The Nitty Gritty: Have you ever wondered about the origins of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? No? *pout* Well whatever, troglodyte, this fifth installment of the MHI series introduces us to the real Agent Franks. Short for Frankenstein. We've seen Agent Franks in the previous books, but it was usually at the business end of a very large gun. However Nemesis is all Franks, all the time.
After the clusterf**k in Las Vegas, thanks to Unicorn and Stricken, everyone is scrambling for containment. All the monster hunters, the MCB, Franks, everyone but Unicorn. Because we all know that unicorns don't exist, right. Stricken is taking this chance to screw the MCB, Franks and Myers over royally. Stricken has something up his sleeve that is sure to piss of Franks in a bad way. He needs Myers and especially Franks out of the way if he is to take the country in a direction that he sees fit.
He sets Franks up to take the fall on a murderous rampage through the MCB headquarters. Franks goes on the run to clear his name. Along the way Franks gets it on with a succubus, kicks a gnome over a fence and generally kills a lot of things for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Opening Line: "There's innocent blood on your hands."
The Good: Well I know more about guns than I ever wanted to know that's for sure. Correia's obsession comes through loud and perfectly clear in this book. Not that he was ever subtle about it in other books. As a gun carrying American myself I do appreciate the second amendment I just don't need to wave my gun around like a rachet hood to prove I've got the balls to pull my gun if the situation should ever arise. Seems like Correia is itching for an excuse. It is nice to see his enthusiasm for all things Smith & Wesson.
In Nemesis we are treated into the lives of the MCB. In the previous books we are lead to believe they are nothing more than a bunch of a badly dressed idiots with guns and licenses to screw up the lives of people terrorized by monsters they are supposed to be protected against. From the other books it seems only right that Grant ends up as a Fed. Seems fitting after his showing in MHI. Well for once the Monster Control Bureau gets a decent rap in Nemesis. Not that Franks is any more forgiving in this novel than he has been, but now we understand the reason for his brutality. I for one throughly enjoyed Franks destructive power when its directed at Stricken and all his ilk.
I love that Correia has taken creature tropes that every SCI/FI and fantasy geek has grown up reading about and totally flushed them down the toilet. In MHI we got trailer park elves in mumus. In Nemesis we get gang banging gnomes with counterfeit 'ghetto cards'. Its a much need repurposing of tired tropes.
The Bad: Not to spoil anything, but a few of the characters that bit the dust I would have liked to have seen them continue on in the series. I thought they made a great addition to the story line and though it helped push some of the mains to their breaking points they could have been useful down the line.
Correia makes no secret of his disdain for government oversight into the daily lives of American citizens, which is fine. To each his own, its just that it got old in MHI: Vendetta. Yes we know how you feel and how your characters feel, we just don't need to see it every other page and in every single book. Give them something new to bitch about.
Larry should really stick to what he knows. Which is red neck gun nuts in Alabama. Anytime he steps out of that realm I get the impression he got his research done from MTV. His gangster gnomes are the worst caricatures of urban culture that I have seen in a good while. Sure they would have fit right in during the 90s, but in this day and age the hood has evolved, and so should Correia. Though I can't really expect a white author to authentically capture black culture. Especially if said capture is not for a positive spin.
My hope for the series: Nemesis had a ton of foreshadowing and the shadowing for the rest of the MHI series. I am looking forward to the next installment. If nothing else I want to see what sort of baby Julie is going to pop out.
Um. Yeah. Did you read Larry's bio? Especially the part where he ran afoul of a Merced, CA, gang in high school? And where his exposure to the South was a 2 year Mormon mission? He actually has more experience with inner city gangs than rural Southerners.
ReplyDeleteOh, almost missed: Is he a "white Latino" now? :)
DeleteSo what you are saying is that spending time in the south for two years as a Mormon missionary and pissing of a Cali gang makes someone an expert on black urban culture? If thats the case I should be teaching Latin Studies at Chapel Hill. I used to work at Taco Bell.
ReplyDelete