Night Life

Night Life (2008) Caitlin Kitteredge

Luna is a copy in Nocturne City who is hiding her true nature as a were. When a serial killer starts eviscerating women and taking their finger bones, Luna is assigned the case, but the deaths–combined with an unusual struggle to hide her true nature, threatens Luna’s secret and her job.

OK.

First, a werewolf named Luna, in a world where weres are completely controlled by the moon? And her cousin and roommate (note, cousin, not sister) is called Sunny? That’s a little ridiculous and also unlikely.

Second, enough with the sex already. Why is it so hard to find good contemporary fantasy that doesn’t involve ridiculous explicit sex scenes?

There were some things that I think the book did well. I almost cheered when Luna goes into a dangerous situation and calls in to log her location. At least she’s not a stupid cop, even if she is out of control. And she does get suspended for a fracas with a co-worker.

However.

I had issues with the world building. The world is definitely not our world–it is a world where weres and witches are common and known to the public (and disliked, of course.) This world seemed to share a common history with our world, but there are significant differences, one of which was the time frame. There is blatant sexism, which made me think the time frame was the sixties or seventies. However, the characters use cell phones and computers and the internet.

These things are–to my mind–mutually exclusive. You don’t get to have the development of technology that matches our level of technology in a world where fifties sexism is blatant and expected.

Additionally, I generally dislike stories where women are expected to be homemakers and “little ladies.” We already fought that fight and although things still are not perfect, ass grabbing in the work place is a thing of the past, and is out of place in a story that is otherwise “modern.”

Additionally, every author who writes about weres gives them different abilities. This means that you need to clarify what can and cannot be done. Additionally, you need to make sure that those skills, abilities, and weaknesses do not conflict. Luna’s reaction to silver was contradictory, and those contradictions were not explained at all. (Silver should either burn the were, or not burn there were. You better have a good explanation as to why it burns in some conditions but not others.)

As far as the mystery, the fact I didn’t understand the magic of the world, and what limits it had, made understanding the mystery difficult.

So, I was disappointed in this story. It wasn’t throw across the room abysmal, but there were many little things that distracted from the story for me.
Rating: 5/10

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