Nine Lives: A Lily Dale Mystery

I admit that I hadn't read others in this Lily Dale series before picking up Nine Lives, but apparently that's not a necessity, luckily for me. The premise sounded good and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I decided to give it a go. And all in all, I'm glad I did.

This is the story of Bella, whose husband Sam has passed away, leaving she and her young son at loose ends. When she's laid off from her teaching job, she feels her only option is to move from New York to Chicago to live with her cold, disapproving mother-in-law. But along the way, her car breaks down in Lily Dale. Yes, THE Lily Dale, home to psychics and mediums, but Bella is at its mercy for a place to stay. Somehow she finds herself in a bed and breakfast, filling in for the owner, who has recently passed away herself. But the kindliness of the townspeople and the appearance of a very pregnant cat--which may or may not have shown up at Bella's former home days earlier--keep Bella and Max in the town while her car is repaired. It sounds like a good thing, but there are some decidedly odd events going on, and Bella becomes certain that Leona, the previous owner, was murdered. Will she and Max be safe here, even for a few days.

There's a lot to like in this story. Bella's determination to get on with her life despite her losses makes her easily sympathetic and Chance the Cat is a good anchor for the home and for both Bella and Max. There are some very odd people in Lily Dale, but most are believably written, especially when one considers the setting for the story. There are some weird occurances, and Bella's unsettled nature fuels a sense of urgency. But it's the idea that everything happens for a reason that lends a heart to a murder mystery.

My biggest issue with the book is the fact that it's written in third person, present tense, leading to sometimes clunky sentences that seem superficial rather than in-depth. Several times I was pulled out of the story because of the writing style, though I did settle into it about mid-way. Personally, I felt the plot would have benefitted greatly from a first person view point, but that is just my preference because I don't feel the two styles gel particularly well. Overall, however, I ended up liking the book and will probably seek out others in the series.

~taminator40

For a while while I was reading Delia's Shadow, I didn't think I was enjoying the story. I mean, the idea of the story was great--young woman moves back to San Francisco a few years after her parents' deaths in the big quake, but that's not the big thing. No, Delia's biggest problem is that she sees ghosts, and now one has decided to attach itself to her until she solves the mystery of the ghost's death. It sounded cool, and when some rather grisly murders were added in, (necessitating a handsome, grieving police detective), I figured it was a can't miss.

And yet...the storyline felt clunky. We meet Delia's best friend, Sadie, who is getting married and whose mother is dying, and she accepts Delia's problem with no issues whatsoever. I could almost get on board with that, and I did love Gabe, the detective, who lost his wife in the earthquake. I think my biggest problem was the addition of Isadora, a woman who also communes with ghosts but mostly just came off as an irritating drunk. Had she been left out of the story entirely, I would probably be giving the book five full stars.

Don't be mistaken, the longer I read this book, the more I liked it. I could nitpick how the murderer was "found out", but it's a paranormal mystery so that would be pointless. Though I figured out where the story was headed, I was thrown for a loop by a big twist in the murders late in the story, and the friendship between Delia and Gabe blossomed nicely into a full on romance. While the murders were described in rather gory detail, I ended up finding myself caught up in the story and stayed up past my bedtime to finish. I'll be looking for the sequel, but hoping Dora finds a job in another country so she won't be making an appearance.

~taminator40

One More Series Book...The Evolution of Mara Dyer

There's just enough doubt laid out in this book...is Mara Dyer actually crazy? Or is she really seeing the boy she thinks she killed when an abandoned asylum collapsed? I went back and forth at times--I so wanted to believe there was nothing wrong with Mara, yet she seems unstable at times. And that's just one part of this sequel that had me gripped as I wove my way through the darkness.

The second book in Michelle Hodkin's series which began with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer picks up almost immediately after Mara's breakdown in the first; Mara is convinced she has seen Jude, the boy who she believes died in the collapse. Mara's receiving treatment for her "breakdown", and that includes going to Horizons, a sort of day camp that will work on her issues. Still at her side is her boyfriend, Noah; both he and Mara seem to have some sort of superpower but neither knows why. Much of this book is spent in their attempts to discover the reasons behind what they can do. It's harder for them in this second book, with Mara's parents (and Noah) determined not to leave her alone for any time at all, and the creepiness factor is upped substantially: Jude somehow invades Mara's bedroom while she is sleeping, leaving her scary messages and moving things around. Delicious and intriguing: How is he getting in? And why won't anyone believe Mara when she says he's still alive?

