Nancy Holzner: Rust City Featured Author

Welcome to your introduction to some of the fantastic authors who will be joining us at the conference, only one week away now! Today I'm showcasing
NANCY HOLZNER

Hi Nancy! Want to tell us a little bit about your work?

Sure! I'm the author of the Deadtown urban fantasy series, featuring shapeshifter Victory Vaughn. As Boston's only professional demon exterminator, Vicky kills other people's personal demons while trying to maintain a relationship with her workaholic werewolf lawyer boyfriend and manage a teenage zombie apprentice. There are currently five books in the series: Deadtown, Hellforged, Bloodstone, Darklands, and Hellhound. The sixth and final book, Firestorm, will be out next year.

That's awesome, Nancy! I read the first two and liked them very much; clearly I need to get caught up! For now though, on to RustCity!

1. Fill in the blank: "I used to be really good at downhill skiing , but these days I'm pretty rusty." I did a little skiing years ago myself, although I would have to say "downhill skiing on beginner runs only." The one time I attempted a blue run, I gave up part way down and slid down on my butt holding my skis...

2. Eminem or Aretha? Explain.  No one has a voice like Aretha.  This truth we hold to be self-evident...

3. Choose One:
Vernors
Faygo
I'm confused. And not from around here.
All will become clear at the conference...

4. What are you looking forward to most at the RustCity conference? Hanging out with readers and other authors. Excellent, because that's the whole point!

5. What is an off-the-cuff association you have with Michigan, Detroit, or Troy? Wayne State, where my dad went to grad school (not quite) a million years ago. Your dad and my husband are fellow alumni, then!

6. Your latest work of fiction features a wealthy industrialist and an R&B singer. What's the first sentence?    
So this girl walked into the bar--not just any bar, MY bar. And not just any girl, either.

What's it about?  
No clue except she's the wealthy industrialist and he's the R&B singer.  I like the Casablanca nod!

7. And finally, would you like to participate in the Alpha Heroes Five Words Fiction Game? Yes please!

Yay!!  You chose to work on Alchemy Rusts, our paranormal, anything-goes story.  And I'm so excited because this will be the THRILLING CONCLUSION to a pretty amazing story. Your challenge words are:  sliver, onyx, morbid, lush, and taste

Part 1, by Laura Bickle
Part 2, by Calandra Usher
Part 3, by AJ Norris
Part 4, by Roselynn Cannes
Part 5: by Gina Conkle

It was the shivering that woke her.

Cold . . . how could she be so cold? Her joints ached with it. It felt like splinters of ice were jammed up under her nails, into her eyes and nose and ears. She was an iceberg floating in a vast, dark, frozen sea.

Mara struggled to open her eyes, but her lashes were frozen shut. She lifted her arm—there was a sound like glass breaking as she pulled free of ice—and rubbed her eyes. Her fingers, stiff with cold, were just warm enough to melt the crystals that sealed them shut.

Mara opened her eyes to the end of the world.

A blizzard raged around her. Tiny silver flakes, sharp as razors, sliced at her skin. She sat up, and silvery ice cracked and flaked away. All was silent until she dug the ice from her ears, unleashing sounds of howling wind and screeching cries. Above it all, Ayla chanted in a language Mara didn’t understand.

The mermaid queen held the astrolabe aloft. The orb shone like the north star as it spewed the metallic snowflakes that filled the room.

The liquid that had spilled from the mermaid tank and lifted Mara up was slowly freezing. It stuck to her like quicksand, drawing her in. She panicked, thrashing, only to get pulled in deeper. The thick liquid splashed into her mouth, coating her tongue with a metallic taste. The taste of death by freezing.

Stop thrashing! she told herself. She closed her mouth. Her body retained barely enough heat to melt the ice from her tongue. She spat it out, and the globule froze in mid-air.

A dark form flew over her head. It hovered over Izyk’s frozen body. The Others were clustered there. As Mara watched in horror, a ring of smoke left Izyk’s mouth, only to be inhaled by one of the waiting ghouls. The Others were stealing his breath. They were sucking out the life force that Spike had tried to restore.

“No!” Mara screamed. She struggled to break free of the ice that held her. But each movement trapped her more firmly. The ice thickened.

Ayla stopped chanting. Her eyes, hard and dark as onyx, fixed on Mara. “Where is the bladeless sword? Give it to me, and I’ll let Izyk live.”

To Mara’s right, an Other inhaled another ring of smoke. Izyk lay motionless, his body encased in ice, his skin tinged with blue.

“Give me the sword!” Ayla screeched. “The time for the ritual is now!” She threw aside the astrolabe and picked up something else. A block of ice. Frozen in its center was Spike. The little dragon glowed orange, but its heat was no match for the unnatural cold of the mermaid queen’s ice. As Mara watched, the orange faded. The tip of Spike’s tail turned hard and clear. Orange flared again, but dimmer. More of the tail glittered, hard and white and cold. Ayla was turning the dragon into a diamond.

“It is the only creature that can give me what I need,” Ayla said. “A sword forged not in fire but in ice. With it, I will expand my realm throughout the half world—and beyond! Where is that sword?”

“You’ll never get it!”

“Then your lover shall die!”

A cloud of Others hovered over Izyk. Could Mara sacrifice him to save the world? But what kind of world would it be if Ayla won? A hard, glittering world of ice and snow, without the lush green forests created by Izyk and his kind. Mara couldn’t let that happen. But neither could she imagine a world without Izyk, his deep laugh, his cool blue eyes, his strong, graceful body that took her breath away.

Maybe there was a way she could save him and the world. But did she dare?

Mara shifted slightly, resting her free hand on her hip.

“There!” Ayla shrieked. She’d seen the movement. “The human has the sword. It’s on her hip, under that ridiculous cloak. Get it!”

The Others remained where they were. Mara prayed that Izyk still held on to some shred of his life force.

“Leave him!” Ayla commanded. “Remember our agreement!” She set Spike on a shelf and picked up the astrolabe, twisting its knobs. The Others jerked upright and stood at attention. “Bring me the sword!”

Mara shut her eyes as the Others descended upon her. Smokelike hands searched her body, pushing her down into the ice. Their touch was the feeling of creeping dread. Then, with a cry of triumph, one of them wrested away the sword. The Others withdrew as they carried the sword to Ayla.

“Good.” The mermaid’s voice was slick with satisfaction. “You may have her.”

Mara opened her eyes to see a dark cloud above her. Faces formed—leering, hungry—and dissolved back into the mist. She was frozen in place, only her face above the ice. All she could move was her eyes, allowing her to just barely see Ayla in the periphery. The mermaid had set down the astrolabe and was reaching for Spike. The poor dragon had almost completely transformed into a diamond. Spike had given up fighting. There was no more orange glow, only a pale yellow at the creature’s heart and the tip of its snout.

Mara had to do it now—or all was lost. She opened her mouth.

One of the Others swooped toward her, and Mara felt like her lungs were being ripped out of her chest. A ring of smoke puffed out of her mouth. The Other gobbled it up.

