Pros: Strong stories in fascinating worlds using engaging characters
Cons: I guess I expected a bit more hellhound…
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
How could I resist a read of Must Love Hellhounds
Pros: Stunning & original world; continuation of the fascinating plot from “Ghostland”
Cons: Male lead doesn’t stand out as much; secondary plot not as engaging
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Visit Jory Strong online.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
In Jory Strong’s lovely Ghostland, we find ourselves “in a post-apocalyptic world where supernaturals have emerged from hiding, wealthy humans delight in decadence while the religious gain power through temptation.” The Djinn, creatures so old that people mistakenly believe them to be demons, harbor a deep hatred of humans for enslaving them—but thanks to one Djinn and the human shamaness (Aisling) who loves him, that might be changing.
In Spider-Touched we follow the story of Araña, a young woman whose touch can kill, even when she doesn’t want it to. She has a unique ability to manipulate others’ destinies, an ability she fears and doesn’t understand. That ability brings her to Tir, a powerful immortal who doesn’t remember who or what he is—only that humans have kept him enslaved for centuries. When Araña frees him he finds himself drawn to her, and they both set out to find out who and what he is—and to free him from his remaining shackles.
Review book courtesy of the author.
To recap: when I put up a “non-review,” it means I couldn’t finish a book. I’m not going to review it on Epinions or Amazon, but I don’t mind telling you folks here why I decided not to finish it in case that information helps you out. Just keep in mind that my judgment isn’t based on the entire book.
Jim Bernheimer’s Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman is the tale of an injured war vet who receives a cornea transplant and starts seeing (and being able to interact with) ghosts. He helps out ghosts who haven’t moved on and the people who are haunted by them, but he also finds himself being targeted by someone who might have been involved in his cornea donor’s death.
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Pros: Fresh, original, dark, and very surprising.
Cons: One maudlin part comes perilously close to extending too long
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review copy courtesy of Penguin Group.
Lev Grossman’s The Magicians is a gritty coming of age story for grown-ups and all-too-adult teens. It’s Harry Potter meets The Chronicles of Narnia, seen through a mirror darkly.
Brooklyn teen Quentin is wickedly smart, and terribly unhappy. He has an unrequited crush on his best friend’s girlfriend, and while he should be worried about getting into the college of his choice, instead all he wishes is that magic were real. In particular, that the Narnia-like world of Fillory, from a series of books he read in his childhood, was real, and he could slip away there and become a hero. Instead, an odd series of circumstances beginning with the death of his college interviewer leads him to Brakebills, a college for magicians hidden away in upstate New York. There he discovers that magic is real, he has a talent for it, and that magic takes a LOT of intense study and work.
When Quentin graduates, he moves in with his girlfriend and spends his time seeking pleasure with several other recent graduates—visiting clubs, taking drugs, drinking, and having sex. Until one day a nearly-forgotten member of his Brakebills class turns up with the key to entering the world of Fillory.
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Pros: Wonderful concept; very strong beginning
Cons: Cluttered and overly-detailed
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Planned Television Arts.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
Susannah is a humble country healer and midwife, happily married and very pregnant. Unfortunately, she’s been accused of witchcraft by one of her fellow villagers, and she’s sentenced to die by fire. Bitter at the loss of her husband, her baby, and all she held dear, she’s easy prey for the promises of Rabishu, an ancient demon who offers her the power of the Ageless—as long as she agrees to be his assassin.
Centuries later, as Susannah contemplates taking the life of a child at Rabishu’s command, she realizes she cannot serve him any longer, even if it means eternal torment for her. But to her surprise, there are rules that bind even contracts with demons. She has one chance to balance the scales, literally: for each life she took while serving Rabishu, she must save another. But she must do it without most of the special abilities she had as one of the Ageless, and each time she saves a life, she ages. She’s living on borrowed time, and she doesn’t even know how much time she has.
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Pros: Intense, inventive, detailed, and wonderful
Cons: Maybe a little too much misunderstanding between main chars.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book (uncorrected proof) courtesy of Penguin Group.
Expected publication date: 10/6/2009.
Sera wants to return to her job of shepherding dying people peacefully off to the other side. But she can’t, because she lost what peace she thought she had when a drunk driver left her scarred and broken. Now something has come looking for her: a man with violet eyes, Archer, who warns her to avoid temptation. And temptation itself, clothed in Archer’s seeming.
There’s a war between good and evil that rages constantly within the human heart, but it also has a physical manifestation. Angels, demons, and repentant demons possess vulnerable mortals and use them to carry out an immortal struggle. The repentant demons are known as talya, and make up one of the weaker sides of the fight. But when Sera becomes the first female talya in living memory, that starts to change. Together she and Archer are stronger than either of them alone. And they’ll need that strength, because one of the real demons has a plan that could finally tip the balance of the fight—forever.
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Pros: Some absolutely wonderful stories in here—I definitely found some new authors to enjoy
Cons: The typical anthology issue: you won’t love all the stories equally
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review copy courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
Unusual Suspects, edited by Dana Stabenow, contains a dozen short stories of murder, mystery, fantasy, and the paranormal, including a few by highly recognizable name authors. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never gotten around to reading Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels. After reading her story Lucky, which has Sookie investigating how her insurance agent’s being sabotaged, I hope to find time to correct that! Even in such a short story she displays an incredibly evocative and whimsical style, and a wonderful sense of both place and character.
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Pros: Delightful story of good, evil, and redemption
Cons: Beginning felt a bit simplistic
Rating: 4 out of 5
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?
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.
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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