Category Archives: Mystery

Madison, Shawntelle: Collected (Coveted) (2012)

2013-09-28 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

This story takes place seven months before Coveted begins.

These are our introductory words to the story of Collected. Collected is one of those easy-to-read fantasy tales with a twist. Our protagonist has OCD:

For a split-second, I was tempted to discard my shoes and track them on foot. That’s what any werewolf would do. But I didn’t operate that way, nor would I even entertain that idea, no matter how much I wanted that box. The very idea of ruining my pantyhose was enough to make me get in my car.

Imagine being a werewolf with OCD. What a pain. Here part of you wants to let loose and run in the forest but another part holds you back because you might get dirty. Dirty means ages in the bathtub trying to scrub all the filth off. What an impossible position to be in when you are looking for a thief who happened to run into the forest.

Natalya’s other oddity is her collection obsession. My guess is all collectors are a bit insane. I know I am when it comes to books. Whenever I buy a new one I feel kind of guilty. Whether I can afford it or not doesn’t matter because I know that I could go to the library to get something or try Kindle free. After all, I don’t need another book. So that part of me understands Natalie completely. I don’t know that I would agree to a dangerous mission to get ordered books back. I’m not quite that far gone. But Natalie is. What a bummer.

These oddities are what make Natalya an interesting character. That and the fact that she is so matter of fact about them. Kind of nice to have an author write about a condition as complex as OCD. Kudos to Madison for that. Shawntelle Madison writes well and has managed to create a werewolf with character. Good for her.

Reviews:

Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Hunter, Elizabeth: A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries I) (2011)

2013-09-24 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

According to herself Elizabeth Hunter writes contemporary fantasy and paranormal romance. The Elemental Mysteries series is a four book paranormal romance/mystery series. The mystery part of A Hidden Fire is pretty good while I found the paranormal romance bit kind of “romance novellish”. Why the series is supposed to be for adults is beyond me. A Hidden Fire didn’t have any bits I would hesitate to let a young adult read. It wasn’t overly violent nor was it especially sexual. Perhaps it has to do with a more adult style of writing and because it is about adults.

In A Hidden Fire we meet a 500-year old vampire who happens to be a rare book dealer. Giovanni Vecchio is copying down a manuscript in the library where Beatrice de Novo works.

Gio’s one great failing in life is technology. Anything he touches with his bare hands gets zapped. This means that he and computers are not compatible which kind of makes modern life a pain. But Gio has a butler to help him with all of that – Caspar (not the ghost).

Caspar is human. It seems vampires in the Elemental Mysteries world need humans to deal with daylight affairs. Like a lot of vampires in literature these vampires tend to get severe sunburns during the day. They also have to sleep during the day and be active at night.

Vampires are strange creatures. Basically, they are semi-dead or wholly dead people who wander around usually looking pretty good. Giovanni looks good for any age. I wonder if this has something to do with a predator/prey sort of constellation. If a vampire looked its age, it is highly unlikely they would attract prey. At 500 he ought to be a walking skeleton. I still like vampires. They are sometimes really cool creatures. The ones in A Hidden Fire are fairly OK if a bit stereotypical.

Caspar, Giovanni’s human butler, is fun. He is fond of his boss and his family has been in Giovanni’s service for ages. I guess it would be kind of hard to advertise for a human caretaker on Craigslist. Caspar keeps Giovanni grounded. If he didn’t Giovanni would get too full of himself.

When Beatrice de Novo turns up as the librarian where Giovanni is copying down his manuscript Caspar has her checked out. There is something about her name that tickles Giovanni’s memory. When Gio learns that Beatrice’s father died in Italy ten years previously his warning lamps go off. But Beatrice is innocent of any wrongdoing having to do with vampires. In fact, she does not believe in them, something she and I share.

Beatrice seems to be dramatic looking, intelligent and of Mexican/Spanish heritage. Her grandmother, Isadora, is a hoot. Matriarch seems to be a fitting description of her. The two of them make a good pair for their daily lives looking out for the well-being of the other.

Reviews:

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Print Length: 274 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1475049196
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: E. Hunter; 2 edition (October 13, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B005VTVE0U

Fantasy, Humour, Mystery, Short story/novella

Kramer, Naomi: Dead(ish) (2010)

2013-09-16 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

What we have in Dead(ish) is an example of a nutty Aussie author bent on making her readers laugh. Talk about insane mystery and vindictive murder victim. I have to say that this is one case of getting back at your murderer.

