Two More For Your Reading Pleasure

Seems like I can't get myself caught up these days, but I'm finally getting around to posting a few new reviews. Both are paranormal, both are part of a series, and both are worth the read! Keep going...

Book 9 in the Morganville Vampire series, Ghost Town, finds our quartet of friends--Claire, Shane, Eve, and Michael--in hot water once again, naturally. Just when it seems some relative normality may settle into their lives, Eve becomes involved in an out of control party in which vampires are killed. When the others arrive to help, Claire herself kills a vampire--and in Morganville, it's a life forfeited whenever that happens. But luckily (?) for Claire, Amelie sentences her to a non-stop session with Myrnin to restore Morganville's damaged defense mechanism, a task almost sure to fail. And it does, of course...but not quite in the way imagined.

Ghost Town is another spectacular entry in the series, with the fearsome foursome battling forces within their borders that threaten to not only destroy Morganville but their relationships as well. Caine does a terrific job of keeping the storyline moving, throwing us twists and building danger until I literally could not put the book down. I love the relationship between Claire and Shane; their honest, loving encounters bring new dimensions to both characters while giving us enough romance so that it's not all just about the sex. I admit to getting angry with both Oliver and Amelie; they have always been many shades of gray but this book takes their deviousness to new levels. And Myrnin...my favorite! Poignant and funny, I just want to spend more time with him. And from our cliffhanger ending, it looks like I'm going to get my wish. A lot of fun and highly recommended!

 

And then there's Entice...

 

Ever felt yourself torn between what you should do and what you want to do? How about between two equally appealing love interests? Or maybe even between becoming a pixie or staying human? Well, probably not that last one, and Zara White's decision on that issue was settled toward the ending of Captivate, the book previous to Entice. Still, there's a lot of back and forth in this sequel, with Zara knowing she needs to get to Valhalla to bring Nick back from the dead, yet realizing she's placing herself and those she loves in grave danger by doing so. Having to rely on Astley, her pixie king, seems a burden on some levels but as time progresses, time spent with him seems less and less problematic and more...normal. And that's scary for Zara; almost as scary as crossing a rainbow bridge into the hereafter in search of a boy who very well may hate her upon learning she's chosen to become a pixie in order to save him.

To say there is conflict in Entice is to be a master of understatement. Naturally there's still the major conflict of pixies preying on humans, but there is also conflict between Zara and Astley, Zara and Betty, Zara and the pixies, and Zara and herself. Becoming a pixie was what Zara felt she needed to do in order to rescue Nick, but she now must also assume the role of queen to Astley's king, which complicates things. There is a lot of trying to decide what to do in order to rescue Nick; there is a lot of running around chasing false leads, which honestly got a little irritating after a while (the whole Iceland bit? Could seriously have done without that). The story really picks up when Zara places herself in grave danger and the arrival of her mother, a woman who hates pixies with all her heart.


I myself felt torn when I sat down to write this review because I loved Need and enjoyed Captivate, but much of Entice fell short for me. The idea of Zara longing for Nick sometimes felt forced when she took herself off to a dance at school (seriously?) and to a bar (where no one threw high school kids out?). The false leads almost wore me out; I felt at times that perhaps the author was struggling to pad this book out with unnecessary side trips. The storyline has also taken an odd turn with the trip to Valhalla; in my mind, it leaves behind the meaning of the first two books by adding in Norse gods and quests. I want my action logical and in Bedford! But the scenes where Zara is injured and her emotions toward the end of the book made up for my lack of enthusiasm early on, and I am hopeful that the ending is leading us back on track, even if I don't want the Twilight-y twist of loving two guys equally. I'm rounding up from 3.5 stars and looking forward to the next in the series.

~taminator40

I'm Baaaaack...With Reviews, No Less

Well, here I am.

I really haven't been anywhere, actually; just knee-deep in marching band season with youngest dear daughter. The reading's been slow but good when I've been able to snatch a few pages, but the ability to review has been wayyyyy yonder on the backburner. But finally band season's done (we came in fifth in the state, thank you very much! Check us out at http://www.johnovertonband.org/) and we're headed off to Hawaii on November 19 for a week. I'm already plotting which books to take (definitely Elizabeth Chadwick's newest, To Defy a King, and possibly Torment by Lauren Kate). Don't look so shocked...I know you fellow book readers plot what books to take on vacation just as early as I do. I also know you take two or three extra books *just in case* you start to read something and it doesn't take. Don't look away. I know your secrets.