The mystery is revealed only a bit at a time, and it includes flashbacks to a time long ago, somewhere in India; it is definitely becoming apparent that whatever is going on, it's genetic. But even when we get an answer, it seems as though there's another one in its place. Hodkin is a master of making the reader doubt what's going on; even her characters show distrust and skepticism. I love Mara's voice; she's definitely a teen, first and foremost, but it's easy to see how lost she feels.

My biggest issues with this book aren't too overwhelming, but they did bother me as I read. First is pacing; at times I felt I was spinning my wheels, waiting to move forward, then at others, it was whiplash as events flew by. I also am still on the fence about the relationship between Mara and Noah; I want to feel the depth and the tension, but somehow, it's just eluding me. I want them to be together, but I need some sparks, not just random outbursts of "I need you!" followed by distance.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer is filled with interesting characters and a highly atmospheric creepiness that keeps the pages turning. It's a long read (around 500 pages) but it's a fairly quick one. I'm definitely invested and can't wait for the third in the series to see how all is revealed.

~taminator40

Another Little Piece

You know right away that something is off about Annaliese; the story begins with her in a hospital being interrogated because she's recently shown up after a year of being gone: Missing, no news type of gone. More oddly, she disappeared during a party...after showing up covered in blood. Everything went dark and Annaliese disappeared. Now that she's back, she has no memories of where she's been for the past year, but her hopeful parents believe they will be able to find their Annaliese somewhere inside the girl who is now home. Trouble is, their Annaliese disappeared forever the night of the party, and the Annaliese in their home is not the one they know.

The premise for Another Little Piece is riveting: Just who is this new Annaliese and why doesn't she remember anything? It doesn't take long to realize that there is way more than just a missing year going on here; Annaliese tells us what she knows as slowly the layers are peeled back to reveal someone who may not even be human. She doesn't want to become attached to the parents who are overjoyed to have her back but she does; she doesn't want the attention of the boy who took her virginity at the party from which she disappeared, but she can't bring herself to be mean to him. This Annaliese doesn't seem evil but there is definitely something evil happening and it centers on a razor, a strange boy named Eric, and her upcoming eighteenth birthday. Meanwhile, Dex, the odd boy next door, captures her interest as Annaliese struggles inside skin she doesn't really own.

Another Little Piece is a very different book, filled with violence and deception but also intense feeling and mythology. I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, not because of the storyline itself but because I felt the book initially dragged in the first 50 pages; the very slow revealing of the layers of Annaliese had me wanting to skim ahead until the real action was revealed. I also didn't really get the attraction of Dex for quite a while; he was just too abruptly introduced and his circumstances were just too oddly written for me to feel a connection. But as I kept reading, the story became more intriguing until I found I was unable to put the book aside--I had to know what happened next. I may even need to reread it at some point to discover the carefully laid clues that make more sense the further along you go. It's not your run of the mill paranormal, and for this unique tale, that's a very good thing. I believe that the more I think about this one, the more I will likely want to bump the star rating up. Intriguing and imaginative.

~taminator40

And Speaking of Witches...

Well, okay, maybe we weren't speaking of witches, but hey, why not? I've been fascinated with witches since I was a little girl watching Bewitched. I used to practice wriggling my nose like Samantha (but I never did understand her relationship with Darren, or why he felt she couldn't be a witch) but on some sub-atomic level, being a witch also scared me. Were there really witches in the world? How much power did they have? And if I had that power, what would I do with it?

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe has a very clever premise...What if at least one of the women accused of witchcraft in Salem in 1992 really was a witch? My first thought was...well, why wouldn't a real witch have saved herself? Howe, herself descended from two accused women, answers that question very plausibly in this novel. Well written and well researched, this is a novel about witches, but it will most definitely make you question your perceptions. I do feel as though I was left hanging about a couple of minor issues (Arlo? Wherefore art thou now and why didn't Connie place an APB for you?), but I really enjoyed this one and can recommend it without reservation. Below is my Amazon review.

