Roadkill by Rob Thurman

I had a lot more fun reading Roadkill than I did with Deathwish. Roadkill is just a much more fun book in general. The stakes are high, but it takes a good long while to get to the point where Cal and the gang can actually deal with the cause. Speaking of, Suyolak was alright as an antagonist. He was creepy enough to keep the boys moving toward ending him, but not super in-your-face about it… even when he was kinda.

Things I remember from my first read: Catcher is involved and has chapters from his POV. I did remember Catcher’s calendars, but that’s the extent of my memories for this one.

This has very little to do with Roadkill, but I feel it’s at least a bit relevant. I never read far enough into the Cal Leandros series to see if the boys eventually encounter angels and demons. I do vaguely remember them cameoing in The Grimrose Path but that memory is vague. Cal detailing that “There were no angels or demons, no Heaven of Hell.” is about as funny to me as Dean from Supernatural saying that angels don’t exist in the first three seasons. Like dude, you sweet, summer child. You have no idea.

So, I knew Niko was insufferable about Cal’s diet, but dude, he’s really insufferable about it. I was extremely annoyed about this. I get that Niko’s the overprotective big brother, but if you’re gonna “let” your little brother grow up, you gotta stop harping on his food choices. That part of Niko feels like a vegan stereotype and I hate it.

I think part of what I really enjoy about these books is knowing the main characters could actually die. Like, maybe not Cal, since there are 5 more books left in the series at this point… but geez the tension even around his potential deaths is awesome… until the end… which really felt like more of a clusterfuck than it probably was. It really felt like Thurman wasn’t sure how to write the Rafferty/Suyolak fight in an interesting manner, so we also got the clusterfuck fight scene. Much meh about that. I was more confused during it than anything else.

Lastly, I looked up the Ördögs aaand… the “real thing” is apparently a faun/satyr-lookin’ demon. Amusing, considering Robin’s origins. Ördög was definitely a Hungarian “critter,” though, so there’s that.

Favorite Lines

"Pick up your clothes, I am not your maid. How do I know this? A maid cannot kill you with a tube sock. I can." Niko Leandros

"But something doesn't have to be forever to be good," - Catcher

"Great for you two," Robin complained. "But what if Niko and I end up 'hunting no more'? Where's our kiss of potential death? Or quickie of potential death? I'm open to all options."