Fiction Book Review for ‘Lavabull: A Superhero Novel’ by Piers Anthony and J.R. Rain
ABOUT THE BOOK: He’s half man and half bull. She’s half woman and half lava. Their lives are about to collide.
Carl Gray was a rodeo clown before he was fused by lightning with a bull named El Diablo. He became a half-bull, half-man superhero, complete with horns and a tail.
Lavender is a native islander—her mother is lava and her father is human. As a half-human, she can read their minds. As a half-lava creature, she can change her shape and her temperature at will—and she’s definitely one red-hot young lady!
When Lavender learns about the half-bull, half man, she must have him! She heads to Arizona to meet Carl, who uses his superhero powers to help humankind. But mostly he drinks way too much. Lavender offers to become his girlfriend, but he’s got to clean up his act—she also insists he start charging fees for his superhero services.
When the world receives a threat from a criminal mastermind named Villainous—who threatens to destroy all primates, including the human race—the Secretary of Defense requests their help. He informs Lavender and Carl that all over the world, separate species have begun merging into powerful new creatures with human intelligence and animal strengths. With his horns of destruction and her intense heat and ability to shape lava, can Carl and Lavender thwart the most evil master plot the world has ever faced? What will it take to find the madman behind the threat? And, what will it take to shut down his unusual weapons of mass destruction before it’s too late? As the danger increases, so does their passion, but will the heat of imminent danger eclipse their growing fire for each other? And, can these two unlikely misfits join forces to save the human race?
LAVABULL, A Superhero Novel, is a collaboration from bestselling authors Piers Anthony and J.R. Rain. This is their seventh novel collaboration.
MY REVIEW: 4 stars. I do a lot of book reviews, and I get a lot of free books because of this, but I actually bought this one simply because I love all of Piers Anthony’s writing and collect all of his work. I didn’t have this one on my shelf yet.
I haven’t read anything by J.R. Rain other than some of the collaborations between the two of them, so I don’t have a basis of comparison of how the writing in this book might be the same as or different from the work he does on his own. I am very familiar with Piers Anthony’s style, however, and his touch is definitely all over Lavabull. The male humor and quirky wit that every fan has come to love and expect from this author is all over it.
The only reason for a 4 star rating instead of 5 is something that might seem minor to a lot of people, but bothered me enough to point it out. The front cover is very nicely done and attractive. However, the back cover and spine don’t fit in with the professional quality of the front. The color is not a match, the typeface is awkward, and seems like an afterthought. Worse, the spine doesn’t have anything on it at all. No title, no author name – nothing. Maybe in this day and age of internet shopping, the spine and the back didn’t seem important because when someone shops online, they won’t see it anyway. If this were on a bookstore shelf, it would be something that might influence a potential buyer. When this is on my shelf at home as part of my collection, I won’t know what book it is without anything on the spine, so I actually wrote the title on the spine with a Sharpie.
ABOUT THE BOOK: He’s half man and half bull. She’s half woman and half lava. Their lives are about to collide.
Carl Gray was a rodeo clown before he was fused by lightning with a bull named El Diablo. He became a half-bull, half-man superhero, complete with horns and a tail.
Lavender is a native islander—her mother is lava and her father is human. As a half-human, she can read their minds. As a half-lava creature, she can change her shape and her temperature at will—and she’s definitely one red-hot young lady!
When Lavender learns about the half-bull, half man, she must have him! She heads to Arizona to meet Carl, who uses his superhero powers to help humankind. But mostly he drinks way too much. Lavender offers to become his girlfriend, but he’s got to clean up his act—she also insists he start charging fees for his superhero services.
When the world receives a threat from a criminal mastermind named Villainous—who threatens to destroy all primates, including the human race—the Secretary of Defense requests their help. He informs Lavender and Carl that all over the world, separate species have begun merging into powerful new creatures with human intelligence and animal strengths. With his horns of destruction and her intense heat and ability to shape lava, can Carl and Lavender thwart the most evil master plot the world has ever faced? What will it take to find the madman behind the threat? And, what will it take to shut down his unusual weapons of mass destruction before it’s too late? As the danger increases, so does their passion, but will the heat of imminent danger eclipse their growing fire for each other? And, can these two unlikely misfits join forces to save the human race?
LAVABULL, A Superhero Novel, is a collaboration from bestselling authors Piers Anthony and J.R. Rain. This is their seventh novel collaboration.
MY REVIEW: 4 stars. I do a lot of book reviews, and I get a lot of free books because of this, but I actually bought this one simply because I love all of Piers Anthony’s writing and collect all of his work. I didn’t have this one on my shelf yet.
I haven’t read anything by J.R. Rain other than some of the collaborations between the two of them, so I don’t have a basis of comparison of how the writing in this book might be the same as or different from the work he does on his own. I am very familiar with Piers Anthony’s style, however, and his touch is definitely all over Lavabull. The male humor and quirky wit that every fan has come to love and expect from this author is all over it.
The only reason for a 4 star rating instead of 5 is something that might seem minor to a lot of people, but bothered me enough to point it out. The front cover is very nicely done and attractive. However, the back cover and spine don’t fit in with the professional quality of the front. The color is not a match, the typeface is awkward, and seems like an afterthought. Worse, the spine doesn’t have anything on it at all. No title, no author name – nothing. Maybe in this day and age of internet shopping, the spine and the back didn’t seem important because when someone shops online, they won’t see it anyway. If this were on a bookstore shelf, it would be something that might influence a potential buyer. When this is on my shelf at home as part of my collection, I won’t know what book it is without anything on the spine, so I actually wrote the title on the spine with a Sharpie.
RSS Feed
