Just Reviews

Total Oblivion, More or Less
Alan DeNiro
Ballantine, $15.00
ISBN: 9780553592542

No one in the Minnesota town was prepared for the invaders, the ancient Scythians wearing NBA Lakers jerseys. Everyone was captured and placed in camps. However, survival takes a plunge and not because all non-fast food joints were closed. Wasps were transmitting a new form of the deadly plague by air and by sting.

Sixteen year old Macy and her family manage to escape to the Mississippi hoping to find a safe haven in what is left of civilization. None quite realize the invaders have taken over the country and are now at war with one another to see just who will be the top lord. However, Macy and family manage to reach St. Louis, where her dad says he has a job at a university’s astronomy department. As Macy recovers from the plague, she meets Em the submarine captain and Wye whom she is not sure of whose side he is loyal to while her brother is sent for trial to Nueva Roma and her sister is sold into indentured servitude while her father has become the leading astrologer in the Mississippi.

Not for everyone, Total Oblivion, More or Less is an enjoyable futuristic thriller in which the conquering invaders come from the ancient past. The story line is a combination whimsical look at what truly civilization is when calamity strikes on a mass scale in a world gone mad. Sub-genre fans will enjoy traveling the DeNiro American landscape escorted by courageous Macy who learns the mighty Mississippi means civilization to all types of groups. Harriet Klausner

Wild Instinct
Sarah McCarty
Heat, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425227619

"Garrett". The werewolf clan rejects Garrett due to his human blood. However, they turn to him to rescue Sarah Anne, whose son is missing and daughter may prove to be the child prophesized as the bringer of doom. Still he knows his mate when he meets her and will risk his life to keep her safe.

"Daire". The werewolf Daire saves Teri, but cannot save her unborn. He knows his mate, but she believes his bond is not one of love but of protectiveness. Daire has to persuade her it is both.

"Curran". He seeks Rachel, who has Sarah Anne's son with her. When Curran finds the pair he knows she is his mate, but she rejects his assertion and distrusts him to bring the duo to safety.

These three exciting interrelated werewolf romances contain fully developed characters who make for a strong thriller as the sex is hot but not over-gorging the action-packed story lines especially the relationship issues as the men know but the women doubt. Sarah McCarty provides her audience with a superb collection.
Harriet Klausner

Hallowed Circle
Linda Robertson
Juno (Pocket), $7.99
ISBN: 9781439156780

Lydia Whitmore of the Witch Elders Council nominates Persephone Alcmedi to be the next of High Priestess of the Cleveland coven. Instead of euphoria Seph is dismayed for several reasons starting with her being a solitary act belonging to no coven. She is also the guardian of Beverly, whose mother died. Then there is the problem of her wearing the stain of the vampire Menessos, which leads to her being stronger than most mortals.

If the Elders learn she wears a vampire’s stain, she will be Bindspoken, unable to use her power. Finally, she is The Lustrata the walker between two worlds who brings balance preventing wars between species. However in spite of all that and what she knows about what happened to the missing previous coven chief Vivian Diamond, Seph does not believe the other nominee snobby but talented Hunter Hopewell would make a good leader at a time when the Cleveland coven crowd needs one. By the time the competition ends, Seph is bound to the head of the Council, Menessos and Johnny the werewolf but it is as The Lustrata that she must prepare for war as the treaty involving the fairies was broken.

Seph is linked to several diverse groups who are natural enemies, but needs to find her own path to fulfill the role destiny has in store for her. She has the favor of the Goddess but it is through the competition that she sees who she is, what her strengths and what she must do. Linda Robertson has written en enthralling supernatural urban fantasy filled with mystery, romance, and intrigue. Hallowed Circle is loaded with action and a cast who make the paranormal seem normal so much so that readers will believe that they exist. Hallowed Circle, like its predecessor Vicious Circle, is an entertaining heroine driven urban fantasy.
Harriet Klausner