Review: Brightwing by Sullivan Lee

Title: Brightwing
Author: Sullivan Lee
Publisher: Self-published
Publish Date: July 6, 2011
Source: Received a copy from the author. This did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You like a little adventure.
• You like some thrill.
• You want a good sense of place.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Edgar and Mallory Battle are on the run after a spectacularly violent escape. Now, with a trail of bodies behind them, they need a hostage against the inevitable standoff with the police. Their first doesn't last long, thanks to sociopathic Mallory. Edgar has been hiding his brother's crimes since they were kids. Now he's torn between family loyalty and self-preservation.

They carjack Lucy Brightwing, a criminal fresh from her own heist, with a fortune of uncut gems hidden in her vehicle. She could escape - but she won't abandon her millions. She could kill the Battle brothers, but she has to be careful. For one thing, if the law investigates, they'll find her ill-gotten loot. For another, her own life is sacred. She's the last member of a Florida paleoindian tribe thought to be extinct - the Tequesta. With her share of the money she plans to buy, bribe and blackmail her way into her own ancestral tribal lands in the heart of the Everglades: a Tequesta nation.

Lucy leads the brothers into her beloved swamp, determined to kill them. But when she falls for Edgar she must decide whether to risk her heritage and the future of her tribe to save the doomed brothers."

My Two Cents:

Lucy is a really awesome character. She's rough and tumble. She's also not perfect, which I sort of like. It's always interesting to read about flawed characters, especially when they're still likable. Lucy knows what she wants out of life and she's willing to do things that aren't exactly what you would call "coloring inside the lines" to get what she wants. When she falls in with Edgar and Mallory, she realizes very early on that things could go bad quickly. She's resourceful and smart; definitely a character that I liked a lot.


The other thing that I really liked about the book is the setting. I've only been to Florida a handful of times and never to some of the more naturally gorgeous places that are described in Brightwing. Lee does a really wonderful job of making you feel that you're on the run through the Everglades with Lucy, Edgar, and Mallory. It's the perfect setting for Lucy's struggle to establish her tribe.


Which brings me to another thought: Lucy is the last living member of the Tequesta tribe and she wants to establish a reservation. I don't know much about the rules about doing such but I had questions as why it was up to Lucy and no one in her family did so before. I had a lot of questions about that.


Bottom line: Good characters, good scenery.