(Copy of my Amazon Review) 4/5

No Rest for the Wicked is the fist in the Trick Molloy Mysteries short story Urban Fantasy series. I apologies for how vague this review is but with the book being short and this being the first review here for the story I feel there is a lot I can't say. Breaking one of my rules for a review which is to make sure you actually say something. One of the first problems of reviewing a short story is that so much is revealed quickly to get the reader into the character. This means a lot of the incidentals of the story have a bigger impact and would be too much like spoilers to talk about them directly. Also, unlike a novel there isn't the time to build up to the character so the writer has to introduce the information you need as quickly a possible and yet at the same time not "rush it". The pace of the story is fine and I never felt I was getting left behind at any point. Still that makes it hard to talk about the book because the first chapter holds several big reveals. The first is who he works for and the situation this puts the character in. It made the whole story uncomfortable for me. There are a lot of little, unresolved, tragedies in the characters back story which isn't unusual, but again because the story is so short it causes a problem for me. It is a straight run to the end of the story and as the reader you are not given time get settled with his situation. How this all links with the issues of the few friends he still has, his enemies, and the connection to his ex-girlfriend with the problems surrounded with that all make for an unsettling mix.

The over all theme of the story is fine with magic being a well known now in this universe. Everyone who can use magic has a trigger that is required to use their magic even the hero. The trigger idea is interesting and the author gives nice examples that give you enough information that while you might not guess each characters trigger you never feel you were setup to guess wrong. That doesn't mean he doesn't set you up in other ways however. It is written solely from Trick's view and since it is a mystery you are lead through a few dead ends on understanding things at times. In a way that is good because I don't feel the want to shout at the character for being an idiot for not seeing something the writer has made obvious more for the reader than the character. Also, these are not your average spell casters as each character has magic that is centered on one idea and the scope of what they can do is limited to that idea. For example a person could be linked to fire so what they "cast" can only be what is capable with fire. This idea is often physical but doesn't have to be rather it can center around emotions as well.

Mr. Stackpole does this story well as I immediately was rooting for the hero and wanted to beat up the villains myself. Again with it being so short I felt a little cheated by the resolution. Not that it came off as being false or was handled in some Deus Ex Machina I'm the hero so it happens kind of way. The problem is that I don't exactly feel the hero won in any way, because of the whole situation it feels almost a loss rather than any resolution to his situation. It is a short story and has to end and there are multiple about the same person so to say the characters has a victory(What there is of it) shouldn't come as a surprise. Maybe I too pessimistic and came away with the wrong feeling for the ending the writer was going for. However while I enjoyed the story and say it is well written for me it isn't a series I say I can comfortably continue.

In my opinion Mr. Stackpole has a tendency to put his heroes through a bit of personal hell and while that can work in a novel because he has time to give the hero the opportunity to turn that around into a victory there just isn't the time for it in this book and it leaves me wondering how much the character will have to go through. If each book is like that then it would be a little too morbid for me to go through that with the character each time. Still that is an observation and in no way do I know this will happen. This story could have been the beginning of the characters turning his story around and each short could end up like his books and lead the character to a true final resolution that makes you happy you've taken that journey with them. I just don't know that I want to find out bad enough.

Like I said though over all it is a great story, well written, and gives you a hero you can sympathize with enough that you want to see them succeed and he doesn't come off as the chosen savior of the world which is actually nice. The one star loss is because of the situation of the character and lack of the feeling of a real start to a resolution to that personal hell he starts in. If your are not the pessimist I am you may have a better time with the story and may find in it a short story series to follow. ( )