~taminator40

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Katherine Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane takes the Salem Witch trials of 1692 and asks the question: What if at least one of the accused really was a witch? With that intriguing question, she brings us into the academic world of Connie Goodwin, a grad student at Harvard in 1991, whose doctoral thesis takes a back seat when her mother persuades her to clean out and sell her grandmother's house in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Once she arrives at the abandoned house, Connie discovers an old key containing the name "Deliverance Dane" inside a family Bible, and with her curiosity piqued, she begins tracing an old "physick" book used by the accused witch. Along the way she encounters romance, an anxious and grumpy mentor, and a mystery that seems to grow the more she investigates.

Set mostly in 1991, Howe intersperses her story with chapters set in the past, giving illumination to what was going on before, during, and after the witch trials. Though the mystery is fairly easy to figure out, all of the characters are likeable and Connie's journey into the past is fascinating. I had an easy time imagining the settings, and the paranormal aspect comes out naturally through the course of Connie's work. There was a bit of a slow start, but once the story picked up, the pages flew by as I got caught up in the plot. Biggest complaint? Howe's need to have some of her characters speak phonetically to reinforce their New England accents, a totally unnecessary element that pulled me out of the story every single time it occurred. Still, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is a well-researched, well-written glimpse into a What If? scenario that I doubt many of us in modern times had thought to ponder. Excellent reading!

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

I picked up Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris because I'm such a fan of her Southern Vampire Mysteries. And while this one had Harris's trademark engaging writing, it fell a little flat for me. The "mystery" was quite transparent, and honestly, in this day and age, not that big of a deal really (had the problem been stopped early on, however). I found the relationship between Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver a bit on the weird, too dependent side, and I would've liked more background on just why Harper clings so to him. The best I can say, though, is that there is a preview for the next book in the back and it was interesting enough to make me want to continue in the series. My amazon review can be found at http://www.amazon.com/review/R1T26VOMD8C0LF/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.

~taminator40

A Nice Paranormal

This is a fun series that began with What's a Ghoul To Do? and definitely improves on the first book. I love that Laurie obviously knows something about ghost hunting because she actually uses the correct terms and instruments. We follow M.J., professional medium, her best friend Gilley, and her sorta love interest, Steven, as they track the dastardly Hatchet Jack who has been haunting a boarding school since the 1970s. Fun and engaging, this is a page turner; my biggest gripe is how goofily the good doctor (Steven) uses English. Good gracious! He's a doctor, for crying out loud! No one mangles the English language that badly that often. But other than that, I have to say I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one in the series. This one is creepy and fun and if you enjoy the paranormal, you're gonna love it.

My amazon review can be found at http://tinyurl.com/46bb4c.

~taminator40

Abby Cooper Psychic Eye Review

I finished the first book on my tbr_challenge list last night: Abby Cooper Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie. It's a fun, cozy mystery with a psychic intuitive as the lead character. I love Laurie's writing: she makes the words flow and her characters are always realistic, even when doing psychic readings, lol. I can definitely recommend this one to those who enjoy cozy mysteries, and particularly those with a paranormal twist.
My amazon review can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/ytdkrp. I tend to give little short "reviewlets" on this page, but my amazon reviews are certainly more in-depth and a tad more flowery. Check it out if you are so inclined!

~taminator40

Living Dead in Dallas Review

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris is the second book in the Southern Vampire series, and I finished it this afternoon. Not as good as the first in the series, it's rather chaotic in its storyline as it moves between a murder into a maenad into a Fellowship that hates vampires and then back to the murder. However, it is filled with Sookie Stackhouse, barmaid and telepath, her vampire boyfriend Bill, and lots of excellent secondary characters who seem to develop quite nicely over the course of this book. It's still a greatly enjoyable read and I can truthfully say I loved it, but it really did need a clearer storyline (though I do suppose one thing led to another overall). I'm looking forward to reading more in this series because it really is a delightful way to spend some time! Follow the link to my amazon.com review:

http://tinyurl.com/2r5zcz

~taminator40