It's December 2042 and Tex Murphy, last of the old-style PIs, has hit rock bottom. A run of tough luck and a soured marriage have left Tex nursing a bottle of cheap bourbon and wishing he could sink right into the pavement.
Then a priceless statuette is stolen. From the shadowy back streets of post-apocalyptic San Francisco come rumors that an ancient evil, foretold by prophecy and worshipped by an ancient blood cult, has mysteriously reawakened. When Tex is hired to find the statuette he plunges into a labyrinth of deceit, manipulation, and murder. He'll need all his PI instincts and every ounce of Murphy savoir faire to resist the seduction of darkness and stop the forces of evil - before the terrifying prophecies become reality.
Then a priceless statuette is stolen. From the shadowy back streets of post-apocalyptic San Francisco come rumors that an ancient evil, foretold by prophecy and worshipped by an ancient blood cult, has mysteriously reawakened. When Tex is hired to find the statuette he plunges into a labyrinth of deceit, manipulation, and murder. He'll need all his PI instincts and every ounce of Murphy savoir faire to resist the seduction of darkness and stop the forces of evil - before the terrifying prophecies become reality.
InformationPricing: US: $5.99 Canada: $6.99 UK: £4.99
Publisher: Prima Publishing ISBN: 0-7615-0420-6 Chapters: Twenty-six + Prologue Pages: 328 Availability: Rare (Ebay, Amazon). Soon to be available for purchase at AaronConners.net For excerpts, click here (will be taken to AaronConners.net) TyposOn page 140 below the grid of letters, Tex says that the diagonal from bottom left to top right says "land mind". If you look in the grid, it clearly says "land mine" and Tex even makes reference to "The Land Mine" in the next sentence, a dance club in the new city.
On page 190, the second paragraph should start with a quotation mark since it is continuing Professor Perriman's dialogue from the previous paragraph, however there is none there. |
Review
My Grade: 90%
Okay, this may just be because I'm a really big Tex fan, but I really enjoyed this novel, despite some downsides I'll discuss later. But first, let's just get onto the good stuff.
You may think that because this novel is based upon the game, that it will be exactly the same with nothing new or interesting. Let me tell you that you couldn't be further from the truth. There are major differences in the plotline of the novel when compared to the book. I won't go into details because I wouldn't want to spoil the novel for you if you've yet to read it, but let me tell you this much, get ready for some surprises and good action-packed sequences you'll never see in the game. And let me tell you, I don't think there was really one thing that happened exactly as it had in the game, except for the possibility of one scene near the beginning. Reading this novel is almost like reading a whole new story.
The addition of the classic Tex humor is also well done, some scenes had me laughing out loud and others were funny enough for a small chuckle. If you want humor, you'll find a fair bit of it in here and in all the right places.
Aaron Conners writing is really good and descriptive. Often times you felt like you were there, that you were Tex. The smells and sights almost seemed like they were around you. One scene in particular that I enjoyed was in the "food court". The description of the smell of food really made me hungry and I felt like some good old Italian food.
Despite all the good things in this novel, I picked up on one thing that I didn't like. This novel was obviously intended for people who had already played Under a Killing Moon. In some cases characters would get little description and would suddenly pop out of nowhere (Rook) and the reader was supposed to know everything about them. While this didn't impact me too much, I could see where certain people may have a hard time understanding what's going on. Another thing I didn't like was it didn't explain how the Chameleon could have pretended to be the Countess. All he proved was that he could talk like her.
Overall, I thought this was a really good novel with plenty of new storyline, action and humor to satisfy any Tex fan. If you can manage to find it, definitely pick this one up.
Okay, this may just be because I'm a really big Tex fan, but I really enjoyed this novel, despite some downsides I'll discuss later. But first, let's just get onto the good stuff.
You may think that because this novel is based upon the game, that it will be exactly the same with nothing new or interesting. Let me tell you that you couldn't be further from the truth. There are major differences in the plotline of the novel when compared to the book. I won't go into details because I wouldn't want to spoil the novel for you if you've yet to read it, but let me tell you this much, get ready for some surprises and good action-packed sequences you'll never see in the game. And let me tell you, I don't think there was really one thing that happened exactly as it had in the game, except for the possibility of one scene near the beginning. Reading this novel is almost like reading a whole new story.
The addition of the classic Tex humor is also well done, some scenes had me laughing out loud and others were funny enough for a small chuckle. If you want humor, you'll find a fair bit of it in here and in all the right places.
Aaron Conners writing is really good and descriptive. Often times you felt like you were there, that you were Tex. The smells and sights almost seemed like they were around you. One scene in particular that I enjoyed was in the "food court". The description of the smell of food really made me hungry and I felt like some good old Italian food.
Despite all the good things in this novel, I picked up on one thing that I didn't like. This novel was obviously intended for people who had already played Under a Killing Moon. In some cases characters would get little description and would suddenly pop out of nowhere (Rook) and the reader was supposed to know everything about them. While this didn't impact me too much, I could see where certain people may have a hard time understanding what's going on. Another thing I didn't like was it didn't explain how the Chameleon could have pretended to be the Countess. All he proved was that he could talk like her.
Overall, I thought this was a really good novel with plenty of new storyline, action and humor to satisfy any Tex fan. If you can manage to find it, definitely pick this one up.
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