Just Reviews

I'm working on a couple of reviews. Hopefully, I'll get them ready in a day or two.

Soul Catcher
Leigh Bridger
Bell Bridge, Oct 1 2009, $14.95
www.bellbridgebooks.com
ISBN: 9780982175682

When she was a child, her granny knew that Livia Belane had a special destiny to fulfill and tattooed symbols of the Light onto her head to protect her. Olivia was heartbroken when her father committed suicide and recalls nothing about the fire that killed her mom and brother. Somehow she escaped unscathed, but whispered gossip claims she set the inferno. She ended up in a psycho facility and when she was released at night she dreams of a demon, of whom she paints while she sleeps.

Her paintings contain the ugliest demon ever; she calls him Pig Face. Although Livia is a loner, people want to befriend her through her countless reincarnations. They inform her she is a Soul Hunter, a person who sends demons back to the hells they came from. She meets a man and is prepared for hot sex, but instead he tortures and rapes Livia. Ian, who loves Livia and has through several lifetimes, takes over the body of her rapist who was the demon Pig Face; like Ian, Pig Face has made it through several of her reincarnations killing both of them each time. However, this time is different as Livia and Ian must defeat Pig Face whose power keeps increasing with each of their deaths and soon will be too strong for them to stop his takeover of Asheville; eventually North Carolina, the USA, and the earth will follow.

Deborah Smith, writing as Leigh Bridger, has authored an exciting unique urban fantasy that is an amalgam of reincarnation, demonic-angelic warfare, and special people with skills to see and fight evil beings. Livia changes from a reactive frightened person into a bold individual accepting Ian’s help even though every time she looks at his face, she stares at her rapist. The love these two souls share gives them hope that they will overcome Pig Face, but he thirsts for vengeance too for what they did in a previous life a long time ago without understanding the consequences which fueled the demon’s rage. Harriet Klausner

On the Edge
Ilona Andrews
Ace, Oct 2009, $7.99
ISBN 9780441017805

The Drayton family resides on the woody Edge of two worlds. On the Georgia side of their home is the Broken; while on the opposite direction is the Weird. In Broken lives normal humans; in Weird lives all types of supernatural and magical entities. Both realms have strict moral codes.

Rose Drayton has become a talented practitioner of magic, which upsets the Weird's ruling aristocrats who want her power for their own use. Soon afterward, brutal hounds attack those who live in the in between edge. At the same time Weird noble Declan Camarine arrives to inform Rose that she will marry him. Rose rejects Declan's arrogant statement, but needs his help as her siblings and other living on the Edge are under attack.

ON THE EDGE is a fascinating romantic fantasy due to the magical world that borders between the mundane and the Weird, making Edgers a unique breed; mindful of the Tex-Mex populace who resides on both sides of the Rio Grande. The story line is fast-paced from the opening scene when Rosie shoots an arrow in her grandpa’s forehead and never slows down especially after she and the arrogant blueblood meet, reject, fall in love, and reject again; wait till she meets the in-laws that is if she survives the assault on the Edgers. Fans will relish this funny frenzied fantastic frolic. Harriet Klausner

Intertwined
Gena Showalter
Harlequin Teen, Sep 2009, $15.99
ISBN: 9780373210022

In present day Crossroads, Oklahoma, sixteen years old Aden Stone has heard voices in his head ever since he was a small child. The medical community labels him schizophrenic; his parents gave up on him when he was three years old placing him in a mental institution. Recently, he was relocated to the D and M Ranch, a halfway house for troubled teens.

Although no one else does, Aden understands his four voices are lost souls. Eve time travels; Julian raises the dead; Elijah predicts the future; and Caleb possesses other beings. Elijah informs Aden he will not live much longer; just when he meets Mary Ann Gray, who can silence the voices; the teen he thinks he fell in love with her because of his dreams of normalcy. He meets two other teenagers with uncanny skills as they find themselves struggling with vampires, demons, werewolves and fairies.

This is a wonderful young adult fantasy as the teen male lead makes the thriller work; as he has spent his life being misunderstood and locked away as a nut case. He understands that he is not schizophrenic and does not have multiple personality disorder; instead his brain carries four INTERTWINED lost souls although he has no idea why him. Thus when he meets Mary Ann who silences the bickering voices that give him headaches, he relishes the quiet normal time that ha always desired. However that mental serenity UNRAVELED with the start of war against the paranormal in which he is the human point. Fans will relish Aden’s escapades with his three new allies and look forward to more unraveling of his mind in future Intertwined adventures. Harriet Klausner