Back from the Undead (The Bloodhound Files, Book 5) by DD Barant

 

It's taken me a while to get around to reading Back from the Undead, and I wish I'd gotten to it sooner. Of course, it ends in a cliffhanger, so perhaps it's a good thing there's only around three months until Undead to the World comes out. Here's the blurb for Back from the Undead:

Another work day, another case for the Bloodhound Files. But this time, Jace is truly stumped: How is she, a mere human, supposed to penetrate the dark heart of a child-trafficking ring of pire orphans—one that turns out to be part of a blood-farm operation, in the crime-ridden border city of Vancouver, British Columbia? Jace is in over her head. But with the help of her former lover, Tanaka—whose family is one of the last samurai clans left in Japan—she stands a chance at seeking justice for the condemned children… Until the Yakuza tries to put an end to Jace’s investigation. Jace risks more than death—this time, it’s the fate of her very soul that’s in danger . . .

I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy Back from the Undead. It was another wild ride, but there were some pacing issues this time that had me pushing forward, hoping things got better. Also, I expected some things to be answered from the previous book, and those things were put on hold, so we'll have to wait for another book (or longer, perhaps never) to get those answers. As for the writing elements:

• The plot was once again original and thought provoking.
• Pacing had some serious issues in a few places, but was fine for the most of the book.
• Prose and dialogue were very well done. Love the humor in this series, as well as the off-the-wall descriptions. Well done.
• Character development continues to be well done.
• World-building continues to be exceptional.

I'm back and forth on giving this one an 8 or a 9, but because of the cliffhanger, I'm settling at an 8. I'll leave the series at a 9 of 10, though.

• Book Rating: Back from the Undead: 8 of 10
• Series Rating: 9 of 10

The books in this series are:

1. Dying Bites
2. Death Blows
3. Killing Rocks
4. Better Off Undead
5. Back from the Undead
6. Undead to the World  (Nov 27, 2012)

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Virtual Virgin (Delilah Street Bk 5) by Carole Nelson Davis

 

I wasn't sure where Virtual Virgin was going to go, as the last book in this series left so many things up in the air.

To be honest, I'm not sure what keeps drawing me back to Delilah Street. The first two books in the series were a 5 of 10 for me, and the third and fourth were a 7 of 10. And yet, there is something so bizarre about the settings, so intriguing about the idea of the silver in old films being used as a supernatural / metaphysical medium, I just keep reading.

There were a few rewards in Virtual Virgin -- we finally learn a bit about Delilah's mom. However, as these things so often do in books, the answers we get just give us even more questions. Yes, I think it's probably enough that I'll be reading the next book, too.

Here's the blurb:

She’s Like a Virgin . . . Simulated for the Very First Time

For a red-blooded male, Las Vegas offers a virtual smorgasbord of temptation: sexy showgirls, vampy vampires, zombie starlets, you name it. But paranormal investigator Delilah Street isn’t worried about losing her man to these vixens. Especially when the one woman with a soft spot for the guy also has a hard-shelled exterior. . . .

She’s a robot—or a CinSim, to be exact—a near-perfect simulation of the silver-metal robot Maria from the classic science fiction movie Metropolis. Part innocent teenage actress, part depraved sex goddess, the new Maria is hooked on Delilah’s partner, Ric, who raised her from the dead. She also happens to be the perfect secret weapon for a demonic drug lord. Which could be one hell of a problem. Delilah’s not the jealous type, but this tin-can temptress must be stopped—even if it forces Delilah to forge a dangerous alliance with her wicked mirror-twin, Lilith. If robo-girl goes ballistic, every player in Vegas loses. . . .

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was one part predictable and two parts surprise.
• Pacing was better than in previous books, but still not great.
• Prose and dialogue were well done.
• Character development is a bit spotty and I'm not sure stays all that consistent between books. Some of that is because of the whole change and growth thing, but not all of it.
• World-building is imaginative and unique and I love it most of the time -- but occasionally it can be just a tad bit confusing. 

Virtual Virgin gets the highest rating I've given a book in this series,  but the series rating will remain a 7 of 10.

If you are looking for something different, and if you can handle a large cast of characters and some very complex world building, this series is a unique take on Urban Fantasy.

• Book Rating: Virtual Virgin: 8 of 10
• Series Rating: 7 of 10

1. Dancing with Werewolves
2. Brimstone Kiss
3. Vampire Sunrise
4. Silver Zombie
5. Virtual Virgin

 

Shiver Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater

 

I read the Shiver Trilogy because my nine year old daughter asked me if she could read it, and I thought it might be a bit too old for her.

I expected to like the story, as it seems fairly popular. However, I wasn't really all that impressed.

As I was reading Shiver, I kept wanting her to get on with the story. It rambles and swerves and goes off on side tangents and it just didn't work for me. At the end of the book, there is a good chance I'd have not gone onto the second if I weren't reading this for my daughter. Though, to be honest, by the end of the book I'd already decided that I would rather she wait a few years to read it.

Linger was a much better book, and I began to get more involved in the characters.  It still had slow moments, but all in all, I enjoyed Linger.

And then comes Forever. I mostly enjoyed Forever, right up until the last twenty percent or so.  It was predictable, I knew how the author was going to play it, almost exactly.  It felt like a cheap way for her to create as much drama around the final events as possible, to be honest.

