#Review - See Her Die by Melinda Leigh #Mystery #Suspense

Series: Bree Taggert, # 2
Format: Kindle, 315 pages
Release Date: September 15, 2020
Publisher: Montlake
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Mystery / Suspense

Sheriff Bree Taggert is both hunter and hunted in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s blood-freezing thriller of murder, rage, and revenge.

New sheriff Bree Taggert is called to a shooting in a campground shuttered for the winter. But she arrives to find a perplexing crime. There is no shooter, no victim, and no blood. No one but Bree believes the sole witness, Alyssa, a homeless teenager who insists she saw her friend shot.

Bree calls in former deputy Matt Flynn and his K-9 to track the killer and search for Alyssa’s friend. They discover the battered corpse of a missing university student under the ice in Grey Lake—but it’s not the victim they were looking for.

When two more students go missing and additional bodies turn up, Bree must find the link between the victims. She knows only one thing for certain: the murders are fueled by rage. When Alyssa disappears, Bree must race against time to find her before her witness becomes another victim.

See Her Die, by Melinda Leigh, is the second installment in the authors Bree Taggert series. Sheriff Bree Taggert has left the Philadelphia PD where she was a Detective along with her partner Dana Romano, who has since retired, and has now taken up the mantle of Sheriff of Randolph County. She now has to deal with country administrators who refuse to provide necessary funds to hire more people, especially after she lost 1/3 of her deputies. She doesn't have an investigator, she doesn't have a K-9 unit, but she does have plenty of trouble from some of her deputies who don't like change.

While Bree is dealing with internal politics and conflicts at work, she has become sole guardian of her sister Erin's young daughter Kayla, and teenaged son, Luke who is having a hard time dealing with the reality that his mom is gone. Bree, having watched her own parents die horribly, while saving Erin, and her brother Adam, knows too much about the loss of a loved one. Adam, who was only a baby at the time, now is finding that he likes being around the kids, Dana, and especially Matt Flynn, the former K-9 Deputy who lost his job after he and his dog Brody were shot in a friendly fire incident, comfortable.

On another front, a young homeless woman named Alyssa, who was trespassing at a campground, claims that she saw a man shoot and kill her friend Harper Scott. But as Bree arrives, she finds a perplexing crime. There's no shooter, no victim, and no blood. Alyssa believes what she saw, and furthermore, claims that Harper stole her money that she needs to put gas in her truck. Bree calls in former deputy Matt Flynn and his K-9 to track the killer and search for Alyssa’s friend. They discover the battered corpse of a missing university student under the ice in Grey Lake—but it’s not the victim they were looking for. 

When two more students go missing and additional bodies turn up, Bree must find the link between the victims. She knows only one thing for certain: the murders are fueled by rage, and Alyssa may not be telling the entire truth about Harper, and the man she saw while shopping with Bree at Walmart. When Alyssa disappears, Bree must race against time to find her before her witness becomes another victim. Time is also against Bree because the killer now knows that Bree is going to be an obstacle to be dealt with sooner, than later.

*Thoughts* Bree's relationship with Kayla is adorable. I know Kayla is likely experiencing PTSD, but it's nice to see Bree taking the time to get to know her, as well as trying to reach out to Luke who seems more inclined to speak with Matt and Adam than Bree. Bree's relationship with Matt is finally getting off the ground. After pushing him away, Bree has now found it hard to not have feelings for him, and his dogs, especially after he dropped a surprise dog on her lap several weeks ago. This book had all of the aspects of your typical Melinda Leigh book, a whodunit, breadcrumbs scattered throughout the book to keep you guessing up to the end, a fluent case with just the right amount of detail and great suspense. I have 8 more books in this series to read until I am even close to catching up!

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#Review - Vilest Things by Chloe Gong #Fantasy

Series: Flesh & False Gods # 2
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy

Chloe Gong returns with power plays, spilled blood, and lethal romance in the thrilling fantasy sequel to New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Immortal Longings, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.

Calla Tuoleimi has succeeded in the impossible. Despite the odds, she has won San-Er’s bloody games and eliminated King Kasa, her tyrant uncle and the former ruler of Talin. She now serves as royal advisor to Kasa’s adopted son, August Shenzhi, who has risen to the throne.

Only Calla knows it isn’t really August.

Anton Makusa is still furious about Calla’s betrayal in the final round of the games. In an impossible feat, he took over August’s body to survive and has no intention of giving up this newfound power. But when his first love, the beautiful, explosive Otta Avia, awakens from a years long coma and reveals a secret that threatens the monarchy’s authority over Talin, chaos erupts. As tensions come to a boiling point, Calla and Anton must set their conflicts aside and head to the kingdom’s far reaches to prevent anarchy...even if their empire might be better off burning.   

Vilest Things, by Chloe Gong, is the second installment in the authors Flesh and False Gods series. Key Characters: Calla Tuoleimi, Anton Makusa, and August Shenzhi. However, there's a new character who appears to throw things into disarray and she goes by the name of Bibi and, of course, the reappearance of Otta Avia after being in a coma for years. In a stunning development, that which is supposed to kill you, can actually save you. You'll have to wait until the final page for her real identity and that will leave the book with a stunning cliffhanger ending.

