I wanted to like this series

Book Review:  By Book Or By Crook (A Lighthouse Library Mystery) by Eva Gates

A proposal from her long-time boyfriend prompts Reference Librarian Lucy Richardson to reevaluate her life.  Although she loves her job, she doesn't love Ricky or the social circle she's allowed herself to be part of for so long.  She leaves Boston for North Carolina's Outer Banks and is thrilled with her new life.  Things are going exceptionally well until a priceless first edition Jane Austen novel on loan to the library is stolen, and a library board member is found murdered inside the library.

A librarian who has a small room above a library in a lighthouse?  And the library has a cat?  I wanted to like this book.  Wanted to but didn't.  I love the details about the library and the setting itself.  Gates establishes a sense of place well.  Character development, not so much.  Gates offers a potentially interesting assortment of characters, and tells us a lot about them, in a gossipy sort of way.  At this point, the first book in the series, they seem like caricatures.  There's no depth, which is a shame, because it's characters' backstories that make for a compelling read.

I will give the next book in the series a try before calling it quits.  


Book Review:  Booked for Trouble (A Lighthouse Library Mystery) by Eva Gates

Lucy's mom comes to visit (and presumably convince Lucy to return to Boston).  Because only the best will do for Suzanne Richardson, she stays at the most expensive hotel in the area, where she snubs her former classmates who work there.  Suzanne and former bestie, Karen, have a loud argument in front of several hotel guests, during which Karen threatens to tell everyone about Suzanne's past.  Which, of course, makes Suzanne a person of interest when Karen is found murdered soon after.

I'm done.  There's potential here but there are too many books on my TBR list to see if it ever comes to fruition.  Even if I don't like them, I need characters to feel real.  Not a single character in this series -- and there are several to choose from -- feels like anything more than a caricature.  Reviewers have praised the colorful cast, and I agree that Gates has assembled a quirky group -- but there's still no depth.  Worse than that, characters change their behaviors overnight, with nothing to make the change believable.

Apocalypse Soon?

Book Review:  The Skaar Invasion by Terry Brooks

The second book of The Fall of Shannara series begins with Paranor existing in a type of limbo, sent there by the Druid Clizia Porse.  Trapped inside, Drisker Arc roams its shadowy halls, seeking a way to return it and himself to the Four Lands.  Tarsha returns to Backing Fell and discovers the damage Tavo left behind.  And, Ajin d'Amphere, leader of the invaders, schemes to draw the Elves and the Federation into conflict with each other.  She intends to claim all of The Four Lands for her people, the Skaar.

Terry Brooks has been one of my Must Read Authors ever since I first read The Sword of Shannara when I was in high school.  That said, I wish he'd stop trying to write major romantic storylines into this series.  As I've mentioned before, he does well enough with it when it's a plot complication, but he doesn't do well with it otherwise.  Ajin, ruthless leader of the Skaar, determined to secure a new homeland for her people, determined to secure her father's respect, determined to ensure that her reputation is unmatched, spends her downtime speculating about Dar Leah as a potential mate.  Really?  And Dar!  I know he's conflicted about his career because the Druids are a hot mess without the leadership of Drisker Arc, but he's still spot on when it comes to making good security decisions.  Or he was.  Suddenly, when he realizes that the person who orchestrated the deaths of so many, including his beloved Zia, is a gorgeous young woman, he's incapable of action?  WTH???  He rationalizes it to himself later as a) well, she let him escape once so he owes her one and b) he doesn't have time to deal with the leader of an army that has wiped out two tribes of Trolls, plus the Druids, and is likely just getting started.  I ask again -- WTH???

All that aside, there's still reason to see this series through.  The mystery about Kassen Drue aka Kol 'Dre deepens.  Whereas most characters described him as unusually pale and blond in The Black Elfstones, his commander Ajin describes him as having a dark complexion, brown hair, and brown eyes.  We learn that he's been scouting The Four Lands for years and I wonder if he has anything to do with Fluken.  I am intensely curious about Kassen.  Is he the driving force behind everything?  If so, why?  

As much as Brooks appears to be revisiting aspects of the Shannara timeline that have engaged us from the beginning, one element missing so far is a driving supernatural baddie presence.  With the exception of the The Defenders of Shannara, in which a rogue Druid was the lead bad guy, our heroes have always been pitted against an assortment of demons, shadowen, and the like.  What if Kassen is something of that sort, manipulating Ajin?  If you look back to The Word and The Void series, it was this sort of manipulation that led to the apocalypse which transformed the world we know today into the world of Shannara.  If Kassen is a driving force behind the Skaar invasion, did he have anything to do with the weather-creating machine Rocan Arnas believes can change the world for the better?  Who will Shea Ohmsford find when he reaches Tindall's cell in Assidian Deep?

I'm anxious to see what happens with Tavo and Tarsha.  I still believe that Fluken is a key player, rather than an figment of of Tavo's imagination, but that question remains unanswered for now.  And I believe that Tarsha is critical to the outcome of the story.  My only hope is that she doesn't spend the better part of the next book mooning over Brecon Elessedil.  (I like an element of romance in my books -- Brooks just tends to be a bit heavy-handed with it.) 







