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Archive for the ‘Horror & Paranormal’ Category

“The Redeeming,” Shiloh Walker

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Pros: Delightful story of good, evil, and redemption
Cons: Beginning felt a bit simplistic
Rating: 4 out of 5

The Redeeming

The Redeeming

Review copy courtesy of a Twitter contest held by the author.
Available from Samhain Publishing.
Visit Shiloh Walker online.

 

Jonah is dead, but his guardian angel gives him a choice: go to eternal torment, or take responsibility for his choices and accept one last chance at redemption. Lilan is a daughter of Lilith, a demon born to drain men’s souls and steal children away. But she’s a demon with a soul, who feels torment over what she’s supposed to do, and that gives her one single chance at a human life. She has two months to prove she can live the life she says she wants—and that time is running out when she meets Jonah. Each of them is on a mission to save a young man’s soul, but will their attraction to each other prove a fatal distraction—or the key to saving him?

 
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“Storm of Shadows,” Christina Dodd

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Pros: Fantastic characters and romance; gripping plot
Cons: One slightly overused series premise; some minor confusion over the prophecy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Review book (uncorrected proof) courtesy of Penguin Group.
Expected publication date: 9/1/2009.
Visit Christina Dodd on the web.

 

From the back of the book:

When the world was young, twins were born. One brought light to a dark world; the other, darkness and danger. They gathered others around them, men and women destined to use their powerful gifts for good or evil. Today, their descendants walk the earth as the Chosen, and the ultimate battle is about to begin.

Rosamund Hill has spent her life buried in her parents’ work, as well as her own, and has been perfectly happy tucked away with her research. Then, in one day, two men turn her world upside down: slick, gorgeous Lance, and dark, brooding Aaron. Both of them want the same thing, information about a prophecy, and both of them are willing to nudge, seduce, and influence Rosamund to get it. Lance, however, is willing to kill—whereas Aaron finds himself becoming more and more taken with the frustrating academic. And more mysteriously, as he and Rosamund work to uncover the prophecy, his powers as one of the Chosen become stronger.

 
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“World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War,” Max Brooks

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Pros: Characters well-crafted, good use of pacing
Cons: Can get a little technical in places

 

From the back of the book:

We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the plague years.

 
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“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Pros: Jane Austen’s wonderful plot and text
Cons: Some elements felt forced

 

Elizabeth Bennett is a young woman trained in the arts of war; her enemies are the zombies rising from the earth of England. Added to her woes is the presence of Mr. Darcy, who has accompanied his friend from London to the village of Meryton. The two are quickly at odds with each other, despite Mr. Darcy’s growing feelings. Will misunderstandings and ideals keep the two from each other? Or will zombies get to them first?
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“Forbidden: The Temptation,” Samantha Sommersby

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Pros: Basic story & sex scenes that some will enjoy
Cons: Inconsistencies; hand-waving plot developments; stilted dialogue; non-sexy “sexy” scenes; confusions; thin characters
Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

 

Jacob Madison was injured a year ago during a rock-climbing trip. He was saved by werewolves, and still hasn’t forgiven them for making him one of them, even though he’d otherwise be dead. Now it’s his turn to save someone, as he finds Allison hurt in a snowstorm. He’s determined to do it without turning her, however. They just start to find a bit of peace—and a whole lot of passion—in each other’s arms, when trouble comes knocking. There’s a rogue werewolf turned serial killer on the loose, he’s after one of Jake’s new “friends,” and Allison knows a lot more about the situation than she’s letting on.
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“Storm of Visions,” Christina Dodd

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Pros: Great characters; interesting plot; quirky world
Cons: Slightly odd balance of quirky & dark
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review book (uncorrected proof) courtesy of Penguin Group.
Expected publication date: 8/4/2009.
Visit Christina Dodd on the web.
Also posted on Epinions.com.

 

When the world was young, twins were born. One brought light to a dark world; the other, darkness and danger. They gathered others around them, men and women destined to use their powerful gifts for good or evil. Today, their descendants walk the earth as the Chosen, and the ultimate battle is about to begin.