Calla has succeeded in winning San-Er’s bloody games and eliminated King Kasa, her tyrant uncle and the former ruler of Talin. She serves now as royal advisor to Kasa’s adopted son, August Shenzhi, who has risen to the throne. Only Calla knows it isn’t really August. Anton Makusa is still furious about Calla’s betrayal in the final round of the games. In an impossible feat, he took over August’s body to survive and has no intention of giving up this newfound power. In fact, he seems eager to burn it all down with the help of some bad people.

But when his first love, the beautiful, explosive Otta Avia, awakens from a years long coma and reveals a secret that threatens the monarchy’s authority over Talin, chaos erupts. As tensions come to a boiling point, Calla and Anton must set their conflicts aside and head to the kingdom’s far reaches to find a crown that is supposed to determine who the real ruler of San-Er is. Even if their empire might be better off burning. Everything is more high stakes now than ever, because with Calla having no one on her side, until she and Anton can fix the things that happened at the end of the previous novel. 

With everyone seemingly against her, Calla has to figure out how she’ll save San-Er by herself. She also has to navigate the complicated history Otta has with everyone, leaving her half a step behind. We also have to question who Calla really is since she easily can bounce from one body to the next, even those though impossible. The boy swapping is by far the most twisted part of this series. Otta is a catalyst with too much information that she seems impossible for even August to handle. To make things more wicked, Bibi seems to be willing to burn things down in order to help Calla, but is she really an ally?

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#Review - A Demon Faerie Tale by L.R. Braden #Fantasy #Paranormal

Series: The Rifter Series # 3
Format: E-Book, 129 pages
Release Date: September 13, 2024
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Source: NetGalley Invite
Genre: Urban Fantasy

It's always a demon, right? Unless it's a curse…

When a fellow PTF agent dies of unnatural causes, Ty suspects a demon, so who better to help him track down the killer than his demon-possessed partner, Mira? But one wrong turn in the investigation lands Ty in the crosshairs of a deadly curse that turns simple desires into lethal obsessions.

With less than 48 hours until Ty's sanity unravels completely, the partners must track down the culprit and neutralize the magic…or Mira will lose the only person she's ever let near her heart.

A Demon Faerie Tale, by L.R. Braden, is the third installment in the authors Rifter Series. Key Characters: Mira Fuentes who is a Rifter aka Demon possessed magic practitioner, and Ty Williams, crime fighting PTF agent who has become partners with Mira even though the PTF isn't exactly warm and welcoming to people like Mira. Mira and Ty are sent to Seattle to investigate a series of twisted deaths. First, there is the wife who suddenly finds cannibalism appealing and decides her husband is her next meal and dies grotesquely. 

Second, a veteran PTF agent suddenly finds himself in the movie Constantine where no matter how much he drinks, he can't satisfy his thirst after stealing a coin from the Johnson family. Third, a clerk at the convenience story where the PTF agent drank himself to death, decides to steal the coin from the agent, and doesn't survive an encounter with a bus. Finally, Ty himself is infected after he picks up a coin which appears to have been cursed. In all cases, whatever the person was craving when they touched the coin, that's what they become obsessed with. 

In Ty's case, his obsession becomes shoes. But who cursed the coin and why? All Mira knows is that she has no time for games. She needs to hunt down the person, likely Fae per her personal demon named Number Two, and get that person to break the curse before Mira loses Ty like Ty lost his last partner which is still hanging over his life and every action he takes. 

This story, in my opinion, could have been longer, but the ending was wrapped up nicely. Lastly, I do hope the author keeps writing about Mira and Ty. They make a great team and Mira's demon has a snarky attitude which makes the story entertaining.   

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#Review - Avenger of Blood by S. M. Reeve #Thriller #Suspense

Series: Anna Croix # 1
Format: Kindle, 368 pages
Release Date: February 28, 2023
Publisher: S.M. Reeve
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Thriller / Suspense

How do you go from poster child of All-American-Girl-Next-Door to Calculating-Killer-on-a-Murderous-Rampage? Try discovering a houseful of your family's bloody corpses.

Anna Croix's life was perfect, until suddenly it wasn't.

Amazing family? Check. Doting Fiancé? Check. The career she's always wanted? Almost check. And then there was nothing ...

Nothing but a gaping hole longing to be filled. Question is, does she fill it with peace and acceptance or bitterness and a burning drive for revenge?

The latter, of course. Because it's not every day your entire family gets slaughtered.

But first, she needs to know why ... and by whom.

Then there's the issue of finding them and what to do once she has.

Will she really be able to commit murder?

Most definitely.

Not a problem.

Her problem is knowing when to stop.

Avenger of Blood is the first installment in author S.M. Reeve's Anna Croix series. Anna is finishing up her rotation heading home to visit her parents. She's got everything going for her. She's got a gorgeous fiance, and her family is looking forward to a fun weekend, especially the massive diamond engagement ring Cole recently gave her when he proposed. She's so excited to visit her Mom, Dad, and brother Eric that she's devastated to discover that her entire family has been murdered. 

When the police find her, she's near catatonic and admitted to a mental health facility by her family friend Wesley Harrison. After a few months there, Anna tires of her drugged stupor, and decides to take matters into her own hands because the police are getting nowhere, and the only thing that matters to her now is hunting down everyone responsible and seeking revenge. Once she actually finds those responsible, she has to decide their fate. Can she commit murder? Turns out she can indeed. Her new issue is how to stop committing murder.

