The Sagely Fox

Watching, Learning, Thinking

(Nix 1) Fury of a Phoenix by Shannon Mayer Review

    2021-04-25

“You’ve been gone a long time, Nix. People start to talk away the truth when they haven’t seen it in years. You aren’t the bogeyman you once were.”

I wasn’t going to try for a normal life again; that was beyond stupid. Which left me this—a life I’d run from.

(Nix 1) Fury of a Phoenix by Shannon Mayer

My thoughts about review spoilers, and ratings may be relevant before you venture below --- the spoiler line ---. Click the [Back] button there to return here if you take a look. Original draft review(s) 4/25/2021. 5/6/2021, & 3 other attempts. Final Review 1150± words, 07/26/2021

My Rating: The rating is deceptive.

I have no recommendation about this "book" and my rating is not actually 2.5 stars. My rating is "no comment" or UNRATED^why. This "piece of writing" (a book beginning) is in the paranormal fantasy genre with a mystery/quest type plot.

Nix 1 is written in tight first person point of view. We're seeing through the eyes of our protagonist Phoenix Stark. Immediately, we are simultaneously experiencing Phoenix's life a brief time in the future, and a short time in the past.

The hook in the beginning is when an automobile accident is in progress.

If you're listening to the audio-book, you can become dazed as the story jumps in time quickly (near future/present) and in short intervals that are not entirely obvious. Reading the book, however, the time jumps are obvious by the typeset and visual clues.

Anyone who's loved someone for some time will recognize the intimacy in Phoenix's family in these opening scenes.

Generally: ----- Possible Spoiler Line -----
Phoenix has her life ripped apart. It isn't accidental, and she knows it. The tragedy we witness is the basis for nearly all the motivation for all the action which follows... for at least three "books".

The action that follows takes some dark turns. The kind of dark turns that can crush a soul almost beyond recovery. Violation of the deepest trust, which does not appear to actually be betrayal, seems more painful and hurts even more. Throw in the loss of an only child as icing on this nightmare, and characters are broken in ways that create entirely unpredictable results.

What we learn in quick order is Phoenix Romano Stark, while ecstatic with being a doting and loving mother, never was that person. But it is what she wanted to be more than anything in the world. That life of her deepest dreams was hers. Now, it is not.

What she escaped from to live her dream of wife and doting mother is where she will go in order to cope with things of anguish that take some people decades of therapy. She's going to find who killed her son, and there will be no remorse for what she will do when she finds them.

While we are learning these details, wise Uncle Zee, who understand's Phoenix better than anyone, has stepped up. He's doing what he can to guide her to wise decisions. He knows she can kill an entire mafia family by herself. He trained her. But can he stand by and let her go back to what she was? At key moments, almost reading her mind, he drops details into her chaotic emotional tornado that she hasn't considered.

Plot stutter.

She may run off in a red haze of vengeance, but Zee will not see her run off half cocked. She's been away from that kind of life for too long.

My Notable Notes:
"Fury of a Phoenix" is sort of "She-Rambo". I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't really comprehend the "Nix" moniker until near the end of the book. This is a point to myself and blush, primarily. A reminder, no one truly multitasks well. I was multitasking at double-time during most of my listening to this book. So my shame in missing the relevance of that moniker is more like a palm to the forehead kind-of-thing.

While I didn't take notes, I never felt the normal "ring of truth" that is always present in good fiction. Rambo, I can root for. Phoenix, I should have wanted to "root for" infinitely more than "Rambo", but didn't. It was almost as if I didn't care. I have a pretty good idea why.

Likes and Dislikes:
You are way beyond the spoiler line... Shannon nailed the "hook" in this book. We start in-media-res of a fatal car accident and simultaneously at a party shortly before the accident. I mentioned the possible confusion just listening to the audioboook in the opening scenes. Fortunately, it isn't difficult to catch on to what our hallucination choreographer is doing for us. Once I realized what was going on, I was loving it.

I struggled with suspension of disbelief after a time. Phoenix's motivation is obvious, but it didn't come across well with me. "Motivation action" and "motivation talk" felt like 12 ÷ 2 = 5.75 with ¼ remainder. Seems right but feels wrong.

The Technical: About the writing critique?
An author can do a lot of quirky things and not lose their audience. The mortal sin of a fiction writer is to lose the reader's suspension of disbelief.

Shannon does some courageous writing and takes your heart with her. Then we learn who Phoenix Ramono Stark really is. Exciting reveal. Then, I nearly quit caring when "had been living an illusion" started to be slowly revealed.

Disappointment isn't grounds to lose faith in the author's hallucination. But the multitued of slightly missed "realty checks" plus the let down of the emotional ride we agree to go on, can portend disaster.

Mamma bear losing baby bear can go a long way in having a fit, but when a reader must also start processing other tragedies that are piling on, it starts getting overwhelming - almost like getting PTSD instead of the adrenaline of increasing danger and tempo. Maybe my suspension of disbelief starts to ebb away as more and more drastic measures come, and the motivation for escalation doesn't have the right foundation under it to support the apparent desire for the protagonist to "win".

Conclusion
Shannon's fans love her work, period. I'm that way with Dean Koontz, Gregg Hurwitz, Peter V. Brett, Katie Breene and others. Reading the genres I've been reading, Shannon Mayer gets noticed and floats up the read list quickly. That's where I was at with the Nix series. I've since completed Nix 2 & 3 as well and developed more frustration as my inner editor was making too much noise for me to simply enjoy the story.

For me, with this protagonist, the action, and her determination in this "book" doesn't precisely ring true. The motivation probably should make the action and determination feel more real than it did for me

I won't be recommending Nix 2 and it will be unrated as well. The good news is, I am happy to recommend Nix 1, 2 & 3 together. 1, 2, & 3 are beginning, middle, and ending enough to be one story. Together, they are one book.

Read on: Apr 20, &21, 2021
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Written by: Shannon Mayer
Read by: Khristine Hvam
Buy at: Nix 1 Retailers
📚 Format(s): E-book & Audiobook 29 Chapters, 328 Print pages
Audiobook Runtime: 10:03:51