Raven Cursed (Jane Yellowrock, Book 4) by Faith Hunter

 

I've been looking forward to Raven Cursed since I finished Mercy Blade, and Faith Hunter did not disappoint.

There is a lot going on, and Jane is pulled in a zillion directions. It was a bit of a gamble, because it could easily have been too much, too frantic, too confusing. But it wasn't. Jane deals with the things thrown at her, mostly by choosing whatever her next step is going to be and then just blanking out everything else until she manages that task. 

I love that so much happens in and around the Asheville area. I've been to Hot Springs, to Paint Rock, to almost all of the places she talks about. I've driven the horrible scary road that Jane refused to do at night on a bike. Faith Hunter does a great job of bringing the landscape, the mountains, the forests, the rivers and streams... of bringing it all to life.

Here is the blurb:

The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to the Master Vampire of New Orleans they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, he sends an envoy with the best bodyguard blood money can buy: skinwalker Jane Yellowrock.

But when a group of local campers are attacked by something fanged, Jane goes from escort to investigator. Is it a rogue-vampire, shapechanger, or witch? Or something else magical? Unless she wants to face a very angry master vampire, she will have to work overtime to find the killer.  It's a good thing she's worth every penny.

As for the writing elements:

• There are several plots, and they all get tied up by the end. Well, a few have some loose ends, but they are part of the ongoing plot arc and that's fine.
• Pacing was intriguing. There is a lot of action, but it's not frantic. And there is down time, though not a lot.
• Prose and dialogue were beautifully woven together.
• Character development continues to be an active part of the series. Jane is a work in progress, and there are a lot of secondary characters that we are also getting to know.
• World-building was consistent with previous books, and also added a lot of interesting bits about Jane's world. 

Raven cursed easily gets a 10 of 10 from me. The series will remain a 10 of 10.

• Book Rating: Raven Cursed: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

1. Skinwalker
2. Blood Cross
3. Mercy Blade (Jan 2011)
4. Raven Cursed (Jan 2012)
5. Death's Rival (Fall 2012)

Killing Rites (Book 4 of The Black Sun's Daughter) by M.L.N. Hanover

 

There will be information at the bottom for how to win a set of The Black Sun's Daughter: Unclean Spirits, Darker Angels, Vicious Grace, and Killing Rites.

We've known the series is called The Black Sun's Daughter from the beginning, but we haven't really known what that meant. I had assumed that Jayné's mom was The Black Sun, that Jayné's uncle had entered the whole occult/Rider thing as a result of helping her mom deal with whatever that meant, and that he'd done something to Jayné on the weekend she lost when she was a teen, where he supposedly rescued her. I had assumed that as we continued to be hand-fed bits and pieces here and there, we'd get more and more of the picture.

Killing Rites does a whole lot more than hand feed information to us, it gives it to us by the bucketfuls. And it pretty much threw my assumptions out the window. I have no idea where Jayné goes from here, and we're apparently going to have to wait for the next book to find out.

Here's the blurb:

Jayné Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers: something else is living inside her body. She's possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse Jayné before the parasite in her becomes too powerful.

Ex’s history and a new enemy combine to leave Jayné alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they’re putting her in. Jayné must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin.

As the blurb says, we can no longer assume that Eric was acting in Jayné's best interests, as I had assumed from the beginning. And then there is the the thing inside of her... but I won't give spoilers.
 
As for the writing elements:

• I thought the plot was going to be predictable during the first quarter of the book. And then the curve balls started and I was kept on my toes. Nice plot, great execution.
• Pacing was fine.
• Prose and dialogue were very well done.
• Character development has been established in earlier books, and Killing Rites furthers the picture we already have of these characters.
• World-building was consistent with previous books.

Killing Rites easily gets a 10 of 10. In some ways it is an "in between" book, as it is Jayné looking inward, dealing with her own issues instead of other people's issues. But this is Jayné, after all, so she ends up saving some other people while she deals with her own crap.

• Book Rating: Killing Rites: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

And now for the good stuff: Leave a comment (with your email address) to enter for a chance to win all four of the books in The Black Sun's Daughter series. I'll announce the winner Sunday evening (11/27/11).







1. Unclean Spirits
2. Darker Angels
3. Vicious Grace
4. Killing Rites

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Chaos in Death (In Death, Book 33.5) by JD Robb

 

Chaos in Death is a short story whodunit where you basically know the killer is one of a group of people and have to watch Eve figure out which of the group is the killer.

Most of the anthology pieces have had some sort of supernatural current running through -- seers, ghosts, vampires. Some have been supernatural, some have only had a supernatural theme. Chaos in Death is pure sci-fi. So much, in fact, that the science didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Here's the blurb:

Eve Dallas and Rourke investigate the murders of a series of luckless indigents—and their strange connection to a brilliant young surgeon. But this hunt for a killer is like none they have ever encountered before, because nothing is as it seems.
 

