Review: Don’t Bite the Messenger by Regan Summers

Reading this story was quite a departure for me. I am not a fan of short stories, so it’s rare that you’ll see me reading novellas or anthologies. But I was browsing through some of the books offered for review and found my attention caught by Don’t Bite the Messenger. It was set in Alaska. There. That’s my whole reason for choosing it. LOL. I found the rest of the blurb intriguing too, but the Alaska thing is what really convinced me. I am quite familiar with Alaska, especially Anchorage, so I am always surprised and intrigued when I see a book set there. I guess I’m always curious to see if the setting is done well.

Well, the setting didn’t come into play much, other than to be used to make it easier for the vampires to live there. I was rather curious about what they did during the summer, though. Sure, it’s great in the winter when daylight is reduced, but what about in the summer when daylight is maximized? The vampires would hardly be able to move around. The whole “midnight sun” thing, you know? Regardless of the setting being largely unimportant, I still liked the world the author created. Alaska may have hooked me, but the story was what reeled me in.

I really liked the heroine, Sydney. She was very capable and convincingly badass. Most messengers don’t last long, but not Sydney. She’s 26 and she got to that age by being smart and vigilant. She plays the game better than most and thrives on the excitement and danger she faces daily. She is never off the clock. She never tells anyone her name, not even the other messengers. She always disguises her scent and never takes the same route twice in a row. Her hair and makeup always change. She might not be able to recognize herself anymore, but that just means no one else can either. The only close tie she had was a mentor that quit the game years ago. She’s been thinking about pulling up stakes and moving to sunny Hawaii, too, but life has a way of complicating things.

A turf war is brewing and Sydney finds herself stuck in the middle before she can leave town. Her life becomes tangled up with a mysterious man named Malcolm and she finds herself allowing him closer than she has let anyone else come in years. Things are not as clear cut as they first seem, though, and Sydney has to decide how much she can truly trust him after she learns the truth about him.

I don’t want to say much more about the story because I’m afraid of spoiling it. It’s a pretty short story and it would be easy to reveal too much. I liked the characters and the stoyline a lot. I felt that the romance lacked proper depth, but I’m sure that’s just a symptom of the length of the story. I also felt that some of the scene changes and time shifts were jarring, but it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t reorient myself quickly. I was really impressed with the heroine’s strength, intelligence, and well honed survival instinct, so I was surprised to see her make a ridiculous assumption toward the end which led to her being in a dangerous situation. I know it served the plot, but it didn’t mesh well with what I knew of her. It seemed like newbie behavior to me.

A friend on GR mentioned that this book sounded like a hoot (after one of my status updates) and I said it had some funny moments. That same friend pointed out that if I had posted that many funny quotes by 50% in a novella, then chances are it had more than just “some funny moments.” And she was right. I didn’t consider it a funny book because so much of the tone was edgy and occasionally grim, but there was a nice sprinkling of humor throughout the book that kept the mood upbeat and the pages turning quickly.

There were a lot of plot points left dangling, so I wonder if this is going to be part of a series or if it was meant to feel open ended, like an ongoing journey for the characters. I was glad that the author didn’t tack on a cheesy, unconvincing HEA. Instead, there was a hopeful HFN that felt much more authentic. I just wouldn’t have believed it any other way. Malcolm and Sydney have a definite connection and are willing to give a relationship between them a go, but there are a lot of things that need to be worked out before they’ll have a chance at a long lasting relationship.

As I mentioned before, I’m not a short story reader. I find them unfulfilling. I can’t say that I found this one any different. There’s just not enough time to develop rich characters and deep worldbuilding in a short story, and that’s what I crave in a book. But I was satisfied by the author’s voice and her writing style. So even though I would have preferred that this develop into a longer novel, I enjoyed being exposed to a taste of her work. I finished the book and jumped onto the author’s website, only to be disappointed that she didn’t have anything else out for me to read. I guess that just means that I’ll have to keep an eye out for more from her, because I would really like to something else by her. Her voice was great and her style easily drew me in.

Favorite Quote:

“And obviously getting you to sleep with me wasn’t a challenge.” Malcolm gestured at the bed, his smirk completely out of place with my stark confusion and building fear. “I merely had to suffer serious injury while saving you and then lie about looking pathetic until you took pity on me. A small price to pay.”

Rating: B-
Don’t Bite the Messenger by Regan Summers
January 16th 2012 by Carina Press
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