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.

A Review of The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier

The Butcher was an interesting murder mystery, in that there was no mystery- we find out in the beginning of the story who the murderer is. What keeps the reader's attention is trying to figure out how the other characters may or may not discover the Butcher's identity, and if it will be too late. This gave the story a bit less urgency in some ways and a bit more in others. I did like Sam's character, although she seems a bit clueless, but that's easy for the reader to say when the reader knows what she doesn't. I also liked Matt Shank's character, or rather, disliked him but liked how the author wrote a main character devolving in his basic human decency. It made for some very tense scenes that were interesting to read. In all, I enjoyed this story.

Relatively Strange by Marilyn Messik

Relatively Strange is the fascinating tale of Stella, who uses the term "Strange" to categorize her extraordinary abilities. Stella, who lives in 1960's England, is telekinetic, pyrokinetic, can levitate, read minds and do quite a few other impossible things. Much of this story is about how Stella navigates a normal life while being something other than normal herself. There are encounters with others like herself, as well as a nefarious group of "medical" people who have no morals or ethics whatsoever. I found the historical background of Stella's family to be interesting. A post-WWII, post-Holocaust Jewish family trying very hard to continue to be perceived as normal despite their daughter's differences. This was a subtle reminder that. Not too far in the past, any "otherness" was an offense, punishable by death. And yet, they accept her, for the most part, as different, but not wrong or bad. It was, in fact, the great compassion of many of the wildly fascinating characters in this book that kept my attention. It was a great deal of fun to read. I would recommend it to all readers. ARC provided by NetGalley

A review of Angeli by Jody Wallace

Angeli, by Jody Wallace is an interesting story. The premise being that some aliens have come to rescue Earth, or Terra, from another species that seek to suck the souls or kill humans. These aliens, called Angeli, have determined that the easiest way to get humans to accept them is by masquerading as angels sent from God, the Christian god specifically. The story begins with Gregori, the head Angeli, as he is fighting some daemons on Terra after the "apocalypse" has already come. He meets Adelita, a 20-something law student trying to fulfill her bucket list before she dies. The beginning of this story is extremely confusing. It took a good 30 pages before I could make sense of what was going on the story. However odd it may have seemed, the story definitely held my attention. There was a definite romantic note to the story, once Adelita, a religious Catholic, understands that Gregori is not an angel, but a humanoid from another planet. There is a bit of a subplot involving the intentions of Ship, the sentient computer that is the vessel the aliens travel on around the galaxy. In one humorous scene, Adelita makes a pro and con list labeled "Hal or Not Hal", a fine nod to classic alien movies (2001, specifically). It seems that from Adelita's perspective, Ship's motives are not as pure as Gregori and his team would like to think. In all, this was a fun book to read, although a bit light on the specifics, details and facts. The action was well done, and overall, I would recommend this book to sci-if fans. ARC provided by NetGalley

A Review of Lingering Echoes by Erica Kiefer

When I started Lingering Echoes, it seemed like a fine story: young girl harboring a guilty past, a broody young man with a dark past if his own. Teen angst, but not overdone. Unfortunately, at about 3/4 of the way through, the author shows stunningly bad judgement by making all of the "bad guys" non-white, pointing it out over and over, and even going so far as to name one of the characters "ethnic guy". Borderline (or maybe crossing the border) racist at best. All of the good guys are white, as well, and the story behind Damian's past is absurd. It seemed such a sharp detour from where it started, that I was actually confused. Also, did Damian really have to rescue Allie in the potential rape scene? Couldn't the author have figured out how to have Allie rescue herself from that ridiculously absurd situation? Too bad, it started out pretty good, but ended up a hot mess.

A review of The Wife, The Maid and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon

The Wife, The Maid and The Mistress is the imagined story behind the real life mystery surrounding the disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater in 1930. It is a mystery that still fascinates, and Ariel Lawhon has created a fascinating story around the actual events. We are given bits and pieces of the story told by Maria Simon, the Crater's maid, and wife of Jude Simon, head detective on the Crater case. We also learn of events from the perspective of Stella Crater, Joseph's wife, and Sally Lou Ritz, his mistress. Much of the story circles around the profound corruption in politics that existed in 1930, including the infamous Tammany Hall political machine and Owney Madden, a bootlegger and ruthless mobster who appears to be responsible for most of the violent deaths of various characters and real historical figures (Madden was also a real person). What is fascinating here is how Lawhon weaves together much true information with fictional, and it appears seamless in the story. It is a visceral tale of corruption, greed, violence, and most appallingly, the near powerlessness of the women who are sucked into the machinations of the men who seem to control all. Note, however, the word "near". These women show ingenuity, perseverance and grit, while attempting to navigate their lives through the mistakes they have made and for which they must subsequently pay. In all, a throughly fun read.