Mara’s mouth snapped shut. She need to speak. But how could she if the Others were eating her breath?

There was a word. A word of power. A word so dangerous that the book warned never, ever to say it aloud. Mara had stared at it when Spike was stuck to her hand but that warning had kept her lips sealed. Whatever the word did, she needed to say it now. If she even remembered it.

Ghostly fingers probed at her mouth, trying to pry it open. Mara tensed. She visualized the page. The word formed in her mind. She could feel its power. She let the power gather.

She opened her mouth and bellowed the word.

It blasted through the Others, scattering them.

It shattered the cube of ice that imprisoned Spike. Color rushed into the diamantine body—orange, then red. Spike burst into flames. Spike became fire. Ayla tried to drop the dragon. She tried to hurl it away. She tried to shake it off her hand. But Spike was clamped firmly to her palm. Fire spread up Ayla’s arm. Her hair was in flames. Her flesh melted. The water of her aquarium boiled as she disintegrated into it. Her last cry faded in the smoky air.

Ayla was gone. But the flames kept spreading.

Wisps of dark mist flared and fell to ash as the Others were burned up. The ice holding Mara melted. She ducked under the water as fire shot across the surface. But the water was growing hot. And she had to breathe.

What had she done? Mara had stopped Ayla, but she’d tilted the world too far in the other direction. A world of fire was no better than a world of ice.

Now she had just one choice left: Death by drowning or by being burned to cinders.

Mara’s lungs screamed for air. She couldn’t drown. Maybe the fire would be quicker.

As her head broke the water, a deep voice boomed out a word. Mara had no clue what it meant, but she could feel its power. It thrummed with an energy that shook her to her bones.

The flames extinguished. When the smoke cleared, the first thing she saw was Spike, its silvery scales shining as it sat on the rim of a cracked aquarium and preened. The dragon hiccupped, and a little belch of flame shot from its mouth. But it didn’t spread.

The second thing Mara saw was a pair of ice-blue eyes, sparkling with life and a touch of amusement. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to never, ever say that word?”

Izyk. He was alive.

And so, for that matter, was she.

“What else could I have done? I thought Ayla would let those Others kill you.” Not to mention freeze the entire world.

“Don’t be so morbid,” Izyk laughed. “I don’t kill that easily.” His expression darkened. “Ayla was evil. She froze the North Woods and was holding some of my people captive there. She forced me to tell you to bring the astrolabe. I had no choice, but I thought if I was rude to you when you called, you might stay away. I was trying to protect you.”

Oh, Izyk, Mara thought, as if anything could make me stay away from you. “I was ready to smack you,” she admitted.

Izyk laughed again and pulled her into his arms. She rested her cheek against his strong, muscled chest. She felt warm here, and safe.

“You do understand, though, how dangerous it was to speak that word.” His words held no hint of reprimand.

“I know. It upset the balance. And I didn’t know how to restore it.”

“I think you need some lessons in alchemy. Advanced alchemy. Your spellcraft is powerful, but you need to refine your control.”

Mara smiled up at him. “I agree. Know any good teachers?”

Spike hiccupped again. But the dragon’s burst of flame wasn’t half as hot as the kiss that consumed them.

Thanks for featuring me on Alpha Heroes. I look forward to seeing you at RustCity!  In the meantime, readers can find me around the web at these locations:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+

It was so great having you Nancy! and I love love love what you did with this story!  What a ride!  Thanks so much!

=====================================  

Reader Registration is still open for #RustCity16!

Be sure to keep up with all things Rust City 2016, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook |Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Instagram | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

Jacqueline Carey Tidbit

So, while I was at the RT con last week, I overheard a name that my brain just went *POUNCE* for: Jacqueline Carey.  I have no idea who said it or even where I was when I heard it.  (Maybe in one of the many lines?  Maybe in the bar?).  It was literally one of those things that seems to float through the ether with no discernible source:

"She's working on something new.  She's done with Kushiel.  I hear it's much lighter and more playful."

WOW.  What a freaking tease, right?  I am subscribed to Carey's FaceBook page, where there's a lot going on, and I checked her website, but there were no hints.

So I decided to right to the source, and I was delighted to hear back the same day via email:

It's good to know people are talking! :) I do have a new project coming out this fall -- it's an urban fantasy series called Agent of Hel, and the first volume is "Dark Currents." I'll post the description below. I'm calling it a blend of wonder, whimsy and creepiness!

Dark Currents is set in a small Midwestern resort town where paranormal tourism is a booming business. Daisy Johanssen, an incubus’ daughter raised by a loving single mom, is the liaison between the eldritch community and mundane authorities. Most of the time that doesn’t entail anything more challenging than retrieving stolen goods from a puckish pickpocket or tracking down a tourist led astray by a will-o’-the-wisp, but when a young man drowns in an apparent accident that’s not what it seems, Daisy’s job turns deadly earnest.

I love the sound of that!  Dark Currents is available for pre-order at Amazon, but at this point, we apparently know more than they do, since there is no description there.

Ms. Carey, thanks so much for the scoop!

ps, I really enjoyed the sequel to Santa Olivia, called Saints Astray, released last November. I mean, how do you not love a book with werewolves, rock stars, a Vegas kidnapping, diplomatic immunity, and, well, a small revolution?  Plus, Charlie's Angels cover.  Excellent!









Photo credit:  I stole the author picture from Ciara, without permission (!), because it's an event that I was at and I'm impatient.  :-)  Ciara, if you are not happy with that I'm happy to take it down and use a stock photo.

Waking the Witch, by Kelley Armstrong – Review

Rolling the Dice
It’s always a gamble to review a book that’s farther along in a series than you’ve read. If you don't like, is it because of the book, or because you don't have enough background?  If you DO like it, maybe you would've LOVED it if you'd read the whole series.

On the other hand, some series are just so far along that I have to give myself permission to skip around a bit in order to enjoy a book while it's current.

Anyway, all that is to preface the fact that I picked up Waking the Witch , book # eleven in the series, when I’d only read previously read Bitten. I liked it so much though, that I was willing to take the gamble.

Note:-- Small spoiler for Stolen
The first thing that struck me about WTW is the YA feel of the book. A lighter, quicker read than I normally see from Armstrong; I feel like WTW is informed by her recent YA series. The sexual tension that was such a strong point in Bitten was largely absent here – there are elements of love interests but they were definitely more of a PG-13 rating. Savannah is young, only 21, has a chip on her shoulder and something to prove to her foster parents.  Her inner dialog and attitude read pretty young to me; for example:

The lights were on and a car was in the drive. I figured it was a bad idea to cut across the lawn, so I took the walkway to the porch, rang the bell, and waited very patiently for at least a minute before knocking. No one answered.

I left a card in the door, asking to meet for coffee--my treat-- at her convenience. You couldn't get any more considerate and respectful than that. At least, I couldn't."

