At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Book 3) by Jeaniene Frost

I was up until well into the night so I could finish At Grave's End, the latest Cat and Bones story. UPS delivered it around 5:00, just as the family was sitting down to supper. By the time I got the girls ready for bed and actually got to begin reading it I was chomping at the bit. But it was worth every second I had to wait. What an incredible book.

One kind of off-topic thing I want to say though, I think the model on the cover is pregnant. Look closely, the face is a bit fuller, there appear to be more boobs, and you can see what looks like a pregnant stomach hanging down. They did a great job of putting her in a position to conceal it, and I'm glad they got the same model for consistency's sake. And she looks great, incredible even, for a pregnant woman... still with those legs that don't stop. Okay, I'll stop commenting on the cover now and get to the book.

Here's the blurb from the back of the book:

Some things won't stay buried...

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself – and Bones – from a fate worse than the grave.

The book starts with action and the action rarely lets up for very long. I didn't lay in bed and read this one, I sat up, with a pillow in my lap hunched over reading it. And I flew through it. I'll have to go back and read it again to pick up all of the nuances.

I'll even admit to doing something I very very very rarely do. At one point I just had to know something and I briefly jumped ahead in the book to read and see if what appeared to be happening was really happening. I read for maybe ten seconds, just long enough to see one thing but not long enough to spoil anything else, and then went right back to where I was. I can only remember doing that with two other books my entire life. This book makes three.

A lot happens in At Grave's End besides the plot in this book. I mean, the plot is once again well thought out and really good, but one of the great things about books in a series is that there is a lot more going on than just the plot, right?  So what else happens? With the intention of informing but not spoiling I'll say that: 

• Cat grows up some more, in a couple of ways. 
  
• More surprisingly, Cat's mom even does some growing up. 
  
• Bones becomes more powerful. 
  
• Two of Cat's team take Bone's up on his offer of turning people into vampires. 
  
• We learn a whole lot more about Mencheres. 
  
• And we even get to meet a historical figure.
  

As I was telling a coworker about the premise of the books yesterday, I realized something. Yes, it's a good story, but from any other author it wouldn't be my favorite series. Sure, the world building is interesting, and the plots are good. But we get that in a lot of other series as well. I think that part of what makes this series so good is the mastery of the author in actually telling the story and building the characters. We have wonderful conversation along with lots of humor, fear, tension, happiness, sadness, despair, lust, anger, wonderment, and... a ton of other feelings and emotions that I'm not going to take the time to write.  We get to know Cat and Bones and Justina and Tate and Juan and even lesser characters like Mencheres and Spade. We see their personalities in a way that not many authors can manage. 

The next book, An Early Grave, is due out in 6 months. Once again, I can't wait.

Series Rating: 10 out of 10
Book Rating: 10 out of 10




Night Huntress Novels
Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress 1) October 2007
One Foot in the the Grave (Night Huntress 2) April 2008
At Grave's End (Night Huntress 3) December 2008
An Early Grave (Night Huntress 4) July 2009

American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman

It took me forever to read American Gods. Weeks. Considering I read most books in one or two evenings, that's saying quite a bit. Part of the reason it took so long is that I put it down during the slow parts, and part of the reason is that it's a long book. Mostly though, I put it down when I needed a break from it, which happened quite a bit.

Why did I need a break? Part of the blame truly is that there were some slow parts, but part of it is that it jumps around quite a bit, telling you about things that happened 10,000 years ago right in the middle of another part of the story.

There are two main premises of the book: 1) the old gods are still around and barely surviving since they don't get much (if any) worship anymore and 2) the places of energy in the US are tourist attractions (as opposed to Europe where Cathedrals and stone circles and such were built in places of energy). I love that Rock City plays a role, as it has to be the epitome of "tourist attraction in a place of energy", and the fact that I had already recognized it as such, made the book just a bit creepier.

