Book Review: Animal Instinct (Duncan Andrews Thrillers Book 2) by Stephen Osborne

 
 
Duncan's best friend, Gina, is a witch, but someone has recently stolen the skull of her father, who was an extremely powerful wizard with the ability to control animals. When Duncan gets a call from a new client who's been the victim of numerous animal attacks lately, he takes the case, hoping it will lead him to whoever has the skull. But between Gina being in a coma and a TV psychic in town trying to persuade Robbie (Duncan's dead ghost boyfriend) to move on, Duncan might have to face his most dangerous supernatural opponent yet all on his own.

Title: Animal Instinct
Author:
Book Number: Book 2 of TBA
Pages: 200
My Rating: 4 Stars
More Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Publisher
 

Review:

*I received a free ecopy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

This book had all the same good things the first one had—likeable characters, a solid plot, unique relationship struggles, writing that flowed well, snarky humor—but I actually liked it even more than the first.

For one thing, I found this one to be funnier because, in addition to Duncan’s snarky/sarcastic thoughts and remarks, there was that specific type of humor in which ridiculous things just keep building up until you can’t help but laugh. In this case, it was often thanks to the ghost of Duncan’s client’s neighbor who was recently killed and decided to haunt them and would always show up with perfect timing (he was rather harmless though, so don’t get confused and think this story is about a haunting).

I also thought the plot was more intriguing this time since it had a more legitimate mystery with a whodunnit aspect.

Another thing I liked was that Duncan was no longer doubting his relationship with Robbie and knew that he still wanted to be with him, regardless of the lack of sex. I loved how much they cared about each other and were willing to talk things out and try to make things work. I mean, even that brief snippet of a scene when they were lying together on the bed—it touched my heart that they were really trying and willing to work on things and were so comfortable with and in love with each other. I get that maybe clinging onto each other instead of moving on isn’t necessarily the healthiest thing, but I 100% understand why they’re doing it and think that their relationship, in the way that they treat each other, is really healthy.

My only negative is that, though this book was maybe a tad more emotional than the first, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more emotion wrought out of the characters and the situation. The emotion was there, but I didn’t really feel it. But as I mentioned in my review of the first book, it’s probably the perfect amount of emotion for people who don’t like heart-wrenching but still like just a little bit of feels, or for anyone who needs a break from emotional and wants to read something lighter. And the ending of this one did give me some warm, fuzzy feels at least.

Overall, this was a great sequel with a fun mystery plot, snarky humor, and likeable characters!

 

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Have you read Animal Instinct by Stephen Osborne?
Do you have fun trying to guess who the murderer is in mystery books?

 
 
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10 thoughts on “Book Review: Animal Instinct (Duncan Andrews Thrillers Book 2) by Stephen Osborne

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    1. Kristen Burns

      Ok wait a minute, I can’t tell if you’re serious or messing with me because you JUST posted like two days ago about how reading series out of order makes you twitchy??! Lol. Funnily enough you probably *could* read this particular one without missing too much, but I will never condone that, haha.

        1. Kristen Burns

          I’m shaking my head at you, you just can’t see it lol. Every book in the series has the same snarky humor though since that’s just how the MC is, so you can still start with the first one if you’re interested 🙂

  1. AngelErin

    That’s great that you liked this one more than the first. I love when that happens. It’s certainly better than the second book slump syndrome! Too bad you didn’t FEEL the emotion though. I hate when that happens. Great review. 😀

    1. Kristen Burns

      I’ve never really had that problem with series, to be honest. I tend to like second books even more when they have the same characters because I’m just finally starting to get invested into them and get more into the story. But when the first book in a series is 5 stars, well, that is a little harder to live up to lol. But anyway, in this case, I already knew the characters, and the plot was just more intriguing. I agree it was too bad about not feeling the emotion though. Thanks!

  2. Lola

    Glad to hear you liked this one even more than the first book! That ghost with perfect timing to show up sounds like a fun touch. And the mystery sounds like it’s a good one too. And even though it might not be the most healthy thing to cling to a dead boyfriend, it does sound sweet how they are trying to make this work and care so much about each other. Great review!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yeah the ghost showing up kept cracking me up lol. And the mystery was more of an actual mystery in this one than the others, so that was fun. And it may not be healthy, but their relationship was definitely sweet, and I can’t blame them since most people, including me, would probably do the same. Thanks!