Title: Skin Game

Author: Max Allan Collins

Hardback: 272 pages

Publisher: Del Rey (February 2003)

Amazon: Instant Look Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appraising Eyeballs:

 

 

Title: After the Dark

Author: Max Allan Collins

Hardback: 272 pages

Publisher: Del Rey (June 2003)

Amazon: Instant Look Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appraising Eyeballs:

 

 

 

About Skin Game:

Someone is killing normal humans in the fog-enshrouded city of Seattle.  The murders are brutal and grisly, but inside Terminal City they barely cause a ripple of concern.  The transgenics who live there have problems of their own.  In an area under siege by the oppressive arm of the police, the transgenics must protect their fledgling colony against the outside world—a world that eyes them with contempt and suspicion...and will do anything to be rid of them.

As the killings escalate, Joshua comes to Max with a dire suspicion: the killer may be one of their own.  Tensions are high between normal humans and transgenics, and many inside the protected City would just as soon let the humans fend for themselves.  Yet Max and her inner circle know they must investigate the crimes and stop the bloodshed.  Doing nothing would simply give the normals more reasons to hate.

But what they discover will shock even the most jaded among them—and expose a sinister agenda that leads to an old, nefarious foe....

 

 

About After the Dark:

In a chaotic world where the lines between good and evil often blur, and violent anarchy and brutal repression become commonplace, secrets can be deadly.  So when Max discovers a shattering truth that Logan has kept concealed from her for years, the betrayal threatens the very essence of their trust.

Yet when Logan is kidnapped, all questions of truth and loyalty are cast aside.  Max's search will lead her to a familiar, menacing enemy—and back into the shadow of the Breeding Cult, which waits for her with chilling anticipation.

But the search will also lead her into wholly unexpected territory.  Locked in the fight of her life, Max will discover a captive of the cult who can provide her with the one thing that has haunted her ever since she escaped from Manticore....

 

Bruce’s Appraisal:

            The strongest element of this novel is the way it picks up with the ending of the Dark Angel series finale.  The initial set up provides a near-complete written edition of the finale’s last scenes, so replete with detail that those who watched the series may find it redundant.  Nevertheless, those who read the story, especially now that the series has been off the air for so long, will not have any difficulty following Max and her transgenic friends into the heart of the action.

            This book and its sequel served as my introduction to Max Allan Collins, and I have to admit that I liked what I found.  His style is direct and straightforward, giving enough details to seed the story with clues, but making a puzzle with enough pieces that it cannot be fitted together easily.  In particular the climax left me stunned.  With five pages to go, I was wondering how Collins could wrap up the whole novel, and in the last paragraphs my jaw hit the floor, hard.

            Collins nails the characters’ mannerisms and dialogue, providing a wonderful treat to fans of the series.  I could easily hear Jessica Alba, Jensen Ackles, and Michael Weatherly delivering the lines in my imagination.  The unique diction and pacing of Dark Angel comes across clearly and without missing a beat.  Possibly more impressively, even Joshua’s character makes the transition from screen to paperback.

            If there is a fault with Skin Game, it lies within the lean style of the prose.  For a world so infused with nuance and multiple storylines, the setting of Dark Angel screams for a novel twice as long, full of anecdotes, sidebars, and subplots.  In Skin Game, there is strictly only what is necessary, nothing more.  While a strength of Collins’ style, the many ongoing relationships surrounding Max and Logan could have benefited from more attention and development.

            Dark Angel didn’t get its third season, but this novel provides the premier that never made it onto television.  From the “Previously on Dark Angel” prologue to the brief glimpses of every character that would be revisited as the season continued, Skin Game gives a solid episode, even a two-parter.  It’s interesting, and precise in terms of which plots are advanced.  For those looking for closure more than that brought in the series finale, this book is not the answer.  It does, however, flow smoothly into the second volume, which brings closure aplenty.  Quite good.

           

Bruce’s Appraisal:

            As the third volume in a trilogy, After the Dark does not work without Skin Game.  I gave the first book in the series (Before the Dawn) a pass, and was gratified by the synopsis delivered early on in this story.  The events in that first book are integral to the story told in After the Dark, but everything the reader needs to enjoy the latter book is included. 

            Again, Collins’ style delivers exactly what is necessary to continue to the plot, weaving the pieces of a masterfully arranged puzzle so that the end picture is elusively just beyond the reader’s grasp until the time is right for everything to fall together.  In After the Dark the story returns to one of my least favorite themes of the series.  Logan is taken away and Max must go get him. 

            Fortunately, the getting bears the characteristic flare of every other rescue operation mounted in Dark Angel, complete with comedic banter, tense escapes, even more tense twists and the possibility for ultimate victory held tantalizingly close…yet always one chapter away.

            The character of Alec shines in this episode, and Max gets more screen time, as well.  Whereas her role was nearly that of a secondary character in Skin Game, she is once again the star of the series in this third and final installment.  Her own wit and sometimes bitingly frank view of events around her amuse as they amaze.  Even though Jessica Alba never uttered a line of this dialogue, nor read a piece of voice over, my ears heard her delivery of nearly every line.  Likewise with the other characters, and a line from Alec in the culminating chapter forced me to close the book and laugh out loud, envisioning Jensen Ackles shouting back and forth to Jessica Alba as the world listed towards hell underfoot.

            This book promises closure, and it delivers.  Fans of the series ought to walk away wearing a satisfied smile.  Folks looking for a neat end to the series, though, may be just a tad disappointed.  An old loose end is brought to the fore once again, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, there was a small part of me bemoaning the fact that the stories hinted at would never be pursued.  For better or worse, this is likely the end of Dark Angel.  It is a glorious end to a dream that—like most good dreams—could not have lasted long enough.  Delightful.

 

 

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