Over the next 2 years, Anna becomes proficient in fire arms, sets up her ninja style obstacle course from scratch on her 150 acres in deliverance country, gets instruction in close contact fighting, fixes up her off-grid ramshackle barn to make it into a comfortable living space, collates information about the potential killers of her family, all on her own with no outside help in the 2 years since the murders took place. Along the way she picks up a side kick, Spike, who may not be as clueless as she thinks he is. If you go to the author's website you will get the free short story of Spike's Point of View.

At the end of this book there are enough questions waiting to be answered in the next books, such as what is the story with Cole, Anna's fiancé at the time of the murders, what is the story with Aiden, the detective who wants to date her even if he thinks she is somehow involved, how will Anna and Spike's relationship change, what makes Spike tick OR has this whole book been just a hallucination inside Anna's head while she is in the facility for her mental break down.

*Thoughts* It is important to note that Anna has a medical degree and uses it to send an ultimate message in a truly shocking and macabre way to her family’s murderer, but does she go too far? The reader understands Anna’s intense need for revenge however; she becomes entirely brutal and sadistic. It’s graphic, chilling, and disturbing all at the same time. This was literally sold as a thriller tale of vigilante justice, questioning revenge vs redemption, vengeance vs vindication, and choice vs consequences. 

Can someone who goes down a road of bloodshed have the capability of coming back from the edge of being a sociopathic serial? In the years that I have been reviewing, one of the things that I have tried not to complain about is editing errors as they do happen. Unfortunately, I could have dropped this rating down to 2 1/2 Gizmos because there are points where Anna suddenly becomes a woman named Jules, but this doesn't make any sense to the reader because we all know that she is Anna, and so do certain villains, as well as the above named Aiden who knew her when she was suffering from losing her family.

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#Review - Trust No One by Debra Webb #Suspense #Thriller

Series: Devlin & Falco # 1
Format: Kindle, 427 pages
Release Date: August 1, 2020
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Amazon Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Suspense / Thriller

 A double homicide and a missing woman lead a detective to unearth disturbing secrets in this gripping thriller from USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb.

It’s the worst possible time for Detective Kerri Devlin to be involved in an all-consuming double-homicide case. She’s locked in a bitter struggle with her ex-husband and teenage daughter, and her reckless new partner is anything but trustworthy.

Still, she has a job to do: there’s a killer at large, and a pregnant woman has gone missing. Once Devlin and her partner get to work, they quickly unearth secrets involving Birmingham’s most esteemed citizens. Each new layer of the investigation brings Devlin closer to the killer and the missing woman, who starts looking more like a suspect than a victim.

But just as answers come into view, the case twists, expands, and slithers into Devlin’s personal life. There’s a much more sinister game at work, one she doesn’t even know she’s playing—and she must unravel the truth once and for all to stop the killer before she loses everything.

Debra Webb's Trust No One is the first installment in the authors Devlin and Falco series. Devlin is Detective Kerri Devlin of the Birmingham, Alabama Police Departments Major Investigations Division. Falco is Detective Luke Falco who becomes Kerri's new partner after spending years undercover and nearly losing everything. This story takes place over the course of 10 days. On Day 1, Kerri and Falco are called to the scene of a double homicide. 

The victims are Ben Abbott, and Jacqueline Rollins. Ben is something of a software guru which makes this murder even more ominous. The wife, Sela Abbott is not only missing, but she is pregnant. She is also a prime suspect in the murder of her husband and mother. It’s the worst possible time for Detective Devlin to be involved in an all-consuming double-homicide case. She’s locked in a bitter struggle with her ex-husband who not only cheated on her, but now wants full custody of her teenage daughter.

To make things worse, she's saddled with training a new partner who she has no clue what his past was, or what his qualifications are that brought him to the Division. Still, with Sela missing, she has a job to do. There is a killer, or killers lose, and every day that Sela is missing means that there is less likely she will be found in time. Devlin and her partner get to work, they quickly unearth secrets involving Birmingham’s most esteemed citizens. Each new layer of the investigation brings Devlin closer to the killer and the missing woman, who starts looking more like a suspect than a victim.

The author uses Sela to tell part of her story which makes this story even more twisted. The more you discover from Devlin and Falco, Sela adds an even more sinister game at work which really centers on getting revenge for something that happened 15 years ago. And, if though it appears that Sela is trying to lead Devlin to the truth about everything, Devlin & Falco are facing obstacles because of who the suspects are in the case. You can't just walk up to men whose families founded the city and demand that they cooperate. 

Readers should be prepared to be blown out of the water right from chapter one as Kerri is forced to make a choice which may or may not have lasting implications to keeping her job in the future. Everyone Devlin & Falco question is of the entitled class and seems to be holding back information. And as soon as they find a person of interest with something to tell them, that person ends up dead too. It feels like someone is ‘cleaning up’ but who and why? Devlin and Falco are an interesting partnership, one straight-laced and the other just emerging from years undercover, but their personalities play well off of each other, strengths to weaknesses. With new partners, it takes a while to get used to how the other does things and in this case, they tend to make a pretty solid team. Downside? The story gets a bit convoluted at times, and at times the story does drag on too long. In fact, I thought the story could have been wrapped up 50 pages sooner. 

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#Review - House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen #Domestic #Thriller

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 354 pages
Release Date: August 6, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thriller / Domestic

The past and the present collide in the most unexpected ways in #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen's latest thriller, The House of Glass.

