Entice Me At Twilight
Shayla Black
Pocket, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439166772
In England the Doomsday Brethren chief wizard Bram Rion orders wizard Simon “Duke” Northam to meet with him prompt as the brazen enemy Anaraki army led by malevolent Mathias d'Arc have become brazen with their attacks. They burned the home of Bram and the headquarters building of the Brethren, but fortunately failed to achieve their goal of either taking or destroying the Merlin texts. Simon understands the gravity of such a call, but wonders how to be in two places at the same time as he is also the best man at the wedding of his half-brother the barrister Mason Daniel to nursery school teacher Felicia Safford.
Undercover agent Denzel informed the brethren that the latest scheme of the Anaraki is to enter the tomb of evil Morganna le Fay to resurrect their evil idol. Bram believes Duke holds the key to prevent the catastrophe, as he feels the playboy has touched a rare "Untouchable" since he has lost some of his aura. Duke assumes someone in the wedding party is an Untouchable; most likely his future sister-in-law. If so, he must abduct her to safety, which will alienate his half-sibling and further strain their already dysfunctional relationship.
Thee latest Doomsday Brethren romantic fantasy (see Possess Me at Midnight and a novella in the anthology Haunted by Your Touch) is a stupendous thriller due to the relational triangle though the Mathoas-Morganna arc adds exhilarating incredible levels of suspense. Readers will appreciate the low energy flow of the hero; the loyalty to her first choice by the heroine; and the half-sibling caught in the middle between a woman he claims he loves and the half-brother he detests. On top of that is the Morganna scenario that moves forward the overarching theme of the saga as Shayla Black entices readers to stay up long past Twilight to finish this terrific tale. Harriet Klausner
Mr. Monster
Dan Wells
Tor, $11.99
ISBN: 9780765327901
John Wayne Cleaver still struggles, as he has all his life to keep, his demonic Mr. Monster side from taking over his mind. However, ironically his heroism involving taking out a serial killer has strengthened Mr. Monster’s hold.
A second Clayton County serial killer apparently surfaces with several corpses as the calling card. Once again the local police fail to catch the predator. In spite of fearing involvement again after how much stronger Mr. Monster has become, John uses his knowledge he gained from his war with the first demon killer to try to trap the second. However, evidence mounts that John is the serial killer.
This is much darker than the dark I Am Not A Serial Killer as Mr. Monster takes over for a few moments leading to a raging out of control beast ready to torture and kill, which after Cleaver regains the power he is filled with anguish and torment for what happened; mindful of mid stages of Alzheimer’s victims who recall what they did and consider stupidity. Cleaver and Monster make the lead character appears as if he has a multiple personality disorder as they war for the lead. Action-packed with ultra gory scenes (some too vividly ugly for my sensitive stomach), yet Dan Wells enables his audience to see the battle of good and evil inside the heart and mind of one struggling soul teetering on the brink of being lost. Harriet Klausner
Rogue Wave
Boyd Morrison
Pocket, $5.99
ISBN: 9781439189580
Somewhere over the Pacific, a light flashes past an airplane, which erupts into flames killing all on board. Their bodies were never found. A humongous wave assaults Christmas Island leaving it underwater; no survivors.
On the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, Kai Tanaka is the assistant director at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center when he accesses data that the world will never forget. While he is at work, his wife Rachel is at her job at a state of the art hotel. Their daughter Lani is with their guests Teresa and her daughter Mia at the beach. At the center, a tsunami warning is advised, but neither he nor his assistant is worried but then certain island stations fail to report. They do not understand what is happening because none of the conditions are right for a tsunami. They realize after studying available data that a meteorite hit the earth causing undersea earthquakes greater than any ever recorded before. Their announcement is late but they hope to save some lives including their loved ones. Few survivors in the Pacific Rim are expected to escape unscathed since the waves are more and bigger than they expected. Kai tries to find a way take his daughter Lani, his brother Brad, Mia and Teresa to a safe high point while his wife is at the hotel taking care of the guests.
This is a riveting apocalyptic thriller that is so enthralling readers will be unable to put it down until they finish the last page. Millions of people on the Pacific islands and Hawaii are on the verge of having their lives end due to a wave that is strong huge and higher than the largest skyscraper. Readers are hooked from the opening Mayday and the lack of the routine signal from a buoy as required to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The audience ironically knows hell is coming while Kai and his cohorts remain blissfully blind until it appears too late. Adding to the pending doom is Kai has family and guests caught in the upcoming catastrophe forcing him and Rachel to make difficult choices. Mindful of the giant tsunami that killed millions a few years ago, Boyd Morrison provides the audience with a spectacular thriller that brings to readers the tragedy on the two levels of a biblical scale and a personal dilemma. Harriet Klausner
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Shifters, Fated, and Wanted Undead or Alive reviews
The Shifters
Alexandra Sokoloff
Harlequin Nocturne, $5.25
ISBN: 9780373618460
In New Orleans, a potential epidemic has spread across the city. Spirits without bodies are occupying humans and paranormal entities until they burn out their host leaving behind a dead person or other.