Our main characters are Mike: the murderer, Linda: the murderee and Trent: the detective. Linda, the ghost, hires Trent, the detective, to find out where Mike, her killer, has hidden her body. During that process Trent gets to hear both sides of the story and what a sordid tale it is.

This is what I love about fantasy and science fiction: there is always a chance of getting to hear a story from both sides – even if the story is murder.

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Review:

File Size: 123 KB
Print Length: 53 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B003XVYJ2S

Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Beck, Ian: Pastworld (2009)

2013-09-16 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

7156_TB_Pastworld.indd — Cover image by David Calub

Pastworld is a Young Adult dystopian, steam-punkish and semi-violent look at what could happen when the future is so bored with itself it seeks relief in pretending to travel to the past. Pastworld is the creation of such a future.

Not all participants know that it is all pretense. Eve is one such character. One of our main mysteries in Pastworld is the reason for Eve’s short memory. Why does she only remember events from the past two years? Why is she being kept hidden in Pastworld? Why does her protector/jailer/friend Jack get killed while keeping her from public attention? These are all questions that are answered.

Eve is 17 years old. I’m trying to remember what it was like to be 17 and decide if Eve is a proper representative of a Victorian 17-year-old young woman with an apparent memory loss. I have a couple of biographies to lean on (not the memory loss part). Girls of a certain class were pretty sheltered back in the day. They were not allowed to go anywhere without a chaperone. Accepted interests beyond home and family were nature. Education was so, so. They were taught how to read, some maths, etiquette, embroidery, housekeeping and painting. I guess with that as a guide, Eve was kind of representative for that group.

When Jack gets more and more eccentric after a mysterious person comes sniffing after Eve, Eve runs for her life. Quite stereotypically she decides that the circus must be the place to go. And she does – Jago’s Acclaimed Pandemonium Show.

In Buckland Corp. Comm. Center Sgt Charles Catchpole becomes aware that something is afoot in Pastworld. A murderer has returned (the Phantom), one who leaves his victims dismembered and sometimes headless. One can certainly see how this would keep his minions in line and whet the appetite of the Scotland Yard.

Much of what we see in Ian Beck’s novel seems probable. 2048 is in 35 years and quite a bit could happen in that time. We already have plenty of theme parks around the world. Making a city into one might not be the stretch I would like to think it is.

Reviews:

Age Range: 12 and up
Grade Level: 7 and up
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599900408
ISBN-13: 978-1599900407

Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller

Aaronovitch, Ben: Whispers Underground (Rivers of London III) (2012)

2013-08-29 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Once again Ben Aaronovitch has wowed the market, this time with Whispers Underground. And once again he wowed me.

“Back in the summer I’d made the mistake of telling my mum what I did for a living. Not the police bit, which of course she already knew about having been at my graduation from Hendon, but the stuff about me working for the branch of the Met that dealt with the supernatural. My mum translated this in her head to ‘witchfinder’, which was good because my mum, like most West Africans, considered witchfinding a more respectable profession than policeman.”

By coincidence Ben Aaronovitch and Peter Grant happen to have gone to the same comprehensive: Achland Burghley School. It just so happens that another student at that school has heard of Peter’s witchyness and asks him to come look at a ghost she has found.

Young Abigail Kamara is a delightful 13-year-old. She has all the rebelliousness of a girl turned teenager and a desire to show herself as more adult than she is. But trying that out on Peter just won’t work because she needs Peter way more than he needs here. His growing up on the same estate as Abigail probably also makes him less susceptible to Abigail’s “tantrums”. But one thing is for sure. If Abigail continues on the route she is on today she is going to turn into a version of Peter’s mom when she grows up. She is one fierce kid.

Railway_lines_under_Acland_Burghley_School_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1446794 — Railway lines under Acland Burghley School
© Copyright Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Peter and Lesley go with Abigail and, what do you know, there they see the ghost – a young white kid getting ready to spray some graffiti on the wall of the tunnel. They watch him get hit by the train then start the whole thing over again.

