City of Snakes

City of the Snakes - Darren Shan

Annnnnnnnnd done.

Again, another story that kind of dragged and nagged my brain. More of the gangster and mystery type solving that isn't my cup of tea, at all. Though, I can still appreciate the fine and sometimes strange details that were put into it. Darren Shan is a fantastic story teller, and I most definitely won't let this deter me from any future books. 

Ten years after Capac Raimi took over as Cardinal of the City, things don't appear to be running so smoothly. Things get even worse when Capac disappears and all hell is about to break in his City. Al Jeery is recruited and dubious at first, however, when an offer that he can't refuse is thrown on the table, he takes up the job of search and rescue. 

City of the Snakes starts out in Capac's point of view and then swiftly switches to Al's within a few chapters. Honestly, I preferred Capac's bits to those of Al's, which was basically the entire novel. As I've mentioned continuously, there was just a lot of things that I couldn't get into, that just dragged the book out for me. Ah well.

Also, another thing that was just weird to me was the fact that Al, taking on the appearance of his father, becomes a sort of Batman-esque hero, in that he only kills guilty and horrible people. He's obviously a very conflicted man but I just cannot see him as a sort of hero. It's just too difficult for my brain to comprehend. 

The ending. Uhm, okay. Interesting twist there, definitely something that I'd expect from Shan's twisted mind. 

Overall, this series wasn't my favorite thing to read, but I could still admire the writing and baddassery that occurred in it. Even though it was very slow going for me and I had to really push myself to keep reading, it was still a good story.

Really, I'm just happy to be done with them.

☆☆☆☆/5

Recommend?: If you want to know how this series ends.