We first met freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse a couple of years ago in Alex Bledsoe’s THE SWORD-EDGED BLONDE. That endearing mix of fantasy noir never felt constrained by the trappings of either genre, and the author’s LaCrosse character was witty, cynical, likable and a fun read. Thankfully, this all continues in BURN ME DEADLY.
LaCrosse is shambling down the road on his horse when an attractive woman bursts from the nearby forest, begging for protection. He obliges, but fails to protect her — fails so miserably, in fact, that not only does she die, but her killers almost manage to wipe out LaCrosse as well. As can be imagined by those who know the character, this does not please him in the least.
His quest is to discover the identity of this woman, and what it was she knew that the killers were after. And of course, all of this is done in the sly and cocky way that defines Eddie LaCrosse.
Bledsoe is a quick and agile storyteller who doesn’t waste words. His characters all live in the realm of believability, and the story never bogs down because the author wants to try to be clever. It’s really one of the more entertaining fantasy series out there, and one can only wish that Bledsoe would write a little quicker, so we could indulge in more of his characters’ wild adventures. —Mark Rose
Related posts:
- The Sword-Edged Blonde
- The Deadly Dames / A Dum-Dum for the President
- Burn Notice: The End Game
- What Fire Cannot Burn
- Deadly Housewives