Lesley is still in the Folly and learning how to live with the face that fell off. Both she and Peter get a lesson in seeing people for who they are rather than how they look by Zachary Palmer, a character that turns up in Whispers Underground. That would be a wonderful lesson for me to be able to learn.

At 0300 one morning DI Miriam Stephanopolous calls Peter because of a murder that seems a bit off at Baker Street Underground Station. (Yes, the same Baker Street that Sherlock Holmes lived on.)

When Peter goes into the tunnel where the body was hit by the train he discovers a bit of magical pottery in the pool of blood. When it turns out the victim is James Gallagher, the son of an US Senator, the British police have an international incident on their hands.

As is only natural when a body is found on the tracks, the British Transport Police turn up and give us a look at their responsibilities through Kamar – one of their officers. In fact, as Whispers Underground moves along we see that Peter and Kamar find it in themselves to put all inter-departmental rivalries aside and work together toward a solution to James’ murder.

DCI Seawoll makes Peter a part of the Belgravia murder squad so he can keep an eye on him. You might remember both Seawoll and the reason why he is a bit wary of Peter from reading Moon Over Soho. One of DCI Seawoll’s quirks is that he does not want the word “Magic” used anywhere in his vicinity. He knows it is there but he prefers that Peter and Lesley use words like “oddities” instead. It is kind of funny how Seawoll is like the rest of us in denying what is right in front of our faces. In fact, I think this might be one of the great appeals of British literature. They tend to make their characters human rather than glossed up versions of ourselves.

The fascinating thing about large cities is the many “forgotten” parts of them that work as a breeding ground for an author’s fantasy and probably also for the alternate parts of society that need a place to stay. As Peter and Kamar dig into this forgotten world Kamar comes to realise that the BTP might have overlooked certain parts of the underground system.

In their hunt for The Faceless Man Lesley and Peter are sent to Shakespeare Tower at the Barbican to interview a person DCI Nightingale suspects was a member of the Little Crocodiles (a Cambridge dining club).

Being part of The Faceless Man’s gang can be dangerous for a person’s health. But you do not necessarily have to be part of his crew to get hurt, and the methods Faceless uses to keep his identity a secret are generally quite brutal – demon-traps come to mind. I would certainly think twice before joining him in his games. Part of this is because The Faceless Man comes across as amoral rather than sociopathic. That makes him completely unpredictable in a rather frightening manner.

Previously I have stated that Peter is my favorite character. He still is, but in a close second comes the dog Toby. Toby and Molly’s relationship is hilarious. The things she is teaching him to do!!!! A nutty dog for a nutty place like the Folly.

In his usual manner, Aaronovitch managed to prod my sense of the absurd. His sense of humor is perfect. I love it when an author manages to tickle my funny-bone and please my desire for action. Maybe this is why my favorite authors tend to be British. They have a sense of timing that I have not found anywhere else. Ben Aaronovitch handles the dark side of humanity well, well enough that I was unavailable to my family while reading Whispers Underground. I sometimes pity my family for having a book addict for mother and wife.

Reviews:

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Gollancz (4 Oct 2012)
Language: Unknown
ISBN-10: 0575097663
ISBN-13: 978-0575097667

My review of Rivers of London and Moon over Soho

Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller

Aaronovitch, Ben: Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London II) (2011)

2013-08-25 humanitysdarkerside 3 Comments

I really like Aaronovitch’s writing. He keeps on taking the piss throughout the whole book, leaving me delighted with his sense of humor. Other readers seemed to agree with me as I found a gazillion reviews of Moon Over Soho. I have only a few of them below and tried to use reviewers that I have never previously come across.

Although each book in the Rivers of London series is a stand-alone, it only makes sense to read the first one before getting into this one. Or maybe not. They are stand-alone after all.

Moon Over Soho is a much darker novel than Rivers of London. One of the crime scenes is kind of disturbing in a fascinating manner and the ending is not Disney-happy-ever-after.

As with Rivers of London, Ben Aaranovitch connects a lot of people with actual places in London. The demi-goddesses/gods each control their own rivers with Mama Thames and Father Thames as the head honchos. One might even think of them as some sort of mafia bosses when one considers how they wield their power. Some of the smaller rivers/brooks have gone underground as London has continually been built over.