 

The beginning of the end

Book Review:  The Black Elfstone by Terry Brooks

An army is approaching from the north and they have the ability to magically shift from one place to another in an instant.  Two tribes of Trolls, seasoned warriors, are annihilated by this army.  Who are they?  What do they want?  Why are they intent on destroying everyone in their path?   Under the leadership of a paranoid, self-serving Ard Rhys, Paranor is a shadow of its former self.  Still, the Druids attempt what no one else has -- they send a delegation to learn what they can about the invaders from the north.

In the small town of Backing Fell, the magic of the wishsong appears in siblings Tarsha and Tavo Kaynin.  Although younger, the magic appears in Tarsha first and it seems a gentle thing, readily responding to her wishes.  Tavo has suffered from black moods for years when the magic emerges in him -- and when it does, it's violent, destructive, and uncontrollable.  

There's a lot of drama in this first installment of the projected four-part conclusion to the Shannara series.  The Tarsha/Tavo storyline is classic Shannara and represents what I feel is the heart of the series: a sheltered youth whose actions will determine the fates of many.  Tavo presents a new exploration of this theme:  is he volatile because the magic within him is volatile, or is the magic destructive because he is destructive?  That said, I think there's another question to be considered as well:  Has there been an outside force exerting its influence on Tavo from a young age?

Back in the Ilse Witch days, Grianne Ohmsford was groomed by the Morgawr, and committed horrible acts before being turned around by the efforts of her brother, Bek Ohmsford, and the Druid, Walker Boh.  So, there's precedent for suspecting that Tavo has been deliberately molded by a malevolent being, for its own purposes.  Tavo is an unreliable narrator, so it's hard to know what can be taken at face value, but he remembers that he wasn't always like he is now.  Things seemed to drastically change around his fifteenth birthday.  He became subject to sudden rages and feelings of hostility towards everyone, most of the time without reason.  And years later, leaving carnage in his wake, Tavo mentions his only true friend, Fluken.  No one else can see this individual.  It's possible that Fluken is just a figment of a deranged imagination but I suspect he's real.  Tavo remembers Tarsha looking at him oddly, from time to time -- did she sense something shadowing her brother?  The world of Shannara is filled with beings who show themselves only to those they choose. 


To help her brother, Tarsha seeks out Drisker Arc, former Ard Rhys, now reclusive exiled Druid.  Drisker is impressed with her initiative and her skill; he agrees.  However, when two separate groups of assassins come for him, their agreement is interrupted.  A journey to Varfleet reveals that someone within Paranor ordered the contract.  It also introduces Drisker to a resourceful young orphan named Shea Ohmsford.

It wouldn't be a Shannara story without a Leah.  Dar Leah is the High Druid's Blade.  He is part of the delegation sent to investigate the invading army.  There is way too much drama between him and his former lover, a Druid named Zia.  I get that working with an ex you still have feelings for is awkward, but this storyline felt overwritten.  I think it would have had more impact if Brooks had focused more on a glance here, a terse comment there, rather than paragraphs of introspection and endless arguments.  It felt like I was being told repeatedly that these two characters still had feelings for one another -- but I never actually felt their turmoil.  Brooks writes romance best when it's a plot complication rather than a storyline (Amberle and Wil in The Elfstones of Shannara).


As there are three books yet to come, several questions remain unanswered.  Three of the biggest questions I'm most intrigued by are:  What is the leader of the invading army's interest in Dar Leah?  Is Fluken real or imaginary?  And who is Kassen Drue, truly???  Separate characters, each of whom we can trust to be attentive to detail, describe him differently.  Some see him as smooth-faced, unusually pale, and quite blond -- and at least one describes his face as showing some weathering and much exposure to the outdoors.  Two of these different perceptions occurred on the same day -- why so different?  And does it have anything to do with the statement, "Like I do the life within me" (in response to the question of whether he loves a girl -- just before he kills her).  What is he??? 

Up next:  The Skaar Invasion

A cursed painting. A puzzling theft. A suspicious death.

Book Review:  The Black Painting by Neil Olson

Arthur Morse, an avid art collector, enjoyed the dark reputation of the painting hanging on his study wall but he seemed to fear it as well.  He kept his back to it and never allowed his grandchildren into the room. It was one of paintings produced by Francisco José de Goya at a time when the artist believed he was possessed by a demon; legend had it that anyone who looked at the painting would suffer madness or death.   After the painting is stolen and his young grandchildren are the crime's only witnesses, accusations fly and the family becomes estranged.

Several years later, the grandchildren, now adults, are summoned to their grandfather's house. Teresa finds her grandfather dead when she arrives, a look of terror on his face.  Once more, accusations and suspicions rise among the family members.  As the police investigate, Teresa and a P.I. investigate as well, uncovering long-buried family secrets.