Shapeshifter guardian Caitlin MacDonald is assigned to end the lethal possession practice. She works closely with bounty hunter shifter Ryder Mallory over her objection as she does not trust his species. However, he is the one who has trailed these Walk-Ins to New Orleans so she has no choice but to team up with the expert. In spite of her overt scorning of him and their mutual attraction that he embraces and she loathes, when she becomes a target, he has more than her back. Neither is prepared for what they find when they reach the ephemeral ground zero.
Though a bit over the top with the ultimate source, readers will be hooked with this terrific urban romantic fantasy starring a bigot who has classified all shifters as shiftless evil until Ryder rocks her world with honesty and compassion. Fast-paced from the moment Caitlin angrily muses over a latte that her BFF is an idiot for loving a despicable Other until the final confrontation fans will enjoy this super thriller. Harriet Klausner
Fated
S. G. Browne
NAL, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451231284
For several millennia Fabio Delucci has been Fate responsible with assigning the misfortunates that betwixt just under a mean plus one standard deviation of the human race. This 83% are the classic losers who seem to screw up sure hands. He is tired and envious of his distant hands off lover Destiny who has fewer clients but those are elite Nobel Prize winners while his are drug addicts and the worse dregs of society politicians.
His superior Jeremiah counseled him over his recent poor performance. He can deal with a bad rating and his no touch romance with Destiny or even the schmuck clients. However, he has broken the Fate SOPs when he falls in love with purebred human Sara Griffen. When he reveals to his beloved who he is Fabio causes a shift in the cosmic, which could lead to the death of this immortal and his love.
This is an amusing fun romantic fantasy as Fabio feels Fated to be with his Sara though that is original sin since it breaks the immortal rules of behavior with mortals. Using a tongue in cheek story line, S.G. Browne provides an insightful look at the disaster of love as people will do all sorts of insane things when caught in that debilitating disease. Yet also takes a clever glimpse at the pitfalls of immortality though ennui has been written in many vampire tales and The Wellstone by Wil McCarthy provides a wonderful well written concept that the heir to the throne remains the heir and not the king for eternity. Mr. Browne is Fated for acclaim (and sales) with this engaging thriller. Harriet Klausner
Wanted Undead or Alive: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil
Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman
Citadel (Kensington), $16.95
ISBN: 9780806528212
What is paranormal evil and who are the good fighting against these abominations? Those are the questions that Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman analyze in this self help tome that looks at books, movies and TV to provide advice to readers on when to use holy water, silver bullets, or a garlic necklace worn to the school prom. Readers will learn when to join the arson mob chasing a vampire or to run faster than Bolt (the Olympic champ not the Marvel character). With interviews of some of the masters like Marvel’s Stan Lee and director John Carpenter, fans learn how to be a superhero or a super runner as the “Root of Good and Evil” is explored. Set up like an encyclopedia, horror fans will learn the evil can track back several millennia before that Stone Age practitioner Lovecraft. This is a fun tongue in cheek reference guide worth reading over several weeks and this work is made stronger with illustrations and pictures that bring out the ancient war of good and evil. Simply put a superhero needs a supervillain (what is Superman without Lex? mild mannered Clark or Ali and Frazier); and you will no longer be afraid of ghosts or need the busters charging an exorbitant fee to rid you of these apparitions as you now can do it yourself. Harriet Klausner
Alexandra Sokoloff
Harlequin Nocturne, $5.25
ISBN: 9780373618460
In New Orleans, a potential epidemic has spread across the city. Spirits without bodies are occupying humans and paranormal entities until they burn out their host leaving behind a dead person or other.
Shapeshifter guardian Caitlin MacDonald is assigned to end the lethal possession practice. She works closely with bounty hunter shifter Ryder Mallory over her objection as she does not trust his species. However, he is the one who has trailed these Walk-Ins to New Orleans so she has no choice but to team up with the expert. In spite of her overt scorning of him and their mutual attraction that he embraces and she loathes, when she becomes a target, he has more than her back. Neither is prepared for what they find when they reach the ephemeral ground zero.
Though a bit over the top with the ultimate source, readers will be hooked with this terrific urban romantic fantasy starring a bigot who has classified all shifters as shiftless evil until Ryder rocks her world with honesty and compassion. Fast-paced from the moment Caitlin angrily muses over a latte that her BFF is an idiot for loving a despicable Other until the final confrontation fans will enjoy this super thriller. Harriet Klausner
Fated
S. G. Browne
NAL, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451231284
For several millennia Fabio Delucci has been Fate responsible with assigning the misfortunates that betwixt just under a mean plus one standard deviation of the human race. This 83% are the classic losers who seem to screw up sure hands. He is tired and envious of his distant hands off lover Destiny who has fewer clients but those are elite Nobel Prize winners while his are drug addicts and the worse dregs of society politicians.