The story follows Shadow, who is in prison but due to get out soon when we first meet him. We follow him once he is out of prison, and we watch him navigate through almost every archetype I've ever studied. If I had to guess, I'd say the author has had his own mystical experiences, either that or he's just done a lot of studying of archetypes and how to incorporate them using old and new labels.

I'm not sure if I'll read the next book, Anansi Boys. I certainly won't read it any time soon, but perhaps later, after I've had more time to digest this book.

This is more than an adventure, it's a spiritual odyssey. I think that to fully grasp American Gods, one must read it twice. And I will likely do that at some point, but not right now.

I put this in the Urban Fantasy genre, since the premise of gods like Thor and Odin along with various minor gods and goddesses being real seems to fit.

And I've rated it an 8 of 10. If it weren't for the slow parts it would have easily gotten a 9 of 10. It's a great story, but the slow parts were hard to get through.

American Gods is a masterfully written book, parts of it are pure genius. It's one of those books you could pull hundreds of interesting quotes from, single quotes that you could meditate on for hours. All together, it can be a bit overwhelming, but that doesn't take away from the brilliance of the story and the insights taken from the story. I recommend American Gods to those looking for something to really sink their teeth into. This is not a light read.

Sneak Peeks of books I'm waiting for

Some of the book on my Anxiously Awaiting list have sneak peeks available at the author's websites.

• Chapter one of At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Bk 3) Jeaniene Frost, 12/30/08
• Excerpt of Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn, 01/27/09
• First chapter of Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs, 02/03/09
• First 3 chapters of Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford, 2) Kelley Armstrong, 02/24/09
• Excerpt of Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh, 03/03/09
• Excerpt of Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) Ilona Andrews, 03/31/09
• Two chapters of Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, 4) Karen Chance, 04/07/09
• First chapter of Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, 9) Charlaine Harris, 05/05/09
• Excerpt of Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh, 07/07/09

Anxiously Awaiting (late December 2008)

The following are books in a series I am Anxiously Awaiting. They are either part of a series I am already reading, or they are the first book in a new series by an author I already like.

If someone wants to send me an ARC of one of these books, I will read it within a day or two of it arriving (assuming I'm home and I'm not sick or anything), and will get a blog post up of it as soon as I've finished reading it. You may contact me for a shipping address at chained lightning at g mail dot com (remove all of the spaces, of course).

12/30/08 At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Bk 3) Jeaniene Frost
01/06/09 A Witch's Beauty (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill
01/20/09 Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark, 6) Kresley Cole
01/27/09 Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn
01/27/09 Men of the Otherworld (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
02/03/09 Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs
02/24/09 Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, Book 6) Carrie Vaughn
02/24/09 Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford, Bk 2) Kelley Armstrong
02/24/09 White Witch, Black Curse (Rachel Morgan, Bk 7) Kim Harrison
02/24/09 Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez) Mario Acevedo
03/03/09 A Vampire's Claim (Vampire Queen Series) Joey W. Hill
03/03/09 Deathwish (Cal Leandros Bk 4) Rob Thurman
03/03/09 Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh
03/24/09 Deadly Desire (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 7) by Keri Arthur
03/31/09 Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) Ilona Andrews
04/07/09 Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, Bk 4) Karen Chance
04/07/09 Turn Coat (Dresden Files, Bk 11) Jim Butcher

04/28/09 Doomsday Can Wait (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 2) Lori Handeland
05/05/09 Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) by Charlaine Harris
06/02/09 Skin Trade, Anita Blake Series, Laurel K Hamilton
06/02/09 Undead and Unwelcome (Queen Betsy, Bk 8) MaryJanice Davidson
06/16/09 Fifteen to Smithereens (Stephanie Plum), Janet Evanovich

07/07/09 Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh
07/21/09 Not That Innocent (Anthlgy) Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kresley Cole...
07/21/09 Mercy Thompson Homecoming (Comic) Patricia Briggs, Francis Tsai
07/28/09 An Early Grave (Night Huntress, Bk 4) Jeaniene Frost

07/28/09 Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
08/??/09 Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen Series) Joey W. Hill
08/??/09 Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) Sherrilyn Kenyon

09/??/09 Apocalypse Happens (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 3) Lori Handeland
09/??/09 Doom with a View (Psychic Eye Mystery) Victoria Laurie
11/??/09 Frostbitten (Elena & Clay) (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
01/??/10 Untitled, Dev's book, (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh



Not all of the series I keep up with have another book listed as coming out. The authors have stated there will be more, but they haven't said when, or given a title name. I've listed those series below.