Doesn't that last little zinger sound teenager-y to you?  Spoilerish comment: Faithful, in-order-reading series fans met Savannah way back in “Stolen,” where she’d been kidnapped and her mother killed by that book’s villains. (Her foster mother, Paige, is likewise introduced in that book and both of them feature in Dime Store Magic, novel #3 in the series--it's a spoiler because now you know that both of them get out alive).

Armstrong’s series is not really like most UF or PNR series. Some of the stories are romance-like, and some are not. Rather than feature the same hero or heroine through the entire series arc, OR a different couple for each book that are related in some way, the Women of the Underworld series hops around from one narrator to another, spending two books with Elena, then several with Paige, and so on.  ( I’m not sure if this is a strength or a weakness but it kind of keeps you on your toes as a reader.) There are cameo appearances by a number of series characters, which, while they are undoubtedly more fun for the up-to-date fan, were still enjoyable and colorful if you’re reading out of order or stand-alone.

The story opens with a prologue from the point of view of a minor character. I have to say I was confused, and I don’t think it had anything to do with jumping around in the series. The story is basically a  murder mystery, and it took me two or three chapters to figure out that the prologue was referencing three murders and not two. It’s always possible that I’m just dense though.

Once the story gets rolling, it’s very engaging, with good characters, a twisty plot, and well-done, consistent paranormal element. Armstrong is a total pro at effortless prose.

There are kind of three different things that happen at the end that all push my reaction in different ways. Without spoiling, I’ll say that the whodunit part was near-perfect – it was a super-twist that I didn’t see coming, and yet I had that “OF COURSE!” feeling once I got to the reveal – like if the story had gone on for one more paragraph I would’ve figured it out myself.

The second bit didn’t thrill me, in that she gets into some pretty serious physical trouble from the villain but it gets rather hand-waved away. Perhaps the scene where this was resolved got edited down too much, I don’t know.

Then there’s this little epilogue that is more of a setup for the next story (or the next story for Savannah, anyway) that was a MAJOR cliffhanger; one of those game-changing twists that makes your jaw fall open. In a good way, but an IMPATIENT way, if you know what I mean.

Bottom line:
All up, a quick read, a bit of an almost-YA murder mystery with a side serving of paranormal/UF. Well done, but possibly not exactly what Armstrong fans are expecting from the Underworld series.

Disclaimer:  This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Tsunami Blue, by Gayle Williams - Review

Ripped from the Headlines
I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "tsunami," my head goes to one place immediately-- the devastating southeast Asian tsunami that hit Indonesia the day after Christmas of 2004.

(The second place my head goes is to that surfer-dude episode of Gilligan's Island, which is, I think, where I first encountered the word... what can I say, I'm a child of the 70's).

The plot of Tsunami Blue is reminiscent of Kevin Costner's cinematic flop Waterworld from 1995: the sealevel has risen so that coastal cities are submerged, governments are in chaos, and marauding pirate gangs rule the waters.

Good Stuff
I quite liked Blue's character. Her wistfulness and loneliness come through sharply and the author does a good job of making us understand the level of danger she lives with. It's scary stuff. I also liked the "Tokyo Rose" inspiration, and the idea that Blue is a voice out in the world, bouncing off the moon.

Unlike lots of current popular fiction, the narration in this story is very consistently from Blue's point of view, which leads to uncertainty around the hero's actions and motivations. I think this worked very well for this story-- it really served to keep the reader's emotions and reactions aligned with Blue's. The voicing is strong, steady and appealing-- a big asset for the story.

World-building-- a bit uneven
Generally I like the premise, but the details don't always hold up (as Ciara astutely points out). As a Midwesterner (albeit transplanted) I couldn't help but wonder what was going on further inland. I'm no meteorologist, but as far as I know, tsunamis wouldn't cause a permanent change in the sea level (although of course they can certainly wreck coastal areas), nor would they cause much commotion for say, Iowa or Nevada. Washington DC and NYC might be wiped out but it seems to me that there would be enough government and naval remnants in the world to prevent the wholesale chaos that Williams portrays.

Now, that might be different if, as it says on the blurb (but not, I don't think, in the book) that the world has been transformed to a series of islands. But Williams doesn't give me enough of an event to really believe that. It may be that the details were in there and I skimmed over them, but I spent probably 3/4s of the book assuming that the continental interiors should be mostly intact. I'm still not really sure why they wouldn't be.

The Romance

Here again, I'm going to use the word "uneven." I think all the right ingredients are here, but it didn't quite gel for me. Blue is portrayed as both naive (from her isolation) and street-tough (from her time with her uncle) and somehow they both worked against her feelings for the hero. She distrusts him, but not quite enough... and then when she falls for him, it's also not quite enough-- for me, anyway.

One Other Completely Random Point
Blue is a pretty young character. And the cover model looks very young. My ten-year-old was dying to read it based on the pretty cover and the blurb. In some ways this book seemed like it was struggling to be a YA romance --if it weren't for the graphicness of the violent bits I would've been pretty much OK with handing it over to her.

Reena, linked below, had a similar comment:

Right off the back, I loved the voice—slightly insane, but fully aware. I’m not surprised Dorchester scooped Ms. Williams up. It was also youthful, repetitious at times (you know how young folks are), but done in a way which added flavor to Blue.

Bottom Line
Despite some technical flaws, the storytelling is excellent--I think Gayle Ann Williams is an author to watch. There will be a second book in the "Blue" world, with different characters, due in March of 2011, and I will be checking it out.

Bonus Material
The author has this to say in an article about what inspires her:

On Christmas night, in 2004 I boarded a plane out of Seattle and flew right into the Southeast Asian Tsunami. In the air when the deadly wave hit, I knew that if I had arrived earlier, I might have been a statistic. As I traveled around the region, I listened and observed, hugged and cried, and all along, the writer in me asked, what if?

As I continued to travel in the region over the next few months, I encountered a great deal of sadness. But also, something else. The resilience of the human spirit surfaced and with it, hope. Hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better future. I did not know this at the time, but this experience, this life changing adventure, would become the foundation for TSUNAMI BLUE.

Author website: Gayle Ann Williams

Around the Blogosphere
Check out Caffey's Giveaway
Tez Says
Bitten By Books
Katiebabs
Smexy Books
Reena's Blog

There are lots more, because I am super-late in posting this review. Pub date was ages ago-- April, I think. But... better late than never.

Mind Games, by Carolyn Crane - Review

Not Your Average Heroine
OMG, how much do I love Justine? She could not be more different from the popular crop of UF heroines. She is not outwardly confident and poised while nursing deeply-hidden insecurities. No, she's outwardly a mess, with a neurosis bordering on mental illness, and the book starts her down the path of discovering her deeply-hidden strengths.

Bottom Line
Despite a couple minor nitpicks, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend that fans of UF and psychological thrillers give it a try.

The Deets
I suppose this is the point where I should give you the summary or a blurb or something, but since I'm the last person in RomLand to review this, I'll just link to it. Mind Games Blurb.