His superior Jeremiah counseled him over his recent poor performance. He can deal with a bad rating and his no touch romance with Destiny or even the schmuck clients. However, he has broken the Fate SOPs when he falls in love with purebred human Sara Griffen. When he reveals to his beloved who he is Fabio causes a shift in the cosmic, which could lead to the death of this immortal and his love.
This is an amusing fun romantic fantasy as Fabio feels Fated to be with his Sara though that is original sin since it breaks the immortal rules of behavior with mortals. Using a tongue in cheek story line, S.G. Browne provides an insightful look at the disaster of love as people will do all sorts of insane things when caught in that debilitating disease. Yet also takes a clever glimpse at the pitfalls of immortality though ennui has been written in many vampire tales and The Wellstone by Wil McCarthy provides a wonderful well written concept that the heir to the throne remains the heir and not the king for eternity. Mr. Browne is Fated for acclaim (and sales) with this engaging thriller. Harriet Klausner
Wanted Undead or Alive: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil
Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman
Citadel (Kensington), $16.95
ISBN: 9780806528212
What is paranormal evil and who are the good fighting against these abominations? Those are the questions that Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman analyze in this self help tome that looks at books, movies and TV to provide advice to readers on when to use holy water, silver bullets, or a garlic necklace worn to the school prom. Readers will learn when to join the arson mob chasing a vampire or to run faster than Bolt (the Olympic champ not the Marvel character). With interviews of some of the masters like Marvel’s Stan Lee and director John Carpenter, fans learn how to be a superhero or a super runner as the “Root of Good and Evil” is explored. Set up like an encyclopedia, horror fans will learn the evil can track back several millennia before that Stone Age practitioner Lovecraft. This is a fun tongue in cheek reference guide worth reading over several weeks and this work is made stronger with illustrations and pictures that bring out the ancient war of good and evil. Simply put a superhero needs a supervillain (what is Superman without Lex? mild mannered Clark or Ali and Frazier); and you will no longer be afraid of ghosts or need the busters charging an exorbitant fee to rid you of these apparitions as you now can do it yourself. Harriet Klausner
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Another Writing Update
Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing
By Scott Nicholson
www.hauntedcomputer.com/
Even a few years ago, most professional writing advice doled out at conventions and forums said, "Never self-publish," because it was seen as the mark of an amateur, a lunatic, or simply an impatient writer yet top put in the requisite years of craft.
Aside from that perception of "vanity publishing," the commercial barriers were considerable. Even if you managed to print up hundreds of copies of your book, you had an uphill battle getting them into stores.
Technology has eliminated most of the barriers to entry. You can now upload a digital file and be "published" in minutes. There is no overhead and you actually have the chance to reach whatever audience you deserve, assuming you can find it.
For those who have used up the A-list of agents and the few publishers who will look at unagented manuscripts, it's hard to argue against it. For those with out-of-print mass-market novels, it's a no-brainer to seek a new audience and earn easy money for work already completed. Print-on-demand technology has even made paper books a reasonable option, with more small publishers and even a few of the bigger houses using it for limited runs.
So why should you even bother with a publisher anymore? After all, you can earn the bulk of the book's revenue if you do it all yourself. But how much of "all" are you really qualified to do?
Can you find professional editing, a respectable graphic designer, and a publicist? Those are the primary advantages of New York, aside from the ability to give you a generous advance and put your books in stores. Of course, the level of attention your book gets will be directly proportional to both the publisher's investment and the publisher's sales outlook, which are almost always intimately connected.
Bookstores are always swapping out the inventory, so your book usually has between 30 days to a year to find a buyer, depending on format. After you're removed, you've likely lost the rights to your own work and the project is dead for years, so you are losing both money and potential audience. That's not an issue with self-publishing and digital publishing.
So if you accept that bookstores are vanishing, and the digital audience is growing, and most books end up with nothing but a single product page on Amazon anyway, then why should you give a publisher and the supporting cast 85 to 96 percent of your book's income?
Simple. Your small cut of the publisher's income may prove far more than you will ever make on your own. And if you are a bestseller, then you will still make far more money with a conventional deal.
If you know you will never be "good enough to be published," and you have no patience to improve your craft, then you hardly have any reason not to be self-published. If you feel your work is so extreme or of such a niche market that no publisher will invest in it, then you, too, will probably want to self-publish. If you feel New York is a pretentious club where everything comes down to a secret handshake, then you'll probably project that attitude in any submission and therefore New York is a waste of your time and theirs.
So, really, the only camp that even needs to struggle with the decision is the hard-working, aspiring midlist writer, one who dreams of a professional career. Going it alone is a hard road to wealth and success. But so is the other way.
These are philosophical debates that each writer must resolve to personal satisfaction, and have no right or wrong answers.
