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Apr 24, 2023Liked by C.J. Stone

Well.........shoot.

First off, great job describing the physical setting of the scene. I could picture it accurately in my head!

Maximus Savage, Rocco Lynch, Benjamin Drummond, Larry Oberkfell......lots of intriguing villains once more! I’ll admit, if I were you, I’d have a lot of trouble keeping track of everyone. I have enough complications with my own stories, haha! The Savage Gang seems to be a lot more methodical than I first thought. I took them as the type to just burst into a city and start harassing people from there, but no; they’ve got a whole strategy and everything. Savage picks a rep and has them move into the target city with a group of contingents (a mixture of veterans and recruits), then observes whether or not the police get involved. And.....if they do get involved, they escalate their efforts, like with Chief Rando. Interesting......

It’s only the second official chapter, and my opinion has already changed from seeing them as just big muscle men to actual legitimate masterminds. They’ve got most, if not all, of their bases covered; they keep their operations small enough that the military can’t legally get involved, while also keeping the police population under their fist.

Their thoughts about humanity disguising their selfishness and greed with a “righteous thirst for freedom” was also eye-catching. What a way to view things......I’ll say that much. The Second Amendment does grant us the right to bear arms, yes, but that could be used against us if an unstable individual were to go on, say, a shooting rampage, for instance. But the whole thing with the military being sent to peoples’ doorsteps was a little sketchy; people would question why law enforcement is being sent to their house when they did nothing wrong, but if there is an actual threat present (i.e., the Savage Gang), then the civilians actually WOULD be happy to see the military. In short, there’s no need for authorities to get involved in someone’s life if they don’t have sufficient evidence to convict them of a crime or if that “someone” is not in any immediate danger.

I want to know what the heck that substance was that got injected into Savage’s butt. I wouldn’t have had the guts to withstand such a thing......my reflexes would’ve sold Oberkfell a swift kick to the testicles before that needle will even make contact with my skin. It has to be something beneficial and not inhibitory, right? Otherwise Savage wouldn’t have applied it to himself? Guess we’ll see later!

You’ve certainly also built up this “Smash” character to be a formidable fighter. Is his brother named “Grab”?

Anyways, I’m driven to see how Sapphire deals with these guys. Drummond seems like more of an advisor than a fighter, so she’ll probably capture and interrogate him. Rocco Lynch is going to Harrisburg to start the settlement efforts, so I’m guessing he’ll be the main threat for right now? One thing that the Savage Gang didn’t count on, though, is that Sapphire Angel has this neat thing called “plot armor”, where she literally cannot die unless the author (i.e., yourself) writes it so. Personally, it’s now not a matter of “Will she win?”. It’s “How close can we get her to losing BEFORE she wins?”.

Off-note, but I also can’t wait for the supposed “supervillain” in Book 5. They’d make a neat change from the parade of well-built businessmen.

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I always wonder if I throw too many characters into a story. We have two main ones in Savage and Lynch, and then two supporting characters n Drummond and Oberkfell.

The gang probably wouldn't have gotten as far as they have through just brute force. Savage might appear to be a meathead, but he's got a bit more going on.

The substance taken by Savage will play an increasing role as this saga goes on, so stay tuned. It might not be as straightforward as it appears.

It is funny you mention Smash having a brother, because in the future (I think the second story in this saga), we get to meet the brother.

And, yes, I finally broke away from the "evil businessman" villain!

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