Then there are the jazz clubs. Perhaps one should bring Moon Over Soho as a guide to which clubs to visit while in London. Inasmuch as I listen to music, jazz is one of the styles I enjoy. Being a jazz musician, though, is an incredibly dangerous occupation lately in the world of Peter Grant. You might not have heard about jazz vampires before but now you have. I have no idea how many types of vampires are out there. A jazz vampire must surely be one of the more unusual ones. Instead of sucking the life out of people by drinking their blood, jazz vampires seem to drink talent or creativity from the musicians.

I like Peter. He comes from a rough background with an alcoholic/drug-addict dad who used to be an incredibly talented jazz musician. His mom is a frightening woman. Frightening and fun. She is the kind of matriarch that all the relatives listen to and who knows half of London (it seems). Listening to her talk to Peter is hilarious. Poor kid – which is exactly what he turns into when he visits his mom and dad.

DCI Nightingale is laid up at The Folly. He overtaxed himself in Rivers of London and needs to be taken care of by Molly. I realize I am not the only one, but burning is what my curiosity is when it comes to what Molly is. DCI Nightingale’s recovery period is spent trying to knock some magic into Peter. Peter is a natural when it comes to “smelling” vestigia (magic residue). Other than that he is going to have to plod the learning trail to magic. Like many beginners Peter wants to experiment, but as we saw in Rivers of London, magic is insanely dangerous. One might even wonder why any one would want to practice it.

For the Latin lovers out there you will already know what vagina dentata is. “Vagina dentata (Latin for toothed vagina) describes a folk tale in which a woman’s vagina is said to contain teeth, with the associated implication that sexual intercourse might result in injury or castration for the man.” I feel confident some of you blokes out there shuddered as you read this.

Guess what! Yes, you guessed it. A journalist is found with his nether parts bitten off by what appears to be vagina dentata. And where was he found? Well, in the downstairs toilet of the Groucho Club in London’s Soho district. Due to the nature of the journalist’s murder Peter is called in. All of this in addition to having to learn magic and keep the recovering Lesley and Nightingale from going insane is almost too much for one man to handle. Add to that the bureaucracy within the police and a love affair with beautiful Simone Wilberforce. I think I need to rest.

It was fun joining Ben Aaronovitch in his jaunt to the London of Peter Grant. Lots of action and action and action and I am happy. Mysteries are super-fun and fantasy made it all even better.

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Reviews:

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Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Gollancz (13 Oct 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0575097620
ISBN-13: 978-0575097629

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My review of Rivers of London

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult

James, Hadena: Dark Illumination (Dark Legacies) (2012)

2013-08-11 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

I’m glad the editing issues in Dark Cotillion have been resolved in Dark Illumination.

Dark Illumination comes with one warning. There is quite a bit of zombieish-like goryness – without the zombies (those were in Dark Cotillion).

My fascination with this strange world James has presented us with has not left me. Lucifer is catholic and married to a human. All of their children have been baptised into the Catholic church. Lucifer is not the only mythological character that gets treated this way. In fact, Lucifer and the angel Gabriel are best-friends along with Baal, Anubis and Fenrir. Mammon is Brenna’s god-father and uncle and was present at her baptism.

Who is good and bad is no longer clear-cut, but the least clear-cut is the baddie of Dark Illumination. He/She seems set on destroying Brenna after her maturing. Because of the nature of the attacks the person might be someone close to her or one of her relatives.

Add to the mystery of the baddie all of the action and I guess we have an action-mystery novel. All of the action is the reason for the above-mentioned gore. There is plenty of fighting, both magical and demonic. Poor regular humans who get in the way.

Add to this cabal dead uncle Sonnellion and we have in fact a ghost-mystery-action story for young adults.

I believe it is safe to say that Brenna Strachan has a strange family and some strange friends. Add in her own unpredictability and we have a story that is bound to interest both young and old.

Reviews:

Janey’s review

Published: Nov. 21, 2012
File Size: 416 KB
Words: 69,610 (approximate)
Print Length: 346 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00AAQ8Q5U
ISBN: 9781301107094

My review of Dark Cotillion

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult

James, Hadena: Dark Cotillion (Dark Legacies) (2012)

2013-08-07 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

Dark Cotillion was one of those books that surprised me. I’d gotten it from Kindle for free on the off-chance that I might like it. The blurb sounded so, so and I figured “why not”. Some surprises are really nice.