-----
Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the #1 Kindle bestseller in Mystery & Suspense, Disintegration and his new release Crime Beat. Other novels include The Red Church, As I Die Lying, Forever Never Ends, and The Skull Ring. As L.C. Glazebrook, he writes the October Girls series, and with J.R. Rain, he published the urban fantasy Cursed!, as well as story collections, screenplays, and children's books. You can learn more at www.HauntedComputer.com. Sign up for the Inner Circle newsletter and be eligible for great prizes.
By Scott Nicholson
www.hauntedcomputer.com/
Even a few years ago, most professional writing advice doled out at conventions and forums said, "Never self-publish," because it was seen as the mark of an amateur, a lunatic, or simply an impatient writer yet top put in the requisite years of craft.
Aside from that perception of "vanity publishing," the commercial barriers were considerable. Even if you managed to print up hundreds of copies of your book, you had an uphill battle getting them into stores.
Technology has eliminated most of the barriers to entry. You can now upload a digital file and be "published" in minutes. There is no overhead and you actually have the chance to reach whatever audience you deserve, assuming you can find it.
For those who have used up the A-list of agents and the few publishers who will look at unagented manuscripts, it's hard to argue against it. For those with out-of-print mass-market novels, it's a no-brainer to seek a new audience and earn easy money for work already completed. Print-on-demand technology has even made paper books a reasonable option, with more small publishers and even a few of the bigger houses using it for limited runs.
So why should you even bother with a publisher anymore? After all, you can earn the bulk of the book's revenue if you do it all yourself. But how much of "all" are you really qualified to do?
Can you find professional editing, a respectable graphic designer, and a publicist? Those are the primary advantages of New York, aside from the ability to give you a generous advance and put your books in stores. Of course, the level of attention your book gets will be directly proportional to both the publisher's investment and the publisher's sales outlook, which are almost always intimately connected.
Bookstores are always swapping out the inventory, so your book usually has between 30 days to a year to find a buyer, depending on format. After you're removed, you've likely lost the rights to your own work and the project is dead for years, so you are losing both money and potential audience. That's not an issue with self-publishing and digital publishing.
So if you accept that bookstores are vanishing, and the digital audience is growing, and most books end up with nothing but a single product page on Amazon anyway, then why should you give a publisher and the supporting cast 85 to 96 percent of your book's income?
Simple. Your small cut of the publisher's income may prove far more than you will ever make on your own. And if you are a bestseller, then you will still make far more money with a conventional deal.
If you know you will never be "good enough to be published," and you have no patience to improve your craft, then you hardly have any reason not to be self-published. If you feel your work is so extreme or of such a niche market that no publisher will invest in it, then you, too, will probably want to self-publish. If you feel New York is a pretentious club where everything comes down to a secret handshake, then you'll probably project that attitude in any submission and therefore New York is a waste of your time and theirs.
So, really, the only camp that even needs to struggle with the decision is the hard-working, aspiring midlist writer, one who dreams of a professional career. Going it alone is a hard road to wealth and success. But so is the other way.
These are philosophical debates that each writer must resolve to personal satisfaction, and have no right or wrong answers.
-----
Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the #1 Kindle bestseller in Mystery & Suspense, Disintegration and his new release Crime Beat. Other novels include The Red Church, As I Die Lying, Forever Never Ends, and The Skull Ring. As L.C. Glazebrook, he writes the October Girls series, and with J.R. Rain, he published the urban fantasy Cursed!, as well as story collections, screenplays, and children's books. You can learn more at www.HauntedComputer.com. Sign up for the Inner Circle newsletter and be eligible for great prizes.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Press Release from Solaris Books
Cloneworld by Andy Remic, 3rd March 2011 • £7.99 (UK), ISBN 978-1-906735-57-9, 22nd February 2011 • $7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN), ISBN 978-1-906735-58-6
Also Available as an eBook
The fourth novel in the rock-hard Combat K series!
Junks, an evil alien scourge, are flooding Quad-Gal with terror. Combat K are sent on a mission to find an alien artifact which could win the war all at once.
SLAM-dropped to Cloneworld – a planet ravaged by violent civil war – Combat K get caught in a global conflict between augmented mechanized war machines and genetically-modified humans who have the ability to clone themselves. Combat K must fight their way to victory to save the Four Galaxies.
But how can they possibly succeed, when their main foes are their own elite, deadly clones?
The hardest man in science fiction has done it again! Pippa and Franco, the last surviving members of the gun-toting, sword-swinging, no-holds-barred Combat K squad, are sent down to the war-torn, TV-obsessed planet of Cloneworld, in search of an artifact that may bring peace to the Four Galaxies. They will find pain. They will find betrayal. They will find a seemingly endless supply of CubeSausage, PreCheese and horseradish. But will they find the truth?
