Any Given Doomsday [Mass Market Paperback]

There isn't much at all original about this story, and the heroine isn't even likeable. It starts off okay... Liz Foster finds her foster mother murdered and wakes up in the hospital days later. The cops want to talk to her former lover Jimmy (who also would have been her foster brother); so, of course, Liz wants to find him before the cops do to find out what happened. And once they find each other, Liz goes on and on about how much just Jimmy's touch inflames her passions, and she wants to do nothing more than jump him, even though he betrayed her love with another woman; but how she'll bravely resist the temptation.

So yea, the first time you this happens it's okay, you can buy it - it's the first time she's seen her former lover, and there are some old feelings coming to the surface. But unfortunately it's time after time we're treated to Liz's burning desire. And then a new major character Sawyer is introduced. Liz hates Sawyer, she had to stay with him years ago; and never liked him. But at first sight, and especially at the touch of him, she is so consumed by desire to have sex with him.

Basically, Liz is a meat puppet for a libido. It's like the book was written by a teenage boy who has just discovered that girls are different in wonderful ways, instead of an adult woman. My idea of a modern, strong, female hero isn't one who is almost overcome by her desire to have sex with every man she touches. Every time Liz is dealing with one of the two major male characters in the book, the author is constantly telling us how much Liz wants to jump his bones; and after the first third of the book, she just starts having sex. Oh sure - she's tricked into it the first time; decides she has to 'take one for the team' the second; is raped the third; figures the fourth will turn one person back to the light; has a series of rape sessions, and finally we're treated to victory sex.

This is basically a rehash of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake - and not the Anita from the first half of the series; but slut-goddess, power leech through sex Anita. There is nothing original in Liz Phoenix's character; the bad guy is a boring, laughable caricature who belongs more in an Austin Powers Meets Dracula movie; and the characters are all paper-thin. No real character development is done. The bad guys all have a biblical connection, which we're seeing more and more of lately, so that's not even original.

If you want a good story, but one with far too much graphic sex, read LKH. If you want scene after scene of (poorly) written sex with no story, read Sunny (which I'll never bother with again); but there doesn't seem to be much of a niche here for Handeland and Liz Phoenix.

Any Given Doomsday, for better or worse is best summed up as what the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton would be if all supernatural creatures (almost) were actually the spawn of fallen angels, left on Earth to challenge (aka slaughter) humankind.

The set up demands that readers accept the absolute existence of God and the Christian mythos, whereas most urban fantasies ask a reader to believe in the creature, but leave religion out of the picture. This can potentially bring Christian readers into urban fantasy, if they can get past the sex.

And the sex... is non-consenting. Definitely an aspect that will turn off many readers Elizabeth, the heroine, is drugged, and raped graphically multiple times within the book. This is completely forgivable (in the context of the story) because sex is vital to Elizabeth's powers. While I normally avoid giving such blatant spoilers these I found particularly troubling.

The story itself starts when Elizabeth Phoenix finds her foster mother dying on floor of her home, attacked by something Elizabeth can't explain. With a few cryptic words and a dark vision Ruthie passes something on to Elizabeth that lands Elizabeth in a coma. When she wakes up Elizabeth learns from her ex-coworkers, the Milwaukee PD, that her foster brother and ex-lover Jimmy is their number one suspect. Jimmy himself breaks the news that Ruthie passed her powers to Elizabeth, which makes Elizabeth obligated--for her own safety--to hunt down Ruthie's killers. And Elizabeth isn't just a seer, she's THE prophesied seer, meant to be the most powerful one, a seer and a demon killer and the person who is supposed to lead the side of good in the war against the evil Nephalim.

Elizabeth's complete lack of knowledge about the supernatural world does not set the story up in a good frame. Instead of being introduced to the rules of the magical world slowly it leads to the reader, like Elizabeth, to have no clue what's going on, but being pressured to accept tension, and to see Elizabeth attacked with no real idea of how these things are important. The pacing is slow, the revelations convenient and Elizabeth herself is a much quieter, less dynamic urban fantasy character.

The pace is unsure, more than once a fact is hidden from the reader for effect, though the story is told in first person and Elizabeth herself already knows of it. Readers are never given a solid idea of the "rules" of magic and the paranormal because they seem cherry picked for effect rather than for character building. While all Nephalim are absolutely evil both men presented as love interests have Nephalim blood and Elizabeth herself may have (after all, she has everything else that might make her powerful, other than strength of personality).

Any Given Doomsday has action, but feels slow despite it, reluctant to participate in or commit itself to its own story. The similarities to other series and the Biblical/Apocalyptic set up could bring in a fan base, but many will find this book vapid and unsatisfying.

I received this book as part of Early Reviewers on librarything.com and I was excited to read it. I have enjoyed this author's previous works and was glad to see she had started a new series. But then. Oh, the premise is interesting. For awhile. And Handeland addresses one of my pet peeves about women who suddenly find themselves with power and then do absolutely nothing to educate themselves about it. At least the main character in this book doesn't do that, though she does pull a Luke Skywalker.

[Spoiler Alert]

But, seriously? We are supposed to buy that the only way Lizabeth can "learn" is by having sex with men and "absorbs" their powers? What a long way we have come where women must use their sexuality and have sex with men to gain men's powers.

Handeland does an excellent job of conveying hopelessness, despair, and demented sexuality. It's impossible to feel that the sex scenes are erotic as most of the sex is coerced except, then, boom! we are supposed to believe Lizabeth is "empowered" and chooses to have sex with the rapists.

And once and for all: "Oriental" refers to things and "Asian" refers to people.

The book lost a star because of a preponderance of religious zealotry and heterosexism that undermine the plot.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 57 reviews  3.0 out of 5 stars