Rose Barclay is an 8-year-old girl who witnessed the death of her nanny —in the midst of her parents' contentious divorce— and immediately fell into traumatic mutism. Stella Hudson is a Best Interest Attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under 13 due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, sprawling D.C. home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far creepier, than she feared. And there’s something off about the house itself: its a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays hold close, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present collide in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from? From bestselling thriller writer, Sarah Pekkanen, comes a new, riveting novel filled with buried secrets and page-turning twists.

Sarah Pekkanen's House of Glass is a psychological thriller focusing on a family named Barclay whose nanny fell to her death at her place of employment, and now it is up to Stella Hudson, a woman whose past is fraught with horrors, to sort what happened. It is up to her to decide whether 9-year-old Rose Barclay is safe with her father, Ian, or mother, Beth, or Grandmother, or if Rose played a role in the nanny's untimely death. Stella is what you call a best interest attorney or guardian ad litem. It is up to Stella to represent the children in any divorce proceedings. 

Pulled into this case thanks to her mentor and friend Judge Charles Huxley, Stella is supposed to assess Rose's world and make reports back to the court who will determine who Rose will end up with. But as Stella gets a better look into the home, and Rose's living situation, she notices that Rose seems to be collecting sharp objects. Why? Here is what Stella has been told. Rose, who is 8-years-old, witnessed death of her nanny Tina in the midst of her parents' contentious divorce and immediately fell into traumatic mutism. 

It seems as though Ian, the father, had an affair with Tina, and Tina ended up pregnant. Stella normally doesn't accept clients under 13 due to her own traumatic childhood of finding her own mother murdered when she was a child, which also sent her into a phase where she was unable to talk to anyone. From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, sprawling D.C. home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far creepier, than she feared. 

And there’s something off about the house itself: its a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found. As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays hold close, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present collide in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend, and yes, even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from? From bestselling thriller writer, Sarah Pekkanen, comes a new, riveting novel filled with buried secrets and page-turning twists.

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#Review - The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver #YA #Dystopian #Horror

Series: Unknown
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: April 16, 2024
Publisher: Chicken House
Source: Publisher
Genre: YA / Dystopian / Horror

A brand-new game show that offers young criminals the chance at freedom has been greenlit. Little do they know, winning is their only chance at survival. A captivating examination of the dark truths around the criminal justice system, Ben Oliver, critically acclaimed author of The Loop trilogy, delivers an action-packed thrill ride with deadly high stakes.

Fifty contestants. Five mental and physical challenges. One winner.

In a near-future where a virtual currency of digital content fuels a fame-hungry society, a brand-new experiment that combines social media and reality TV has been greenlit.

Voted on, and contestants are sent to a maximum-security reform camp on an island where they can have no contact with the outside world. To lose means prison. But to win is to be free. The most popular young offender with the most upvotes by the end is given both a second chance in society and a cash prize.

This kind of money could mean everything to Emerson and her family who live in the Burrows, one of the subterranean villages where the government have buried affordable housing. It's more than freedom. It could mean the chance to change her family’s circumstance and finally find a place in the society they’ve never been allowed into.

But what Emerson doesn’t know, what the viewers don’t know, is that the prison on the island is empty. Those who lose, those who are voted off aren’t incarcerated. Each challenge will leave more and more contestants to die. And the only choice they have is to win over viewers before it’s too late.

Ben Oliver's The Kill Factor is a twisted young adult centered dystopian horror mash up featuring 16-year-old Emerson Ness who is a Burrower. A Burrower is a person who lives in the tunnels below the city. Emerson has scraped and dug and, yes, stolen, trying to support herself and her brother Kester, with minimal help from her father, a would-be influencer convinced that someday, his cast will take off and they can become one of the Topsiders living in luxury. 

After she is arrested for theft, arson, and manslaughter and a huge bag of money she planned on using to help her younger brother who is hearing impaired, she is visited by a man known as the Producer. He claims he is part of a brand-new game show that offers young criminals the chance at freedom has been green lit. Little do they know, winning is their only chance at survival. Fifty contestants. Six mental and physical challenges. One winner. 

In a near-future where a virtual currency of digital content fuels a fame-hungry society, a brand-new experiment that combines social media and reality TV. Contestants are sent to a maximum-security reform camp on an island where they can have no contact with the outside world. To lose means prison or death. To win is to be free. The most popular young offender with the most upvotes by the end is given both a second chance in society and a cash prize. 

This kind of money could mean everything to Emerson and her family. It's more than freedom. It could mean the chance to change her family’s circumstance and finally find a place in the society they’ve never been allowed into. But what Emerson doesn’t know, what the viewers don’t know, is that the prison on the island is empty. Those who lose, those who are voted off aren’t incarcerated. Each challenge will leave more and more contestants to die. And the only choice they have is to win over viewers before it’s too late.

*Thoughts* A captivating examination of the dark truths around the criminal justice system, Ben Oliver, critically acclaimed author of The Loop trilogy, delivers an action-packed thrill ride with deadly high stakes. This concept is Hunger Games but a prison reform camp version, or even a Black Mirror episode mixed with the TV show Survivor where you face elimination by the number of likes you receive. A big chunk of this is a social commentary about how modern society has become dependent on likes and follows on social media which I refuse to adhere to. 

If you follow me, thank you, if not, that's okay too. I am not a fan of learning that this is not a standalone. How can it be when the author leaves a roundabout way of saying it's not over yet after a brutal ending that leaves more questions than answers. Like, who created the show? Was it the government? Was it a powerful corporation? Was it some billionaire who has too much money and is able to change the laws with a bribe here and there to certain politicians?

