This is a serial book - that is, 16 episodes strung together like a season of TV shows, each episode written by one of the 4 authors.  One of the reasons I picked it up was because I had read one of Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence novels and enjoyed it. 

Anyway, it appears that I'm not really a huge fan of the serial experience.  It's not my preferred style of book.  I just find it tends to go on for too long, maybe.  Or maybe it's the pacing that I'm not fond of.  I'm not bright enough to figure out the reasons.  *LOL*

But also, I'm not a fan of urban horror fantasy.  I mean, I like the premise.  I like the characters for the most part but it's the horror part that's not my favourite.  I'll read them and if the the characters are captivating and the plot intriguing, I can usually deal with the actual horror parts - like the intense descriptions of monsters and dungeons and lairs and the like. 

So, after that caveat, Bookburners was a good read for the most part.  The 4 different author styles weren't jarring, as a matter of fact they were all rather similar and I'm not familiar enough with them to know if it was worked towards in this project or just something that they all have in common.  The main character, Sal, I couldn't quite enjoy until about 2/3rds of the way through the book.  I just didn't like her very much.  I was fascinated by the other members of her team though. 

Will I read the next seasons of Bookburners?  Maybe.  If they come up on sale at some point.  I enjoyed this one enough to be curious about where they go next with the story. 

Bookburners is a serial about a detective named Sal Brooks who joins a secret Vatican Black-Ops Squad after her brother gets possessed by demons after handling an ancient text that houses dark magic and demons. The squad is tasked with retrieving these books and securing them in their archives before more demons are spread through the world.

I wasn't sure what to expect going in to this but I knew the serial was about books so I couldn't pass it up. I'm glad I didn't. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode! There's a little bit of mystery, a little action, lots of magic and a great cast of some pretty cool and quirky characters too.

There are 16 episodes and each episode is fairly short so you can read through them pretty quickly when you don't have a lot of time but they pack a lot into a few pages. Also, the serial is written by four different authors that rotate episodes so you're in for a little something different each time which I really liked. I thought the four authors, Max Gladstone, Brian Francis Slattery, Mur Lafferty & Margaret Dunlap did a fantastic job collaborating and keeping the stories tied together and flowing naturally which I imagine isn't an easy thing to do with multiple personalities and writing styles.

I've gotten hooked on this serial so I definitely plan to continue with Season 2. A whole new set of authors are featured so I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in store for the Bookburners.

Episode 1 Review

Episode 2 Review

Episode 3 Review

Episode 4 Review

Episode 5 Review

Episode 6 Review

Episode 7 Review

Episode 8 Review

Episode 9 Review

Episode 10 Review

Episode 11 Review

Episode 12 Review

Episode 13 Review

Episode 14 Review

Episode 15 Review

Episode 16 Review- The Finale

*I received Bookburners: Complete Season One ARC from NetGalley & Serial Box Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

**I read Episodes 13, 14, 15 & 16 for 2016 Halloween Book Bingo:

~Free Space~

In the previous episode, Team 1 was looking for Team 3 to clean up their "mess." Well they finally come face-to-face, blow-to blow and it's not pretty... As the title says, someone is performing an exorcism- but on who and will it work? You'll have to read to find out! : )

There are only 2 episodes left so I'm anxious to see how the season wraps up.

*I received Bookburners: The Complete Season One from NetGalley & Serial Box Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! 

Demons are running around the city! They're even teaming up and forming alliances because they want the Codex Umbra & they'll stop at nothing to get it...

"The Hand" has also returned- In the first episode we were introduced to The Hand, a Homunculus or aka a demon, who possessed Sal's brother, Perry. Well in this episode he's causing trouble again.

Another fun episode with a lot going on! I loved the ending & can't wait to see how it plays out...

*I received Bookburners: The Complete Season One from NetGalley & Serial Box Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! 

Tanner City, Oklahoma -  known for their many tornadoes and the site of Team 3's current mission. One of the local boy's, Jacob, has magical gifts just like his grandfather. Many years ago his grandfather created "Tornado Eaters" to keep the tornadoes away from the city. When another tornado is seen on the horizon, Jacob, trying to be like his grandfather, unleashes the Tornado Eaters to protect the city but he gives the wrong orders so now the Tornado Eaters see the town and everyone in it as a threat. Can the Bookburners take down the Tornado Eaters before they take down the city and everything in it?

I really enjoyed this episode a lot because we were treated to a close-up of the other teams, Team 1 and Team 2, in action.

Team 1 is a full combat team and they normally come in to clean up or when Team 3 needs some serious backup. They have some very cool magical abilities, armor and powerful weapons that they don for their missions.

Team 2 is responsible for diplomacy and public relations. They basically smooth over the situation in the aftermath and construct plausible 'lies' to tell the public, news stations, officials etc.

And just to clarify, Team 3, the Bookburners and main focus of this serial, handles acquisition and storage. They retrieve books and securely and safely store them in their archives.

*I received Bookburners: The Complete Season One from NetGalley & Serial Box Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!