Jacqueline Vargha doesn’t want her “gift”—she doesn’t want to be a seer like her mother, the famous and glamorous Zusane. She doesn’t have much choice, however, when her mother’s bodyguard, Caleb, tracks her down and carries her back to take her place as one of the current crop of Chosen. She’d rather be anywhere else, doing anything else, and particularly not near Caleb, but circumstances conspire to give her little choice. She also quickly finds that as the all-important seer of the Chosen, she’s a very tempting target to the Others that oppose them…

 
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“Atlantis Unleashed,” Alyssa Day

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Pros: Interesting take on the world—unusual approach to the Atlantis myth
Cons: Make sure you read the whole series in order; some seemingly inconsistent behavior
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.

 

Alyssa Day’s Atlantis Unleashed is book three of her Warriors of Poseidon series. I ended up reading it first because, well, that happens when you’re a reviewer (and it works out fine for some series). However, I highly recommend reading this series in order. There’s a lot going on, and it’s tough to get your bearings if you don’t have the background from the other books. In particular, in part Atlantis Unleashed feels a bit like a bait-and-switch if you aren’t accustomed to paying attention to all of the characters at once—early on it introduces a major development for Brennan, one of Poseidon’s warriors, but then he’s out of the picture for the rest of the book, presumably waiting his turn for his own installment. Since I’d just been introduced to him, it was jarring to have his story vanish in the middle like that.

But, as often happens, I’m getting ahead of myself! First, the concept:

Eleven thousand years ago, Poseidon’s warriors swore an oath to protect humanity from those who stalked the night. Now those powerful forces are uniting. So are two souls who are all that stand between justice and eternal darkness…

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“Tails of Love,” ed. Foster & Cameron

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Pros: Sappy, indulgent, fun, romantic, sweet, and tear-inducing
Cons: As with most anthos—there’s bound to be a story or two you aren’t thrilled with
Rating: 5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.

 

Tails of Love is an anthology edited by Lori Foster and Stella Cameron, of romantic stories involving animals. More specifically, couples somehow brought together by the intervention of animals. Since a couple of the books I’ve read recently have had highly arrogant, aggressive, and even abusive male leads, it was nice to have some sweet romance for a change. And if you’re looking for sweet, sappy romance, you won’t get much better than Tails of Love! I lost track of the number of times this book brought tears to my eyes.

As always when dealing with an anthology you’ll probably find one or two stories that won’t suit you. However, I was amazed at the consistent quality in this particular one. I only found, I think, one story that I didn’t particularly like.
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“Demon Mistress,” Yasmine Galenorn

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Pros: Tense, detailed plotting; interesting world; nifty characters; fun protagonist
Cons: Very complex world; bad guys somewhat shallow
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.

 

Demon Mistress is book six of Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld series (why on earth don’t publishers make that obvious on book covers the way they used to?). I happened to start the series with book five—one of the perils of being a book reviewer—so I will warn you that this is a very intricate world. It’s possible to get into it part-way through the series, but I don’t recommend trying to do so if you can avoid it; pick up the earlier books first.

This is one of those series where the publishers seem to have nailed the back cover text when it comes to summing the increasingly-complex premise up for you, so I’ll quote:
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“Bengal’s Heart,” Lora Leigh

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Pros: Same hot sex Leigh’s fans love
Cons: Temper tantrum-prone annoying leads and hand-wavy “SF” plot
Rating: 2 out of 5

Review copy (uncorrected proof) courtesy of Penguin Group.
Expected publication date: 8/4/2009.

 

While I enjoy Lora Leigh’s Breed novels, some of them are better than others. Bengal’s Heart is my least favorite so far, and if it had been the first I’d read, I might not have continued.

 

Lora Leigh’s “Breed” novels are all about genetically-engineered crossbreeds between various predatory animals (big cats, wolves, coyotes) and people. They’re hunted, tortured, experimented on, and slaughtered by the vicious group of scientists that created them: the Genetics Council. Since the series is also a romance & erotica set, it delves into the mysterious “heat” that binds genetically-compatible mates together, as well as issues of fertility.
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