* Meredith Gentry Series by Laurel K Hamilton
* Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens

We are so close to the release of At Graves End, I've been waiting for this book for months. I literally cannot wait.

Rising Moon (Nightcreature Novel, Bk 6) by Lori Handeland

I wasn't sure who was speaking when the book started out. At first I thought maybe Cassandra had a sister who was out there looking for her, but at some point I realized the times weren't right (this sister had been missing three years, and was just out of high school when she disappeared), and then when Detective Sullivan looked at the picture and didn't recognize her, I knew for sure that it wasn't the case. I was pretty sure by then, but that was the final nail that made it impossible.

This means I was again blind during the beginning of the book with brand new characters, people I didn't know. Eventually we get Cassandra and then Edward and then a few of the other New Orleans Jager-Suchers that we already know. And there are a few twists that came at me out of left field, things I didn't understand until they were actually explained. Things that are spoilers, so I can't talk about them. I'm usually good at figuring out that sort of thing, and yet I didn't figure it out at all in this book. Very clever. I loved it.

This book also furthers the series along some, so I'll raise the series rating from a 7 to an 8. The book gets a 9 of 10, it was very good, even if I was blind at the beginning. This was another book that was hard to put down until I reached the end. Not enough to make me stay up late and finish it, I did put it down to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, but I finished it first thing this morning before the rest of the house was awake.

Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10





Blue Moon (2004)
Hunter's Moon (2005)
Dark Moon (2005)
Crescent Moon (2006)
Midnight Moon (2006)
Rising Moon (2007)
Hidden Moon (2007)
Thunder Moon (2008)

Midnight Moon (Nightcreature Novel, Bk 5) by Lori Handeland

This is Cassandra's book. We met her in the last book, so at least we know someone as this book opens, as opposed to the last one. In this book we learn about Cassandra's past. 

As a mom, watching someone come to grips with the death of a child was hard. It's the unthinkable, that you could lose your child. And to see someone in that much pain over it so many years afterwards... I didn't like that part of it. Not at all.

But other than that, this was a good book. The plot was good, the characters were either totally likable or totally hate-able, and the action kept me involved. And the further world building that we get was very well done. We learn more about what magics work in this world, and what Cassandra's powers are. I have a feeling she's going to be a very big part of future books as she comes more and more into her powers. I can see a lot of fuel for thought when it comes to the grey areas between good and evil that Cassandra may have to deal with, also. Unfortunately, it's doubtful we'll see things from her perspective again, since it seems each character only gets one book. That's a shame, there are several characters I'd like to see again, from their own perspective.

Speaking of Cassandra and her powers, there is one thing I have to say: As much as I respect and usually like Edward, the idea that he'd tell her to do something that would (technically) define her as evil, and then consider killing her because now that she's done as he said it makes her (technically, as definitions go) evil... that just really annoyed me. She isn't evil, she raised the dead to help someone... in this case to help Adam try to break the curse on his great (great great...) grandfather so it won't pass on to him. She did it to be helpful, mostly. Never mind she also considered it practice so she could do it on her daughter later. Err, okay, I guess it wasn't solely to be helpful. And since Edward knew her past he might have figured that out. Okay, still, she wasn't (and isn't) evil. And Edward annoyed me with that.

I'm giving the book a 9 of 10, but the series remains a 7 of 10 at this point. Much of the reason for the 7 is because the books aren't tying together in a cohesive series as much as I'd like for them to. The books are good, but the purpose (for me) of a series is that you get to see characters again and again, watch them change and grow. And I'm not really getting that with this series. There is hope for more of an ongoing plot, we'll see where things go after this book.

Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10





Blue Moon (2004)
Hunter's Moon (2005)
Dark Moon (2005)
Crescent Moon (2006)
Midnight Moon (2006)
Rising Moon (2007)
Hidden Moon (2007)
Thunder Moon (2008)

Jarheads series by Sean Michael

I fell in love with Sean Michael when I read the Velvet Glove stories, which I really should get around to reviewing soon. There have been other books by this author I've really enjoyed, like Bent, Caged, and Secrets, Skin, and Leather. Oh, and we must not forget the vampire story told in Need and Chosen. Those book are either very BDSM, or have enough BDSM elements in them that they worked for me. So I had expectations of the Jarheads series heading in that direction as well. But, it didn't. Just normal old gay sex. Sure, there is an Alpha guy and a nurturer guy and it wouldn't have taken much to get to a D/s relationship, but it's still pretty much just a vanilla relationship. Didn't matter so much though, I read all six books, so even without the sex stuff working for me, the story was good.

If you are tired of the HEA books where you just have to imagine the happily ever after, then this series is for you. The first book puts them together, the next five books deal with their happily ever after. And somewhere along the line they add a third and then the three of them get to live happily ever after. Yeah, three guys for years and years and years. And it works.

Since six books cover something like 15 years, there is obviously some skipping around. We get to see the the high and low points... birthdays, holidays, illnesses, death of parents, retiring from the marines, and various other crises. There are also some normal days thrown in here and there so we get to see how life in general works out for them, too. And there is a lot of sex. It's pretty much their answer to everything. If vanilla m/m and m/m/m sex does it for you, then you'll definitely enjoy the sex. There are a few kinky scenes after one of them goes exploring on the internet and wants to try some stuff he saw, but not enough to call these books anywhere close to BDSM. And while there are elements of D/s (the big guy gets a bj every morning, and the smaller one does almost all of the cleaning), it's not really a D/s relationship, either.

Which means the sex didn't do much for me. But that's not the fault of the author. It's just not my thing.

The story is a good one, though. It's a romance, even though the big guy in the story would argue with that for most of the first three or four books, by the last book even Rock might agree it qualifies as romance.

The characters are expertly brought to life. You feel as if you know them. These books made me laugh and cry, celebrate and grieve. And the series reminded me to just enjoy the easy times with my own soul mate, enjoy each other and not worry so much about the other details.

There were a lot of typos though, and that always bothers me. And many of them were things a spell check should have picked up on. Some typos are technically another word spelled correctly, but that wasn't the case with all of these.






1. Don't Ask, Don't Tell
2. Personal Leave
3. Three Day Passes
4. Tempering
5. Out of the Closet
6. On the Sand

Review: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

I have mixed feelings about this book, but mostly I just didn't like it. Before I get into it, I'll give you the blurb from the author's site:

"The dead don't talk. I don't know why." But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Odd Thomas thinks of himself as an ordinary guy, if possessed of a certain measure of talent at the Pico Mundo Grill and rapturously in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, Stormy Llewellyn. Maybe he has a gift, maybe it's a curse, Odd has never been sure, but he tries to do his best by the silent souls who seek him out. Sometimes they want justice, and Odd's otherworldly tips to Pico Mundo's sympathetic police chief, Wyatt Porter, can solve a crime. Occasionally they can prevent one. But this time it's different. A mysterious man comes to town with a voracious appetite, a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world's worst killers, and a pack of hyena-like shades following him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd's deceased informants can tell him. His most ominous clue is a page ripped from a day-by-day calendar for August 15.

Today is August 14.

In less than twenty-four hours, Pico Mundo will awaken to a day of catastrophe. As evil coils under the searing desert sun, Odd travels through the shifting prisms of his world, struggling to avert a looming cataclysm with the aid of his soul mate and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His account of two shattering days when past and present, fate and destiny converge is the stuff of our worst nightmares-and a testament by which to live: sanely if not safely, with courage, humor, and a full heart that even in the darkness must persevere.

