Swordsman's Legacy (Rogue Angel)

• Publisher:   Gold Eagle
• Number Of Pages:   320
• Publication Date:   2008-11-11
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0373621337
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780373621330

In need of a break from work and some recent near-death adventures, archaeologist Annja Creed visits France to indulge one of her greatest fantasies: finding D'Artagnan's lost sword. The rapier was a gift from the reigning monarch and has been missing since the seventeenth century.

And Ascher Vallois, one of Annja's treasure-hunting friends, believes he has located the site of the relic.

But when Annja meets with Vallois, she learns that he's made a huge sacrifice to protect the sword and its secret from a relic hunter. Annja discovers that the artifact holds the key to a fortune. And the man won't stop until he gets everything he wants—including Annja.

To all the readers of this series, this one was written by an author new to the series, Michelle Hauf. The original 2 authors, Mel Odom and Victor Milan kept Annja and the other main characters totally 'in character'. Michelle, and the other 'new' author, Jon Merz, haven't bothered, and it hurts the series a lot. If the editors at Harlequin/Gold Eagle actually read these reviews, then PLEASE make your authors read the previous books in this series, and require them to keep Annja's personality traits and skills consistent throughout each book. I did like this book marginally better than 'Soul Stealer', but all the others were significantly better than this one. The things I love about Annja, her blackbelt and sword skills, her highly ethical behavior, her unwillingness to use her sword unless her life is at risk, her constant concern that she's making the right decision - all of these things were MISSING from this book. As far as I can tell, this story was rushed to print with no interest on the part of the publisher or editor to maintain the quality of the first 10 books. I intend to check the copyright page of all future Rogue angel books, and only buy those from the original 2 authors.

When Alex Archer is at his best, Annja combines research with historical tidbits, travel descriptions (not always accurate but fascinating) and blazing martial arts action to thwart evil. This tale, while not technically ancient enough to rate as archaeology, is an excellent addition to the series and includes some cloning benefits and potential risks. One ongoing complaint in Rogue Angel is his description of the food at Tito's restaurant. He should have earned enough revenue by now to afford a $4 Cuban cookbook. Tacos and tamales are Mexican fare, not Cuban! Pretty sloppy for a researcher.

I could not get into this story no matter how hard I tried. Who the hell thought that putting the search for D'artagnan sword and some illegal human cloning facility together was a good idea? A biopirate? No really, our bad guy is a biopirate. If done well this story might have worked, but some bad guy calling himself Mad Bloody Jack was just stupid. This is definitely the worst book in the series. Who wrote this, somebody's kid? I also totally agree with the other reviewer about Annja's personality disorder in this book, but not because of the casual sex thing (which she doesn't even have in this book). The authors really need to get together on Annja's personality and morals. In all the other books she prizes human life above relics, but in this book she's basically telling Ascher that the sword is going to the proper authorities no matter what so kiss your other kidney good-bye. She's also quite possessive in this book where she hasn't been before. Grabbing someone else's find, storing it at a friend's house, and then telling that person you're going to give it back when you don't intend to seems more of a bad guy move than an Annja one.

This was an okay installment to the Rogue Angel series. I hope this trend towards passing fluff is temporary, it's starting to feel like filler instead of story; Annja seems a bit, well less than who she was in earlier books. It's ok as it does continue the backstory with Annja and Roux but I agree the lack of Garin was disappointing.

I wasn't aware that another author was writing this series, but it makes sense in this latest installment. The character of Annja doesn't seem to be consistant or herself, her personality changing like moods.
The absence of Garin in the story is like a gaping hole, and suddenly detective Bart whom she had chemistry with in the past "views her as a little sister"? Annja also seems to have picked up some odd new personality quirks and issues. She falls easily into casual relationships with new strange men not when they interest her, but as she feels the need to use one...
The mood of the book left me unsatisfied with the open-ended ending. It seemed too much like a WB t.v show. It left a side problem completely unrelated to Annja looming in the back like something to be pulled back out in the season finale or maybe season two of a show. I prefer the original writing style untampered with.
One change I liked occured when she accomplished keeping up with her athletic partner and congratulated herself while on the run. It made her seem much more human as opposed to nonchalant about everything.
Spoilers below, caution: The main thing that bothered me occured at the end of the story. Annja develops a starnge sense or morality about cloning and experimenting on babies that with her background, seems to appear out of nowhere, although her orphan past is mentioned again...
In the end there was no closure, the villain running the cloning company dies and his minions fade into the background to continue the work, a strange experimental cloned baby is born, and Annja keeps all of the incriminating evidence to herself instead of reporting it to the authorities. I was disssatisfied enough to give the book 2 stars.

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