The Dark Legacies series introduces a world I have not met yet in my meanderings through the world of fantasy. Just when I think I have read every conceivable type of world-building something new comes along. As any type of addict my consumption of fantasy and science fiction literature is high and varied. I will try just about anything to get my fix. Imagine how fun it was to get a taste of something new and different.

What is not new about the Dark Legacies and specifically Dark Cotillion is the lengths to which some people will go in order to force the world to fit with their own visions. Assassination has been a favored tool of leaders for ages (probably for as long as humans have existed). There is nothing unusual in that. Telling lies to their followers is also a favored tool. All we have to do is look around at the fear-mongering and dehumanising projects that go on in the world. So nothing unusual there either.

After a slow start of world-building James really picks up the pace and brings us into one action-filled situation after the other. There are some gory descriptions and some sexual content but no more than most young adults encounter on a regular basis in the gaming world.

James has not quite gotten the flow right but she does present a world that I would like to get to know more about. There were moments when things fell perfectly into place and that is a quality worth building on. I found Dark Cotillion well worth the read and have purchased the next in line.

File Size: 595 KB
Print Length: 368 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B0093UKS82

Adventure, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bell, Odette C.: A Plain Jane (2012)

2013-08-03 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

The Plain Jane covers happen to be some of my favorite covers. Amazing what an imaginative mind can make of a bunch of pictures. The cover details do not say who the cover designer is so I will go with Bell herself as my candidate.

Odette C. Bell is a difficult woman to chase down. For some strange reason her Plain Jane novels no longer appear on Amazon but Smashwords will link you to various sites.

Plain Jane works with people of every variation there is. Most of them are bi-pedal but come in every version from scaly green to purple with a tail. Jane herself is not human, but exactly what she is neither she nor anyone else knows.

As a plain Jane she is fairly average. Average looks, average life and average abilities. In fact, her averageness makes her blend into any group perfectly. For who would notice someone so boring.

I love boring. In fact, I am probably the queen of boring (at least according to my kids). Other people can experience all of the exiting stuff and then I can read about it. Through my own experiences I discovered that exiting has a price, sometimes a very steep one.

Plain Jane is about to discover the same thing. Her dreams of adventure and excitement never included all of the sweat, pain and grit that come along with them. Then reality hits in the form of an assassin robot trying to kill her. Good for Jane that Lucas happened to be near by and had on his special suit of armor.

Jane and Lucas are fun characters. It is obvious that they are going to get involved at some point. That sort of follows whenever a female character in these types of books are annoyed with some male counter-part.

Jane seems to work pretty hard at remaining plain, but sometimes we see extremely different sides to her. Lucas is thrown into helping her time and again and they both end up delving into the mystery that is Jane.

Into the cauldron we also have a bit of politics, a bit of unlikely technology and a bit of extremely unlikely biology. This is the fun part of science fiction. Guessing and/or making up weird stuff is all part of the package.

A Plain Jane is a romantic mystery that has a science fiction background. Thankfully, the romance isn’t a huge part of the plot. Adventure is the prevalent feature. In A Plain Jane we get the more innocent version of murder and mayhem. In addition we get plenty of humor. Bell’s writing is good. She kept my interest throughout the book and nudged me towards buying the rest of the series.

Reviews:

Fictionpress

Published: Oct. 10, 2012
Words: 90,170 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301158829

A Plain Jane: A woman of unremarkable appearance. Appears on the scene at the beginning of the 1900’s.

Adventure, Fantasy, Humour, Mystery, Short story/novella

Rhodes, Nicola: Djinnx’d (The Tamar, Black Saga) (2009)

2013-07-21 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

I love this cover.

You will see from the reviews below that most of them were extremely positive. Finding one that wasn’t took a bit of reading.

For me Djinnx’d is a keeper. Humour aplenty and throw in action and strange people and here is a recipe for enjoying myself.

I really liked the way programmers run the Universe with their inevitable screw-ups. I read that part to my programmer husband and he even managed to smile a little.

“In the beginning, there was the word.

And the word was “Error” And that explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

That would explain a lot wouldn’t it? Right away the tone of the novel is set. I also really liked the way Tamar set herself up for capture. Sometimes you really should be careful about what you wish for just in case your wish comes true.