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#Review - Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch by Codie Crowley #YA #Supernatural #Thriller #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Release Date: August 6, 2024
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense / Supernatural

Murdered bad girl Annie Lane is back from the grave and hellbent on revenge . . . she just has to figure out who killed her.

This fast-paced thriller by a talented debut delivers a horror-infused hunt for justice that's at once furiously feminist, darkly funny, and utterly satisfying.

Between her careless mom, her cheating ex-boyfriend, and her rotten reputation around town, Annie Lane is used to being left behind. But she’s never been left for dead before—until she wakes up to find her body’s been dumped on a mountain rumored to raise the dead.

Annie can’t remember who killed her, but she’ll stop at nothing to figure it out and make them pay. Because girls like her don’t get justice unless they take it for themselves.

Codie Crowley’s propulsive debut Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch presents a furious and cathartic thriller skewering society’s condemnation of “unlikeable” girls. 17-year-old Annabel (Annie) Lane wakes up and learns quickly that her life has changed forever. It seems that someone dumped her body in the water, and she's dead. Or is she? She immediately meets Hunt, and Howl, and Fern, and Sam who apparently died in the 1950's. The only thing that Annie remembers is being chased through the woods.

When she wakes from the cold water of the Paulinskill River, she does so with a hunger for revenge on the entire small town of Hagley, and everyone in it who are acting like this is all somehow her fault. When she arrives at school, everyone looks at her like she's the walking dead. After getting into a argument with the principal and Sheriff who treated her like a second daughter, she returns home to a mother who is irate that she pulled some sort of prank.

What is even more strange is that Annie's best friend Maura seems to disappear off the face of the earth. This book was wild. As Annie tries to find out why she was murdered, it becomes a guessing game. Could it be the ex-boyfriend? Could it be a co-worker? Could it be someone close to her that she trusted? Then there's the mystery of Sam. Sam who becomes a fixture in Annie's life. Sam who may be the King of Lies, or just a person who was killed like Annie. 

One of the best things about this book are the short chapters, and the mixture of humor and horror that the author uses to tell the story. Honestly, you could have blown me over with some serious winds once the villain is discovered, especially after Annie gets a helping hand from her best friend. I usually don't post trigger warnings since the author does a good job of what is expected from the story. 

In this case, the trigger warnings are justified since a lot of really awful stuff happens to Annie before the book even begins. This is probably going to confuse readers, but Sam reminded me of bad boy James Dean with the way he talks, and of course his motorcycle. I think readers will be confused by the story itself. Is Annie really dead? Yes, even though she can be seen by others, she can eat like people who are alive, and she still has feelings, and no, she is not a vampire, or the walking dead. The curiosity lies with where Annie died, and the fact that she was resurrected and there are still things that will scare the crap out of you.

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#Review - Cast in Atonement by Michelle Sagara #Fantasy

Series: The Chronicles of Elantra (#18)
Format: Paperback, 480 pages
Release Date: August 6, 2024
Publisher: Mira
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Epic

In the continuing saga of Michelle Sagara's New York Times bestselling Chronicle of Elantra series, Kaylin Neya has to unravel the mystery of the life and death—or possible death—of a group of ghosts before more than just her own reality is destroyed.

Two weeks ago, Kaylin Neya’s pragmatic belief that ghosts were stories meant to terrify children into better behavior was permanently broken. It was broken, in large part, by a much older woman who spends her days baking and coming to the public desk of the Halls of Law to report what her ghost friends are seeing.

The youngest of those ghost friends have now—finally—passed on, and Mrs. Erickson has become part of Kaylin’s household. So have the most difficult and alien of her ghosts. If they were the ghosts of people—any people of any race Kaylin has ever encountered—it might be less of a problem. But whatever these ghosts were when they were alive is a mystery. Unfortunately for Kaylin, her home, and the rest of her roommates, the problem isn’t academic. Helen has always been confident that she can accommodate any guest of any race regardless of their living requirements—but these guests are very different.

Kaylin has the Marks of the Chosen over more than half of her body. She was given those marks for a reason—but no one thought to tell her what that reason was. But her suspicion is that the words are meant to somehow finish the story of the lives of those left behind or trapped in places they shouldn’t be.

And she really, really hopes that suspicion has at least some foundation in truth, because if it doesn’t, she might just lose her home and roommates to the very unnatural changes that are occurring in the wake of these new guests. With Mrs. Erickson’s unusual vision, and the power of both her home and the Barrani friends who share it, Kaylin has to unravel the mystery of the life and death—or possible death—of whatever these ghosts once were before more than just her own reality is destroyed.

Cast in Atonement is the Eighteenth installment in author Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra. This book is a continuation of Cast in Eternity. Two weeks ago, Corporal Kaylin Neya’s pragmatic belief that ghosts were stories meant to terrify children into better behavior was permanently broken. Even though she grew up alone on the streets of Elantra where things were not normal. It was broken, in large part, by a much older woman who spends her days baking and coming to the public desk of the Halls of Law to report what her ghost friends are seeing.

The youngest of those ghost friends have now—finally—passed on, and Mrs. Erickson has become part of Kaylin’s household after making a promise never to control ghosts. Imelda and Helen are getting along swimmingly since Helen enjoys the company. But Imelda has also brought with her the most difficult and alien of her ghosts. If they were the ghosts of people—any people of any race Kaylin has ever encountered—it might be less of a problem. But whatever these ghosts were when they were alive is a mystery. 