As compelling as the premise is, this book simply didn't resonate with me.  It's a solid mystery with a supernatural, creepy atmosphere but there's something lacking with the character development that I just can't pinpoint.  Most of the characters are unlikable and the narrator is unreliable, but I loved Gone Girl and you don't get much more unlikable and unreliable than that. Meh.  Onto the next book.


 

Warning: you'll want to read this book again

Here's a look at the second book I remember re-reading immediately after reading it the first time. 

Book Review:  Planetfall by Emma Newman
 
“Someone’s coming toward the colony.  From outside.”

Lee Suh-Mi felt called to establish a colony on a world far beyond Earth and 1,000 people felt called to join her.  Something happened when they arrived at the planet in Suh-Mi’s vision however, and a couple of decades later, Ren is still haunted by it.  She and Mack are the only two who know the truth; whatever happened was considered so potentially devastating that the other members of the original landing team were murdered to prevent them from telling the other colonists.  Or were intended to be murdered.  When Suh-Mi’s  twenty-something grandson approaches the colony, it’s clear that at least some members of the team managed to survive.  What’s not immediately clear is what Sung-Soo knows.

Sung-Soo’s close resemblance to Suh threatens Ren’s ability to continue playing along with Mack’s carefully constructed tale.  Told from Ren’s perspective, hints at what happened are slowly revealed, as she reflects back to the beginning of her relationship with Suh, what she left behind back on Earth, and the events of that first Planetfall.

There’s a lot to love about this story.  To begin with, it’s beautifully written and stunningly subtle.  Set in the future, it features advanced technology including 3D printers capable of printing everything a self-sustaining colony requires, and chip implants capable of connecting individuals to the web and to each other.  It also features an environmentally-friendly, successful colony established on an Earth-like planet.  It’s not a utopia — while there are advantages to being as connected as they are, the story points out that there are disadvantages as well.  And people will always be people.  Add a mysterious alien structure,  a slow reveal from a character slowly cracking under the burden of guilt, and a twist I didn’t see coming, and you have a story worth reading again and again.

The question of religion versus science underlies the story but the reader isn’t pushed one way or the other.

I was exasperated by Ren but that’s not a bad thing.  Tormented by whatever happened, she can’t face it directly, but the arrival of Sung-Soo won’t let her continue to bury it.  Hence the slow reveal.  I like having to work for my mystery so I was hooked even though I was never able to connect with her.   I didn’t pick up on her illness right away and when Sung-Soo discovered it, I knew it was important but I didn’t realize how important it was — I was mostly stuck on not understanding the illness itself. 

I love it when an author can genuinely catch me off-guard and Newman did just that when the book hit its climax.  The clues were there — I just didn’t pick up on them.  Stunningly subtle.  Reading the book through a second time, I couldn’t believe that I’d missed what was so obvious.

I did have a few quibbles with the book but they were minor.  There was a detail that seemed like it would be bigger than it was — ah well.  In addition to Planetfall, there was another “event” that was mentioned but never really fleshed out.  And for all of the description provided, there wasn’t any about the local wildlife — it’s mentioned on a few occasions, so you know it exists, but that’s it.  I want to know what’s roaming the grasslands and why nothing ventures close to God’s City.

The first time I read the book, I thought the ending felt rushed.  The second time, I appreciated it more.  I would love to see a sequel.

*Originally posted on my first blog (Lighthearted Librarian) in February 2016.

The Perfect Ghost? The Perfect Twist

Here's a look at the first book I remember re-reading immediately after reading it the first time.

Book Review:  The Perfect Ghost by Linda Barnes

Em Moore is painfully shy.  As the silent partner of a successful writing team, she’s able to live a mostly solitary and self-sufficient life; she does the writing, her partner Teddy does the information gathering and the PR.  When Teddy dies in a mysterious car accident, her world changes drastically.  Determined to finish their last project together, the biography of reclusive movie director Garrett Malcolm, she leaves the safety of her apartment and resolves to complete the interviews with the man himself, despite everyone’s doubts.

The story unfolds slowly but deliberately, told by Em and addressed to Teddy in absentia.  Details from her past seep into the narrative and they aren’t pleasant.   Em is a survivor, but will she fall victim to a fatal accident herself?  Malcolm clearly has secrets, and it seems more and more likely that Teddy’s accident wasn’t an accident at all.  Did he discover something scandalous?  Was he up to something scandalous himself?

This book was impossible for me to put down and the ending caught me by surprise — I love it when an author can do that!  I immediately began re-reading and became even more impressed.  It takes a lot of skill to show readers everything they need to know but lead them in an entirely different direction.  Linda Barnes just made my “Must Read” list.

*Originally posted on my first blog (Lighthearted Librarian), December 2014

Three parts, four twists, one gripping read

Book Review:  The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
 

There are four books that I've re-read immediately after reading them for the first time.  This is one of them.

Richard is Vanessa's ex-husband and Nellie's fiancé.  The Wife Between Us begins with alternating chapters between Vanessa and Nellie, each detailing their relationships with Richard.  It's obvious that he is a charismatic but controlling partner.  While his manipulations appear considerate on the surface, they are not.  Richard has a dark side that Vanessa is well-acquainted with and Nellie is soon to discover.