Justine's EveryWoman qualities make it easy to connect with her. I enjoyed her preoccupation with fashion, understood her longing for a "normal" life -- though I have to say that when the significant other is named "Cubby," I know instantly that there isn't a chance in hell he's going to work out long term. One thing that I enjoy about UF versus genre romance is that the relationships are more ambiguous and uncertain, just like real life, even if hardly anything else in the story is like real life.

Justine is not super-woman, she doesn't carry a katana* or a stiletto in a spring-loaded forearm holster; she's not a black belt in anything. She's not going to be literally kicking any asses any time soon. Rather, she plays on the bad guys' emotional and intellectual weaknesses, and when it comes to the battle of wits, she's definitely a superhero.

Here, she's in as much physical danger as it gets -- she's tied to the bed of a serial-killer whose turn-ons include 1950s card games, custom hypodermic cocktails and dress up games (it occurs to me that You Suck at Craigslist might be an excellent source of inspiration for non-sympathetic characters...). There's really no chance that she can manage any kind of getaway in a physical confrontation, but she keeps her cool and talks the guy into a fit of paranoia, playing him like a violin. She needs to touch his body, anywhere, preferably with her hand to hit him with a psychic "zing." Here's how she manages it:

"I would have you lie down and relax your muscles, and I'd need one hand free to poke specific reflex points on the balls of your feet."

"You just want me to untie you."

I look at him like he's crazy-- a look I perfected in high school.

Can't you just see that? I used that look a lot too. I love that she's talking to this psycho killer like he's that annoying pimply kid who hangs around you in that one class, never actually asking you out or anything, just hanging around with that slightly pathetic hopefulness...

"One hand. What do you think I'd do? Honestly, one hand? I can barely focus thanks to your drugs, and you have the knife. But fine. Why should I give a crap? I'm sure you'll get your diagnosis soon enough."

Minutes later he's lying in bed next to me, the opposite way, angled so his head is at the far corner and his feet are near my shoulders. Three of my limbs are still attached to the bed frme, but I have a hand, and that's all I need.

The other big thing to love about Mind Games is that the plotting is twisted and tight; no one is exactly who they seem to be; and there are no loose ends disguised as sequel-baiting -- there is a sequel, but the reason you want to read it is because this book ends with the "end of an era," and poised on the brink of a new one. (Can't wait to see how the new partnership works out!). It's a rare author that can combine kooky and funny with dark psychological thrills, but that's exactly what you get with Mind Games.

I will say that there were a couple things that didn't work perfectly for me. Justine is infatuated with the character of the police chief, and... I wasn't. I don't know if this is just a case of chemistry between me and a character (ie, none) or if the author just didn't adequately convince me of his allure. If this had been a romance, I think it would've been a disaster for my enjoyment, but fortunately I was able to roll with it, the way you do when your best friend or sister falls head over heels with a nitwit.

The other bit I struggled with a little is the world-building. The "high-caps" - folks with over-developed, relatively familiar psychic abilities like telekinesis - was believable enough. However, the really interesting premise of Crane's trilogy is the idea that the disillusionists can "zing" their negative mental energy/anxiety into other people. I struggled with that a little bit more. Although the narrative mentioned months of training, the way Packard taught her how to "zing" seemed a bit too easy to me. And Packard's claim that only he could tell the disillusionists (the hit squad that he has trained) who is safe to "zing," was too readily accepted.

Why, oh why, the present tense? I get it for a time travel book; but I didn't see a reason that this story needed to be in present tense. Normally I find this VERY distracting and aggravating. However, the chatty, intimate voicing made the whole book seem like something your best girlfriend might relate to you over a pitcher of margaritas and it ended up being OK. I tend to think it would've worked just as well in a traditional past tense, but I guess an author has to roll with how it sounds in her head.

I think my favorite bit is near the end, and I can't give you the full context without it being spoilery, but in essence, Justine starts apologizing for [stuff that led to the story's showdown] and [characterx] tells her, "It's so amusing ... [snip] ...How little you see of your own integrity..."

And that's really what makes Justine a heroine rather than a pawn between the other players in this game.

_______________
Edited to add: OOPS, I knew that was a good line. I sort of accidentally stole it. Dirty Sexy Books review.

Blood of the Demon, by Diana Rowland - Review

Short Answer: Liked it a lot, will continue reading the series.

The Choice
Jackie is quite the taskmaster. I'm glad for the February challenge though; it helped me get back to more discipline about getting my reviews onto the blog. I've been a little lazy lately and hesitant to "make" myself blog -- once this starts feeling like a chore for me, I'm afraid that will be the end of Alpha Heroes, and nobody wants that!

So anyway, I have my eye on a certain ARC or two being offered in the prize package for this challenge, so I'm motivated. I hit Borders yesterday morning, looking for the first book in the Anton Strout series. However, they didn't have it. Diana Rowland's latest release caught my eye, but it's not the first in its series, so I went looking for Mark of the Demon. Which they didn't have either. This all made me a little grumpy, as I like to start at the beginning. Without Jackie's contest, I'd've just waited until I came across the first one for either series.

Stuff I Loved
So I read the first few pages of both books, standing in front of the shelves, and it turned out that I was more in the mood for this one:

The demon was little more than a mist of fog and teeth, barely visible to normal sight. It coiled in slow undulations in the backseat of my Taurus as I drove through the night, the tires of the car humming on the asphalt in low rhythmic counterpoint to the movement of the demon.

With the very first sentences, Rowland makes me smile at the thought of a demon in a Taurus, at the same time that she sets an vividly atmospheric scene. I love the juxtaposition of the familiar and the otherworldly.

I should probably get less anal about reading series in order; I think most authors work pretty hard to make the books stand alone. I could tell there was a backstory between Kara and Rhyzkahl, enough to make me want to go back and read the first book, but never felt lost and had everything I needed to stay with this story. One of the things I really noticed about Rowland's writing is her deftness in seeding the information I needed along the way, intriguing me and playing me like a fish on a line. Unfortunately I was reading too fast to flag many of the perfect little bits, but whatever the opposite of info-dumping is, Blood of the Demon could be a tutorial.

This is a good skill for any author, but especially important when you're building an alternate world. I really, really like Rowland's world of the arcane and the alternate planes. We as readers, like Kara, may not understand very much about that world, but there's a very solid feeling that there ARE absolute rules that govern the alternate world, like gravity and conservation of matter govern rules in our world. An example:

The creatures I summoned had been named thousands of years ago, long before any of the world's religions had designated "demons" as agents of evil and residents of hell.

Now, this tidbit is given to us as a caution not to think of the demons as inherently evil, but we also can infer 1) that the "naming" is significant -- she didn't say they were created or born, but that they had been named. Which is consistent with the common (ie, not specific to Rowland's world) notion about demons which is that knowing their names grants power. We also get a sense of how old these creatures are-- all in one short sentence. Rowland reinforces these "facts" or rules about her universe in tiny ways: "He looked down at me, deep and ancient eyes searching." These are the kind of things that put the "reality" into an author's alternate reality-- when the the alien-ness is simply a part of the fabric of the storytelling.

