anyway because the publisher have always been good to me! 

I did finish the book, but I found my attention wandering and found myself quite bored for the majority of the book. I'm more of a fantasy reader, I do read historical and YA, but because I read a lot of fantasy I'm used to lots of detail. Which means that when I read a book like this, all the inconsistencies stick out like a sore thumb. And there where many inconsistencies. The majority of them centre around the disease and the practices that made little sense to me but I'm not going to get in to it. There where so many that I found myself getting annoyed, I mean it's probably one of the more niggling ones, but I did find it amazing how Lee could drink through a straw with a mask on. Not much of the procedures or anything to do with the disease and it's spreading made sense so I swiftly found myself losing interest.

I didn't enjoy the dialogue I found that it didn't flow very well, I felt incredibly distanced from the characters due to the authors writing. Due to this I found I could not connect with any of the characters as I got no feel for them. I always find it hard to read books that do not have a character I connect with in any capacity. While the author did not feel the need to explain enough with the disease to at least put to rest some of the inconsistencies, the author did decide that we needed to have side notes and what terms meant in parenthesis which was incredibly distracting and made me feel like I was too stupid to work it out myself. The action was good and there was a lot of it but I really did not care about the characters or what was going on with them at all. I couldn't wait to finish it to be honest. 

Redzone

Rating: 2/5

Buy or Borrow: Borrow

The year is 2065, almost thirty years since a bioterrorist attack decimated the population. The world has been divided, and new nations have formed. Those mutated from exposure inhabit the red zones, while “norms” live in the green zones.

In the nation of Pacifica, Los Angeles detective Cassandra Lee is in charge of investigating a disturbing case, tracking a cop killer dubbed the Bonebreaker. But strange new murders have occurred, falling outside the normal pattern and leaving Lee and her team wondering if the serial killer has become unpredictable—or if he’s no longer acting alone…

To make matters worse, Lee’s attention is diverted after she receives a letter from her long-lost mother. Now she must venture into the red zone, a lawless land where might makes right—and where the biggest danger may be her own family.

I can hear you all wondering why I would review this one when I clearly didn't like the first one. So I'll explain that, like I said, the publisher has been good to me and I feel bad not reviewing when they sent me both. The other reason is that while I didn't like the first and these books aren't my usual cup of tea, I was hoping that being the second book it might be better than the first. More detailed, more explained....that it would make more sense. 

Unfortunately no. I didn't even finish this one I gave up after going from reading it properly to speed reading it, and finally gave up around about half way through. These books really aren't my thing, I might have at least enjoyed them however, if I could connect to the characters or if there weren't so many inconsistencies. Sadly the inconsistencies continued in this book, as did the distancing from the characters. Not to mention the jarring jumping about from genre to genre. The settings did not mesh, which could be down to all the inconsistencies or just poor world building. Another jarring thing was the multi POV's. They changed far too often. Paragraph to paragraph. At first it was merely jarring, then it  was annoying to be shifted about so much. 

Sorry Titan. I tried to like them, really I did!