A Review of Heart of Stone by Christine Warren

Heart of Stone is a somewhat new take on Urban Fantasy, if only in the sense that it involves gargoyles rather than werewolves, vampires or fairies. The plot itself is pretty standard: new magic user unaware of her abilities, bug strong Guardian (what gargoyles who fight demons are called) who wants to protect her but also rebels against his feelings for her. This book was pretty well-done, if not entirely original. Of course, it could be argued that very little new writing is original. But the author did a fine job of making the story interesting. The heroine was very strong, if a bit predictable, and the sex was hot and steamy, and not overdone. I would recommend this book for a fun read.

A Review of The Echo Prophecy by Lindsey Fairleigh

The Echo Prophecy is the story of Lex, a seemingly normal graduate student working as an archaeologist in Egyptian studies, more specifically, as a translator. When Alex suddenly gets asked to be a part of a major dig in Egypt by the dashing Marcus Bahir, everything in her life begins to change. Admittedly, this book began fairly weakly. The secondary characters, specifically, were not well sketched out, and the background of Lex's family was thin. Why, for example, do Lex and her sister Jenny not get along? Their "make up" scene had little background information and seemed a convenient vehicle to make her a target later in the book. This seemed to happen quite a bit, as well as a lack of information about secondary plot points. Once I was about a third of the way through the book, however, the writing suddenly got much better, more complex plot revelations were introduced, and the story became much more riveting. The Nejeret and Nejerette characters are by far the most complex and with the most explanation of their backgrounds and pre-story lives. Even Horu/Marcus, as an Egyptian god, doesn't come off as laughable, but instead fascinating. Overall, this story is driven by a fascinating narrative drive that took off and was quite the adventure. I look forward to reading more of this trilogy. ARC provided by Netgalley

A Review of The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

The Interestings is a story of friendship between 5 people who met a summer camp in 1977. Spirit-In-The-Woods was an arts camp that drew mostly rich kids interested in pursuing music, drama, dance, animation and the like. Julie Jacobsen, rechristened Jules, gets a scholarship to this camp the summer after her father dies of cancer and meets Ash, her brother Goodman, Ethan, Cathy and Jonah. She somehow becomes friendly with this group of "cool kids" and also just as unlikely, stays friends with most of them for the next 30 years. We learn of the internal private lives of each character, although Jules is the central figure. What is most compelling about this story is the flawed nature of these characters. Jules, especially, is nearly unlikable. She is completely self absorbed, although her absorption seems to revolve around he lives of Ethan and Ash, now married and extremely wealthy and successful. Even later in life when she apologizes for being self absorbed, she is still so focused on her apparent envy of the lives of her best friends, she cannot appreciate what she has for herself. Also central to this story is a side plot involving Goodman and Cathy. Goodman, a complete waste of a human being, is accused of a crime that it seems apparent he did commit. His family, however, including Ash and her parents, believe him to be innocent and go to the wall for him. Jules, still carrying a bit of a torch for Goodman, believes in his innocence and even tries to convince his victim that she misinterpreted his gestures. It is the most difficult to read scene in the book, Jules actually trying to convince the victim that the crime wasn't a crime, completely cringe-worthy, but so real. Jules is accused of being weak, which is, in fact, exactly what she is. There are many sub plots here, but this is truly a realistic view of the loss of innocence, both for the characters and time-wise, as the story takes place at the end of the 20th century. I found one of the most profound lines of the story to be this: "You don't always wind up with your soul mate". Truly, a study in the disappointment of life, but also how these characters disappointed themselves. I would very highly recommend this book.

