Review: Here Be Dragons

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Bolton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sharon Bolton is one of my favourite authors; I will pick up anything with her name on it. My favourite, however, is her Lacey Flint work. Anything and everything Lacey Flint related ends up in my hands without me looking too hard at what it is. Hell, Sharon Bolton could write a recipe to make Lacey’s favourite meal and I would grab it without a second thought – such is my love for the series.

One thing I’ve always wanted, however, is a Mark story. I love his character; I’ve always wanted to read a story that follows his world. Part of me has always wanted to read his older days, back when he was a younger officer, but reading a present day Mark story was just as fun. It allowed me to see into his world, it allowed me to see him as a more rounded character. I admit that I wanted more from this, that I would have favoured a full-length novel, but this was enough to satisfy my desire for the time being.

Whilst Here Be Dragons was a great short story, it wasn’t quite as powerful as the main series. It was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t filled with all the twists and turns you usually find in a Sharon Bolton novel. It had enough for a story of this length – yet when I compare it to the other Lacey Flint short story, If Snow Hadn’t Fallen, it seemed as though events progressed far too quickly without the mystique that could have been applied.

The events that occurred seemed to be less about creating a mini-mystery and more about developing Mark. As much as I loved the development of Mark, I’ll admit that I wanted more from the thriller events. A lot did happen, there were events that left me smiling, but it wasn’t the edge of my seat read I’m so used to seeing from Sharon Bolton.

Ergo, it made for a fun quick read but it wasn’t everything I had hoped it would be.

I will say, however, that it has left me super eager for another Lacey Flint story. I know Sharon Bolton is taking a break and writing a number of standalone novels – all of which have proven to be wonderful to date – yet the ending left me impatient to see where this story goes next. In other words, when the next Lacey Flint book is released expect me to go a little crazy over it.

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