Despite the warnings to assume nothing, there is one assumption that I believe every reader will make and it will lead to Twist 1.  I loved Twist 1 the first time I read the book.  I liked it the second time.  It's a good twist; the only reason that I went from loving it to liking it is that we're dealing with an unreliable narrator.  When I read the book again, immediately after finishing it the first time, I was expecting to notice clues that I'd missed the first time. Instead, I discovered that the version of events was inconsistent -- at least it appeared that way.  Going back through my notes now, as I'm writing this review, I'm reminded that the inconsistency was largely due to my interpretation of the narration.  Very little means what you think it means in this novel.  I may give this book a third read, to fully appreciate the dexterity of the authors in leading us astray.

Twist 2 is closely related to Twist 1.  If Twist 1 was clever, Twist 2 is brilliant. 

Readers more attentive than I may suspect Twist 3 as they are reading.  There are a few hints regarding Twist 4.  There's one more revelation that some might count as a Twist but it's fairly small and it didn't have a huge effect on events, so I'm just counting it as a reveal.

Highly recommended!

Who's playing with whom?

Book Review:  Orca by Steven Brust

Still on the run from the Jhereg, Vlad seeks help for Savn.  It's been a year since the events of Athyra and Savn has been mostly catatonic since he saved Vlad's life by using a Morganti weapon to kill his own lord.  On the outskirts of Northport, a Tsalmoth hedge wizard (whose name Vlad can't pronounce) agrees to help, no questions asked, but asks that Vlad help her in return.  She's being evicted from the home she shared with her husband and she wants to stay.

Who actually holds the deed to the land is much more difficult to determine than it should be.  Vlad pulls in Kiera the Thief to help.  The land appears to be connected to a prominent financier who recently died under suspicious circumstances.  With the paperwork Kiera lifts from his home, they determine that Fyres was a master con artist -- he appeared to be wealthy but his companies were shells -- so many loans were involved from various banks and Houses that the inevitable defaults will have serious consequences for the Empire.  

The seventh book in the series brings us back into the twisted political intrigue of the Dragaeran Empire.  I wasn't all that invested in figuring out the connections between Fyres, the banks, the tenants, etc -- I knew Vlad would eventually spell it out for us -- so I just enjoyed watching him and Kiera in action.  We see a lot more of Kiera this time -- she's present throughout the entire story and narrates most of it.  It was interesting seeing Vlad through her perspective, "Sometimes I forget just how devious he is and how good he is at improvising, and his skill at calculating odds and pulling off improbable gambits.  Sometimes he thinks he's better at these than he actually is, and it is likely to get him killed one of these days."  

We not only see Vlad through Kiera's perspective, but we also see something of her relationship with Cawti.  They remain in contact and through this we learn that Cawti misses Vlad but still believes they can't be together.  And Kiera knows things about each of them that she chooses not to share, some things because they aren't ready to share them with each other, but some things for her own reasons.  Although we learn a lot about Kiera in this book, including her reason for watching over Vlad, her motivations remain mostly mysterious.

Scenes to look forward to:  Vlad tries to disguise himself as a Dragaeran, which involves shaving his mustache, wearing a wig, and swaggering in ridiculously high platform boots.  Big reveals about Kiera and Cawti. 

Everything is worth examining

Book Review:  Athyra by Steven Brust

More than two years have passed between the events of Phoenix and Vlad's arrival in a farming community far from the city.  He's still in hiding from the Jhereg and he's lost a finger somewhere along the way.  His arrival is quickly followed by the mysterious death of a local -- a local who years before had helped Vlad sneak into a certain nearby Athyran necromancer's castle.  Coincidence?  Vlad thinks not.  He determines to take out Loraan, once and for all.  That is, if the villagers don't take him out first.  It seems too big of a coincidence to them, that one of their own dies of no obvious causes, days after an Easterner is seen in town.

The sixth book in the Vlad Taltos series is . . . different.  It's narrated by a young Teckla named Savn.  After a chance meeting on the road, Savn becomes fascinated with Vlad.  He chooses to spend time with the Easterner, despite the cold looks the other villagers give him.  And for the first time in his life, he questions things he had always assumed to be true.  

It's interesting to see Vlad from someone else's perspective but it sets a much slower pace for the story.  Savn is young and thoughtful.  He's intrigued by Vlad and troubled by Vlad's past as an assassin.  He's likeable but lacks Vlad's charisma.

Loiosh is also mostly silent this time around, although we are treated to the thoughts of his mate, Rocza -- for me this was one of the most interesting parts of the story.  Again, we're given a different perspective of Vlad.  To Loiosh, Vlad is a parent -- to Rocza, Vlad is the Provider.  She doesn't mind doing things for him, most of the time, but she's mainly in it for the treats -- and Loiosh.

Not as much world-building this time although we do learn that there is blue sky above the strange overcast of the Empire.  And the overcast is apparently poisonous -- both Rocza and Loiosh hold their breath until they are well above or below it.  

