Bad to the Bone: Blackout

Rob Thurman writes an urban fantasy series that I haven't been reading. The latest installment, Blackout (Cal Leandros, Book 6), is clearly an attempt to lure in readers who usually hesitate to start in the middle. Since I am a reader who delights in starting in the middle, I figured I'd encourage authors to encourage this by reading the book.

The gimmick worked for me; Cal Leandros wakes up on a beach with amnesia, and starts trying to figure who he is and what he does. His frantic brother finds him quickly, but his memory returns very slowly, giving him most of the book to interact with his former friends, peers, acquaintances, enemies, and lovers. Thurman doesn't bury the current story with backstory; in fact, Cal's family deliberately lets him rediscover most of his background instead of pushing forward with their memories of him. This gave me a slow and fun introduction to the setting and characters, which is important since both have some rough edges that might put me off. I'm off to get the first book in the series now, because I want to see if Cal was right about who he was, and what his brother does for him.