Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

Let's not get into the mwah, you're conflicted about porn jokes.   I... pretty much hate porn.   Unless it's, y'know, two robots going at it, and then hells yes!

But this book?   I was conflicted because the author creates a character, who I found somewhat unbelievable.   Revenge stories?   Love them.   But when they're done right.   The Punisher, for example, is a fantastic revenge story: he's been trained to kill, to deal with killing as best as he can, then everything is taken away from him.  In addition, one graphic novel posits that he showed sociopathic tendencies in the Vietnam War, which is very buyable to me.   

When a woman who knows nothing about killing, or how to go about killing someone and not get caught, does this, though?   Yeah, not buying it.  

Also, this: 

Whirl has it worse than the heroine in this did.   Anti-heroine?   He was forced into a caste, Aerial, and found a way to break out of it.   He loved making watches.   When he was coerced into working for the Senate and then resisted, he was put through Empurata: his hands were taken, as was his ability to make watches.  

Everything he stood for, everything he was, was taken from him, and then he was betrayed by the Senate.   He was literally driven insane, turned into a psychopath by them masterminding this, and literally playing with his mind.   

That, and the fact that he was combat ready before hand, make him a good revenge story.   Plus, eeee!   WHIRL!   I loves me some Whirl!

I have another spoilery issue, so here goes:

I was willing to overlook the spotty grammar because the story sucked me in despite my issues.   And the saving grace was the ending which I didn't see coming.   I was getting more and more disappointed.   I mean, I know it might seem nitpicky and anal to ask for psychological depth in a revenge story, but that's how I like 'em.   And this failed for me in that respect.  I didn't buy the main character, which made it seem like a ploy to me.   

I will be reading another Shaw book soon, but not sure if I'll continue after that.   It all depends on how impressed I am with the second offering.