I'm waiting for the next book, Orca, to come in from interlibrary loan.  Although I missed Vlad's narration this time, I'm anxious to see what happens with Savn.  And I'd love to see what's happening with Cawti, Noish-pa, Kragar, and others.

The bridge between worlds hangs on lyre strings

Book Review:  Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Six months have passed since Selene and her friends thwarted Saturn's ritual on the Statue of Liberty.  Believing it best for him, she allowed Theo to believe she died in the effort.  She mourns his absence and the deaths of her siblings while remaining focused on finding Saturn and ending his threat once and for all.

Theo mourns Selene desperately.  He researches ancient rituals in the hopes of resurrecting her.  They will meet again and it will be painful for both of them; he feels betrayed and she realizes that she didn't do him any favors.  As with the other two books, however, there's a larger story in play.  Saturn has Zeus and he's planning to sacrifice him.  Selene and the remaining gods gather at Mount Olympus for the first time in centuries. 

This is an outstanding trilogy.  Brodsky merges religion, mythology, ancient mysteries, and science into an insightful and compelling storyline.  Her characters are layered and utterly believable.  We meet Athena in this book and I loved the story Brodsky created for her.

I admit that I thought it was best for Theo and Selene to part in the second book.  He's a mortal and she's a goddess -- even if she wasn't carrying millennia of baggage, age will come between them sooner rather than later.  Ruth seemed a better fit for Theo and Flint (aka Hephaestus) seemed a better fit for Selene.  Love is not logical, however.  Brodsky has convinced me that Theo and Selene belong together.  I highly recommend this trilogy.

Some prayers may be better left unanswered

Book Review:  Phoenix by Steven Brust 

                                                                                                                          

When Vlad finds himself ambushed in South Adrilankha, he offers up a prayer to the Demon-Goddess Vera.  She answers.  As it turns out, she wants him to assassinate someone for her.  Vlad's been considering getting out of the business but how does one refuse a goddess?

The assassination begins a war between the Empire and the sleepy outlying nation of Greenaere.  The Empire begins drafting humans and Teckla into its army, which adds to the growing uprising within the Empire.  Cawti is arrested twice.  To save Cawti's life, Vlad goes against his House.

I love this series.  I love the characters, the world-building, the fast-paced plots. 

Cawti has changed dramatically since we first met her, but so has Vlad.  He finally acknowledges that while he may have hated all dragaerans to begin with, most of his close friends are of that race.  He's genuinely friendly to the Orca sailing him from Adrilankha to Greenaere (regular beatings by Orca youth during his childhood inspired, or at least deeply contributed to his early hatred of dragaerans).  He's come a long way but where will he go next?

While Teckla showed us the beginnings of a rift between Vlad and Cawti; Phoenix shows the deepening of that rift.  Their relationship struggles are sparingly told and heartbreakingly real.  They love each other but it's not enough, at least in this book. What will she do with South Adrilankha?  Can they find their way back to each other?


The world-building in this series continues to be exceptional.  Each book reveals or hints at something new.  This time we discover that there are different types of stones which block sorcery and psionic communication -- I wonder what Morrolan and Aliera will do with that information.  We also learn that there are legends of strange lands beyond the sea, perhaps even beneath it.  And while Noish-pa refers to dragaerans as elves, Vlad finds himself referred to as a dwarf by the dragaerans on Greenaere.

We don't learn as much about the House of Phoenix as we have about other Houses in other books -- after all, there is only one living member and she's the Empress of the Empire.   We learn more about her though, and how she regards her role in the scheme of things.

Found again. What's a girl to do?

Book Review:  Vanished by Karen Olson

Tina Adler's been found again.  She's been living quietly off the grid in Charleston, South Carolina, painting watercolors for a local gallery.  The Feds are no longer looking for her but Tony deMarco is -- he may have gotten his money back but he still wants her taken out.  Fearing she's been recognized, she does a little internet sleuthing and discovers that her love interest, Zeke Chapman, may be in danger.  She and his friend Spencer travel to Paris to try and figure out what's going on.

Eh.  I'm losing interest in the series.  It's more of the same -- Tina has found a new place along the ocean to lie low and a new art gallery to pay her cash for her landscapes.  She gives in to the temptation to go online, the bad guys start chasing her again, and there are brief scenes with her and Zeke.  There are too many easy getaways and vague situations -- I'm still unclear on what exactly happened with Zeke and Adrianna.  What's he doing for her and what's he doing for the FBI?  Adrianna's going after Tina because she can't get her hands on Zeke but Tina overheard her (or her minions) grilling Zeke?  What?

Tina clearly has a thirst for hacking, a target on her head, and a desire to be with FBI agent Zeke Chapman.  At this point, four books in, I don't know why she doesn't work for the Feds -- she could hack to her heart's content, have some protection from deMarco, and cozy up with Zeke.  It's all well and good that she wants to be by the ocean, painting and bicycling, but surely something could be arranged.

Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself.