The mystery plot here is complicated and tight; fans of police procedural mysteries will enjoy the unfolding network of politics, social connections, and scandal. Rowland weaves in Kara's unfolding knowledge of the arcane as a seamless extra element to the mystery as well as a hook for future books.

Stuff That I Didn't Love
I have to say that there's plot point I really didn't get, and I hope this doesn't qualify as a plot spoiler. Let's just say that:

1. you are recovering from a horrible incident involving powerful, amoral demons
2. you are able to summon these demons but don't know a whole lot about them
3. you inherited this ability from your beloved aunt, who right now lies in a coma caused by something arcane.

OK? Now, you need some information and your aunt can't provide it because of her coma. You want access to her library, but you discover that it is locked up so tight you can't get anywhere near it. Do you

a) Give up? (OK, not likely for an UF heroine)
b) Assume your aunt had a good reason for putting up Fort Knox security and find someone who can advise on either your original question or perhaps help you investigate what's behind the locks?
c) Hey, just tear it all down. What could happen?

I was a little annoyed that Kara just broke through all the wards and "locks" without ever thinking that um? there might be a REASON for it to be locked up. So the arcane portion of the mystery wasn't all that surprising to me.

Overall I'd say that the characters themselves are not the strongest part of the book, although I wouldn't call them weak. This is one point that I might have a different opinion about if I'd read the first book first. Kara's backstory includes traumatic violence and somehow dying and coming back to life -- I'll need to read the first book. In this book, she's a gumshoe with human insecurities, integrity, and arcane abilities to summon demons. As a heroine, I felt like she was likeable and adequate, but she didn't pop off the page for me like some of my favorites do.

The Wrap
Pah, I never know whether to lead or end with the things I like the least, either way seems to emphasize them too much. These last two bits are just the least good things, not awful or dealbreakers in any way.

Bottom line is, I really liked the story; tight plotting and pacing; interesting world-building; and I didn't touch on it much here, but the sexual tension with Rhyzkahl and the romantic tension and building mystery about Ryan are more than enough to draw me into the next release. Put it on your TBR list, if it isn't already!

League of Reluctant Adults Mini Challenge

Reviews for the Challenge

For my League reviews, click on the tag "League of Reluctant Adults" - this will show you everything I've talked about on these authors, whether it's part of Jackie's challenge or not.

Underground, by Kat Richardson - Photoessay

Something New
OK, so I've never done this before, but I just couldn't resist. This isn't going to be a traditional review - I'm going to just highlight Kat Richardson's genius at describing setting. Hopefully you can get a sense of what kind of book it is and whether you might like it from the snips.

There are books that could happen in any generic city anywhere in the world, or anywhere in North America, and it wouldn't materially impact the story. But for some stories, the setting itself is palpably a character, a critical element of the story. Underground is the second sort of story.

To make matters more interesting for me personally, most of the action takes place in locations that are very familiar to me -- I actually walk through one of the key story locations every weekday.

So today, I brought my camera in to work, played hooky for an hour and took shots of a half a dozen scenes that appear in the book. I was hoping for a gray drizzly day for the sake of atmosphere but unfortunately (!) managed to pick a beautifully bright sunny afternoon. In February. In Seattle. What are the odds??

Below are some excerpts from the book paired with those photos. You can click on the photos to see a larger view.


p 29. Will, on the phone to Harper:

"So. Are you free for dinner?"

"Yes, I am. How ' bout you?"

"Not only free, but eager to get out of here and meet you."

I smiled a little in response. "How 'bout the Bookstore?"

"I thought you wanted food..."

"No, silly man. it's a bar in the Alexis Hotel lobby at first and Madison. Good pub food, lots of old books on the walls, nice old furniture..."






p. 33, after dinner...
The viaduct's elevated double-decker road looms over the flatland of the waterfront like a concrete house of cards waiting to collapse onto the desolate parking lot wasteland beneath it. Blocks of old warehouse buildings on one side face the patchwork quilt of the waterfront businesses on the other. Crazed, pitted blacktop, striped with parking stalls and lane markers, stretch the width of the missing city block beneath them. An uneven fringe of stunted shrubs marks the edge of the old trolley line, but nothing else grows under the viaduct's unloved shade.






p. 44, Quinton's lair
...until we reached a poured concrete wall under the Seneca Street off-ramp from the viaduct. A three-story retaining wall held back the tumble of the hill while a wide stone staircase climed the side of the building perpendicular to it, creating a dark half room roofed by the roadbed above us.



















(We got an email from HR a few months back saying that the police had reported a rash of muggings on this stairwell after dark and that we might want to avoid it in the evenings. I do. Avoid it.)

p. 45:
A rusted steel door had been set into the bunker wall and sported a triangular yellow caution sign with an odd symbol of spikes and circles and the words AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

p. 47, Harper to Quinton:
"So the symbol on the door...?"
"Means nothing-- I made it up -- but it looks like something you ought to be afraid of, doesn't it?"
I found this logo on a Pioneer Square storefront for UtiliKilts, of all things. It does fit the description, doesn't it?



p. 213, foiling the electronic bugs:

Located on Cherry in a basement row of little lunch spots that mostly catered to local office workers, Bakeman's was determinedly-blue collar in service and atmosphere. The odor of roast turkey and meatloaf wafted out the sunken door along with the clang and shout of staff passing orders and moving customers at New York speeds. The hard, slick walls and Formica tables reflected the noises of the busy kitchen and hurried diners into a rattling cacophony.

Sadly, I missed the rush so you're not getting a true sense of the bustle that Ms. Richardson vividly portrays. I've had lunch here and while the sandwiches are good and cheap, the atmosphere most resembles something out of a high school in a not-very-well-off school district.

P. 245 - on a quest for information:
Just beyond the totem, a trash can fire burned to warm the hands of a small circle of homeless. The obese woman at the foot of the other carving scowled at us as we passed and pressed herself into the dark. I couldn't see much of her in either the Grey or the normal, cowering as she did in the black fold of the totem's shadow. It occured to me it wasn't a nice totem-- Nightmare Bringer. I wasn't too surprised it cast a very dark shadow and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to sleep near it with such an association. The woman pulled a black blanket over herself and hunched into a shapeless mass.

Uh, yeah. I took a picture of the wrong totem. Dumb white eyes. However, I found a perfect shot on Flickr's Creative Commons. Photocredit: hairygrumpy.


On to page 254, where the action gets tense in the alley between the Seattle Mystery Bookshop and the back of the Pioneer block. This is what the alley looks like on a bright sunny afternoon. Would you turn down there at night, looking for a spooky man-eating snake-monster? Much less pull up a grate and crawl into a hole in the alley floor? Yeah, me neither.

First is the store, with the alley showing to the right:


Then the alley itself:




p. 265: Turns out there was something awful down there. And it chased our heroes:
"It's fast," Quinton panted.