“Loud, brash and so in-your-face that it’s actually gone right through and is stood behind you, giving you a good kicking when you least expect it.” – Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review on Biohell
About the Series
Described by the Guardian as “hard-hitting, galaxy-spanning, no-holds-barred, old-fashioned action adventure,” the Combat K novels follow the adventures of three of the toughest, coldest, hardest human beings in the Four Galaxies: Keenan, hard-bitten and cynical mercenary; Pippa, tortured and merciless killer; and Franco, who seems to be able to lose his trousers and locate a pint of Guinness on even the wildest and most dangerous of worlds. Together they make up the elite Combat K squadron, whose usefulness to the Quad-Gal Military machine is matched only by their expendability. They may be the Four Galaxies’ only hope for the future.
Cloneworld is the fourth Combat K book. A fifth book, Theme Planet, is due to explore the Anarchy, a new thread in the same universe, in 2011.
About the Author
When kicked to describe himself, Remic claims to have a love of extreme sports, kickass bikes and happy nurses. Once a member of an elite Combat K squad, he has retired from military service and claims to be a cross between an alcoholic Indiana Jones and a bubbly Lara Croft, only without the breasts. Remic lives in Lincolnshire and likes to think lewdly about zombies.
www.andyremic.com
Loss of Separation by Conrad Williams, 3rd March 2011 • £7.99 (UK)
ISBN 978-1-906735-55-5, 26th April 2011 • $7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN) ISBN 978-1-906735-56-2
A new book from the three-time winner of the British Fantasy Society Award!
Commercial pilot Paul Roan is in command of a Boeing 777 when it is involved in a near miss. Nerves shot, he resigns and re-launches his life running a small hotel in a coastal village with his girlfriend, Tamara.
On the day they move to their new home, Paul is hit by a speeding car. Emerging six months later from a coma, he discovers that Tamara has left him, and the villagers, astonished by his cheating of death, now see him as a talisman. They bring him secrets too awful to deal with themselves. He burns the things they bring him, wishing he could rid himself of his own darkness. He is suffering from terrible dreams of a crippled black airliner screaming through the night, its pitted engines streaked with carbon and blood. He knows that, somehow, this jet – and it’s terrible cargo – is coming for him.
Conrad Williams, winner of the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel and three-time winner of the British Fantasy Society Award, returns with another haunting, darkly atmospheric work.
“Conrad Williams writes dark and powerful prose balancing the poetic and elegant with needle-sharp incision.” – Keith Brooke, The Guardian
About the Author
Conrad Williams was born in Cheshire in 1969. He is the author of three novels, four novellas and a collection of his best short fiction. His most recent book, One, won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel; previous books have earned him the International Horror Guild Award and the Littlewood Arc Prize.
www.conradwilliams.com
Monday, January 10, 2011
Vampires, Wild Cards and Demons
When Wicked Craves
J.K. Beck
Bantam,
ISBN: 9780440245797
Petra Lang can never know the warm touch of another person whether it would be a lover or a friend. A hug is something she should never feel as one touch turns the nicest person into a snarling demonic beast. The Shadow Alliance leadership fears her curse will be used against them as she apparently has caused the prophecy of their deaths to begin. She must die before they die.
Vampire Nicholas Montegue rescues her from death as he needs her to save his friend Serge who she turned. However, her hero is turned into a beast. While the Alliance assassins chase them, the pair goes to his former mentor, an alchemist he betrayed centuries ago as their only hope. When she learns her death will save his friend, she willingly wants to die. However, he can no longer kill the woman he loves but can’t touch.
When J.K. Beck writes a romantic fantasy readers know the tale will prove great as affirmed by When Blood Calls and When Pleasure Rules. Her latest tale is a tense twisting thriller that comes across as a paranormal Gift of the Magi starring an adult Kitty Pryde of X-women fame and a fascinating frustrated hero. Sub-genre fans will crave impatiently for when the next visit to the Beckian universe occurs.
Harriet Klausner
Wild Cards 1
George R.R. Martin (editor)
Tor, $15.99
ISBN: 9780765326157
In 1946, Jetboy begins what looks like a suicide mission to save New York City from the Takisians invasion. The aliens plan to use Manhattan as a mass weapon experiment. He has “Thirty Minutes Over Broadway” (by Howard Waldrop) to prevent the tragedy; he fails.
While most died from the virus, nine percent suffered monstrous body changes and one percent became the super powerful beings – Jokers to some; Aces to others. When the bomb exploded he was a ninth grader who is ironically two decades later the “Sleeper” (by Roger Zelazny) who cannot allow himself to sleep; he has become a Wild Card like a few other survivors who must unite as the Swarm from space is coming to the Omni.
