Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: Widowmaker

Showing posts with label Widowmaker. Show all posts

Friday, July 28, 2023

A Gathering of Widowmakers (Widowmaker #4) 4Stars

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Title: A Gathering of Widowmakers
Series: Widowmaker #4
Author: Mike Resnick
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 198
Words: 68K

Written seven years after the supposed end to the Widowmaker trilogy, Resnick handles it much better than he did with the sequel to Santiago.

It felt very 2 story line’ish. One was about the original Widowmaker teaching the newest Widowmaker a much needed lesson and the second was of all 3 Widowmakers fighting an outlaw who could multiply himself. They were semi-tied together but it came across more as 2 serialized stories being put together. The whole Widowmaker series IS pretty much a serial, so it wasn’t a big stretch but I just noticed it more this time around.

This pretty much completes my re-read of Resnick’s stuff that I enjoyed in the past, so what comes next will be all new to me. He’s got a 50% success rate, so I’m not expecting a lot. Just hoping I don’t get bored.

★★★★☆

From the Publisher

When every version of the most lethal bounty hunter in the universe comes out to play, you get three times the action from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author.

He may be retired from the bounty hunting game, but Jefferson Nighthawk is still one of the three most dangerous men alive. The other two? His clones.

Trained by Nighthawk himself, Jeff can take down men no one else can. His one flaw is his mind. Jeff can only see in black and white, which leads to him killing an innocent man—and shooting another version of himself.

That would be Jason Newman, the second clone, the one who gave Nighthawk the peaceful future he’s now enjoying. He may have a new face and a new name, but he’s Nighthawk through and through, with the brains and humanity to match. Which is how he winds up on the wrong end of Jeff’s burner. Now, Jason’s in the hospital waiting for his organs to regenerate.

To teach the impulsive Jeff a lesson, Nighthawk lures him to a lawless planet where the galaxy’s most wanted are there for the taking. And where Jeff will learn how to match wits with both of the killers who came before him . . .

Thursday, June 08, 2023

Widowmaker Unleashed (Widowmaker #3) ★★★★☆

Title: Widowmaker Unleashed
Series: Widowmaker #3
Author: Mike Resnick
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 180
Words: 56K

From the Publisher & Bookstooge.blog

He was the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, the consummate killing machine, a man known only as the Widowmaker. Now, after a century of being cryogenically frozen, Jefferson Nighthawk has a new lease on life–and new enemies who want him dead…. Jefferson Nighthawk has been awakened from his frozen sleep, his deadly disease cured. But although he still has the experience and instincts of the legendary Widowmaker, Nighthawk is now biologically in his sixties. His reflexes slowed by age, looking only to live out his days in peace, he decides on a quiet retirement on a Frontier world. Easier said than done. For while Nighthawk lay in cryogenic sleep, his two clones were killing in his name, leaving a trail of vengeful enemies in their wake. Nighthawk has one advantage: no one knows who he is just yet. But once word gets out that he’s back, every assassin on the Frontier will be out to make a rep by gunning him down. Suddenly the Widowmaker has only two choices: pick up his weapons…or face death again–and this time for keeps.

So instead of changing his name and looks, he creates a third clone and personally trains him. This still doesn’t take enough heat off of Nighthawk, so he and the young clone stage the elder Widowmaker’s death in an epic showdown, one where Nighthawk almost does die. Now the world thinks he is dead and the younger Widowmaker can make his own name while Jefferson Nighthawk can live out his days in peace on some dirtball of a world.

Reading my review from ‘14, I mentioned how short this felt compared to the previous stories about the Widowmaker. I realized this time around that is because this is novel is simply a collection of serialized stories instead of being one long drawn out story. Yes, it is all connected, but it is very much compartmentalized. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you are aware of it.

Man, the original Widowmaker is a jerk. At first it is understandable. He thought all his enemies were dead and now he finds out his clones have made him a bunch more, that HE has to deal with. But then his mule headed refusal to do anything but stand and duke it out just got my back up. Because he almost whines the entire time about it. If he had immediately gotten a new identity and a new face (which would have been wicked easy when they were rebuilding him from the ravages of the eplasia), none of it would have mattered.

Of course, we as readers get some cracking good action out of it, so don’t take my complaining that seriously, hahahaaa. So, he’s a jerk. But my goodness, he’s a wicked smart jerk. He’s learned over his lifetime and he puts that learning to good knowledge here.

Much like Santiago, this book was supposed to be the end of the Widowmaker series. Santiago was supposed to be a standalone and the Widowmaker was supposed to be a trilogy. So there is one more adventure for the Widowmaker. But which Widowmaker? I can’t remember, so it’ll be like a brand new book to me.

