William Ritter's Beastly Bones (a.k.a : the downside to ARCs)

It wasn't very long ago that I rambled on about the first Jackaby book and now the second one is coming out on September 22nd. Lucky me, I was given a copy by NetGalley to review.

Much of what I said about the first still applies. I still love Jackaby and Abigail and the returning secondary characters and the new secondary characters -- many of whom I hope we see more of in the future (since it has been confirmed that there WILL be a future). I have, however, rethought my original "huh?" feelings over the comparison to Doctor Who and how disappointed I felt I would be if it went all wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey on me.

As it turns out, throughout most of Beastly Bones I found myself picturing R. F. Jackaby resembling a young 1988-ish Peter Capaldi:

http://vintagegeekculture.tumblr.com/post/112847784301/young-peter-capaldi-in-lair-of-the-white-worm

As for the wibbly-wobbly-ness, there's no time travel by Jackaby and Abilgail per se ... yet ... but there are some things from the past that come in to play in extraordinary ways and I didn't mind them one bit (except, of course, for when they made me catch my breath while my heart simultaneously attempted to leap out of my chest).

Of course, there were mysteries aplenty -- some more breath-catching than other.

(please note that since this IS an ARC the final text may be different than the screencaps below)

What do the R and F stand for?

What the heck is going on with our favorite ghost/housemate?

What sort of dangerous mess are they diving into this time?

How many odd looks will I get when I start rating everything on a scale of one to pomegranate?

What happened during Chapter Thirteen?

How much would Jackaby freak out (if he wasn't confined to the pages of a book) if I hugged him?

How much would it cost to add a third floor to my house? (duck optional -- but welcomed)

And so so so many more that you'll just have to read about for yourselves.

So, the whole "downside to ARCs" bit from the post title? Since Ritter is currently out and about doing book release/pre-release events and signings and conventions and whatnots, that means he isn't at home typing up a storm ... which means I'll have to wait far too long for the next installment and for some of the unresolved issues to be at least talked about again.

And I hate waiting. (Unless it's my own choice to do so, of course.)