Lilith Saintcrow is the
quintessential urban/ alternative reality fantasy writer. Night Shift is written in first person through the
protagonist Jill Kismet. In some ways this helps the story, in others it’s
somewhat detrimental. Generally for a reader this style is better understood
but would be a lot more flexible in a third person point of view. Because of
the point of view, the author is forced to use flashbacks for certain points of
exposition which kind of slows the story down. The author should have put this
story down in third person limited so that the narrator is able to jump
smoothly from event to event and character to character without revealing plot
twists to the reader making it a little less choppy in the exposition
sequences. On the other hand, the first person point of view allows more
emotion and connection with the protagonist.
The book starts in a
flashback sequence, not a great choice for this story since the reader has no
idea who this protagonist is and what the stakes are as she makes this Faustian
deal. That exposition could have been done after Jill goes to the Monde and
could probably have been done without reverting to a flashback. Another problem
with the point of view the author uses is that she doesn't USE it. The reader
can find it hard to follow the protagonist’s emotional ride and progression in
some places.
Saintcrow tells a unique
story in a unique way and has a very definitive style. She easily works in
lingo for hunters, secondary characters, and the alternative reality as she
works through the supernatural mystery her protagonist is pulled into.
Night Shift is a fast-paced, action rich modern fantasy with a pretty basic
linear plot structure thanks primarily to the point of view, with the exception
of the flashbacks of course. Saintcrow, like any other writer, has her own
style of expression. In first person, Night
Shift has a
rough-and-tumble feel to it which matches the character perfectly, but some of
the descriptive and exposition scenes are repetitive in wording and structure,
although Saintcrow tends to overuse a number of adjectives in the same sentence
structure, making much of her description and exposition seem redundant at
times. If you like urban fantasy this book is definitely for you but it can be
hard to follow at times due to the non-linear stream of consciousness point of
view and flashbacks
