My assessment at the beginning of my Nightlife review was that the Leandros brothers were reminding me of the Winchesters. This has definitely subsided with this book. Niko's personality fits neither of the Winchesters, even if Cal is solidly in the Dean category.
The world building really stood out to me this time around. Mostly in the smattering of new "critters" we were introduced to. A slightly deeper look at the werewolves was nice, too... and the vampires. I think Cal's discovery the vampires are born and not made in his world is a creepy, if effective little scene. As for the werewolves, they're still mostly in the dark as far as the reader knowing little about them. What we get of them is a tiny corner of their gangster arm. I have a vague memory of that being all there is to the werewolves, but it's really vague as I last read Roadkill 14 years ago.
Moonshine is pretty well paced; there's never a dull moment. That said, there are a lot of scene transitions that involve Cal either passing out or falling asleep. Enough that I noticed it seemed to happen a lot. The story also feels kind of disjointed from itself at times. Especially once Cal has the Callabassa in his hands... the first time. I won't spoil what happens with that, but it felt like the gut-punch it was meant to aaaand then we got a tiny road trip.
Given that it's been 14 years, I was not expecting to remember much from Moonshine, but I did remember enjoying Flay/Snowball as soon as he was "on screen." I felt he was a nice addition to the dynamics that are still somewhat working themselves out with the crew. I don't remember if he shows up again, but I liked his character. Also, it's lucky for Cal that child werewolves' wolf form ages with their relative human mental age as opposed to how wolves actually age, cuz I can just imagine him trying to drag Slay around if Slay wasn't puppy-sized.
I don't really have a lot to say about George. I do think she's rather pushy on the Cal front, which is ultimately to he detriment, I think. I also feel like Cal's advice to her at the end is good advice. Blindly going along with what you think is the end-game without looking at all the pit-stops along the way is just not great. I also really think she doesn't understand just how violent Cal's life, and subsequently her life, is or will be... which is exactly why Cal told her to look at their future.
But yeah, Moonshine was a solid follow up to Nightlife and a solid entry into the Cal Leandros series.
Favorite Lines
"I sleep with it, Nik. I damn sure carry it when we're facing killer clowns." - Caliban Leandros
"A demon is a demon, Cal. If he's human, he'll simply be easier to kill." - Niko Leandros
In Other News
I have completed another OviPets project! This one is based on the Digimon: Pajiramon. Pajiramon took me a year and four months. I did the face-marking tattoo.
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