Anyway, I'm in the process of catching up on my reviews, and here are two of my recent reads. First up is The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong.

Things are fairly typical for Chloe Saunders; she's a regular 14 year old with her circle of friends and she's very into films. Though she misses her mother who died years earlier, she's got a father and a trusted aunt who care for her. So what if she's a bit of a late bloomer? It's all good--until the day she sees a terrifying ghost. Suddenly she's no longer normal; she's diagnosed as schizophrenic and shipped off to the Lyle House, an in-house treatment center so that she can learn to cope with her illness. The problem? It's not really an illness; it's fact, and Chloe's going to have to convince herself that she's got a special power she's going to have to learn to deal with, despite the adults who are trying to get her to believe otherwise.

The Summoning is engaging right from the opening pages and doesn't let up throughout. Once Chloe figures out she's not schizophrenic, you know she's going to have to get herself out of Lyle House, but it seems next to impossible. Her friendships with Liz, Derek, Simon, and Rae provide Chloe with the realization that perhaps she's not alone in her gift, but none of them seem to know what's going on...and it's obvious as the mystery grows that things are much darker and deeper than any of the kids had suspected.


Finding a stopping point was a big problem for me while reading The Summoning because Ms. Armstrong often ends chapters on cliffhangers. I kept thinking "just one more page...just one more chapter..." and before I knew it, fifty more pages had flown by. If at times Chloe seemed a little naive, it was understandable, given her background and the work the adults had done to ensure that she was kept in the dark. The Summoning had lingered for quite a while in my to-be-read pile, but it's a sure thing that its sequels, The Awakening and The Reckoning, certainly won't. Great fun and highly recommended.

Next up is The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller.

Ever have the feeling that you've lived before? Haven Moore has; in fact, she's been feeling that way since she was a very small child and could give details about New York City and Rome that there was no way she could have known. In her small East Tennessee town, under the scrutiny of her judgmental grandmother, Haven is seen as odd and out of place. The fact that her best friend is a gay football player who helps her sew dresses doesn't help her outsider status, and her susceptibility to "visions" which cause her to faint frequently is seen as possibly even demonic by her church. But when Haven discovers a box of notes written by her deceased father wherein he ponders the idea of Haven's having lived past lives, she knows he's right. And when she sees handsome playboy Iain Morrow's face plastered in the papers, she knows in her soul that he's the "Ethan" she's been looking for since her last life ended.

The beauty of The Eternal Ones is that you're never precisely sure what's going on, and who the good guys are. Haven's susceptible to the feelings and visions she experiences, but she also listens to just about everyone she meets, casting doubts and raising red flags constantly. She allows Iain to sweep her off her feet and then abruptly decides he's using her, but his presence and assurance that they are meant to be together throw her into even more turmoil. Iain remembers all their lives together, and while Haven believes him, she begins to wonder when it becomes obvious he's keeping big, big secrets. Then there's the Ouroboros Society, a group that tracks people who remember past lives. Just what part does the Society play in Iain's life now, and what part did it play in the deaths of Haven, once known as Constance, and Ethan, many years before?


The Eternal Ones is wonderfully layered and mysterious, and Haven and best friend Beau are vivid and believable. The biggest issue I had was the wishy-washiness Haven experiences once she follows her instincts and goes to meet Iain; should she believe in him or was he really the cause of her death in the 1920s? Come on, make a choice and stick with it! But the seamless way Miller weaves reincarnation with Christianity and the slow unveiling of Haven's past life as Constance more than makes up for any dithering she may do along the way. This one actually rates a strong 4.5 stars...and I'm hopeful there's a sequel already in the works.

~taminator40

Okay, I Know It's Blurry...

...but it's me meeting Rick Springfield Friday night! He was doing a book signing for his new autobiography, Late, Late At Night, and he did a signing at our local Davis-Kidd Booksellers. What a hunk he still is! And very friendly as well. I never got the impression that he was in a hurry or that he just wanted to get us through. I didn't take my good camera because originally we'd been told there'd be no posed photos, but they changed that policy when we arrived. So I was stuck with my BlackBerry camera. Arrrrgh. Anyway, it was a great evening that I'll remember for a very long time. Be still my heart; I've been in love with him for eons! Totally worth it to finally get to meet him.

