CBII: Where Did This Rash Come From: Book 2 - The Law of Nines - Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind is an author who is perhaps best known for his Sword Of Truth Series. In fact, I believe that that particular series of books are the only ones he has written until The Law Of Nines. I'm quite a fan of Goodkind. I own all his books, have read them twice and have invested many years of my life to see the conclusion of the Sword of Truth saga. I would dare say that I love the series with all it's flaws, yawns and foibles so it was without hesitation that I grabbed his new book off of the shelf with an "oooooh" of delight. After blasting through it in about six hours I've come to a conclusion: I've been here before.


Firstly, *POTENTIAL SPOILERS* there, now that that is out of the way.....Alex is your mostly normal, everyday, run of the mill young man. There's nothing overly exceptional about him other than that he is a fairly gifted artist with a penchant for painting landscapes. Then, one day, he saves an unusually attractive woman from being run over by a plumbing truck driven by a couple of guys that look like pirates.   After speaking with one of the arresting officers, he strikes up a conversation with this stunning woman named Jax (she's named after the game) and he decides to take her to a local gallery that is showing some of his artwork. Jax is immesurably moved by one of his paintings and he is immediately smitten. Telling Alex that she has really to leave she begins to walk away and vanishes in a crowd. Alex then goes to his grandfather's house to visit as it is Alex's twenty-seventh birthday. His grandfather gives him an envelope that was supposed to go first to his father on his twenty-seventh birthday(who passed away prior to said birthday) then his mother on her twenty-seven birthday (who was institutionalized before she turned twenty-seven) and has now come to him as he is last in the line of succession.

The envelope tells Alex that he has inherited a large swath of land that has some very specific rules attached to it and that he has one year to decide what he wishes to do with the land. Alex decideds to take some time to consider what to do and goes to visit his mother in the mental hospital. She proceeds to tell him some very strange things and he notices a news story that tells him the two officers he met previously at the accident scene were found in an alley with their necks broken. He then he runs into Jax again, who proceeds to tell him some very strange things and that he is the only one tha can help her. Upon returning to his grandfather's house to find it in flames, Alex decides that he needs to get to the bottom of what's going on. Strange things are happening and people are starting to get hurt.

I have to say that I really did enjoy the book. It was tightly paced and contained plenty of action while progressing the story without sacrificing character development. If you liked Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, you'll definately enjoy The Law of Nines, becuase that's what it is; The Sword of Truth. There is absolutely nothing new here. It has the same characters (but with different names), the same villians, (but with different names), the same motivations (but on a different planet). The only difference was that where Richard used a sword, Alex uses a Glock. I was quite disappointed that Goodkind didn't try something different like a supernatural thriller or some such. Please don't misunderstand, if you enjoy Goodkind, you will definately enjoy Wizard's First Glock. I'm willing to give him another shot with book two to see if he does go in a different direction, but really, Alex Rahl and Jax Amnell? Give me a fucking break!