"Then run faster!"

We dashed into Pioneer Square and down Yesler.

(right this way, ladies and gentlemen - shot looking west on Yesler from under the Pioneer Square pergola)







p. 266 - the chase goes on:

"Stay in the open," Quinton yelled. "It's keeping to the alleys! if we can force it into the dead end of Post at the Fed Office Building, we might be able to slip it!"

Here's where the monster turns off. I didn't creep down the alley to take photos of the Federal Building. That's kind of frowned on these days.



p. 266 - more chasing:
We ran past Post and turned at Western, keeping the tall old brick warehouses between us and [the monster]. My knee protested every step, but I didn't dare slow or limp. ... We shot out the narrow confines of Western at Marion and into the open ground

Our Heroes' view, except of course, without the daylight.



When the story opens, Harper is working on physical therapy exercises for her knee. There are quite a few references through the book about the running and climbing and slipping and the toll it takes. Here's an example of some of the terrain in Pioneer Square:


There are also numerous mentions of the Bread of Life Mission:



Well, this wasn't exactly a review, but I hope you enjoyed it. Kat Richardson writes a wickedly-plotted ghost story and hometown effect aside, the Greywalker series is a great read. I do recommend.

Oh, and one last thing:

BONUS EXTRA! This is a zoom in of the shot down Yesler Way from the chase scene. As it happens, Harper and Quinton run right past my department's favorite Friday night watering hole. See where it says "Saloon" just below the Hotel sign? Come join us sometime.

League of Reluctant Adults Mini Challenge

Reviews for the Challenge

For my League reviews, click on the tag "League of Reluctant Adults" - this will show you everything I've talked about on these authors, whether it's part of Jackie's challenge or not.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy, by Jennifer Rardin - Review

This is apparently not the most common cover for this title, but it's the one I have, so I wanted to use this version for the post. Anybody else have this slightly-weird little tic?

Anyway, I can thank Jackie for nudging me into this League of Reluctant Adults mini-challenge, because Jaz Parks is my favorite new heroine in a long time. It's possible that Ms. Rardin's husband said it best - in the author blurb at the back of the book under "extras" is this conversation:

...when I finally confessed to him my love for all things vampire, ... he said, "Then maybe you should write a vampire novel." To which I replied, "It's all been done already." And he said, "Not by you."

And I have to say, the man was ten kinds of SO RIGHT. (That must be hard to live with, eh?)

Sometime in the late 80s, popular action-hero movies underwent a bit of a shift. To make them the perfect date movie, they needed to appeal more to women. Before Die Hard, most of them < alert: sweeping generalization ahead > consisted of car chases, shoot-outs, explosions, and beautiful but diabolical female double-agents in bikinis. Sometimes all at once. With Die Hard, we got a really unexpected dose of humor but no let-up in the suspense or thrills, and IMO it changed action-thrillers forever.

This alchemy that romance and vampire mythology has got going on has been explosive and effective, but it's becoming a little bit old hat. It's not easy to come up with interesting twists. What Rardin has done is to throw in a little bit of Die Hard-style action into the UF/PNR mix, and done it so well that the next Die Hard sequel really ought to involve vampires.

The Same Only Different
Per the Official UF Style Guide, Jaz is a kick-ass, heavily armed, slightly neurotic red-head who tells her story in first person. However, Jaz's voicing of this story is outstanding. It's appealingly conversational and wise-cracky; perceptive and smart but fallible; layered and full of personality. Jaz has a complicated history but there's no info-dumping -- the tidbits about her character are handed out in the perfect balance between tantalizing and satisfying.

I also like that the term "kick-ass" doesn't actually appear anywhere; and Jaz has a professional approach to her abilities. She trains; she's a professional soldier of sorts; she understands what she can do (physically, anyway) and it's all handled without neurosis or disingenuous surprise at her abilities "under duress". The kick-ass is merely factual and comes through in the unfolding of events. I'm not sure I'm expressing this right, but bottom line is -- she pulls off the professional thing for me, refreshingly.

I really liked the political plotting of the story -- it's a modern "problem" that the team of Jaz and Vayl need to solve, and the paranormal elements are... well, I wouldn't say "window-dressing," exactly... What I mean is, this is the sort of story that has been told repeatedly through the ages: about power and betrayal and politics and double-cross. What makes it unique to us today are Rardin's wonderful characters and the unique paranormal world-building. It has the clean spare pacing of military-style contemporary, and the paranormal bits are treated matter-of-factly; in the same way another author might treat hostile terrain or enemy weaponry.

Speaking of weaponry, anybody who's a fan of Bond's Q or Inspector Gadget should get a kick out of Jaz's goodies. The scenes where they're introduced are exactly like every classic spy movie where the agent gets briefed on how they work, which seemed a little tongue-in-cheek to me in a fun way. Imaginative, useful, and within the realm of possibility, the gadgets have a high "cool factor" and are an entertaining bit of frosting on this cupcake without overwhelming or bogging down the action.

The only thing that did not come off flawlessly for me was, to some extent, the paranormal world building. I really liked the vampires, and the take-it-in-stride way that Jaz and the other human characters have just absorbed the fact of their existence. I liked most of the world-building to do with Vayl.

However, the stuff that was specific to this book's plot spun into the Very Very Complicated, with a side order of Over The Top-- demons, soul-eating, the Mysterious Happening that Happened to Jaz (I still don't really get what exactly Happened there), Cassandra (nice name for the seer!) and the Enkyklios ... I dunno, I guess it all worked out in the end but I was pretty close to getting lost there for awhile. My sense is that much of this is underpinning for the rest of the series, and that maybe some of it could have been parceled out later.

Overall though, this is the most promising new (to me) series I've started in a while; I love Jaz's voice and military-ops style of the pacing and I can't wait to find out more about Vayl and what, exactly, Jaz is to him.

League of Reluctant Adults Mini Challenge

Reviews for the Challenge

For my League reviews, click on the tag "League of Reluctant Adults" - this will show you everything I've talked about on these authors, whether it's part of Jackie's challenge or not.

Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey - Review

Just about a year ago, I went to a book signing for Kushiel's Mercy and listened to Ms. Carey speak about the two Kushiel trilogies, the upcoming Naamah's Kiss, and a mysterious side project that, with a self-deprecating hand-wave and maybe a little embarrassment, she referred to as "this, kind of... urban fantasy... post-apocalyptic... border-town... story. With, like.... werewolves. Sort of."

This is about as different from her alternate-history epic fantasy trilogies as you can get. So different, in fact, the book initially was to be published under a different pen name. I'm not sure whether that was Carey's idea or her publisher's, or what changed, but Santa Olivia is the result.

Frankly, I didn't know what to expect. I love, love, love the Kushiel books, especially the earlier ones, but I didn't like her Banewreaker/ Godslayer duology at all. So I was primed to like Santa Olivia, but I didn't figure it was a sure thing by any means.

