A review of The City by Dean Koontz

The City is the fascinating tale of Jonah Bledsoe Kirk, musician and ten year old, who lives with his mother in New York City during the 1960's. Jonah learns to play piano in a way most don't and never will, being the grandson of the famous Teddy Bledsoe. His experiences at 10 years old are unlike many that he knows, having divorced parents, being fearful that his father , who doesn't truly want him, will kidnap him just to hurt his mother, but Jonah tries to handle these things "as the man of the house". Unfortunately, he gets himself into trouble being nosy with a tenant of his building by the name of Fiona, who truly wishes him harm. Jonah, however, enlists the help of a quiet Japanese neighbor named Mr. Yoshioka, with whom he forms a bond that is more father-son than any he ever had with his own father. During this time, Jonah meets a woman he names Miss Pearl, who claims to be the City as a flesh being. Miss Pearl gives Jonah advice, sends him visions and tries to help him as much as she can. Jonah lives through some terrifying experiences, but comes out on the other side, because he believes he will. The thing I enjoyed most here, being a fan of Dean Koontz, was not the slight supernatural flavor the book possessed. It was the beautiful language and true sentiments of understanding that the most important thing we have is out connection with other people, that is what defines us, encourages us and helps us to carry on. I throughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.

Among the Unseen by Jody McIsaac

A terrific end to the trilogy showing Cedar once again doggedly trying to help others. In this case, it's the Unseen- those otherworldly races such as the Merrow, the selkies, and dwarves, who are suddenly stricken with a disease and are dying. There is a long history to the reason why, accompanied by a spell set by Brighid, of all characters, and even a few scenes with everyone's favorite anti-hero, Thor and his decidedly insane father Odin. What I like about Jody McIsaac's stories is how human Cedar is, although she isn't, and how she pokes fun at the belief in these mythical characters and creatures, while still painting a story with lots of travel and action, and tension between characters. The author killed off quite a few secondary characters, I won't name which ones, before ending her trilogy, which was unsurprising, and not at all unexpected given the deadly disease. In all, I enjoyed this story as I did the previous two. ARC provided by NetGalley.

A Review of The Line by JD Horn

The Line is the first of the Savannah witch novels, featuring Mercy Taylor, a non-witch in a family of extremely powerful, but seriously disturbed, witches. Mercy wants to live her life, but the influence of Ginny, the Taylor matriarch, is far- reaching. Mercy' twin sister, Maisie, inherited all of the power while Mercy got none, and is referred to by some family members as "The Disappointment". Mercy has Peter, her boyfriend, but is confused by her feelings for Jackson, Maisie's fiancée. The story begins with the murder of Ginny, and subsequent scenes show crazy, backstabbing, ghost-possessed, power hungry characters who keep this story moving at quite a pace. There is no room to breathe through scene after scene of action and spooky story threads that begin to weave themselves together, but by no means are completely resolved, by the end of the story. In all, a really good UF addition. Looking forward to reading The Source!

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

One Plus One is the story of Jess, her daughter Tanzie, stepson Nicky and Ed, a man who begins as a client of Jess's cleaning business, but eventually becomes a friend and more to this misfit family. The story is told from the perspective of all four characters, who narrate both different parts of the plot, and occasionally the same situation from different points of view. It would be an understatement to say that Jess is down on her luck, but when math-genius Tanzie is offered a scholarship to a prestigious private school, needs $5000 to begin, and is told winning a math Olympiad will help her get money, the family embarks on a trip from England to Scotland chaperoned by Ed, a computer coder who inadvertently gave insider trading information to a lover and is facing legal issues. They make quite a group, and during their trip everything that can go wrong does, and things seem quite hopeless. Jojo Moyes tells this tale of multi-layered characters who don't seem to quite fit in anywhere with humor, candor and tear-inducing frankness. It is well-crafted, the characters very authentic, and an extremely compelling story of what it means to be human. A gripping, uplifting tale, well worth the read. ARC provided by Netgalley

A review of Pack of Strays by Dana Cameron

Pack of Strays was a bit of a directional turn from the first book, Seven Kinds of Hell. While Zoe, our heroine, is still mostly a loner, she picks up a group in this book, including her cousin Danny, as well as Vee, an oracle and Toshi, a vampire who lost his closest Family. I again enjoyed the country-hopping, although there was much less in this book than the first. I found some of this book rather confusing, though. While Zoe doesn't understand what's happening with the "integration" of the artifacts with her physical self, and the introduction of "the lab", a sort of internal haven Zoe can project to and solve problems, most of these scenes are difficult to follow. The ending was a bit of a gyp. The last book felt like a continuation, this felt like it was purposely cut off in the middle of the action to get you to buy the next one. In all, I liked the story but less than the first. I will probably continue to read it when the next one comes out.

The Mistress of Night and Dawn by Vina Jackson

The Mistress of Night and Dawn is an exquisite perversion, a vivid tale of a thing, rather than the people inhabiting the story. The story is about Aurelia, the one destined to be the next Mistress of the Ball- an annual celebration of hedonism and sex, held for those who are invited to indulge in its excesses, revelry and celebration of sexuality and humanity. However, her story, and that of Andrei the Protector of the Ball, sent to find Aurelia, with whom she falls in love, is not really about her. I did enjoy the sensuality of the characters, their abandon and joy in their sexual being, and even though I don't love the idea of a person having their personality broken down to become something else, I recognized that Aurelia's consent was imperative to continue the story. It felt like a cross between The Story of O and The Night Circus, especially the flowing language and languid pacing of the story. The elements of dominance and submission are hardly new, but treated respectfully here. In all, I enjoyed the book, even if it lacked some originality, it was interesting and very hot.

A Review of Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron

An excellent beginning to a new UF series. I enjoyed Zoe and her group of friends, as well as the author's world building about Fangborn. I would enjoy more history, which I am hoping is forthcoming in the second installment of this series. I greatly enjoyed the world-traveling in this book, and the descriptions of Italy and Greece were fun. In all, a great start.