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was pretty good. Borrowed from yet another classic, but that's fine, as she gives props to the original.
• Pacing was fine.
• Prose and dialogue were exceptional.
• Character development wasn't a big part of the story.
• World-building was consistent with previous books in the series.

• Book Rating: Chaos in Death: 8 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

1. Naked in Death
2. Glory in Death
3. Immortal in Death
4. Rapture in Death
5. Ceremony in Death
6. Vengeance in Death
7. Holiday in Death
7.5  Midnight in Death
8. Conspiracy in Death
9. Loyalty in Death
10.Witness in Death
11. Judgment in Death
12. Betrayal in Death
12.5 Interlude In Death
13. Seduction in Death
14. Reunion in Death
15. Purity in Death
16. Portrait in Death
17. Imitation In Death
17.5 Remember When
18. Divided in Death
19. Visions in Death
20. Survivor In Death
21. Origin In Death
21.5 Haunted in Death
22. Memory in Death
23. Born in Death
24. Innocent In Death
24.5 Eternity in Death
25. Creation in Death
26. Strangers in Death
26.5 Ritual in Death
27. Salvation in Death
28. Promises in Death
29. Kindred in Death
29.5 Missing in Death
30. Fantasy in Death
31. Indulgence in Death
31.5  Possession in Death
32. Treachery in Death
33. New York to Dallas
33.5 Chaos in Death
34. Celebrity In Death (Feb 2012)

New York to Dallas (In Death, Book 33) by JD Robb

 

New York to Dallas is the first book in this series to not have the "in Death" moniker. And the promise, this time around, is that Eve will find out more about her history. She has to go back to Dallas.

There were some things that were really good in this book. Her relationship with Roarke, of course, is one of the biggest. But also, the cops in Dallas welcomed her, treated her with respect, and didn't get in her way. She did her best to show respect back, of course.

Yes, she does discover something about her past. But it's a coincidence that she discovers it. A huge honking coincidence that is just a bit too constructed. Still, I suppose it went as well as it could.

Here's the blurb:

When a monster named Isaac McQueen—who was taken down by Eve back in her uniform days—escapes from Rikers, he has two things in mind. One is to pick up where he left off, abducting young victims and leaving them scarred in both mind and body. The other is to get revenge on the woman who stopped him all those years ago.

It's interesting, watching Eve out of her element. And we see Roarke as human again, which works for me. For a while he was too perfect. He's still got too much going on, there is no way one person can handle what he is supposed to be handling. But I'm not going to gripe about that too much.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was well constructed, and the story well put together as a road trip type story.
• Pacing was better than most of the books in this series.
• Prose was excellent, dialogue had issues where I couldn't tell who was talking.
• Character development continues to astound me, even 33 full books and a lot of short pieces into the series.
• World-building was consistent with previous books in this series.

 I've read this series straight through, starting with Naked in Death and ending with New York to Dallas. I have one more short story to go and I'll be caught up with the series, and waiting for Celebrity In Death which comes out in February. I think I was hoping for more resolution in this book than I got, but it was still a very good book. And really, how much resolution can there be? Ricker is in prison, and both Roarke and Eve's fathers are dead. Sure, there is probably someone still alive who was part of it, and I'm sure that eventually a case will lead Eve back so she needs to solve that old case in order to solve the present day case, but that will probably be a while. Maybe she'll be captain by then, even.

• Book Rating: New York to Dallas: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

1. Naked in Death
2. Glory in Death
3. Immortal in Death
4. Rapture in Death
5. Ceremony in Death
6. Vengeance in Death
7. Holiday in Death
7.5  Midnight in Death
8. Conspiracy in Death
9. Loyalty in Death
10.Witness in Death
11. Judgment in Death
12. Betrayal in Death
12.5 Interlude In Death
13. Seduction in Death
14. Reunion in Death
15. Purity in Death
16. Portrait in Death
17. Imitation In Death
17.5 Remember When
18. Divided in Death
19. Visions in Death
20. Survivor In Death
21. Origin In Death
21.5 Haunted in Death
22. Memory in Death
23. Born in Death
24. Innocent In Death
24.5 Eternity in Death
25. Creation in Death
26. Strangers in Death
26.5 Ritual in Death
27. Salvation in Death
28. Promises in Death
29. Kindred in Death
29.5 Missing in Death

30. Fantasy in Death
31. Indulgence in Death
31.5  Possession in Death
32. Treachery in Death
33. New York to Dallas
33.5 Chaos in Death
34. Celebrity In Death (Feb 2012)