Unfortunately for Kaylin, her home, and the rest of her roommates, the problem isn’t academic. Helen has always been confident that she can accommodate any guest of any race regardless of their living requirements—but these guests are very different. Especially with Terrano around making mischief at every turn. Kaylin, who has been told that she must learn magic by the Emperor himself, but always seems to find a way to get into more trouble, has the Marks of the Chosen over more than half of her body. She was given those marks for a reason—but no one thought to tell her what that reason was. 

But her suspicion is that the words are meant to somehow finish the story of the lives of those left behind or trapped in places they shouldn’t be. And she really, really hopes that suspicion has at least some foundation in truth, because if it doesn’t, she might just lose her home and roommates to the very unnatural changes that are occurring in the wake of these new guests. With Mrs. Erickson’s unusual vision, and the power of both her home and the Barrani friends who share it, Kaylin has to unravel the mystery of the life and death—or possible death—of whatever these ghosts once were before more than just her own reality is destroyed.

And to make things much more difficult, Evanton, the Keeper of the Garden which is home to the four elementals, decides to find out more about Mrs. Erickson, and disappears which causes great amounts of consternation and trouble. Way back in the early stages of this series, Kaylin found herself with a dragon egg. That egg eventually revealed the last female dragon in existence; Bellusdeo. It was also about this time that she found herself with a familiar she named Hope who most of the time they can't connect unless they are touching. 

What we didn't know at the time, was that Bellusdeo is actually a combination of 9 sisters who grew up together in the Aerie, but Mrs. Erickson is the only one who can see them. Bellusdeo also has to make up her mind whether she is with Lord Emmerian, or not. Oh, yes, and we're not done with Azoria yet, or her secrets that lead to some boring internal conversations throughout the book. This means more time spent at the Academia and Kaylin trying hard to to offend powerful ancient beings with silly questions. I would have preferred less internal dialogue, and more action, but 18 books in, I don't think I am going to get my wish any time soon.

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#Review - Ghostsmith by Nicki Pau Preto #YA #Fantasy

Series: House of the Dead Duology # 2
Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: August 13, 2024
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy

In this action-packed finale to the House of the Dead Duology, Wren and her friends put everything they know to the test as they battle the living and the undead to save their world.

Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to control the undead. It was Wren’s own mother who created the iron revenants—an army of near unbeatable undead soldiers. When the iron revenants attack, no one in the Dominions will have the strength to stand in their way.

Now Wren, Leo, and Julian find themselves once more in the Breach, this time on the run from Wren’s father, who is determined to secure more power for himself and the House of Bone. The three are desperate to stop the upcoming war, but working together is easier said than done with Julian still furious about Wren double-crossing him. And to make matters worse, Wren is plagued by powerful new abilities that force her to reassess everything she knows about being a bonesmith.

When Wren’s long-lost twin brother shows up and vows to help her destroy the well of magic that feeds the iron revenants, she must decide if trusting him is worth potentially playing right into their mother’s hands.

After all, the dead might be dangerous, but it’s the living who can betray you.  

Ghostsmith, by Nicki Pau Preto, is the second installment in the authors House of the Dead duology. This book picks up right where Bonesmith left off and is action packed until the final chapters. Key Characters: Wren Graven, outcast Bonesmith, Julian Knight, heir to the House of Iron, Leopold Knight, Gold Prince, and Imara Fell, Wren's Bonesmith nemesis who sees the light. Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to control the undead. 

It was Wren’s own mother who created the iron revenants—an army of near unbeatable undead soldiers. When the iron revenants attack, no one in the Dominions will have the strength to stand in their way. Not even Imara who has taken Wren's place as the strongest bonesmith. Now Wren, Leo, and Julian find themselves once more in the Breach, wanted dead or alive, this time on the run from Wren’s father, who is determined to secure more power for himself and the House of Bone even after he was exposed for his betrayal. 

The three are desperate to stop the upcoming war, but working together is easier said than done with Julian still furious about Wren double-crossing him. And to make matters worse, Wren is plagued by powerful new abilities that force her to reassess everything she knows about being a bonesmith. Once upon a time, Wren thought of herself as the most powerful bonesmith around, but now with her ghostsmith amplifier, she can not only control ghosts, but shatter born. Had she not been sent to the Breach, she would have never learned how powerful she really is.

When Wren’s long-lost twin brother Hawke shows up and vows to help her destroy the well of magic that feeds the iron revenants, she must decide if trusting him is worth potentially playing right into their mother’s hands. After all, the dead might be dangerous, but it’s the living who can betray you. The romance between Wren and Julian, challenged by the betrayals and reveals from the previous book, end up in a good place even with the story tackling many different familial ties and betrayals. Julian, at times, feels like a third wheel, but his loyalties never waiver.

I didn't like Imara in the first book. Her betrayal of Wren was unforgivable but her actions in this book make her a hero. Simply put. Wren, Julian, and Julian's families are truly despicable, even Hawke until he realizes what's to come for Wren. While Wren’s life was ruled by a distant father figure, and a grandmother who expected perfection, her brother dealt with the abuse found at the hands of a manipulative and selfish mother. A mother who forced him to not only help create an nearly unstoppable army, but to resurrect a hero who fell during the last war, and if that weren't enough, Wren seems to nothing a useful tool in a much more dangerous game.

In closing, if you like dark fantasy, you should be reading this series. After all, it's only two books!! 

