Master of None by Sonya Bateman

Master of None by Sonya Bateman
Review copy provided by Sonya Bateman

Author's Web Site

PJVs QUICKIE POV: In the land that we call Urban Fantasy there seems to be a plethora of leather clad, Glock toting, tough chicks...smoking hot, a bit masochistic but always lovable. Ms. Bateman has proven that boys can hang in this estrogen infused roll, hang and stand-out.  Master of None is a super-sized, action-packed, ride that almost had my asthma kicking in because of the intensity. I believe the author just kept on saying..."What can we throw at them next" and wrote it. This novel is very hard-hitting, a little bit dirty, a lot of snark and a tad touching at times. I was sucked in after the first chapter...and was cursing my busy weekend because I couldn't sit down and read this novel like I wanted. 

REVIEW: Gavyn Donatti is a very unlucky thief, which is proven when he loses the item that he was commissioned to steal. To make matters worse the guy that commissioned the theft is a tad on the crazy side and doesn't want to hear that he lost it. Trevor's motto is kill first, ask questions later and maybe if you are lucky he won't torture you before the killing part.  When Gavyn discovers that he has lost the dagger he had just pilfered, there is no question what he has to do...RUN.

When Trevor's muscle show up and Gavyn knows that his luck just ran out something strange happens.  A overly tall, and very grumpy guy shows up and takes a few bullets in the chest for him...even though his attitude is showing that he hates Gavyn from the start.  When Gavyn realizes that this guy isn't dying and he just might have been that big dog/wolf that he saw early, Gavyn's world get turned upside down. He soon discovers that he now has a genie as a side-kick, intent on putting Gavyn on the "right path" and a homicidal maniac that will stop at nothing to track him down and kill him.  When Trevor (said maniac) starts sending his goons after anyone that is remotely involved with Gavyn, including his ex and her little boy, Gavyn realizes he has to stop Trevor.  The problem is Trevor seems to always be one step ahead of Gavyn and as things are revealed it might not just be Gavyn and his friends lives that are on the line, but the entire world.

A fast-paced, in-your-face read that had me cringing at some parts and laughing aloud at others. Bateman penned a really good debut Urban Fantasy novel, full of snarky one-liners, original plot, enjoyable characters and hateable bad guys. I only had a few critiques with this novel, one being that some of the threads were just too much, there was too much going on that it was hard to follow at some times. Second, the ending was a little drawn out to promote a series instead of a stand-alone. The final chapter could have been hinted at in a few lines, instead of the drawn out explanation that would morph this book into a series of books with hundreds of bad guys that need to be tracked down (does that mean 100s of books in this series?).  Its going to turn into something like Donatti the Djinn Slayer. That was my only critique, and besides that the novel was great. A must read for Urban Fantasy fans.

 RECOMMENDATIONS: The adult part of this novel came into play with graphic violence scenes, torture, maim, kill...not for the squeamish.  Other than that, very PG rated.  Fans of UF will really enjoy, if you enjoy books like Better Part of Darkness, Bitter Night, the Rachel Morgan Series, you should like this one.

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