Book Review: Awakenings by Edward Lazellari
Awakenings by Edward Lazellari. © 2011 Tor Books. ISBN 9780765327871. Hardback. Urban Fantasy. 348 pages. Source: review copy furnished by the publisher.
“Cal MacDonnell is a happily married New York cop with a loving family. Seth Raincrest is a photographer whose self-involved nature has alienated even his closet friends. They have nothing in common—except that they suffer from retrograde amnesia. It’s as if they just appeared out of thin air thirteen years ago, and nothing has been able to restore their memories. Now that forgotten past has caught up to them with a vengeance. Cal and Seth’s lives are turned upside down as they are stalked by otherworldly beings who know their past identities, intent on killing them and anyone who gets in their way. In the balance hangs the life of a child who might someday restore a broken empire to peace and prosperity.” – except of jacket blurb
My Review -
Cal is a cop who despite not having a memory passed the last thirteen years has managed to create a beautiful life with a great job, loving wife and beautiful daughter. Seth has the same amnesiac problem, but unlike Cal, has never managed to put his life together: Seth works as an amateur pornographer who has no lasting relationships outside of that with his pet cat. Cal and Seth soon find themselves with common enemies—the magic-wielding, “we want to kill you” kind of enemies.
Daniel Hauer, an abused thirteen year old, is a kid with a noble heritage; one that links him to Cal and Seth. Their enemies want Daniel as well, but the people who want to keep Daniel safe have no idea where he is…
The tone and style of writing made me feel the aimed target audience was young adult males, so I really wasn’t really feeling it. Five disparate stories for such a short novel doesn’t really give us much and was exceedingly busy. Was it horrible? No, but it wasn’t wonderful either. On GoodReads, 2 stars means “it was okay” so that’s going to be my verdict. 2/5.