Book Review:  Winter of the Gods by Jordanna Max Brodsky

It's been 3 months since Selene (Artemis), a few of her fellow Greek gods, and a Professor of Classic Mythology, worked together to uncover a cult trying to resurrect the Eleusinian Mysteries.  She's in a foul mood -- she hasn't punished a wrongdoer in at least a week, and it's December in Manhattan -- all of the hallmarks of Christmas are grating on her nerves -- she has a lot of rage to vent.  She is enjoying getting cozy with Professor Theo Shulz, however.  When he's not singing or humming Christmas carols, that is.  Or joking about sex.  She says that she spent enough time being what mankind imagined, and now she will decide who she is -- but she's not entirely sure it works that way.  Her powers are already significantly diminished from what they were when men believed in her.  What happens if she chooses to let go of her chastity, one of the main attributes men imbued her with?

That's a question she'll have to come back to.  Another cult has made a sacrifice, a man sprawled atop Wall Street's Charging Bull statue, surrounded by a variety of ritualistic symbols.  When she and Theo receive the call from Detective Freeman, Selene assumes the worst -- that her fellow gods are replicating the methods used by Orion, in the hopes of regaining their former powers.  She's wrong -- this time it's the gods who are being sacrificed.  But by whom and why?

Aside of Selene's choice of punishment for a rapist, which seems likely to have consequences for the bears involved (which she should have considered), I really enjoyed this book.  The mystery is excellent.  What I loved though is that Brodsky again writes her characters true to the original myths but allows for believable growth and regret.  All of the gods have acted rashly and criminally over the millennia and this storyline confronts them with their misdeeds.

I may not have bought the quick romance between Selene and Theo in the first book, The Immortals, but I bought the relationship struggles they face in this book.  Utterly and completely.  And I was happy with the way things were between them at the end.  We'll see what happens in the next book, Olympus Bound.  It's checked out and on my nightstand at home!

The Greek Gods are alive and well and living in Manhattan

Book Review:  The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky

When people stopped believing in the gods, the gods began to diminish.  They still walk among mortals though.  Artemis now goes by the name Selene DiSilva and she calls Manhattan home.  Her powers may be greatly diminished but she can still handle mortals.  Or can she?  As the story begins and she intervenes to save yet another woman from an abusive man, she finds herself wondering if this is the fight she won’t win.  She does win, but just barely.  Has she finally grown so weak that a mere man can defeat her?  As troubling as that thought is, Selene soon discovers there’s something that frightens her even more.  Someone is trying to resurrect the Eleusinian Mysteries and they are upping the ante by using human sacrifice.  Selene suspects that it’s one of her fellow gods, trying to regain former powers.

This is the first entry in the Olympus Bound series and it’s intriguing.  I liked Brodsky’s interpretation of not only the histories of the Greek gods, but also what they would be like if they were among us today.  And I appreciated Selene’s observations about her fellow gods, particularly Persephone.

The mystery was okay — the gods don’t really hide themselves all that well but why should they bother?  No one believes in them anyway.  I had most of the bad guys figured out but not the main one.  That one caught me by surprise but in a good way.  The tension level was excellent.

The romance, and yes, there is one, sort of — that didn’t really work for me.  Let me amend that.  I felt the romance of Artemis and Orion.  Brodsky sold that very well.  Selene and this guy, not so much.  Aside of the glimpses of her past with Orion, Selene is a pretty icy character.  During her heyday, she may have allowed herself to care about her handmaidens, but these days she keeps everyone at an emotional distance.  She protects women but she doesn’t care about any one of them individually.  I would expect that countless years of only exposing herself to the worst of men would have hardened her against them particularly.  Yet somehow,  while trying to figure out the next move of a fellow immortal intent on sacrificing human lives for godly power, she finds herself drawn to a man she originally suspected of murder?  Over the course of a few books, maybe.  All in the same book though?  Which took place in something like 10 days?  It felt rushed.  Not a deal-breaker though.  

Originally posted on my wordpress blog on January 12, 2017.  Reposting it here as I'm preparing to review its sequels, Winter of the Gods and Olympus Bound.

Don't you know that you're toxic?

Book Review:  Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen

Hannah returns home from a training session in Oxford, to find that her boyfriend of four years, Matt, is gone.  His belongings have been removed from their house and her belongings have been rearranged to the way they were when the house was hers alone.  Every text she's ever sent him has been deleted from her phone, as well as every photo of him.  His social media accounts have disappeared.  She can find no trace of him, except for one, an old social media photo that he was never tagged in.  

She's desperate to know what happened.  Consumed by the need to know where Matt is, she starts slipping at work -- and it's noticed.  Once on-track for a promotion, she finds herself in danger of losing her job.  It doesn't matter though -- she's certain that once she finds Matt, everything will be okay.  Until she does -- and it isn't.

At first, I questioned whether Matt was a real person or a figment of her imagination, but he's real.  Hannah is an unreliable narrator though -- there are plenty of hints to indicate this throughout the book.  There's more to her history with Matt than she is willing to admit -- and that's what kept me reading.  Hannah is not a likeable character.  She has toxic relationship with her best friend (also not a likeable character) and there's something amiss with her parents.  And it's simply hard to relate to someone so fixated on someone else.  I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened between Matt and Hannah that was so bad that he felt the need to disappear so completely.  I had a guess and I was close to the truth.

