Flicker & Burn Blog Tour: Review and Spotlight + Giveaway

Hey everyone, welcome to my stop of the official Flicker & Burn blog tour. A big thank you to author T.M.Goeglein who enabled us to have this awesome tour and to Book Nerd Tours for organising the tour. To visit the other stops of this awesome tour for many interesting posts by the author and bloggers, click here to see the tour schedule and links. At my stop I'll be reviewing the book and don't forget to enter the amazing tour-wide giveaway. Enjoy!

Flicker & Burn (Cold Fury #2) by T. M. Goeglein

Synopsis

Sara Jane Rispoli is still searching for her missing family, but instead of fighting off a turncoat uncle and crooked cops, this time she finds herself on the run from creepy beings with red, pulsing eyes and pale white skin chasing her through the streets in ice cream trucks; they can only be described as Ice Cream Creatures. They're terrifying and hell bent on killing her, but they're also a link to her family, a clue to where they might be and who has them. 

While she battles these new pursuers, she's also discovering more about her own cold fury and more about the Chicago Outfit, how the past misdeeds--old murders and vendettas--might just be connected to her present and the disappearance of her family. But connecting the dots is tough and time-consuming and may finally be the undoing of her relationship with the handsome Max--who's now her boyfriend. But for his own safety, Sara Jane may have to end this relationship before it even really starts. 

Her pursuers who've shown her her mother's amputated finger and the head of the Chicago Outfit who's just whistled her in for a sit-down make a romance unthinkable. The only thing that matters is finding her family and keeping everyone she loves alive.

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About the Author

T.M. Goeglein began his career as a writer of print and television ads for a host of advertising and media companies. As a screenwriter, he created both original scripts and worked as a script doctor for several production companies in Los Angeles. He was an original contributor to the Huffington Post 'Living' section, and continues to write for both the national edition and Huffington Post Chicago. Read T.M. Goeglein's stories on the Huffington Post.

His debut young adult novel, COLD FURY, will be published by Penguin/Putnam in 2012 and is the first in a trilogy; he’s currently working on the second book. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Laura, and two young children.

Links:

WEBSITE

   

My Review

Rating: 3.5 stars

Firstly,I want to thank T. M. Goeglein and Putnam Publishing for providing me with an ARC for an honest review. I really appreciate it.

After a quick recap of what was happening in book one, Flicker & Burn dives straight into seat-gripping action. Once again, the reader is running alongside Sarah Jane as she runs for her life or runs towards saving her loved ones. The plot was a little bit too slow at the beginning, however it gradually picks up and incorporates a lot more interactions between characters as the story progresses. Dialogues in YA books are generally really good at keeping the pace moving and capturing the reader's interest, whereas if there's only one character on the page for many pages in a row, the reader loses interest in reading the character's internal monologue. I felt a bit like that in the first part of the book. Once more characters are introduced, and not just revenge is on Sarah Jane's mind, the story became a lot more interesting. There are quite a few unexpected twists in relationships bewteen characters and you never really know what the characters are going to say or how they will react. This I really enjoy because it gives the reader a sense of surprise when their anticipation is proven wrong which prompts him/her to keep reading.

Sarah Jane becomes even more independent and kick-ass in this book. I really admired her determination and persistance when her goal is set. She fights through numerous obstacles and never loses hope, although at time she may have contemplated it. While she is busy fighting against or with dangerous yet alluring Italian/Chicago Mafias, she also manages to keep up the outside appearance of a normal life. The fact that after what she has gone through, she hasn't curled up into a ball and have emotional break-downs makes her a fearless heroine. However, at times, her decisions really do seem quite stupid and annoy me to no end. I just want to shake her and tell her what to do! Ah, but overall, she, as a character, grew, compared to the last book.

My favourite character in the book is actually Tyler. He makes me laugh and totally confuses Sarah Jane. Their interactions/meetings always makes me chuckle and the way Tyler acts makes me like him a lot. He isn't your usual hero in the book and the reader still doesn't really know him that well, even at the end of the book. But he has this charisma that draws people in. Looking forward to reading more about him in the next book.

There is also characters that I did not like or relate to for one bit. I really really really didn't like Max. I have no idea why Sarah Jane would fall for him even in that first book and now he is even more despicable in my opinion in the second. Sarah Jane's life would be so much easier without troubles about Max thrown in there.

Overall an interesting and intense read. Looking forward to the conclusion of this series and find out what really happens to Sarah and co.

Giveaway

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