This is the opening tales from one of the great continuous superhero (and villain) anthologies. Ten of the entries were printed in the original first collection in 1987. There are three new contributions that fit nicely into this extremely dark world; in fact expand on the premise, especially the “Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan” by Carrie Vaughn. Although a couple of contributions feel awkward in terms of the overarching theme as if George R.R. Martin was still experimenting with Wild Aces, none of the entries are poorly written. This is a great return to the beginning of the fabulous Wild Cards Universe. Harriet Klausner
Blood Trinity
Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love
Pocket, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439155820
As they have done for centuries, the Belador protect humans from the others like demons. However, the Belador are not a tolerant species as half-breed Evalle Kincaid knows s first hand; being a scorned outsider by those she has lived with all her life. In fact, Evalle knows most of the tribe would prefer her dead or locked away as a half-breed is distrustful worthless trash and she more so as her heritage is unknown.
A demon attacks and claims a young woman. With no one else to blame, the tribe points at Evalle as a convenient scapegoat. Now she must prove her innocence knowing a clans person set her up and betrayed the tribe. At the same time Atlanta burns as rumor flies of an ancient powerful magical artifact surfacing. While her former tribe mates chase her in the underground of Atlanta, Evalle must prevent the day of reckoning that will begin the end of days for humans and Beladorans if demons obtains the magical stone before she possesses it and finds someplace safe to leave it.
The opening to the world of Belador is an exhilarating romantic urban (and rural) fantasy that makes this new realm seem real especially the interweaving in Utah and Atlanta. The story line contains several subplots that come together into a delightful cohesive tale though at times can be slowed down with the depth of this realm created by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love. Still with a strong cast especially the beleaguered outcast who has to save the world before she can save herself, fans will enjoy this terrific saga. Harriet Klausner
J.K. Beck
Bantam,
ISBN: 9780440245797
Petra Lang can never know the warm touch of another person whether it would be a lover or a friend. A hug is something she should never feel as one touch turns the nicest person into a snarling demonic beast. The Shadow Alliance leadership fears her curse will be used against them as she apparently has caused the prophecy of their deaths to begin. She must die before they die.
Vampire Nicholas Montegue rescues her from death as he needs her to save his friend Serge who she turned. However, her hero is turned into a beast. While the Alliance assassins chase them, the pair goes to his former mentor, an alchemist he betrayed centuries ago as their only hope. When she learns her death will save his friend, she willingly wants to die. However, he can no longer kill the woman he loves but can’t touch.
When J.K. Beck writes a romantic fantasy readers know the tale will prove great as affirmed by When Blood Calls and When Pleasure Rules. Her latest tale is a tense twisting thriller that comes across as a paranormal Gift of the Magi starring an adult Kitty Pryde of X-women fame and a fascinating frustrated hero. Sub-genre fans will crave impatiently for when the next visit to the Beckian universe occurs.
Harriet Klausner
Wild Cards 1
George R.R. Martin (editor)
Tor, $15.99
ISBN: 9780765326157
In 1946, Jetboy begins what looks like a suicide mission to save New York City from the Takisians invasion. The aliens plan to use Manhattan as a mass weapon experiment. He has “Thirty Minutes Over Broadway” (by Howard Waldrop) to prevent the tragedy; he fails.
While most died from the virus, nine percent suffered monstrous body changes and one percent became the super powerful beings – Jokers to some; Aces to others. When the bomb exploded he was a ninth grader who is ironically two decades later the “Sleeper” (by Roger Zelazny) who cannot allow himself to sleep; he has become a Wild Card like a few other survivors who must unite as the Swarm from space is coming to the Omni.
This is the opening tales from one of the great continuous superhero (and villain) anthologies. Ten of the entries were printed in the original first collection in 1987. There are three new contributions that fit nicely into this extremely dark world; in fact expand on the premise, especially the “Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan” by Carrie Vaughn. Although a couple of contributions feel awkward in terms of the overarching theme as if George R.R. Martin was still experimenting with Wild Aces, none of the entries are poorly written. This is a great return to the beginning of the fabulous Wild Cards Universe. Harriet Klausner
Blood Trinity
Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love
Pocket, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439155820
As they have done for centuries, the Belador protect humans from the others like demons. However, the Belador are not a tolerant species as half-breed Evalle Kincaid knows s first hand; being a scorned outsider by those she has lived with all her life. In fact, Evalle knows most of the tribe would prefer her dead or locked away as a half-breed is distrustful worthless trash and she more so as her heritage is unknown.
A demon attacks and claims a young woman. With no one else to blame, the tribe points at Evalle as a convenient scapegoat. Now she must prove her innocence knowing a clans person set her up and betrayed the tribe. At the same time Atlanta burns as rumor flies of an ancient powerful magical artifact surfacing. While her former tribe mates chase her in the underground of Atlanta, Evalle must prevent the day of reckoning that will begin the end of days for humans and Beladorans if demons obtains the magical stone before she possesses it and finds someplace safe to leave it.
