Subject: Deadfall: Review by the Happy Guy From: "Sean Gaffney" Date: 1998/01/27 Message-ID: <01bd2ab2$c6c9c860$c480abcf@gaffney> Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho [More Headers] Ah, time to review the latest Benny book. Well, not latest anymore, I'm still a little behind. And it's by...lessee, who's the author... Ah. SPOILERS!!! It is no great secret that I was not fond of Invasion of the Cat-People. And The Scales of Injustice, while a nicely written book, was not my cup of tea. I liked Legacy at the time, but don't really feel the need to reread it like I do some of the others. That having been said...Deadfall is the first Gary Russell book I wholeheartedly recommend. (I suspect I'll like Business Unusual as well, but I'm waiting for the books to get over here.) The pace is cracking, and the plot wonderfully cheesy without being annoyingly so. It combines the best of 50s horror with 80s horror, and melds them nicely. PLOT: As I just said, nice. There is a bit at the end where Jason gets the villain to explain everything just before she kills him, but that totally fits with the style of the book, so wtf. The use of Jason, and more importantly the way Jason reacts to his use, is also excellent. BENNY: Cameo, really, but well written. Gary does the Benny/ Jason relationship well. JASON: Our hero, even if he'd rather not admit it. He keeps trying throughout the book to be the anti-hero, and let Cwej get to do the heroics, but it just ain't happening. I sense Gary's seen Die Hard a bit as well. ^_^ CWEJ: aka Jamie Lee Curtis. Still, he eventually gets to save the day, and let's face it, he's fun to watch when he's moral dilemma-ing. ^_^ EMILE: Grown up a bit from Beyond the Sun, and therefore a bit less irritating, he seems to be the observer through most of this book. Interesting character development, though - are any other authors planning on bringing him back? THE PRISONERS: Running the full gamut of personality. I ended up casting a lot of them in my head, the sure sign that I'm enjoying a book. I ha no sympathy for Greirson, though - her death did not move me at all. Even before we heard her real story. THE JAILERS: I kept picturing Tolland being played by Sid James. Despite that, his absolutely nutty colonial was just realistic enough to chill. And in Ryne and Blummer, Gary has come closer than any other NA author in recreating a Holmes double act. THE VILLAINS: This is where it didn't work as well for me. I'm a big fan of mind-control stories, so I dunno why, but the saga of the Jithii left me going, "hm." And Njobe was a fun cliche, but still the least realistic of the cliches. STYLE: Fits right in with the John Carpenter film it tries to emulate. This book reads about 200 times faster than Scales of Injustice. OVERALL: Aside from a rather feckless villain, this book is excellent. Nice use of Jason, interesting characters, and a lovely plot that takes me right back to watching those old 50s aliens control your brain films. And the final line of the book had me ROTFL. 9/10. Looking forward to seeing Gary do Colin, one of my faves. Next: Ghost Devices, which catches me up as far as the stores have gone. Then I go back and catch up with The Dying Days, which slipped into my hiatus first time round. --Sean Gaffney --not a TV Zone reviewer, just an incredible simulation...