A review of Into the Fire by Jodi McIsaac

Into the Fire, the second in The Thin Veil series, is a continuation of Through the Door, which introduced us to Cedar and Eden, mother and daughter. Although Eden has discovered she's one of the Tuatha de Dannan, or Fae, Cedar discovered that in order to live on Eriu (Earth), her adopted Druid mother made her human, although she is the daughter of the former King and Queen. In this second installment, Cedar comes to Tir Na Nog, the land of her people, to stop Nuala (the bad guy) from using her powers of influence to make herself Queen and start a war with humans to conquer Earth. Those friendly to Cedar and her lover Finn want Cedar, as the daughter of royals, to rule. Cedar agrees but Nuala convinces the high council to make Cedar pass a test, namely to find The Stone of Destiny, a magic stone said to roar when a true King or Queen stands upon it. Cedar accepts and a journey with friends and loved ones begins. I enjoyed the development of Cedar's character in this book very much. She comes into her own, in more ways than one, and she strikes me as an interesting balance between human and Dannan. I was not as impressed with Finn's character. He needs more fleshing out, as he mostly stands behind Cedar, then occasionally turns into a dragon or some other animal when necessary. The return of some known characters helped the story along a bit, but I didn't really get Liam's character. Without giving away plot points, I thought his involvement was a bit ridiculous. The "fight" scene at the end was fun, but a bit convenient, as was the resolution of the problem back in Tir Na Nog. In all, it was fun, and I enjoyed it, but it had its drawbacks, too.

Full Exposure by Tracy Wolff

Full Exposure is definitely a step up from Tie Me Down. Unfortunately, it's a very small step. My complaints are mostly the same, all sex, no story. Serena, the main character, is absurdly obtuse. Her stubborn refusal to accept help from anyone was more annoying than endearing, and was a detraction from the story. It was also far too easy to guess who the stalker was. The author's attempt to make it seem like it might be another character was not very convincing. The ridiculous aspects to the sex scenes were a bit less ridiculous this time around, but I actually found myself skimming over some of the sex scenes because I got bored. Yes, really. Bored with the sex scenes. That should say everything you need to know, right there. There was the potential for an interesting story, here, which is the real shame of it. The author didn't explore anything besides the characters bodies and their capacity for constant sex. ARC provided by Netgalley

Dreamwalker by Andrea Heltsley

I read the book Dreamwalker with high hopes. As you all know, I am a big UF fan and this seemed like it could be an interesting new direction. Unfortunately, it did not pan out as such. To begin with, there was no world building whatsoever. I generally feel that this can be somewhat glossed over if the story line, characters and action are really terrific. Again, a no go. All of these areas are poorly executed. This book was clearly not edited, or if it was, the author should fire the editor, because there were multiple glaring grammatical errors, like verbs not agreeing in a sentence, as well as god-awful dialogue. The dialogue was actually a detraction from this book, it was so clunky. The chemistry between characters was nonexistent, and don't get me started on the "love triangle". The villain was a caricature and not at all scary. In all, not a good book. I do. It recommend this one. ARC provided by Netgalley

Review of Perfect by Rachel Joyce

The book Perfect is a story of how something that seems small and insignificant can change the lives of not only an entire family, but extend to many others as well. In 1972 when 11 year old Byron learns from his best friend, James, that the government will be adding 2 seconds to the time in order to align the clocks properly with the sun's rotation, he becomes so obsessed with how this possibly could occur that he sets in motion a chain of events that will devastate not only his own family, but James' as well. Rachel Joyce writes a side-by-side tale of past and present, that begins somewhat slowly. It is written with such beautiful language that when the events begin to speed up, it's almost secondary to the flow of words. The past tale tells of the events of 1972, while the story in the present tells of a man named Jim, late of Besley House, a local mental institution that had closed and left its residents to find their own way, many of whom, like Jim, haven't been able to function in society for 40 or more years. These two stories eventually reach their separate crescendoes, while simultaneously bringing the reader to fully understand what has happened to each character and why. Ms. Joyce has quite a talent for writing about mental illness from the inside. Her descriptions of OCD from the sufferer's perspective are illuminating. The redemptive quality to this story is sad but also quite joyous for its characters. In all, an excellent read. I highly recommend it.

Review of Circle of Death (Damask Circle #2)

Circle of Death, the second installment of the Damask Circle series, is a bit of a step up from the first, but with a great deal of similarities. The main characters, Doyle and Kirby, are similar to Maddie and Jon in many ways. Doyle is a bit of a rogue, but more smitten and more committed than Kirby to a budding romance. Very similar to Jon's character. Kirby is afraid of her power as Maddie was and had also killed with it, making her reluctant to use it again. It seems she, like Maddie, used her power to protect herself and other young girls from an abuser. The story seemed a bit smoother than Circle of Fire. The romance angle still far-fetched, but the ending was a lot less ridiculous. We also got to learn a bit more about what the Damask Circle actually is in this book. Still not terribly well crafted, as was my complaint from the first book. Mariel, the bad guy, wasn't very scary. Certainly less so than the abundant evil creatures in this story, eating brains and the like. Better, but not great. ARC provided by Netgalley