Black Rust: Black Rust, Book 2

Started reading Bobby Adair's stories last year and have since ripped through several of his series and been swept up in his storytelling about a variety of genres including aliens, a virus, and zombies. Through all the stories, there have been well-crafted characters who are usually flawed beings that you grow to like despite those flaws.This story is no exception as the main character has apparently engaged in some morally questionable behaviors and is currently a gun for hire having made a good living for himself by killing. He finds himself thrust into a situation where he now has to find a way out of an apparent set-up that will have him facing severe consequences if he is unable to bribe witnesses and fix evidence. Pretty self-serving and on the surface, not endearing.At first glance it might seem difficult to embrace this type of character but the writer does a good job of showing us a world where morals are questionable all around and how this character had to adapt to a lot of situations and make the best out of some bad situations. Very soon into it, you find yourself understanding how things got to this point and developing some understanding for the main character. He is still not necessarily a good person, but along the way you find yourself cheering for him.To me, a sign of good story-telling is when you can take a character like Christian Black and help the reader see the world through his eyes, not to make morally questionable behaviors seem ok but to help see how living in such a world would make it difficult to stay a "good person". It helps that the story is fast paced with complimentary interesting and questionable characters and it ends with you wanting more.Not sure if there will be another book in this series but I will be on the lookout for more in this series and from this author.

Let's start with, I LOVE BOBBY ADAIR's writing. His Slow Burn Series is exceptional. Exceptional character development, twists and turns to keep you on your toes and enough graphic kills to make you a little queasy. Absolutely loved everything about each and every one of these books. They made me a Bobby Adair fan for life.I'm not sure Black Rust is in the same class as Slow Burn, but I did enjoy it. I'm not loving Christian Black as a main character (and I'm really struggled with the name - it's way to close to Christian Gray for my taste!). He is an ex-enforcer for a drug cartel so why does he have any moral issue with killing now?? To be completely honest, if this was the first book of Bobby's that I ever read, I'm not sure I'd be the fan I am today.

Excellent storyline. Well-defined, interesting characters, lots of action. Bobby Adair is one of my favorite authors. Lots of twists and turns, complex storyline and well edited. While this is a stand-alone book, I am disappointed that there is no sequel.

I liked the fast pace and twist at the end. I need more words to post. Four more words. Word.

I have loved reading Bobby Adair's other books, particularly the Slow Burn series. He had such a novel approach to the end of the world Zombie scenario. It was clever and quick witted, with highly developed characters following a story arc with interesting plots and sub-plots.So my question is, "Bobby, what the heck happened here?". I have to say I'm giving you all the credit I can muster, just to give you three stars. This book takes an interesting concept, then beats it into an early grave.Let's talk some examples. You have a new world, new rules, new caste system ... OK, fine. But you don't have to give us several lengthy "history lessons". It's kind of like when bad authors in a space dime novel have to invent a new word for everything. Nope, somebody picks up a "spathazoid" and stabs someone to death ... I kinda get the idea it is sharp and pointy ... knife or sword ... doesn't matter. Stay focused on the story. Another example: Protagonist needs hundreds of thousands of dollars ... no problem, I got a cool half million at my house (Deus ex machina, anyone?), and then go on to tell us all about the glories of this house ... and don't forget to kick in some mad Ninja skills. Other examples, sure: Clueless in the beginning, Black is supposed to be an awesome killer with perfect situational awareness by the end of the book ... oh snap ... he gets the rug yanked out from under him in the closing pages, when the "bumbling idiot" becomes the "Jedi master" ... Please!So Bobby, how do we (meaning you) fix this? First, if Black is to be some ultimate badass, quit giving him a conscience, and give him the girl (hey, it worked for Bond in the books). If this is just a prequel to what happens next (whatever that turns out to be) ... it sucks. Make the character rich, make him deadly, make him a priest ... just don't make him an introspective, vacillating, do-gooder. Make him evil, but with a redeeming characteristic We like the bad boys more than the good ones. Remember that both Achilles and Superman had a mortal weakness ... what was Black's? Have Black experience an epiphany. Have him cheat the Devil (per the character Constantine). Give him some sort of bionic advantage, that way the rest of us don't feel like "it could never happen to "us" ... draw us in. Work on the first line of your book, "Chocolate chip cookies smell so good when they first come out of the oven ..." Bring us instantly into your story with a common experience that both your protagonist and his audience share.What not to do? Don't write purple prose. I have to admit I skipped tens of pages, waiting for your character to quit pontificating about something. If a character of a messenger has to give a message to the King ... then have him do so without telling us about his parents and his stamp collection ... unless there is a reason that will move the plot forward. Get your sentences lean like Hemingway (if only all of us could). Less is often more. And don't give up on Black. He has a story to tell. What that story is, we don't know yet ... but I think that maybe you do. Go make that happen.

There is one word that keeps this book from being a smash 5-star spectacular, and that is 'convoluted', i.e. as in complicated, complex, involved, elaborate, serpentine, labyrinthine, tortuous, tangled, Byzantine. Sure a complex story isn't necessarily a bad thing, heck even an elaborate storyline can be fun to unwind; but once we get too tortuous, tangled or Byzantine we went a bit too far. This is a very tortuous telling of a good story, set in a world derived from the author's 'Slow Burn' series. I'm looking forward to the next book and only hope that the action is ramped up some and the twists and turns are dialed back a bit. Christian Black is an interesting character, then again most borderline psychopaths are. My only question is what happens to Sienna after all this, hopefully she's along for the ride to Mexico come the next book, as there does seem to promise there. Always hate to see good talent go to waste.

We're in the middle of a pandemic. What better way to pass the time than to read about a pandemic that sweeps the whole world?Black Virus is a short story prequel about the virus itself whereas Black Rust is set 15 years later, and is about how people deal with the aftermath.Fortunately, the Brisbane Strain is nothing like the Coronavirus we're currently dealing with. Rather this is type of zombipocalypse - though those badly affected by the virus become degenerates, rather than zombies who die and come back to life.These are two thrilling stories, and even though Christian Black is portrayed as 'different' and needing a therapist, actually he doesn't seem that different to me. He just makes hard choices and sometimes goes too far.At the very end of Black Rust there is a twist in the plot that I didn't see coming (and I like it when I don't see them coming!). According to Amazon, the next book is due out August 2016 and to my knowledge it hasn't been written yet. If/when it does, I would happily read what happens next in the saga.

I really enjoyed this novel although that driven by the urge to get to the end Icerrainly did not give it all the attention it would have possibly deserved

I was expecting a bit more, but it is still a decent story. I think the Slow Burn series set expectations high and it is important for Adair to keep the quality of works high in this set, just like the original.I just wanted to add more detail to this review. I actually couldn't finish this book. The story is really bland. There is no interesting character in the story to be rooting for or any reason to be attached to anyone at all. The book read more like a poorly acted Hollywood action movie sequel, and it wasn't enough to keep my interest.

Good story, really enjoy but once again the story goes on and on and on in several editions.

GOOD READWILL HAVE YOU GOING WITH THE FLOW, AS IT IS AN ATTENTION GETTER