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#Review - The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness #Fantasy #Occult #Paranormal

Series: All Souls Series (#5)
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Release Date: July 16, 2024
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Source: Library
Genre: Occult & Supernatural

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved All Souls series, hailed as “your next favorite fantasy read” (Harper’s Bazaar).

The stunning hardcover of The Black Bird Oracle features a custom-stamped case, beautiful endpapers, and a premium dust jacket!

Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two other-worldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line.

Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.

On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past, and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.

The Black Bird Oracle, by Deborah Harkness, is the Fifth installment in the author's All Souls Series. Apparently, it has been Four years since the events of Time Convert. It has been 8 years since The Book of Life was released, and several years since the first book was turned into a TV show. As a summary, Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches. 

Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two other-worldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England where Diana learned about her abilities as a weaver, dissolved the Covenant between the three species (witches, vampires, and daemons), and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line. They have twin bright-born children (Rebecca and Philip) who have characteristics of both parents. 

It is the year 2017, Diana and Matthew are living in Connecticut, getting ready to visit London for the summer when three portents happen. A conspiracy of ravens arrives and one seems to have the ability to speak with Becca. Next, a formal demand arrives from the Congregation saying it's time that Pip and Rebecca be tested. Testing brings back painful memories of losing both of her parents as well as memories of when she was a child. Diana also receives a curious deck of cards and a letter telling her it's time to come home.  

The letter is signed by Gwyneth Proctor—a great-aunt Diana didn’t know existed from a side of her family she thought dead lives in Ravenswood, shortly away from Salem. Diana decides to go alone to Ravenswood and meet Gwyneth as well as the Ipswich Witch Coven. Under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past, and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.

As Diana learns how higher magic operates and how the Congregation withholds it for their own purposes, she’ll have to decide whether or not to embrace the darkness within her to protect her family regardless of how Matthew feels. She desperately wants to give her own children the chance to learn higher magic—a chance she never had—even if it means exposing them to the Congregation and their own dark sides. Diana's time in Ravenswood isn't all she expected. The local coven isn't happy that a Bishop has returned. 

They expect Diana to be trained in how to use her Black Bird Oracle cards, and if that wasn't enough, an Ipswich witch challenges Diana to a fight, only to betray her to the Congregation, which sends her off to Italy along with Janet and Isabeau. The return of congregation once again leads to my resurrected anger towards Peter Knox for what he did to Diana's mother and Satu who left a mark on Diana's body to remind her not to take anyone for granted. 

*Thoughts* This book ends on a cliffhanger which apparently means that the author intends to write another book or two? I don't see how she can't when a certain villain puts Diana's back to the wall, again. I would like to say that you can read this book as a solo release, but I would be lying. You definitely need to go back and read the original trilogy because there are names that are mentioned that will totally confuse you, and one of those people makes a return and tosses Diana's world upside down. I am totally a fan of Diana becoming much, much stronger by exploring the dark side of magic even if it makes Matthew uncomfortable. 

Chapter 1

In every soul, there is a place reserved for Shadow.

Mine was safely hidden, tucked in a blind spot at the corners of my memory, under a hollow bruise that I thought had healed long ago.

Then the ravens came to New Haven, carrying an invitation that neither Shadow nor I could refuse.

It was a Friday in late May when the invitation arrived.

“Hey, Professor Bishop! I just put your last mail delivery through the slot!”

I’d been woolgathering on the familiar route home from my office at Yale, listening with half of my attention to Becca’s excited chatter while the rest of my mind drifted. I hadn’t noticed that we’d arrived at the ornate iron gate that guarded our house on Orange Street, or that our regular mail carrier, Brenda, was just leaving the property.

“Thanks, Brenda,” I said, giving her a limp smile. The heat was withering. It was always like this in New Haven around graduation time, which led to frazzled tempers, damp academic regalia, and long lines for iced lattes at the city’s many coffee shops.

“You must be excited about getting back to England, Becca,” Brenda said. She was already wearing her USPS bucket hat and shorts, prepared for New Haven’s warmer temperatures and sky-high humidity.

“I am.” Becca hopped from one foot to the next to prove it. “It’s Tamsy’s first trip and I get to show her everything.”

Tamsy was a recent addition to the family: one of the historical dolls that were all the rage among the thirteen-and-under set. Marcus and his mate, Phoebe, had chosen the colonial era doll for Becca because of her fondness for Marcus’s house in Hadley, and her delight in the stories he told about growing up there in the 1760s and 1770s. Though she had been given a different name by the manufacturer, Becca had rebaptized her the moment she had seen the doll’s green eyes and red hair peeking out from the box’s clear, round window.

Since receiving the doll, Becca’s active imagination had been fully engaged with Tamsy and her world. She came with a variety of outfits and accessories that helped Becca bring her to life, including a horse named Penny. Tamsy was well supplied with home furnishings, too. Matthew added to them with a small replica of the Windsor chair at Marcus’s house that had once belonged to Grand-père Philippe and a Tamsy-sized version of a painted Hadley chest like the one Phoebe used to store household linens. It was fitted with a tiny lock, and Becca had already packed Tamsy’s clothes, her schoolbooks, her quill pen and ink pot, and her collection of hats for the journey to England.

Brenda gave Tamsy, who was hanging from Becca’s hand, a wave. She turned to me. “You must be excited to get back to your research, too.”