But I didn't expect her to weasel out of an ending the way she did. She didn't give us a satisfactory ending. At all. She left pretty much everything up in the air, which made me wish I hadn't started the series at all.

What did I tell me daughter? I don't believe in censoring books (with exceptions, she's not reading my erotica books, but she doesn't have access to them, so she doesn't realize she's being censored). Hmmm, let me try this again: If my daughter's friends are reading a book then I have a choice of letting her read it and keeping the conversation open so I can get my two cents worth in about the sensitive bits, or censoring it and letting her friends tell her about it (and there is no telling which parts they will feel are the juicy bits), or risking that she'll borrow it from a friend and read it and then won't be able to ask me questions because she wasn't supposed to have read it. So I told her the truth -- it's not that great of a series, it moves slow, and I didn't like the way it ended at all. I told her she can read it if she wants, but that I don't really think she'll like it. I warned her that if she decides to read it, that the girl and the boy sleep together and do a lot more than just kiss, but I also assured her that it doesn't detail more than the kisses, it just lets us know they do more. She's chosen not to read it, for now.

For the other parents deciding if they want their child to read this, here are some details -- minor spoilers, but they won't spoil the basic plot.  Her parents aren't around much, they seem to be the flighty creative sort, so she's left to her own devices much of the time. The boy sleeps with her, in her bed, every night for more than a month, but nothing much happens for a long time. He is ultra careful around her, and we find out later it's because he doesn't want her to see him as an "animal", so he doesn't want to give in to those urges. They do have sex in the first book though, and then they have an argument about it the next day, where he accuses her of having sex with him just to get even with her parents. She didn't, and she is hurt by the accusation.  Throughout the series we are only told when they have sex a few times, the rest of the time their sleeping together is more about intimacy and closeness than about sexual energy. However, when they can't sleep together, they often can't sleep without the other. Protection is only mentioned when they get caught and her mother asks if they used protection and she says they did. On the good side, education and school and learning is given high marks. Both kids are responsible about where their life is heading, and responsible for taking care of their friends.  The sex and kissing isn't a huge part of it, and for the most part it shows kids who are making plans for the rest of their life, and being very responsible as they attempt to maneuver their way through the challenges thrown at them in the books.

She is seventeen and he is eighteen, so I'm not sure how they got away with allowing a minor to have sex.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot had so much potential, but sadly wasn't really actualized.
• Pacing was horrible.
• Prose and dialogue were mostly okay.
• Character development was very well done. Perhaps too much in places.
• World-building was exceptionally well done.

• Book Rating: Shiver: 5 of 10
• Book Rating: Linger: 9 of 10
• Book Rating: Forever: 6 of 10
• Series Rating: 6 of 10

I would feel comfortable with my daughter reading this around 13 or after, I think. Before then, I will allow it, since at least two of her friends have read (or are reading) it, but I don't think it's a good book for her age. Still, my mom censoring my books didn't work, and I doubt it will work for my daughter, either. So I prefer to keep communication open, and that means allowing it and talking about it as she reads it. I am thankful she chose not to read it, though.

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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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Magic on the Line (Allie Beckstrom Book 7) by Devon Monk

 

Magic on the Line was a disappointment for me. I almost didn't finish it, and considering this series has been a 9 of 10 for me, that's not what I expected when I picked up the book.

Here's the blurb:

Allison Beckstrom has willingly paid the price of pain to use magic, and has obeyed the rules of the Authority, the clandestine organization that makes-and enforces-all magic policy. But when the Authority's new boss, Bartholomew Wray, refuses to believe that the sudden rash of deaths in Portland might be caused by magic, Allie must choose to follow the Authority's rules, or turn against the very people for whom she's risked her life.

To stop the plague of dark magic spreading through the city, all that she values will be on the line: her magic, her memories, her life. Now, as dead magic users rise to feed upon the innocent and the people closest to her begin to fall, Allie is about to run out of options.

What does an author do when she finishes a plot arc and has to figure out where to go next with her series? Apparently, Devon Monk decided to change the landscape completely. Tear the world apart and let the characters survive as best they can. And to bring back plot arcs that I thought were tied up and done with.

And the first three fourths of the book is just set up. Conversations. Philosophizing. Things don't really gel, with action towards some sort of resolution, until somewhere after the 75% mark.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was actually a bit too convenient for me. And predictable.
• Pacing was horrible. Terrible. I kept putting the book down and doing something else. It was a chore to finish the book, and the only reason I did was because I am invested in these characters and kept hoping it would get better. But it didn't, it kept getting worse.
• Prose and dialogue were fine.
• Character development was mostly stagnant. There is still much about Allie's past we don't know, and I keep hoping we (and Allie) will get the answers, but Magic on the Line only gave us more questions.
• World-building was mostly consistent with previous books.

Magic on the Line gets a 5 of 10 from me. The series rating drops to a 7 of 10.

• Book Rating: Magic on the Line: 5 of 10
• Series Rating: 7 of 10

There is one good thing at this point -- there are only two more books in the series, which means we should get answers next year, as both books are scheduled for release in 2012.

1. Magic to the Bone
2. Magic in the Blood
3. Magic in the Shadows
4. Magic on the Storm 
5. Magic at the Gate (Nov 2, 2010)
6. Magic on the Hunt (April, 2011)
7. Magic on the Line (November 2011)
8 Magic Without Mercy (April 2012)
9. Unnamed, final book of series (November 2012)

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