When I get a new Kushiel book, I tend to hold on to it for a little while before I dive in. They're big books; high fantasy with a lot of dense world building and intricate characterization, and I like to be able to dive in and immerse myself in the world, rather than stealing bits of time out of my daily bus ride and lunch hour.

Not so with Santa Olivia. It's less hefty, more accessible, and instantly drew me in -- even on a bumpy bus ride. In Carey's own words, the prose is "far more spare than my usual ornate style, [written] with a more muscular lyricism."

The Premise
I don't read very much in the way of dystopian speculative fiction, but I believe that is the correct literary pigeon-hole for Santa Olivia. In the wake of a devastating pandemic, the US borders close and Santa Olivia is declared a DMZ, or De-Militarized Zone. Residents who stayed when the soldiers came lost their US citizenship and became sort of post-modern camp followers. Technology has decayed, at least in Santa Olivia - electricity is hoarded for refrigeration; there is nothing in the way of broadcast information - no TV, no radio, no internet. The town is completely isolated - there is no Fed Ex, no USPS, no Greyhound routes.

As a result of military genetic experimentation, Loup is born with wolf DNA, which gives her several super-human capabilities like speed and strength, and some emotional anomalies. Carey eschews the shapeshifting and biting/turning bits of werewolf lore, relying instead on reasonably plausible scientific possibilities with a large dose of non-specificity. The world-building here concentrates on the political and social aspects rather than the paranormal.

Be warned, this is in no way a romance. There is a non-traditional romantic element to it that was nice sidenote, but it was very minor in the overall story arc. Folks who are put off by books that blur the line between urban fantasy and romance will find little ambiguity here. I wouldn't be surprised to find, in 20 years, this title to be named in the same breath as 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale.

Good Stuff
I'm pretty sure Carey could write a tax-preparation manual and it would still be beautifully written. That is, her language is lyrical and an almost physical pleasure to read, even if the story itself isn't to your taste. In the deathbed scene of Carmen, Loup's mother, the ten-year-old Loup is described:

Tears gathered in Loup's eyes and shone there without falling. Even when she'd cried as a baby, there were never tears. There was something strange and pure about the quality of her unleavened sorrow; strange and pure and oddly comforting, as though a child-saint or a fearless, untamed creature had come to keep a vigil over Carmen's death. Carmen lifted one hand and traced the curve of her daugher's cheek.

One thing I like about the way this book is written is that, even though the paranormal aspects are understated, they are not tentative in any way. You can see it in the passage above -- whatever it is that is different about Loup, Carey's vision of all aspects of that differentness is rock solid.

The story builds inexorably toward a major conflict which worked well for me - hard to say more without spoilering, but I'd say the final leg of the build-up and the conflict itself were among the Good Stuff for the book.

Things That Make Me Say Hmmmmm
In one of the cover blurbs, Eric Van Lustbader calls Santa Olivia "... a love song to the beauty and power of being different." I'm not so sure I agree. I felt like Loup's "differentness" was only a vehicle to examine the notion of hope for the town of Santa Olivia. What happens without it. What happens when it appears, when it fades. The rise and fall of hope in the town of Santa Olivia is the story of Santa Olivia. Why this section, rather than the "good stuff"? I'm ambivalent about whether the resolution was completely satisfying, and I can't seem to separate that from the theme.

The story takes place over a number of years, starting with the day the soldiers came, when Loup's mother Carmen was a young woman, and lingering a bit over the brief time that she has with Loup's father. There's an extended bit while Loup's older brother Tommy trains as a boxer, and then the meat of the story is Loup's coming of age in the orphanage. It sometimes feels a little spotty, as though there is too much being skimmed over, and a number of interesting threads seemed to just drop. I suppose these "drops" were the believable outcomes within the rules of the world, but it was still a bit disappointing.

Similarly, the bit that follows the climax, leading out to the end, wasn't that great for me; it just seemed to fall a little flat. I couldn't tell if it was too rushed or too drawn-out. It felt like it should've sped up a lot, OR maybe that there could have been more of a subplot arc in between. I dunno.

The Very Best Part
Even more so than the Kushiel books, this is a very character-driven story. The relationships among the Santa Olivians are drawn like brilliant charcoal sketches - some just in broad strokes, some with intricate detail - and it is with these interactions that Carey paints in the subtle colors of mood and atmosphere. Most particularly, I love the dialog between Loup and Miguel, her sparring partner and unlikely friend:

"Is that why you started boxing?" Loup asked him. "To get out?"

"Yeah, that and I hit hard." Miguel regarded his cigar. "Might of been better off if I wasn't a Garza. Maybe I would of wanted it more, worked harder."

"Like Tommy," Loup said softly.

"Like Tommy," he agreed. "But then..."

"Yeah."

They sat in companionable silence for awhile. A memory struck Loup.

"You said you saw my father once," she said. "Punched him."

"You remember that, huh? Yeah.

Her voice turned wistful. "What was he like?"

Miguel didn't answer right away. He sat and smoked. "Steady," he said at length. "Same way you are. He didn't even flinch when I hit him, like it wasn't worth his while to notice. I know I was just a kid, but I hit hard. Same eyes as you, same weird way of looking at people without blinking."

Miguel's character development throughout the book in fact is a bit of a microcosm of the town. He transforms, but only a little. Potential is recognized, crushed. Will it re-emerge? Flourish? Not without something changing. Which leads me to wonder--

What's Next?
Opinion around the 'net is divided as to whether there is good sequel fodder here. I think it's fair to say that the end of Santa Olivia leaves us with more questions than answers, and the larger conspiracy theory arc leaves plenty of room for more... but a return to this particular scene might be anticlimactic. There is by no means an unqualified happy ending, but consistent with the rest of the book, there is a thread of optimism running through the bleakness. The romance lover in me wants *everyone* to live happily ever after and to see that optimism realized. I'm not sure that would be such an interesting story, though, so I could definitely see the rationale in leaving it as a stand-alone.

Synchronicity
It wouldn't make sense to review this book, right now, without some mention of the swine flu situation. The trigger event for Santa Olivia is a catastrophic outbreak of influenza, inroading to the US from Mexico. "It's a bit disconcerting," says Carey on her webpage. "This is not an instance where one hopes life imitates art." I don't know about you out there in Bloglandia, but it freaks me out a little bit.

Around the Blogosphere (Beware, most have spoilers to some degree)
Drey's Library
Sci Fi Guy (hah, we chose the same clip)
Pop Culture Zoo
Blog, Jvstin Style
A Reading Odyssey

Kind of a neat side effect of breaking out of the romance genre every now and then -- a whole 'nother world of blogs out there to discover!

*******GIVEAWAY**********

Check back tomorrow for all the details. I'll have 5 copies to give away, courtesy of the Hachette Book Group.

.

Lover Avenged by JR Ward - Full Review

Those of you who've followed this blog for a little while will not be surprised to know that I bought Lover Avenged early last Tuesday morning and spent every spare minute reading it. The only real surprise is that I was able to put it down Tuesday night and finish it up on Wednesday. I'll say straight up: I liked it. Flawed, but still a great story.