The ending offers a twist with all sorts of questions.  A solid but tough read.  I don't always have to like the main character to like the book -- I loved Gone Girl and The Perfect Ghost, but I still don't know how to sum up my reaction to this one.  Uncomfortable?  It was well-written and I'll admit that I flipped its pages furiously, to see what happened next.  Maybe it's the fact that Hannah is so unrelatable for me -- Gone Girl's Amy was a monster, yes, but there were parts of her story I could empathize with, and The Perfect Ghost was so brilliantly written that I had to re-read it immediately.  I suppose what troubles me about Hannah is that I don't understand her obsession with Matt -- he's not the first guy to leave her -- but he is the first guy to disappear.  Maybe if he'd just moved out but left a note, it would have been different?  

Surrounded by enemies

Book Review:  Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Linnet seems to have it all -- she's smart, beautiful, and wealthy.  She cherishes her independence and scoffs at the idea of marriage -- until she meets her best friend's fiance, Simon Boyle.  Within a few months, Linnet and Simon are married -- and Linnet's former best friend Jackie is furious.

Hercule Poirot is on holiday in Egypt when he encounters Linnet and Simon on their honeymoon.  Jackie is there as well; she's been following them everywhere and it's wearing on Linnet's nerves.  Jackie even manages to book herself on the same Nile cruise, even though Simon booked passage under an assumed name, in the hopes of losing her for a short time.

Linnet attempts to employ Poirot to convince Jackie to stop following them but he declines.  He feels sorry for Jackie, however, and tries to convince her to let go of the past, to no avail.  And then, one night after Poirot has gone to bed, Jackie shoots Simon in front of witnesses.  It's only a leg wound but later that night, Linnet is shot in the head.  Jackie is under observation, so she couldn't have done it.  Who did?


Once again, stereotyping is an issue -- ugh.  That said, this was another fascinating mystery.  Christie excels at making all manner of distracting circumstances plausible; there's no shortage of crimes or suspects.  Poirot keeps at least one significant clue to himself, which is annoying, but there are enough clues to allow an attentive reader to arrive at the same conclusions he did.  Unfortunately, that reader was not me -- once again, I needed him to spell it out for me and then it made perfect sense.  One of these days, Poirot, I will figure out a mystery before you reveal the answer . . . .

It's better to give than to receive surprises

Book Review:  Taltos by Steven Brust

The fourth book in the Vlad Taltos series, Taltos, takes us back in time to the events before Yendi.  So, if you're keeping track, the fourth book in the series is the first book chronologically -- so far. While I'm normally a stickler for seeing characters develop in a linear fashion, I also enjoy a good flashback.  This was an excellent flashback.

When we first saw Vlad, Morrolan, Sethra, and Aliera together in Jhereg, they were friendly, despite the fact that Vlad was both an Easterner and a member of the House of Jhereg, and the other three were Dragaerans of the House of Dragon.  Well, Morrolan and Aliera at least -- I'm not sure which House Sethra was born into, but she's two hundred thousand years old and a force to be reckoned with.  Dragaerans typically look down upon members of other Houses; Dragaerans also typically despise Easterners so it's a toss-up as to what they'll find most offensive about Vlad.  Having been regularly beaten by Dragaerans since he was a young child, Vlad generally hates all of them on principle.  So, how did this foursome become so friendly?

It all began when Morrolan and Sethra needed an Easterner who could handle a difficult task.  Why an Easterner?  Because Dragaerans rely a great deal on sorcery for protection and they don't think to include Easterners among the things they need to protect themselves against.  That difficult task led to another, this one likely impossible, a journey to and return from the Paths of the Dead.  The journey there was merely tricky -- it was the journey back that was the problem.  And it was the journey back that forged the bonds among them.

I've been curious about Vlad and Morrolan's trip to the Paths of the Dead since catching the mention of it in Jhereg and I wasn't disappointed.  It's an eerie place.  Vlad offers description of it, of course, but his, Loiosh's, and Morrolan's reactions to it bring it to life.  As creepy as this place is, there's still humor -- Vlad is simply an entertaining narrator, even when he's scared out of his wits.

A second storyline gives us more details about Vlad's relationship with both his father and his grandfather (love Noish-pa!).  Noish-pa refers to the Dragaerans as elfs and creatures of Faerie; he also remembers his home in the East as having a blue sky, white clouds, and a yellow sun (the Empire has an oppressive orange-red sky).  So many questions!  One -- what happened to the sky in the Empire?  Two -- why are Easterners leaving the East, with its pretty skies, to live in a dreary land where they are despised for being Easterners?  Three -- the specific mention of elves and faerie makes me think of our mythology -- is this fictional world set on Earth in the future?  Or, are the Easterners transplants from Earth?  *Jhereg informs us that aliens were up to all sorts of shenanigans, way back when.  Perhaps Dragaerans and Easterners began as the same race?  They both refer to themselves as human but there are clear genetic differences between them.