At the end of every school year, Matthew and I would take the children to England, where we spent the summer months at our house in Woodstock. It was only a few miles outside Oxford, which put me within easy reach of the Bodleian Library and made it possible for Matthew to work in his quiet Oxford University laboratory, with no colleagues or graduate students to interrupt him. Becca and her brother, Pip, had acres of land to roam, hundreds of trees to climb, and a house filled with curious treasures and books to occupy them during the inevitable summer downpours. There were trips to France to see Matthew’s mother, Ysabeau, over long, lazy weekends, and a chance to see more of Marcus and Phoebe, who would spend part of their summer in London.

I couldn’t wait to get on the plane and put Yale, New Haven, and the spring semester behind me. The prospect of a new research project focused on the wives and sisters of early Royal Society members beckoned, and I was eager to get my hands on rare books and manuscripts.

“I expect you have lots to do before tomorrow,” Brenda said.

She had no idea how much. We weren’t packed, the houseplants were still inside and not neatly arrayed on the back porch so the neighbors could water them, and I had at least three loads of laundry that needed doing before we could leave for the summer.

“I double-checked your mail hold. You’re ready for takeoff as far as the New Haven post office is concerned,” Brenda said, drawing our conversation to a close.

“Thank you,” I said, removing Tamsy from Becca’s grip and sticking her, legs first, in the top of my tote along with the campus mail.

“You and Pip have fun, Becca, and I’ll see you in August,” Brenda said, adjusting the thick strap of her mailbag.

“Bye!” Becca said, waving at Brenda’s retreating form.

I stroked her shiny hair, blue-black and iridescent as a crow’s wing. Becca resembled Matthew so closely—all long lines and contrasts, with pale skin and heavy brows. They were alike in temperament, too, with their confident reserve that could erupt into strong emotions in a heartbeat. It was Pip who resembled me. Comfortable with expressing his feelings, and quick to cry, he had my sturdy build, fair hair glinting with strands of copper, and smattering of freckles across his nose.

“We do have lots to do, peanut,” I said. “Starting with taking care of Ardwinna and Apollo and sorting all this mail.”

After that, the house would need to be put in apple-pie order—a daunting task. My little house on Court Street had been far too small to contain a vampire, a witch, two Bright Born children, a griffin, and a deerhound. Matthew’s son Marcus had offered us his palatial home on Orange Street instead. He’d bought it just before the Civil War, when he was first studying medicine at Yale and mahogany and formal entertaining were very much in fashion. Every surface in the house was polished, carved, or both. It was a nightmare to keep clean and the spacious rooms filled all too quickly with the clutter of modern living.

Despite its vast size and formal appearance, the house had proved to be surprisingly well suited to family living, with expansive covered porches that provided a place for the children to play in rainy weather, a private backyard where Philip’s griffin familiar, Apollo, and my Scottish deerhound, Ardwinna, could join in the twins’ games, and numerous downstairs rooms that had once been allocated to residents according to gender and function. At first, Marcus’s house seemed too grand for our small clutch of vampires and witches, but families have a way of expanding to fit the space allotted to them. What we thought would be a temporary stay had turned into years of permanent residence.

Becca, who was attuned to my changing moods, felt my anxiety rise.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll help you.” Out of her hip pocket, Becca pulled a Yale-blue kazoo that she’d found in the office, hoping to rally my flagging spirits by piping us the last few feet home. The kazoo’s strange, bleating squawk disturbed the birds settled in the nearby trees. They took flight with an irritated flutter of wings, the murmuration of dark shapes and raucous cries protesting this interruption in their sleepy afternoon routine.

I shielded my eyes, mesmerized by the swirling, attenuated black cloud of birds that rose and fell on the damp currents of air. Becca was also rapt at the sight, her eyes wide and filled with wonder.

A single bird broke from the formation, its shadow falling over our clasped hands. The outline of the bird’s head and curved beak extended onto the walkway, pointing the way to the front door.

A sudden chill fell, and I shivered. Curious as to what had caused the drop in temperature, I looked up, expecting to see clouds blotting out the bright sun.

Instead, all the color had leached out of the world. The mellow stucco of the house, the green canopy of the trees, the splashes of blue from tall stalks of delphinium and bearded iris in the perennial borders—everything was reduced to gray scale like a washed-out photograph of foggy London taken in the 1940s. My perspective was altered, too, the house looking too tall and wide, and the trees too short. The clear tang of petrichor replaced the usual green scents of summer, along with a sulforous note of brimstone. The usual sounds of the neighborhood—traffic, the call of the birds, the hum of lawn mowers—were all too loud, as was the drumming of my heart when a wave of the uncanny crashed over me.

Power, prickling and ominous, flooded my veins in response to the surge of magical energy that held us in its colorless shroud. I drew Becca toward me, sheltering her with my body.

The solitary bird that had been gliding overhead plummeted to the ground in front of us, wings outstretched and its head bent to the side at an angle that told me its neck had snapped on impact. Its curved, ebony beak and the ruffle of feathers at the neck told me this was a raven.

A rustle of birds’ wings filled my ears as the raven’s companions settled on the branches of the nearby tree, dark spots in the ghostly world that stood out in sharp relief like a string of silhouettes cut from black paper. There were not just a few ravens, but dozens.

Everything I knew about the significance of ravens—magical, mythical, and alchemical—raced through my mind. Messengers between the dead and the living, ravens often symbolized the first step in the alchemical transformation that led to the philosopher’s stone.

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