I started to read Never Deal with a Dragon and it's good. Like REALLY good.
I don't mean to knock the new writers, because I do enjoy the new novels. But my biggest complaint about the new novels is that they seem to be too high level. Like there is a lot of world building going in to Never Deal with a Dragon, and there is world building in stuff like Borrowed Time, but it doesn't feel as fleshed out. Like when Winterhawk has to deal with those ghouls, I thought that was kind of a nice touch instead of just murdering them outright. But my problem is, like why are the ghouls there? How did they get there? In Never Deal with a Dragon, they'll go and give a quick reason why to help explain the world. Like I already know what a BTL is, but having a quick paragraph to explain it to the reader as well as the social ramifications of it, that's world building.
When I read the new novels, it sometimes feels like things are happening to the characters because something needs to happen to them. Like Elijah needs to go to Amazonia for...something, I can't remember what off of the top of my head, and so suddenly, they're hunted down by every gang in the city with a large firefight. There were little things, like seeing the firefight from the ganger's perspective that made it enjoyable. But I don't recall the context for why the fighting started in the first place or how the ganger's knew other than through deus ex machina. The worst part was when they drove through the rainforest and were being harassed by the local indian tribes for seemingly no reason.
I'm just ranting, I'm confident I couldn't do better myself...as I've tried to start writing several times and always lose steam and focus. But I like the novels because they give context to the Sixth World and the SR rule set. I think that's why I really enjoy the short fiction in the sourcebooks more. Because it really helps sell it.