So many questions!  But back to a general overview of the book -- there's a reason why this book takes its name from its protagonist rather than one of the Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire -- not only does it offer more detail about Vlad's childhood, but it also offers more detail about Vlad's transition from working in his dad's restaurant, to becoming an enforcer, to becoming an assassin.  We're given given insight into the first time Vlad *knew* he killed someone, as well as the first time he accepted work as an assassin -- and his reactions to both events.  And we're left with questions about Vlad's mother and Kiera.  Who was Vlad's mother and what happened to her?  Can Kiera see the future?  I suspect she can.  What is Vlad's ultimate role in the Empire?  There must be a reason Kiera looks out for him.

A third storyline, and the only one that bothered me as such, was the extended scene of Vlad working a spell.  Each chapter begins with a snippet of that scene, which actually takes place at the end of the book.  I imagine the glimpses of Vlad working a spell were meant to foreshadow the gravity of the situation at the end but I personally think it would have worked better in one piece, at the end.  I re-read those bits, all together, after finishing the book, and I stand by that opinion. 

You say you want a revolution

Book Review:  Teckla by Steven Brust

The third book in the Vlad Taltos series immediately follows the events of the first book, Jhereg.  Vlad is contemplating what to do with his new wealth, maybe build Cawti that castle she's been wanting?  Their domestic bliss is interrupted by Cawti's involvement with a determined group of revolutionaries who want better lives for two of the Empire's most downtrodden groups -- the Easterners and the Teckla.

I love the relationship between Vlad and Cawti, so this was a tough read for me.  Cawti is committed to this cause and Vlad is not.  However, he is consumed by the fear that her involvement with this group will get her killed and he does what he can to protect her -- even if it means the end of their marriage.

The nature of this storyline also forces Vlad to examine his life's choices much more closely than he cares to.  It has me wondering what lies next for the snarky assassin.

 

Between love and madness lies obsession . . .

Book Review:  Prized Possessions by L.R. Wright

Two plots collide in the 5th Karl Alberg mystery.  The book begins with a tense scene between Charlie O'Brea and his wife Emma -- and then jumps ahead, one year later.  Emma seems content, Charlie seems . . . haunted.  One stormy night, Charlie doesn't return home and Emma is worried.  When there's still no word from him the next day, Emma contacts his office, only to discover that he no longer works there.  On compassionate leave after the death of his father, Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg agrees to investigate.

Outside of town, a troubled young man loses his temper when he thinks that a pretty college girl has insulted him.  He tries to make amends afterwards but, again feels slighted.  He wants to teach her a lesson.  A devastating series of choices will bring him directly to Emma.

Another excellent story from Wright.  The Charlie/Emma storyline slowly reveals its secrets through reflections on the past, mostly from Emma, whose only goal in life was to be the best wife ever.  Eddie's storyline is simply horrifying.  Karl faces questions about his future and his relationship with Cassandra.

If you like atmospheric, psychological suspense, this is an excellent series to try.  I reviewed the first 4 titles on my wordpress blog if you'd like to check them out.  Here are the links:

Karl Alberg 1:  The Suspect

Karl Alberg 2:  Sleep While I Sing

Karl Alberg 3:  A Chill Rain in January 

Karl Alberg 4: Fall From Grace

Relationship Status: It's Complicated

Book Review:  Yendi by Steven Brust

Sometimes people fall in love, get married, and later wish the other person dead.  Assassins Vlad and Cawti went about things differently.  Cawti was hired to kill Vlad and succeeded -- luckily she didn't make it permanent and he was revived -- they both were.  Impressed with one another, they fall in love.  And they discover that there's more to the turf war that brought them together than it appears. 

The second book in the Vlad Taltos series takes us back before the events of Jhereg, to his early days, when he first began expanding his role from merely assassin to boss of an area.  The Jhereg is known for its criminal activity and it's not a surprise that Vlad is challenged by another area boss.  But it's not good for anyone that their turf war captures the attention of the Empress -- or is it?

As with the first book in this series, there's an intricately plotted mystery at the center of the story.  We learn more about Vlad's complicated relationships with dragaerans Morrolan, Aliera, and Sethra.  We learn what led to him becoming an assassin.  And we learn more about yet another of the 17 Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire:  the House of Yendi.  Each House has certain characteristics -- while there's nothing distinctive about the appearance of the Yendi, they have a reputation for elaborate schemes, manipulations, and deceptions.  Only a Yendi can unravel a Yendi's schemes . . . . 

I confess, this story started off a bit slow for me.  Early in Jhereg, we saw Vlad trying to prevent another Dragon-Jhereg war, so it was easy to cheer for him despite his profession.  Yendi shows us his early mob boss days and there was nothing for me to like there.  It wasn't until he met Cawti that I began to warm up to him this time.  That's also when it was discovered that there was more to the turf war than one Jhereg's desire to move in on another's territory.  At that point, I fell back in love with the series.  Up next:  Teckla.