There's a lot going on in this book, like all of the BDB novels. A number of side plots and series arcs add to the complexity-- and the page count. A typical book so far would have the main romance plot, a couple of ongoing series arcs, a secondary romance plot building up, and a tertiary romance plot just hinted at.

The main difference with LAv is that rather than giving us ideas of what might happen in the book after next, Ward returns to the beginning and continues Wrath's character development. Which I loved.

Is It Really a Romance?
A question that has been bobbling around Ward's readership since, oh, I suppose since Lover Unbound came out: are these books really romance? Or are they urban fantasy?

Since this is my blog, you get to have my opinion (did you think you wouldn't?) : The answer is YES. Unequivicably, every book that Ward has given us has included a hero, a heroine, conflicts to their relationship, and a resolution to those conflicts leading to a Happily Ever After. Ergo, ROMANCE = .TRUE.

In pure urban fantasy, there may be romantic elements but you don't get that romantic HEA in each book. Great examples are Patricia Briggs' Mercy, who spends a couple of books deciding who she wants, Kim Harrison's Rachel, who may not ever decide at this rate, and Jenna Black's Morgan, who--well, let's just say her romantic life is interesting.

The BDB is an ensemble cast -- the best books include a hearty helping of life as a part of this close-knit family, and where that's missing, the book fails. (cf: Phury. "Fail" is a strong word, I know. Still-- my blog. Deal.)

So for my money, as long as the core romance is there, I don't mind having it share the spotlight with lots of other stuff going on, as long as it's well organized and well orchestrated. For the most part, I think LAv succeeds in this.

The Romance
In an earlier post, I Heart Book Gossip commented that there was too much other stuff in the book and not enough romance. I actually enjoyed the other stuff going on but I agree that the romance was a bit weak, and here's why: both Rehv and Ehlena are underdeveloped as characters, and I didn't really feel the chemistry between them.

As far as Ehlena goes, that's really nothing new for Ward; I feel that way about almost all of her heroines. We get that she's tough and kind and brave... and that's pretty much it. What's her favorite color? Does she read or have a hobby? Enjoy classical music or hip-hop? Does she like being a nurse or was it her only choice? Dunno. Her whole existence is defined by her father's illness and then, her feelings for Rehv. Even Cormia was better developed (though I have to say I always found the peas-and-toothpicks thing more than a little WTF).

Now Rehv... see, as a survivor of a number of years in writers' workshops, I can't shake the feeling that he is suffering from a told-us-didn't-show-us problem. We get told a lot what a bad-ass he is. We see him rough up (but not kill or permanently injure) a couple of minions. There's the issue of the DOAs that overdose on his "product."

Even with all that though, Rehv himself always seems, well, not evil. Not bad-ass. A teddy bear at heart who's forced by circumstance into heartbreaking choices. Our primary insights from his point of view are the love he has for the women in his life and the loathing that comes from his situation with the Princess. In this book, I don't ever see any glee, any high, any pleasure he might take from inflicting pain, which I gather is what makes the symphaths such a problem. There were some tantalizing hints in previous books -- his freaky scene with the Princess in Enshrined; the fight scene in the alley in... uh, Revealed I think -- but no closure in this book.

So while, yes, I think the book qualifies as a romance, it's not a *great* romance.

What Exactly Is a Symphath?
My biggest complaint is that, as mentioned before, I still don't really understand what a symphath is. What makes them so evil. So they can read emotions, so what? Vampires can read thoughts. Symphaths can manipulate emotions, so what? Vampires can wipe out memories. Seems like a very similar skillset. Why "sin-eater?" Call me a literalist, but I don't know what they mean by this... and I want to.

IIRC, it was alluded to before that symphaths feed off of strong emotions, maybe especially negative emotions. OK, but then what? does it make them stronger, or just get them off? And why would either necessarily be a bad thing? No clearer now than it was before.

When the half-breeds "go symphath," or whatever, what exactly does that mean? Their eyes go red, and...? they can't control themselves? They can't tap into their moral compass? I think we needed to see the consequences of Rehv losing control, even if it happened in the past. Why does the dopamine help? It's been losing effectiveness, what will he do now?

How about feeding? And sex? Xhex and Rhev discussed at great length what a mistake it would be to be with a "normal" when Rhev was feeding Marissa. Is it just that the barb is freaky? We know it can be painful for Rhev's female, but we don't know if it has to be. All these issues, raised as insurmountable in previous books, are hand-waved away.

All unanswered questions. At this point, I don't really expect to get answers. Which ticks me off a little, but I'm letting it go. (for now). Deep, cleansing breath.

Other Stuff
All in all, it's the Other Stuff that keeps me reading. I'm very invested in the characters and the world now, so even if the romance isn't thrilling me, and even if the world-building has plot holes the size of a Brother's.... uh, shoulders, I... wait, what was I saying? oh yeah, I'm going to keep reading. I appreciated that there was more group action in this book.

At first, the subplot around Wrath adjusting to the kingship seemed slightly random. Not that I didn't like seeing him and Beth and their romantic epilogue. But it turned out to be a great choice: it's a logical way to give readers more information about the political state of the vampire society, and I really like how it tied into Rehv's resolution. And may I say, it's about time he ditched all that pansy-ass twiggy furniture.

John Matthew and Xhex's setup continues apace. I have to admit, I'm not a huge JM fan. For 6 books now he's been this pitiable victim, sexless and pre-adolescent. I'm having trouble shifting gears into seeing him as remotely adult, much less an Alpha Hero, no matter how many times I hear about how exceptionally large he is. Lots of fans are disappointed to see his behavior in this book, but I think it's about time he stopped feeling sorry for himself and allowed himself to feel some anger and to take some initiative in directing his own life. I've always had doubts about him and Xhex too, but learning more about Xhex is helping. I'm not totally convinced though.

Yay, Tohr woke up. Finally. I do like how this was handled.

Lassiter amuses me. So far that's about it. I wonder if he'll transition into the Fallen Angels series? I've heard that the worlds overlap, so it would make sense.

Oh yeah, and Lash. Eeek. I'm afraid that Ward might be painting herself into a paranormal corner here, making him indestructible, and then somehow needing to... well, destruct him. If Butch can't vaporize the fore-lesser, I wouldn't think his trick would work on Lash either. Hope she manages to get us out of this satisfactorily.

I think that's about all I can squeeze into one post, though I could go on. And I might, LOL. But that would be a post for later.

PS
Please note -- I updated the countdown widget in the sidebar for Covet, due out 9/29. Feel free to steal the HTML if you want!

What Others Are Saying:
I Heart Book Gossip (spoilers)
Smexy Books (spoilers)
Ms. Moonlight (spoilers)
Good Books, Bad Books... (spoilers)
Happily Forever After (spoiler-free!)
Adventures in Kati-dom (mild spoilers)

(do I get a prize for NOT having spoilers?? heh)