Bright Young Things

Bright Young Things is the first book in Anna Godbersen's new series set New York during the summer of 1929. Full of gossipy drama, Bright Young Things is just what we've come to expect from Godbersen, following in the tradition of The Luxe series. Anyone who enjoyed that series (and I certainly did), will find just as much to enjoy in this one.

BYT opens with small town girls Cordelia Grey and Letty Haubstadt hopping a train for the bright lights of the big city; each has a past she is more than eager to leave far behind. Once they arrive, however, of course things don't go smoothly, and their situations diverge when they have an argument that causes them to split. Letty takes on the new last name Larkspur and aims for the spotlight as a singer, but she soon finds that just surviving is going to be work. Cordelia is determined to find her long lost father, whom she believes is the famous bootlegger Darius Grey; needless to say, her poor beginnings take a major upturn when she does indeed discover that her father wants her back in his life. Along the way, she becomes friends with the popular and beautiful ingenue Astrid Donal, who is the girlfriend of Cordelia's newly found brother Charlie. Swept off her feet by the dashing young Thom Hale, Cordelia's entry into society turns her family upside down and puts everyone in danger. And no one's life will ever be the same again.


This book is a fast read and it's just the sort of story that carries you away into another time period, into the lives of people you could never be. These girls aren't necessarily blameless in what happens; they're definitely real characters making mistakes and feeling betrayed. The main thing is that you'll feel as though Cordelia, Letty, and Astrid are your friends and you'll want to be there every step of the way with them as they face their trials. Loved it and cannot wait for the next one!


~taminator40

"Not Really a Party Until Someone Brings the Surprise Zombies"

Great line, huh? Nick may be a demon who doesn't experience human emotions, but he can deliver one liners that will crack you up throughout The Demon's Covenant. It's just one of the many reasons that this book is more than a worthy sequel to The Demon's Lexicon.

The story picks up not too long after The Demon's Lexicon leaves off; Mae becomes worried about her brother Jamie being targeted by magicians from the Obsidian Circle, so she contacts magician fighting brothers Alan and Nick to come help her pull him away from the evil influence. Along the way, we discover that Nick wants to learn about human emotions and he enlists Mae to help him; Alan, frightened of what his brother is capable of, decides the wiser course might be to betray him; the Goblin Market becomes the scene of many confrontations; and Mae finds herself torn between Alan and Seb, a boy at school. There are no easy choices in The Demon's Covenant.

Rant time: What is up with that cover? Besides the fact that it features a minor character, it's just plain ugly. It makes Sin look like she's in her forties, not to mention those big feet. Whoever okayed that one needs to be pummeled repeatedly.

The rant aside, I was pleasantly surprised that a sequel could maintain the intrigue and depth of the first book. With its devastating wit and action, its relationship issues and the magic, The Demon's Covenant works on so many levels. I loved seeing the relationship between Jamie and Mae, and I loved that Jamie knows who he is and doesn't shy away from it. The world Brennan has created is intricate and compelling, and I'm already on board for book number three. Dark and disturbing at times, there's gore and menacing situations that put everyone in peril but will keep you turning the pages quickly. This one garners a solid 4.75 stars, kept from the full 5 by a couple of chapters that meandered just a bit. Excellent reading!

~taminator40

Blah, Blah...

I'm not a good sick person, and that's just what I've been for two days now. Woke up yesterday feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, but bravely decided to go ahead to work in the hope that I would miraculously feel better. Wrong. Took me less than an hour to request a sub and take myself on home where my stomach rumbled and my head floated among the clouds for the better part of the day. Feeling better by dinner time, I attempted to eat the veggies Jeff brought home from Cracker Barrel...that did not sit well. But hope continues to spring eternal, so I got up and got dressed for work again this morning. Again, it took about 20 minutes for me to decide that was not especially a good idea, either. So here I am, nursing my rumbly tummy and thinking that it might possibly be on the mend. We'll see. I hate being out from work because it's just a pain. And sickness seems like weakness somehow.

On the upside, I finished A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris yesterday and The Exile by Diana Gabaldon last night. Today's been a napping, tv, computer sort of day, but I did start The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan. So if there's an upside to feeling yucky, it's spending time doing nothing much and feeling no guilt because, hey, I'm sick.

~taminator40

More Sookie

I figured I could pass on this compilation of short stories based on the the Sookie Stackhouse books because 1) I'm not a fan of short stories, and 2) I didn't think there'd be much substance there. But based on the recommendation of two reading buddies (Hi, Steven and Karen!), I decided that maybe I was missing something after all, so I picked it up. It turns out that A Touch of Dead is the perfect light companion to the fuller stories, and fills in some of the gaps as well. Mission accomplished!

