Review: Predator, Prey - The Beast Arises Book 2

With the release of the third book in the Beast Arises series last weekend, it's about time I finished my review of the second installment in the Beast Arises series from Black Library, Predator, Prey. This will be my second time writing this post as the first was eaten by the warp, though I also didn't like the direction it went. As with part 1 of the review, SPOILER ALERT.

The first chapter gives a high level overview of the various systems being impacted and followed in the novel, and was honestly fairly dry. The next chapter, which introduces a character, Commander Allegra, is honestly, extremely hard to follow as it jumps from the narrative present to the events that lead to the narrative present and back with little transition. This happens a few times throughout the book, but not quite to the extent of these first chapters.

Again, this book is an extremely quick read, and none of the story lines are really delved into in too great a detail. Unfortunately, at this point it looks like this will be a trend for the series. Fortunately, the most intriguing character in the series, head of the Officio Assasinorum Drakan Vangorich, gets a bit more time on the page and looks to be the primary uniting thread of the story.

I was fairly unimpressed by the majority of the storylines, the Commander Allegra arc was a bit cliched and predictable, and the Adeptus Mechanicus arc was only slightly better, with them finding a lone survivor of the events of the first book. Honestly, the ending where Slaughter seems to regret his nickname is one of the better portions of the book, that largely lacked in good moments.

I'm still planning on continuing the series, but so far have been pretty underwhelmed, both by the length and quality of the stories. While Dan Abnett included some good atmospheric details, the second installment lacked in those larger revelations and seemed to only marginally move the plot forward.

So, while I'm not impressed, what have been your thoughts on the series? I'm still holding out hope that it comes together as something enjoyable in the end.