After having been a Djinn couple of thousand years she meets Denny. This is how that meeting goes:

“You may have of me, any three wishes of your choosing. Your wish is … my …’ She trailed off, embarrassed. He was giving her the most peculiar look that she had ever seen. It was a look that she really should have recognised. She had felt it on her own face often enough. He looked bored (disinterested might be a better word) and slightly wary.

‘No thanks,’ he said.

‘S-Sorry?’

‘I said, no thanks, I’m not interested. Thank you all the same.’

‘I’m not sure you understand,’ said Tamar. ‘Three wishes, anything you want, your hearts desire, anything! I’m a Djinn, you know, a Genie, a real one.’

‘Yes, I understand, but I don’t want anything thank you. Can you leave the way you came in?’ He sounded like a man talking to a double glazing salesman.”

What self-respecting Djinn expects a non-wish when they meet their new master? Considering Denny’s life it would be easy to think that he would have plenty of wishes. But the kids of today, they are just too smart for their own good (or a Djinn’s good).

Djinnx’d is a fast-paced novel with some glitches here and there but all in all great fun to read. If you like British humour you will probably like Djinnx’d.

File Size: 342 KB
Print Length: 227 pages
Publisher: Nicola Rhodes (April 13, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B007U7OAU2

Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult

Durgin, Doranna: Barrenlands (Changespell Saga) (2011)

2013-07-18 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Barrenlands is my first meeting with Doranna Durgin and a pretty good one at that. My read was an updated and reworked edition.

In its basic form Barrenlands is a mystery. Who killed the king (Benlan) is the question that is eating Ehren up. The reason Ehren feels so passionate about finding the murderer (not every one else wants him to find him/her/them) is because Benlan was his best friend. Most of Ehren’s guard-friends had also been killed at the same time.

Ehren is an interesting character yet familiar in a fantasy sense. He is our hero, the one with the quest he must fulfill. He is also the strong, silent type. In his case his silence and strength are very much tools. When one is silent one sometimes listens and is able to hear things one might not otherwise hear. As a hero Ehren has several helpers and not all of them are people. Two killer horses (that is for any other person than Ehren) are among the assistants. Ehren has trained them well and we get a few episodes illustrating how dangerous they are.

Two people also come to his aid. In the one case the helper places Ehren in an awkward position. Ehren is actually supposed to kill Laine (or Lain-iee! as his sister calls him) and his family. Laine is the nephew of the dead king Benlan. He has a weird ability – to see magic. He has another ability but that comes out late in the novel so hush to me. Sherran is the other person that turns up and happens to be the T’ieran of Clan Gurran. She, too, has a magical ability that Ehren will need.

Varien is an interesting character but the opposite of Ehren’s helper. He becomes quite fun in a nasty way as the story evolves. The more I learned the less confidence I had in him. Not exactly the kind of magician I would want at my back. And he just happens to be the new king’s (Rohan) most important advisor.

We begin with a fight scene and there are several to follow. I would call this a YA novel with little emphasis on romance but a whole lot on friendship and action with some magic thrown in.

File Size: 503 KB
Print Length: 352 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Blue Hound Visions (November 10, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00A5FF668

Fantasy, Mystery, Short story/novella, Young Adult

Humphrey-D’Aigle, Rachel: Bloodsucker Bay (The Demon Isle Witches) (2012)

2013-07-14 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Rachel Humphrey-D’Aigle. Now, there is a proper author’s name – at least in my head.

I love this cover. I agree with Humphrey-D’Aigle that Danielle Page is a great photographer and Rachel has done a cool job with the colors and fonts.

I think Bloodsucker Bay would be considered a novella as it is only 73 pages and 4 chapters long. It is definitely part of a serial as the ending leaves the reader hanging in loose air.

Bloodsucker Bay is a mystery – dead body and all. The thing about Demon Isle is that most of the inhabitants know of the weirdness of both the Howard family and the Isle itself. When a dead body turns up the Sheriff uses the Howard family as much as she can in solving the crime.

For the main part the story is about the Howard siblings and their vampire guardian William. Melinda, Charlie and Michael each have their strong and not so strong sides and we get to share in them. Melinda is a great potion maker and is prescient. One of the reasons William hangs around the witches is that Melinda makes a potion that helps him not bite humans. But he also acts as their guardian while they all try to come to terms with the death of their parents. Melinda feels guilt at not having prevented the death of her parents as her newly developed prescience had warned her of it.