There are five short stories contained in A Touch of Dead, and each takes place at different stages of the Sookie adventures. While all of them are fun, my favorite was One Word Answer because it seemed to give us the most background into Sookie's relationship with her cousin Hadley. Fairy Dust focuses on Sookie helping Claudine and Claude find out who murdered their triplet, Claudette; Dracula Night finds us at Fangtastia awaiting the arrival of the Count himself; Lucky is a bit a of throwaway story where Sookie and Amelia help out a local insurance agent; and Gift Wrap details a rather interesting Christmas Eve.






It would, of course, help to be very familiar with Sookie's stories before reading A Touch of Dead, and to keep your expectations low as far as plot advancement goes. But if you're as eager to spend time in the fun-filled life of our Sookie, A Touch of Dead more than fits the bill.
 
~taminator40

Vlad Tod #5

The final book in The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series picks up where #4 left off; Vlad thinks he's seen his dead father after battling his friend Joss, who happens to be a Slayer sworn to kill Vlad. Vlad's also still going to be put on trial by Elysia for his "crimes" against other vampires and his life is on the line. All in all, things aren't looking too good for our favorite high school vampire senior. Will Vlad be able to recover his father's lost diary in time to use its secret code to exonerate himself? Will Joss find a way not to kill Vlad? Will Vlad ever graduate?


Okay, that last question was a bit silly, given all the action packed into #5, but amid everything going on, Vlad still attends school, even if he never expects to graduate. Vlad spends much of this book searching for answers to whether or not he's the Pravus and whether or not his father is indeed still alive (and what that means if he is). It's not a pretty tale, and Vlad's losses are huge. In addition to girlfriend Snow, Vlad's uncle Otis and aunt Nelly are in constant danger, and Vlad's frustration at not being able to stop events fuels much of the action.

Recounting the plot would give away too much, so I will say that this is a fitting ending to the quintet, if a disturbing one on many levels. Vlad's got to solve some big problems and he's unsure of where to even begin. While all this is going on, Vlad's dealing with the normal angsts of being a teenager--old loves, new loves, friends, and oh, yeah, a blackmailer. Well, all right, that's not typical, but still...Vlad's got problems. Ms. Brewer does a terrific job of capturing a teen's emotions as she explores his vampiric issues.

Rant time: You know how I feel about editors these days, and this book has a few items that should have been caught. Right off the bat (pun intended) on page six, there are two instances of "had drank". Once I could overlook; twice and it's a problem for this reader. It also occurs later in the book so someone should have been paying closer attention. Also, there's an instance where Vlad "slunked" down the hall. Slunk is past tense itself. And yes, I know this is picky, but I care. Someone should.

This final book is well written and engaging, if a little rushed toward the end. There are no pretty little bows to tie up everything (and I'd have been disappointed had there been). And that ending? Let's just say I don't think we've seen the last of Vlad. I'll be looking forward to it.

~taminator40

You May Say I'm a Dreamer...

Rinaldi Back In Form

Fourteen year old Tacy Stryker is frustrated; the youngest and only girl of the family, she's left in the care of her mother and older brother David as she watches her other two older brothers and her father go off to fight for the Union. It's not that Tacy is a bad person, but she chafes under the close scrutiny of David, who is himself frustrated because an old injury keeps him from joining the Union Army. So when the battle of Gettysburg begins, Tacy's already frayed nerves take an even larger beating as David cracks down on her sassiness as the bullets fly by their home. Mix in keeping an African American friend and her mother safe, a fight with an old friend, and losing her beloved horse, and you have a young woman with very identifiable problems in a horrendous historical setting.

Rinaldi's been hit or miss with me for a few years now, but The Last Full Measure is a return to form for the author. Relatively short (just over 200 pages), the book focuses less on the actual fighting than it does on the relationships and feelings of the Stryker family. Expecting Rinaldi to gloss over events, I was pleasantly surprised at how well she described what was going on while still keeping the focus on rebellious Tacy. There is a shocker toward the end that had me glued to the pages until I could see how Tacy was going to survive; there are lots of emotions involved in these short pages. My only argument would be that I would have liked to have seen the book be a little longer, but that's a minor issue. I can now say I have lived through Gettysburg through the eyes of a young woman experiencing devastating loss and courage. Recommended.

~taminator40