The opening to the world of Belador is an exhilarating romantic urban (and rural) fantasy that makes this new realm seem real especially the interweaving in Utah and Atlanta. The story line contains several subplots that come together into a delightful cohesive tale though at times can be slowed down with the depth of this realm created by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love. Still with a strong cast especially the beleaguered outcast who has to save the world before she can save herself, fans will enjoy this terrific saga. Harriet Klausner
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Tuscon
I've got a perfect day to read, but I'm sitting here watching the actions and reactions to the assassination attempt/massacre that took place yesterday in Tucson.
It is something that shows that there is evil in the world and that no one is safe from unbalanced individuals. I'm one who believes that gun control means hitting your target, but it is necessary to make sure that those who purchase guns go through a stronger background check and need a permit to carry.
My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families. It is also a time to pray for our nation as we go through very trying times.
It is something that shows that there is evil in the world and that no one is safe from unbalanced individuals. I'm one who believes that gun control means hitting your target, but it is necessary to make sure that those who purchase guns go through a stronger background check and need a permit to carry.
My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families. It is also a time to pray for our nation as we go through very trying times.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Interesting Titles
The Fat Man: A Tale of North Pole Noir
Ken Harmon
Dutton, $19.95
ISBN: 9780525951957
For thirteen centuries Gumdrop Coal the elf has worked diligently and loyally in support of his employer, affectionately known by his subordinates as The Fat Man and by children everywhere as Santa Claus. An original, Gumdrop is highly regarded amongst his peers for creating the Naughty List of children who were not nice so receive a lump of coal instead of a toy in their stockings. In fact he became Captain of the Coal patrol elf unit.
Maybe he delivered one coal to many, had too many artificial sweetened cookies or placed too many nasty kids on the Naughty List though all deserved their placement as an advocate of kick-butt tough love, but Gumdrop is fired from his job. He is irate and fuming insisting no one treats Gumdrop like this. The twenty-seven inch elf turns into a renegade to teach parents to raise their children to remain off the Naughty List. However, his descent into the inferno of hell has not bottomed out yet as a parent is shot to death by a Red Ryder BB Gun that contains Gumdrop’s prints. Realizing he is the victim of a diabolical frame, Gumdrop turns vigilante seeking to uncover who in the North Pole communities set him up and why.
This is fun heartwarming holiday Noir starring a tough tiny thug while part of the enjoyment is the allusions to famous Yuletide movies and books. However, it is Gumdrop the rogue elf who makes this a terrific worthy addition to the Christmas repertoire with his nourish investigation into who set him up to take the fall from the front of the sleigh as the top aide to the Fat Man to exile from the North Pole.
Harriet Klausner
Version 43
Philip Palmer
Orbit, $14.99
ISBN: 9780316018944
Quantum Theory of Everything changed everything yet changed nothing. The theory led to advances like quantum teleportation whose odds of surviving with all your neutrinos intact and no additions on the ride has been calculated based on empirical data at less than half. Only the desperate or insane voluntarily take that escape route though selected criminals are volunteered by the government.
The planet Belladonna has become the receiving end of the quantum teleportation. The residents are criminally insane or just totally insane. Although the off planet powers normally ignore the human junkyard, the Galactic Police has been notified by Bompasso city Sheriff Heath of a horrific mass killing involving two males and three females as one of the victims is his son Alexander, a clean doctor at City Hospital. Though he knows he is the so called law of this Lawless City, Heath the father demands justice so he needs outside help to catch the SOB murderer. The Galactic Force sends cyborg cop Version 43 to investigate who killed Heath the son, the man’s girlfriend Dr. Fliss Hooper, Andrei Pavlovsky, Jada Brown and Sara Limer. The starting point is City Hospital where Version 43 opens his inquiry with an interrogation of Macawley, an intimate friend of Hooper. Meanwhile several of the local crazies knew the cyborg when he was 100% human and wanted him dead then.
Although Einstein argued about playing craps with the universe, he would have appreciated this strong intelligent science fiction police procedural with a vivid look at a planet used as a dump for exiled humans. Version 43 still makes the tale work with his noir behavior while investigating the mass murders; he proves a cyborg is the perfect cool hand Luke noir detective whether he visits City Hospital, the hologram morgue or the “ballad of Parliament Square. Harriet Klausner
Shotgun Sorceress
Lucy A. Snyder
Del Rey, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345512109
Mage Jessie Shimmer went to hell and back, but succeeded on her quest to return with boyfriend Cooper Marron and his younger brothers (see Spellbent). However, the cost was exorbitant with the visible being the loss of an eye and a hand. However the invisible price is stratospherically higher for the sorceress who killed a Virtus untouchable spirit lord while in Hades; as even making love turns her abode into an inferno, almost like a barbeque pit, as she has come back possessing fire magic.
Jessie expects the Virtus Regnum to assault her as this beast cannot ignore whet she did. However, Miko the mighty has come to Texas to deal with Jessie. Almost upon arrival, Miko creates a giant bubble that engulfs the town and traps Jessie, Cooper, his brother and her spider familiar inside along with the innocent residents of Cuchillo. Step two in Miko’s scheme is changing the natives into zombies. Hell, she needs to challenge Miko if she and the others are to survive.
