Anyone Can Die: An Invictus Cycle Book

After reading Anyone Can Die, I definitely see why people would have given James LePore's first novel so many rave reviews. He definitely has a way with words and the ability to create very vivid and realistic characters. The one thing that bothered me while reading this particular set of short stories was that I didn't know who these characters were. If I had known that this was a companion novel initially, I probably would have gone and grabbed A World I Never Made to read first.

Written in what I would consider to be vignettes, LePore delves further into the lives of each of the characters that he created in his first novel. I must say that despite not having met these characters before, he does provide enough background about them to let a new reader's interest become peaked. From what I've read in the reviews of others, these stories give a nice addition to the lives of Pat, Megan and Max from the previous story. My one gripe with Megan's story especially was that there wasn't any distinct ending to her story. I felt a little lost at this point anyway, so I really wanted her story to wrap up nicely. Max's story on the other hand I really did love.

Really the only reason that I rated Anyone Can Die at a lower level was simply because I felt like I didn't get to dive deeply enough into the characters and their development. The stories themselves were well written and interesting on their own, but picking up any story without previously being introduced to the characters within is tough. I do honestly look forward to going and reading James LePore's first novel! After reading this, I am eager for more of his fantastic writing.