Predator & Prey: Jury is the fourth book in the Predator & Prey series of novels, and is the third volume in the series written by Gherbod Fleming. The first book he wrote (number two in the series) was very well done and worthy of purchase. The second book he wrote (number three in the series) was a waste of paper and my time to read, and should only be purchased if your town has run out of toilet paper. Given the extreme differences in feelings I have for the two previous books, you might think I would reach a happy medium with this book.
No way in hell.
Let me start by saying that this novel plops you right into the story. There's no recap page of what's gone before, and the attempts in this book to cover events in previous volumes don't cover half of what you need to know. In short, you're screwed if this is the book you purchased to start reading this series. I find this amusing, as this was almost the first book I picked up in the series months ago; luckily I held off until I got copies of previous books. I've been told White Wolf did a bang-up job with their Vampire clan novels of having each novel in a series being part of a bigger story, while self-contained enough that each book could be enjoyed on its own. Why that magic couldn't rub off here I do not know.
As I predicted in my review of the second book in this series, the Hunter is related by blood to fellow Hunter Kaitlin Sinnet, who was the "star" of the abominable third book in this series. Remember this as you read your Hunter Storytellers Handbook and the part where it discusses how its a sign of a weak Storyteller to have Hunters know each other before their imbuing. Come to think of it, that same schtick was used in book two of this series as well. Anyway, Clarence, Douglas Sands, and the other Hunters from book two go to ground at Kaitlin's home. As though of you who read my review or (God I hope this isn't the case) read the last book in the series know, Kaitlin's been making friends with some of the local werewolf population, and she's worried her unexpected guests might not take kindly to her new friends. She's right.
Okay, I've summed up the plot of this book for you, now let me tell you why it's not worth your time or money. First off, all the chapters involving Kaitlin are done in first person format, in a stream of conciouness style of writing, that comes off really bad. Aside from having to put up with her "Okay, now I'm getting high, Ok, I'm high, Hey, I'm still high" bit at one point, we also get the charming personality of "Hi, I'm an oppressed black woman (though in the last book I was bi-racial, and not just black---I guess the author thought that wasn't cool enough) who goes on about how all white men want is sex." See my review of Predator & Prey: Werewolf for a more in-depth look at Kaitlin and why she's a terrible character, as I don't feel like repeating myself here. There's a lot of needless introspection, which seems more like an excuse for the character to complain some more. By the way, in this book Kaitlin manifests a Level 4 Visionary Power, which means she should have some major Derangements. Now, I can see her drug addiction and paranoia as Derangements, but she still needs to account for two insanities. The reason I point this out is that in the Hunter RPG books Hunters who reach Level 4 Edges, let alone Level 5, have possessed Derangements of such intensity that they're clearly marked as odd and disturbed, even to fellow Hunters. Kaitlin's personality problems, by contrast, maker her come off as a little more than a spoiled brat with a giant chip on her shoulder. I'm not going to get into the debate here on whether or not the descriptions of her in the previous book make her out to be a Hermit instead of a Visionary; I've encountered enough Hunter fans going on about that one to let it lay. Instead I'm going to use this as an example that the author of this book seems to have no real concept of the gaming systems that Hunter and Werewolf work on. By his logic, not only is Kaitlin able to have some major Hunter powers with minimal mental problems, but Werewolves regenerate almost all damage in a manner of seconds, including Aggravated, and can even regenerate limbs lost to the teeth and claw of other Garou with minimal problems. I almost forgot, werewolves can also regenerate in Homid form with no problem as well. Hunter-wise, we have a Hunter using Ravage, which seems to inflict only Lethal damage on werewolves, since one heals from it easily, yet did Aggravated to a vampire in book two---oh, yeah, according to this book Ravage is an area-effect power as well. Respire is also shown to be able to use by a Hunter who possesses it to heal themselves, a clear contradiction to the write-up in the rulebook. Actually, it might not be Respire Edge the Hunter is using, but Rejuvenate, but I hope not, because that would mean the author has even less of an understanding of Hunter Edges.
Another, admittedly minor problem, is that the relation between Black Rindle and his father is so Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker-ish that I want to cry.
Okay, okay, I can hear some of you complaining about this review already. You're saying "a writer has to take dramatic license sometimes when writing game fiction." I agree with that to a point, but there a line between dramatic license and not understanding what the book you're writing is based upon. What follows is the best evidence on why White Wolf should be beaten for this book.
Go to a bookstore. Take a copy of this book out and look at Chapter 30. Now grab a copy of the Inherit the Earth anthology and read the story by Gerbod Fleming in that book, starring characters from the Predator & Prey Jury novels. Go on, this review will wait for you.....
Back yet? Were you as amazed as I to find that the story in Inherit the Earth is in fact Chapter 30 of P&P: Jury, only written in third person format instead of first person? WHAT THE HELL? Did Gherbod submit a chapter rough draft for perusal by his editor, and they just stuck it into Inherit the Earth? When I read Inherit the Earth I hated the story (go read my review of it if you don't believe me), and now I have even more reason to! This is lame. I can't even put into words properly how angry this makes me.
No, wait, I take that back. I can indeed put it into proper words. As I glance back and forth between the two books I think of all the times I've submitted writings to companies for publication. I think of how many times I heard phrases like "a good writer is creative and unique in his story ideas, not retredging what has come before," and "the writing market is very competitive, but we don't play favorites. We judge people by their productivity and quality of writing." I think about that as I see a writer having been apparently paid twice for what amounts to---NO, IS the same work. I wonder "Is he good friends with the editors? Is that how he got away with this? Or do they all consume such massive quantities of alcohol at White Wolf headquarters that they never noticed the similarities." Years ago I was an assistant editor at a newspaper, and if someone had handed in an article that was just a total rehash of something we had already published, not only would we not have accepted it, we probably would have fired them.
I had other problems with this novel, but I'm not about to continue about it. The preceding should have been enough for you to stay away from this novel. Heck, I'm not going to be buying anything else with Gherbod's name on it after this. White Wolf, show some respect to your customers.
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