The second dark Shimmer suburb fantasy is a fabulous entry as everyone will believe in Snyder’s Spellbent due to the cast. Opportunity costs are incredibly laid out as choosing one has second and third order effects on not just the decision-maker. With a strong mentally disturbed cast that runs the gamut of the otherworldly pantheon, sub-genre fans will want to read the gory Shotgun Sorceress. Harriet Klausner
Ken Harmon
Dutton, $19.95
ISBN: 9780525951957
For thirteen centuries Gumdrop Coal the elf has worked diligently and loyally in support of his employer, affectionately known by his subordinates as The Fat Man and by children everywhere as Santa Claus. An original, Gumdrop is highly regarded amongst his peers for creating the Naughty List of children who were not nice so receive a lump of coal instead of a toy in their stockings. In fact he became Captain of the Coal patrol elf unit.
Maybe he delivered one coal to many, had too many artificial sweetened cookies or placed too many nasty kids on the Naughty List though all deserved their placement as an advocate of kick-butt tough love, but Gumdrop is fired from his job. He is irate and fuming insisting no one treats Gumdrop like this. The twenty-seven inch elf turns into a renegade to teach parents to raise their children to remain off the Naughty List. However, his descent into the inferno of hell has not bottomed out yet as a parent is shot to death by a Red Ryder BB Gun that contains Gumdrop’s prints. Realizing he is the victim of a diabolical frame, Gumdrop turns vigilante seeking to uncover who in the North Pole communities set him up and why.
This is fun heartwarming holiday Noir starring a tough tiny thug while part of the enjoyment is the allusions to famous Yuletide movies and books. However, it is Gumdrop the rogue elf who makes this a terrific worthy addition to the Christmas repertoire with his nourish investigation into who set him up to take the fall from the front of the sleigh as the top aide to the Fat Man to exile from the North Pole.
Harriet Klausner
Version 43
Philip Palmer
Orbit, $14.99
ISBN: 9780316018944
Quantum Theory of Everything changed everything yet changed nothing. The theory led to advances like quantum teleportation whose odds of surviving with all your neutrinos intact and no additions on the ride has been calculated based on empirical data at less than half. Only the desperate or insane voluntarily take that escape route though selected criminals are volunteered by the government.
The planet Belladonna has become the receiving end of the quantum teleportation. The residents are criminally insane or just totally insane. Although the off planet powers normally ignore the human junkyard, the Galactic Police has been notified by Bompasso city Sheriff Heath of a horrific mass killing involving two males and three females as one of the victims is his son Alexander, a clean doctor at City Hospital. Though he knows he is the so called law of this Lawless City, Heath the father demands justice so he needs outside help to catch the SOB murderer. The Galactic Force sends cyborg cop Version 43 to investigate who killed Heath the son, the man’s girlfriend Dr. Fliss Hooper, Andrei Pavlovsky, Jada Brown and Sara Limer. The starting point is City Hospital where Version 43 opens his inquiry with an interrogation of Macawley, an intimate friend of Hooper. Meanwhile several of the local crazies knew the cyborg when he was 100% human and wanted him dead then.
Although Einstein argued about playing craps with the universe, he would have appreciated this strong intelligent science fiction police procedural with a vivid look at a planet used as a dump for exiled humans. Version 43 still makes the tale work with his noir behavior while investigating the mass murders; he proves a cyborg is the perfect cool hand Luke noir detective whether he visits City Hospital, the hologram morgue or the “ballad of Parliament Square. Harriet Klausner
Shotgun Sorceress
Lucy A. Snyder
Del Rey, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345512109
Mage Jessie Shimmer went to hell and back, but succeeded on her quest to return with boyfriend Cooper Marron and his younger brothers (see Spellbent). However, the cost was exorbitant with the visible being the loss of an eye and a hand. However the invisible price is stratospherically higher for the sorceress who killed a Virtus untouchable spirit lord while in Hades; as even making love turns her abode into an inferno, almost like a barbeque pit, as she has come back possessing fire magic.
Jessie expects the Virtus Regnum to assault her as this beast cannot ignore whet she did. However, Miko the mighty has come to Texas to deal with Jessie. Almost upon arrival, Miko creates a giant bubble that engulfs the town and traps Jessie, Cooper, his brother and her spider familiar inside along with the innocent residents of Cuchillo. Step two in Miko’s scheme is changing the natives into zombies. Hell, she needs to challenge Miko if she and the others are to survive.
The second dark Shimmer suburb fantasy is a fabulous entry as everyone will believe in Snyder’s Spellbent due to the cast. Opportunity costs are incredibly laid out as choosing one has second and third order effects on not just the decision-maker. With a strong mentally disturbed cast that runs the gamut of the otherworldly pantheon, sub-genre fans will want to read the gory Shotgun Sorceress. Harriet Klausner
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