Title: Nemesis: The Death of Timmy Quinn
Author: Kealan Patrick Burke
Release date: May 7th, 2012
*I’ve been reading this as part of the Stage Whispers Omnibus. You can find all four reviews here;**
Alright. Here we are. The big kablooey. The whole she-bang. THE END. As a reader and a writer, this is the part of the series that can hit a home run or stumble and reduce the journey to a frustrating ending. It’s very similar in nature to a sequel.
Now, leading up to this, a lot of puzzle pieces have been thrown down for us to put together. Over the course of four novellas, Kealan has laid out a sprawling narrative involving a trio of key players as well as the ‘here’ and behind the curtain, on The Stage. It makes for the possibility for a stunning and cinematic conclusion, and let me tell you – that’s just what we get.
What I liked: Following the events of the previous four novellas, we arrive with Timmy and Peregrine destined to meet, destined to learn the truth about each other and Kealan wastes no time re-affirming that this series is an epic battle of good versus evil. To do so, he needed to go to the novel length and that’s just what he did.
I will say, right away – he tells us exactly what to expect. The novel is called Nemesis: The Death of Timmy Quinn and the tag line is ‘The Epic Conclusion of the Acclaimed Series.’ This is 100% a finale, something that leaves a horrendous body count of those who’ve sinned and murdered in its wake and ultimately leads us up to a double climax – we get Timmy and Peregrine and we get the conclusion of Kim’s story and how things affect her and what her life becomes.
This – as most additional parts in series’ are – is really tough to go into any detail about things without spoiling the previous entries, but I will say, it shows the curse for what it is. It shows us how strong of a character Timmy is. We know what’s going to happen to him and even when it does it’s gut wrenching and tear jerking. Kealan seemed to channel some otherworldly cinematic muse for many of these scenes. It felt like reading four or five marathon conclusions in a row which made the epilogue that much more powerful.
What I didn’t like: Honestly, I loved the novella format leading into this, so I found the novel switch to be a bit jarring in that there is just SO MUCH going on. It had to happen that way and there are four or five secondary characters added into the mix for a variety of reasons, but at times it becomes a lot to take in, when all you want is to see what happens.
Why you should buy this: So, as I’ve said before, if you’re looking for a series that’s been concluded – this is a phenomenal one to dive into. If you’ve read any of the first parts, you need to finish it to see what happens. And, if you’ve not read Kealan, but are looking for a place to begin, this would be a wonderful series to dive into and discover Timmy.
4.5/5
Nemesis: The Death of Timmy Quinn
Stage Whispers Omnibus
Steve Stred - The Official Website 