Wake of the Bloody Angel Tour (With Give-away)

Wake of the Bloody Angel by Alex Bledsoe (Eddie Larosse Series, Book 4)

Completion Date: August 24, 2012
Reason for Reading: TLC Book Tour.

Twenty years ago, a barmaid in a harbor town fell for a young sailor who turned pirate to make his fortune. But what truly became of Black Edward Tew remains a mystery—one that has just fallen into the lap of wise-cracking, freelance sword jockey Eddie Lacrosse.

For years, Eddie has kept his office above Angelina’s tavern, so when Angelina asks him to find out what happened to the dashing pirate who stole her heart, he can hardly say no—even though the trail is two decades old. Some say Black Edward and his ship, The Bloody Angel, went to the bottom of the sea, taking with it a king’s fortune in treasure. Others say he rules a wealthy, secret pirate kingdom. And a few believe he still sails under a ghostly flag with a crew of the damned.

To find the truth and earn his gold, Eddie must take to sea in the company of a former pirate queen in search of the infamous Black Edward Tew and solve the mystery of the ghost ships.

Bledsoe’s readership continues to grow with each standalone installment in this fantastic series. Fans of mystery and fantasy alike won’t want to miss WAKE OF THE BLOODY ANGEL.

So, I heard this was a fantasy book involving pirates. This means that I didn't really pay attention to the rest of the description and that I was almost finished the book before I discovered it was book 4 in a series. Oops! There were a couple things that were mentioned that if you have read the rest of the books you would probably know, but I didn't feel like I was missing much by not having read the other three books. I do know that I want to get my hands on them and backtrack. I mean.. A fantasy series about pirates! It is original and fun.

The series follows Edward LaCrosse. He is a sword jockey who has a colourful past. Events have happened, though, to make him change his ways and do as much good as possible. This means he is for hire. At the very beginning of the book he gets a new client in his friend Angelina. She fell in love with a man (pirate..) and hasn't seen him in 20 years. She is ready to know what happened to him. The trail is cold, but Eddie is up to the challenge. It is ironic that he is looking for someone else named Edward who was the captain of The Bloody Angel. There is a lot of stories and theories about what the fate of that ship was. It is up to Eddie to find out the truth.

This book includes mystery, fantasy, pirates, and even sea monsters. I found myself quite caught up in the adventures and read this book relatively quickly. It is a fast read with lots of action. And, there is a story. I assume there is even more to the story if you have read the previous books, but I really didn't feel I lacked. I read the description now and it says they can be read as standalone books and, based on my reading of this one, I agree. In case you are wondering this is not steampunk. It is basically adventures on the high seas, in this book, with some fantasy thrown in. I got the impression that events in other books in the series involved a lot more fantasy than this one did. But, you could appreciate this book because it was believable. I like that.

Recommended! (Even if you haven't read the other books in the series.)

Eddie LaCrosse Series:
The Sword-Edged Blonde
Burn Me Deadly
Dark Jenny
Wake of the Bloody Angel

I mentioned in my post for The Shoemaker's Wife that I had a couple more give-aways in the future. This is one of the other ones. The publisher has graciously agreed to give one of my readers a copy of Wake of the Bloody Angel. You have to live in the U.S. or Canada, though. The contest will end on September 5. A suggestion for comments are talking about your experience with pirates, but other comments will be eligible as well.