Charlie is a werewolf. That gives him great strength but also urges that get stronger around full-moon. He is the big-brother and suffers from all of the big-brother symptoms.

Michael happens to be the one to feel the full force of Charlie’s big-brotherness. Charlie just cannot let Michael decide on his own what his future is to be. He feels that as fate made Michael a Howard and the Howards traditionally are caretakers of Demon Isle then Michael should just get his act together and do the job. Michael’s witchy side is being a death reader. That means he is very popular with the Sheriff when some unsolvable death occurs on the island.

There were a couple of scenes that I really liked. One was in an underwater cave and involved the brothers. The other was with Emily, Michael’s probable girlfriend. The pace in those two scenes was perfect and the way they were written fun.

Bloodsucker Bay has pretty good potential. Rachel showed the ability to hit the flow and with a little more tightening she could manage to stay there.

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File Size: 241 KB
Print Length: 73 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B0072MW2MS

Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Young Adult

Caine, Rachel: The Morganville Vampires (2006-2013) / Weather Warden (2003-2010) / The Revivalist (2011- )

2013-06-13 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Rachel Caine, or Roxanne Longstreet Conrad as she is known to her friends, is a prolific writer. From what I have read of her writing (Morganville series, one Weather Warden and one The Revivalist) her novels seem to target young adults (not the youngest).

Her books are fun to read and full of murder, mayhem and entertainment. We get all sorts of magic and supernatural creatures. Some of these supernaturals are the baddest baddies while some fight on the side of light and justice for all. There is something a bit soap operaish about the books at times, but for the most part they manage to stay out of that trap. The ones that I have read are from: Weather Warden, The Morganville Vampires and The Revivalist.

THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES (2006 – 2013)

The Morganville Vampires books are supposed to be appropriate for age 13 and up. My library has fourteen of them while fifteen have been published thus far. According to the Morganville website no. 15 (Daylighters) is supposed to be the last one of the series (for now). I believe I have read through no. 10 (Bite Club).

The Morganville series begins with Glass Houses.While it is an advantage to begin reading with book no. 1 of the series, I would have had no trouble starting at any point as all of the novels have some sort of resolution to their plot. There are threads that leave you somewhat hanging but they are more of the kind that you will find in most series out there. So NOT a serial.

Claire Danvers is our main character through the series. There are others that get to shine along with her, but she is the one we always meet.

What can I say about Claire Danvers? Claire is a brilliant girl. Her IQ gets her into Texas Prarie University at the age of 16. Choosing TPU was a result of having to be closer to her parents. I can understand her parents wanting her to be a close as possible. Being the parent of two boys who have been that age, I probably would have let them go to the offered spot at MIT. Whether my choice would have been different had they been girls is impossible to predict.

So off Claire goes to Morganville. TPU is apparently a typical university town. In it she meets both ends of the spectrum of niceness. Claire gets bullied by the town diva, Monica Morell, and makes friends with the much nicer Eva Rosser. Her friendship with Eva Rosser and the bullying by Morell and her crowd is what brings about Claire’s move into what is known as Glass House.

Glass House belongs to Michael Glass. Michael lives in the house himself and he is hesitant about letting Claire live there. The other tenant, Shane Collins, also worries about having an under-age student living with them. The constellation two boys and two girls might have something to do with that. I found that rather charming and wise of the two guys. I also approved of the choice of letting Claire live with them, especially considering Monica’s influence at TPU. Monica does not have many endearing qualities.

Moving into Glass House brings the reality of Morganville crashing in on Claire. Living in Morganville can be detrimental to one’s health.

WEATHER WARDEN (2003-2010)

Weather warden

The Weather Warden series begins with Ill Wind and ends with Total Eclipse. According to various reviews and Ms. Caine’s own website the Weather warden is meant for an adult audience. I have only read no. 1 (Ill Wind). It is difficult for me to know exactly what differentiates a novel meant for adults or older young adults, so I am going to trust the author on this one. On the link above you can read samples from each of the novels.