Why didn't I like it? Hard to explain without spoiling stuff. I mean, the writing was mostly okay, and there was some food for thought in there, it wasn't a totally bad experience, I did finish it, after all. I liked the characters we got to meet in the book, maybe that's why I kept picking it back up, because I really did like Odd and his assorted friends. I've been reading it on and off for a week though, and that's not like me. I'd get to a point where I just had to put it down, so I did. And I'd pick something else up and read it for a while before picking Odd Thomas back up. Reading it became a chore. A few times I thought about not finishing it. And now, having finished it, I realize I'd have been better off not doing so. In fact, I'd have been better off to have not picked it up in the first place.

I bought the first two books in this series. I have the second book, Forever Odd, but I'm not sure I'll ever read it.

Anxiously Awaiting, early November 2008

The following are books in a series I am Anxiously Awaiting. They are either part of a series I am already reading, or they are the first book in a new series by an author I already like.

If someone wants to send me an ARC of one of these books, I will read it within a day or two of it arriving (assuming I'm home and I'm not sick or anything), and will get a blog post up of it as soon as I've finished reading it. You may contact me for a shipping address at chained lightning at g mail dot com (remove all of the spaces, of course).

12/30/08 At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Bk 3) Jeaniene Frost
01/06/09 A Witch's Beauty (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill
01/20/09 Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark, 6) Kresley Cole
01/27/09 Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn
01/27/09 Men of the Otherworld (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
02/24/09 Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, Book 6) Carrie Vaughn
02/24/09 Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford, Bk 2) Kelley Armstrong
02/24/09 White Witch, Black Curse (Rachel Morgan, Bk 7) Kim Harrison
02/24/09 Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez) Mario Acevedo
03/03/09 A Vampire's Claim (Vampire Queen Series) Joey W. Hill
03/03/09 Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs
03/03/09 Deathwish (Cal Leandros Bk 4) Rob Thurman
03/03/09 Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh
03/24/09 Deadly Desire (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 7) by Keri Arthur
03/31/09 Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) Ilona Andrews
04/07/09 Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, Bk 4) Karen Chance
04/07/09 Turn Coat (Dresden Files, Bk 11) Jim Butcher

04/28/09 Doomsday Can Wait (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 2) Lori Handeland
05/05/09 Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) by Charlaine Harris
06/02/09 Skin Trade, Anita Blake Series, Laurel K Hamilton
06/16/09 Fifteen to Smithereens (Stephanie Plum), Janet Evanovich

07/07/09 Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh
07/21/09 Not That Innocent (Anthlgy) Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kresley Cole...
07/28/09 An Early Grave (Night Huntress, Bk 4) Jeaniene Frost

07/28/09 Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
08/??/09 Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen Series) Joey W. Hill
08/??/09 Bad Moon Rising (Dark Hunter Series) Sherrilyn Kenyon

09/??/09 Apocalypse Happens (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 3) Lori Handeland
09/??/09 Doom with a View (Psychic Eye Mystery) Victoria Laurie
11/??/09 Frostbitten (Elena & Clay) (Women/Otherworld) Kelley Armstrong
??/??/?? An Early Grave (Night Huntress, Book 4) Jeaniene Frost


Not all of the series I keep up with have another book listed as coming out. The authors have stated there will be more, but they haven't said when, or given a title name. I've listed those series below.

* Meredith Gentry Series by Laurel K Hamilton
* Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens

Why do publishers insist on releasing so many books on the same day? Look at February 24... how am I supposed to decide which to read first: Kitty Raises Hell, Made to Be Broken, or White Witch Black Curse? Probably WWBC first, the KRH, and then MtbB. It's a tough call though, and I might change my mind when I've got the books in front of me.

March 3rd is an easy decision, Bone Crossed will get read first, no real contest there. Then Deathwish and then Angels' Blood.

But first comes At Graves End at the end of December. The Cat and Bones series is my favorite series and I can't wait for the next installment.