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A review by liisp_cvr2cvr
Blackcoat by Steve McHugh
4.0
I love myself a good thriller, a good fight scene, and a good straight forward and adrenaline fuelled romp through the maze of scifi gadgets, evil inventions and intergalactical intrigue. Sometimes, it is the best kind of entertainment you can ask for.
Blackcoat is part-time revenge story, part-time fighting for what’s right. Both goals equally promise and deliver on high octane action. Blasting guns, flying fists, beautifully choreographed fight scenes, bonus points for ingenuity when some creative choices are made for weaponry. Blackcoat could easily be one of the blockbuster action movies, in fact. As it happens, a large serving of corrupt power needs to get its ass kicked and thus Steve McHugh has given us Celine Moro, ex army, current Blackcoat.
From start to finish, it seems like Celine simply can’t catch a break. But Celine isn’t about to don a frilly dress and throw a damsel in distress in hopes for some macho to come and save the day. Oh no, she ain’t going to dump her problems on some alpha male’s workdesk and ask him to sort it out with a bat of eyelashes. She doesn’t do that, ever. She simply cracks on, and keeps moving forward and if in the process she can eliminate some bad, corrupt bastards – hey ho, mission accomplished! Celine knows how to handle a weapon, she knows how to keep a mindset in a situation where there is simply no getting away and she bloody well gets away! And I bet you have a burning question…
A female character, written in first person POV, by a male author… I bet you just wonder how much cringe there’s going to be. After all, men have been the authors of some truly “epic” insight into the female characteristics, both in body and mind. Well, get this – McHugh actually writes a really kick ass female character with zero weird comments about boobs, clothing, or any of the sort. Celine is just a woman, and she is one hell of a woman to boot!
I love it when 120 pages give me the high I was chasing. Blackcoat is undeniably entertaining and with enough scifi to satisfy the mind’s eye, but not overly complicated in terms of tech for the visual in your head to become a vague gobbledygook. And I love how much the author has gotten into this story with these limited amount of pages. I dare say, the length of this novella was probably what managed to make it so wonderfully memorable!
Having said that- there is still heaps and tons of opportunity to expand into sequels, prequels and spin offs because the world McHugh has imagined is, truly, spanning the entire Universe and we can grab them laser guns and Energy Mist and go dance off on the limitless planets! It’s genius, really… Besides, Celine’s story seems to be far from over!
Blackcoat is part-time revenge story, part-time fighting for what’s right. Both goals equally promise and deliver on high octane action. Blasting guns, flying fists, beautifully choreographed fight scenes, bonus points for ingenuity when some creative choices are made for weaponry. Blackcoat could easily be one of the blockbuster action movies, in fact. As it happens, a large serving of corrupt power needs to get its ass kicked and thus Steve McHugh has given us Celine Moro, ex army, current Blackcoat.
From start to finish, it seems like Celine simply can’t catch a break. But Celine isn’t about to don a frilly dress and throw a damsel in distress in hopes for some macho to come and save the day. Oh no, she ain’t going to dump her problems on some alpha male’s workdesk and ask him to sort it out with a bat of eyelashes. She doesn’t do that, ever. She simply cracks on, and keeps moving forward and if in the process she can eliminate some bad, corrupt bastards – hey ho, mission accomplished! Celine knows how to handle a weapon, she knows how to keep a mindset in a situation where there is simply no getting away and she bloody well gets away! And I bet you have a burning question…
A female character, written in first person POV, by a male author… I bet you just wonder how much cringe there’s going to be. After all, men have been the authors of some truly “epic” insight into the female characteristics, both in body and mind. Well, get this – McHugh actually writes a really kick ass female character with zero weird comments about boobs, clothing, or any of the sort. Celine is just a woman, and she is one hell of a woman to boot!
I love it when 120 pages give me the high I was chasing. Blackcoat is undeniably entertaining and with enough scifi to satisfy the mind’s eye, but not overly complicated in terms of tech for the visual in your head to become a vague gobbledygook. And I love how much the author has gotten into this story with these limited amount of pages. I dare say, the length of this novella was probably what managed to make it so wonderfully memorable!
Having said that- there is still heaps and tons of opportunity to expand into sequels, prequels and spin offs because the world McHugh has imagined is, truly, spanning the entire Universe and we can grab them laser guns and Energy Mist and go dance off on the limitless planets! It’s genius, really… Besides, Celine’s story seems to be far from over!