Ill Wind introduces Joanne Baldwin a Weather Warden. A Weather Warden is a person who has the power to control one of the elements. In Joanne’s case that is the wind. She is not considered an especially gifted Warden. When we meet her she is on the run from the other Weather Wardens and the Weather Council. The Weather Council wields a lot of influence in society due to its nature. Together with the UN they decide when to and when not to intervene in natural disasters (having to do with wind, fire, water and earth). So, not an organization to have chasing you.

Joanne is, of course, innocent of all charges and that is what Ill Wind is about – proving her innocence and finding the real culprit.

As a mystery, Ill Wind worked for me.

THE REVIVALIST (2011 – …)

The Revivalist

Once again you get to read sample chapters of the novels. The Revivalist is a different kind of zombie novel. As with Weather Warden, I have only read the first of the series, Working Stiff. Like the other two series in this post, The Revivalist is an urban fantasy series. Our main character is Bryn Davies. She is about to change careers – from being in a military supply unit in war to being a funeral director. An unusual choice but work is work.

At first Fairview Mortuary seems like an average funeral home. But there is one huge problem. Her bosses are experimenting on the corpses. Not all of them, but enough for Bryn to discover that there is a problem. It turns out that they are using a drug to resurrect the dead. Bryn enlists the help of the FBI and joins the take-down. During the charge, poor old Bryn ends up being one of the dead. Having no say in the matter herself (being dead and all that) Bryn ends up being one of the resurrected. At this point her options in “life” pretty much become nil. She has to do what she is told or she will not get the daily injection needed for a healthy look.

Basically, Working Stiff is an urban fantasy mystery with a zombie twist.

Fantasy, Mystery, Short story/novella, Young Adult

Hunter, S.A.: Scary Mary (2007)

2013-06-11 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

For once I feel as though a novella has been reviewed by its target audience. Scary Mary is intended for a YA readership and most of the links below reflect that. I am definitely nowhere near that age but still enjoyed the tale of young Mary.

Bullying sucks in a major way. There is something about the year after year grinding down of one’s self-image that makes life more challenging than it ought to be for a child/teen-ager. Sure, most children and young adults (well, even adults) experience bullying from time to time, but many years? Being different makes it easy to become a target. Having a disturbing ability would make it even simpler for people to leech on to you.

Including this element in Hunter’s novella about Mary was a plus for me. I also liked that Mary was wounded but not broken by the years of ostracism.

I see that Scary Mary is supposed to be a horror novel. Horror seems a strong word. Mystery with a ghost element seems like a better description. The ghost was mean but didn’t quite tilt over the horror wall. There is the history of the house. That is kind of horrorish.

My favorite part of Scary Mary was the dog. A wonderful twist. Absolutely adorable and an idea for people who struggle with allergies.

Anyways, I had fun reading Scary Mary.

File Size: 271 KB
Print Length: 194 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1477625046
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00400MQ9Y

Mystery, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Thoma, Chrystalla: Rex Rising (Elei’s Chronicles) (2011)

2013-06-08 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

Like so many others, I really like this cover. It is probably the eye that does it for me. I am a sucker for eyes.

Kabam is how Rex Rising begins. Elei is on the run and working to stay alive. Rex Rising keeps on going at that pace. We are thrown from one action scene to another never really able to catch our breaths. Chrystalla Thoma does it so well. She links the different episodes and never goes over the top. If you want action Rex Rising would be a good choice.

While a page turner Rex Rising is also about the effect parasites have on us and could have on us given certain circumstances. At the end of the novel Chrystalla Thoma links to books and studies dealing with the subject. I love what she has made of a topic that could have easily become boring. But Ms. Thoma did not let me withdraw. Perhaps one of the parasites jumped from the novel and “made me do it” as in read the novel almost without stop.

Another thing Chrystalla Thoma has conquered is the art of the flow. Words falling together like water in rapids is a beautiful thing to be part of. I love words when they are treated in such a manner.

The novel concentrated itself mainly on Elei and his adventures and not so much on the world he lives on. We get glimpses and an understanding of the political situation, but there is not room for an in-depth study of the landscape. But we certainly get an in-depth look at sweet Elei. He is such a loveable character. Hera is another character whose qualities become more and more apparent through Rex Rising. Like the author states on her website, she likes her female characters a bit gung-ho. So do I.

Anyways, this is one YA series I highly recommend.