★★★★☆

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Widowmaker Reborn (Widowmaker #2) ★★★★☆

Title: Widowmaker Reborn
Series: Widowmaker #2
Author: Mike Resnick
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 198
Words: 64K

From the Publisher and Bookstooge.blog

Jefferson Nighthawk, once the galaxy’s most feared killer, is cloned again and given a new mission. This time he is not only armed with the Widowmaker’s killing skills, but also with his lifetime of knowledge. Nighthawk’s new mission involves the rescue of a corrupt politician’s daughter, and the assassination of the rebel leader who holds her captive. But the daughter puts a wrinkle in the plan when she offers her father’s fortune if Nighthawk kills her father instead. While the odds are overwhelming, the price may be right.

So Jefferson, the name the clone has decided to go by, finds out that the daughter and the rebel leader are one and the same. He shacks up with the girl, wipes out the corrupt politician and survives. Thus he has to deal with the fact that in a couple of years he too will come down with esplasia.

Good stuff! Just as good as last time. I LIKED this version of the Widowmaker. He’s everything I want in a main character. He’s mature. He’s experienced. He’s knowledgeable. He is in control of himself and the situation he finds himself in. I love the fact that he thinks the people who cloned him are scum of the earth and that they will doublecross him as soon as they can. But that doesn’t deter him from doing what he sees as his duty to the original Widowmaker and to himself. He’s a survivor.

I had completely forgotten that the daughter and the rebel leader were the same person, so that little twist was nice to experience all over again. The battle at the end where the Widowmaker and his little crew take down the politician was nice too. Just the right amount of tension and blood and guts and a great big “ka bloom” of an ending so I felt like I had gotten my money’s worth (well, I bought this back in ‘14, so technically I was getting my money’s worth AGAIN, which is even better!).

As much as I like Resnick’s Santiago duology, I wonder if the Widowmaker series would make a better starting place. Just because the first three Widowmaker books were all published in three years and the fourth was done much later, just like the original Santiago was supposed to be a standalone until much later. As a standalone, I think Santiago is Resnick’s best. But as a series, Widowmaker is better.

Once again, I am really digging this new version of the cover. The one I read back in ‘14 definitely left a lot to be desired. While I like the bazooka Widowmaker from the first book better, I like the overall composition of the military looking Widowmaker with the text and background. It just has the “right feel” to me for conveying the lethalness of the Widowmaker. You know you’re getting a kickass story with a cover like this.

★★★★☆

Thursday, March 16, 2023

The Widowmaker (Widowmaker #1) ★★★★☆

Title: The Widowmaker
Series: Widowmaker #1
Author: Mike Resnick
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 198
Words: 67K

From Bookstooge.blog

Jefferson Nighthawk, also known as the Widowmaker, is in deepfreeze for an incurable disease. Unfortunately, that is expensive and even the Widowmaker runs out of money now and then. So to procure more money to keep him on ice until a cure is found, a clone is made and sent on an assignment. Which he fulfills and then dies because he makes bad choices about a woman.

Every time I re-read a book, it feels like I am marching out into an old minefield. With a blindfold on while carrying a 25lb cane that I smash into the ground at every step. That feeling of “will THIS step be the one where I explode and my guts go flying for 200 yards in every direction” is not very pleasant. On the flip side, if I do make it safely to the other side, the palpable relief coupled with the enjoyment of a familiar trek pretty much trebles the enjoyment.

In some ways this was a very frustrating read. Jeff Nighthawk, the young clone, is just so young that you know what is going to happen because he wants what he wants despite everyone telling him otherwise. If he’d been a normal person, he would have had a broken heart and learned from his past. Being a galaxy famous bounty hunter, well, all it takes is one mistake to kill him.

I really liked the idea of cloning the Widowmaker and using him. It makes for some interesting dynamics and philosophical rabbit trails but without getting all deep and serious and depressing. It was also fun to be back in Resnick’s Far Future History. Santiago took place during the Democracy (I think) and this takes place much later in what is called the Oligarchy. But the idea that there is always a frontier, a place to go if you’re a free individual is one that Resnick keeps alive in his stories.

The Idea of the Widowmaker is also one that resonates with me. Not necessarily the stone cold killer, but the idea of being the apex of your profession. I like reading about individuals who have striven to be the best and ARE the best. None of this schmopey dopey “ohhh, we’re all just the same” crap. No, we damned well are NOT the same and if you think otherwise, then you are insane and contributing to the general insanity of the world. I cannot be an astronaut no matter how much I might want to be. Nor can I be a professional basketball player. But I can work with only 1 person for 9hrs a day and not need communal group hugs or “attaboys” every other minute and I don’t need to discuss Movie/TV Show X over the water cooler. And you’d be surprised how many people can’t take the solitude. They think they can, but they can’t. So all that rant aside, I like reading about people who excel at what they do. It is inspiring.

There are 3 more Widowmaker books in this series and since I enjoyed this re-read as much as I did, I am fully looking forward to the rest of the series.

★★★★☆