REVIEW | Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe (Tor)

Burn Me Deadly is Bledsoe's second Eddie LaCrosse novel, which again plays the Noir/Fantasy combo very well. The action is believable as its main character Eddie gets as good as he gives most times. I'd be treading on a lot of similar ground if I went on too much on the world and character so check out my review of the first adventure The Sword-Edged Blonde for some basic tidbits. The pacing of Burn Me Deadly is a bit slower this time around, but it serves the story well after some hard action on Eddie at the start.

Eddie is one tough nut and won't let go even if he has no clue what is going. A promise made to someone he just met leads him down a harsh road and into the hands of bastards and questioning the allegiance of those closest to him. Although you get the feeling he is avenging his horse and pride more than the girl. Again the magic is on the low side, which makes you appreciate the little this is included. This is a land where legends have laid dormant for a long time and are just now stirring. But legends don't always turn out to be what you expect as Eddie and his companion Liz learn as they step into the mud. Liz was given some expected and needed depth this time around.

Burn Me Deadly comes off a bit like Abercrombie-light, which is not necessarily a bad thing as Abercrombie can be a bit much for some stomachs as was evidenced by some of the harsher scenes in Best Served Cold. That said this is the gruesome side of Bledsoe as he lets some truly harrowing things happen to a few characters with deeply tortuous acts. All in all this was a great revenge tale that pleases on all levels including the ending.

Bledsoe has again achieved an action packed adventure as Burn Me Deadly will keep you guessing at the truth of the matter in its truly Noir style along with its likeable protagonist LaCrosse. I give Burn Me Deadly 8 out of 10 Hats. Highly recommend to fans of detective style mashups. The next Lacrosse novel currently titled Dark Jenny will be released in the winter of 2011, but given that this series can definitely be approached at any point it hopefully won't feel like a long wait. Folks new to the world should start at the beginning to get the best idea of where the characters have come from. I'd really like to see a map included in the next volume as the region and its divisions are discussed quite a bit and LaCrosse moves around a lot--it would help to get some more footing for his movements.


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