Tag: paranormal

Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #2)

A fun, entertaining read that I found myself lost in and didn’t want to put down. All the characters in this motley crew were likeable (except the female dragons, and we don’t see them much); I think Islas might be my favourite; she had some of the best lines in the book.  The writer used humour to soften what could have been some dark scenes – something I appreciated as I don’t really go for the dark stuff.

 

The plot was very fast-paced with constant movement; not a lot of time was wasted with unnecessary dialogue, there was always something happening to forward the storyline.

 

The writer mentions at the end of the book that the next book will focus on another member of the Price family, so I’m not sure I’ll pick up the next one or not. I really grew attached to Verity, Sarah, Dominic and the Freakshow crew.

River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6)

River MarkedRiver Marked
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441020003
Series: Mercy Thompson #6
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Pages: 291
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Being a different breed of shapeshifter—a walker—Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence known to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil.


2021 Update: I was certainly succinct in my original review.  Having re-read it, I still love the Native American theme of the plot, I still think the river devil was over the top in terms of size, though the rest of the devil’s backstory works beautifully, and I will add that I got a little misty-eyed over the wedding scene.  I’m not normally the sentimental type, but Briggs really outdid herself, setting up both Mercy and the reader perfectly.

Original Review: Great read. As usual, the humour and wit shown in these books offsets the sometimes dark themes the plot lines incorporate. I loved the American Native Indian focus to this story; learning about Mercy’s heritage, and the introduction of Coyote. I hope he’ll be a recurring character in the remaining books. The River Devil was over the top towards the end, but the whole story was enjoyable, nevertheless.

Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson #5)

Fifth Grave Past the LightFifth Grave Past the Light
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★★
isbn: 9781250014405
Series: Charlie Davidson #5
Publication Date: July 4, 2013
Pages: 339
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Love love love this book. Love this whole series. Ms. Jones has a unique ability (IMO) to take a very dark subject matter (or matters) and make it bearable to get through it. Charlie has had every bad thing thrown at her in this series, and they are all written graphically, and without holding back. Normally, this would cause me to run rapidly in the opposite direction, but she also writes with such compassion, humour, and scathing wit. I find the latter helps me get through the former.

The mythology(?) of Charlie’s world comes together in this book and I was totally sucked in – and relieved that what she’d been led to believe about the future was inaccurate. Questions are answered in this book, in between solving murders and other mysteries. I can’t wait to see what happens with all of these people coming together: Cookie, Uncle Bob, Garret, Quentin, Reyes, Sister Mary Elizabeth. Charlie is getting herself a gang. As for Reyes and Charlie, well damn. Hot damn. Literally. Just taking these two and their relationship into consideration, this is by far the best book of the series so far.

Thank you Ms. Jones, for writing a story/series I can lose myself in, and come out of, grinning like a fool.

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, Book 5)

Silver BorneSilver Borne
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441018192
Series: Mercy Thompson #5
Publication Date: April 4, 2010
Pages: 342
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Mercy is smart enough to realize that when it comes to the magical Fae, the less you know, the better. But you can’t always get what you want. When she attempts to return a powerful Fae book she’d previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secret knowledge—and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn’t take enough of Mercy’s attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side—leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father declare Sam’s life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn’t careful, she might not have many more to live…


This was my favorite book of the series until the last fifth or so the time spent in Elphame and that only because fae is my least favorite of the supernatural, I think. Still, this was an excellent read and I loved it. I really enjoyed the time spent on developing Mercy and Adam’s relationship, the pack, and definitely on Samuel. This book felt a lot less high-intensity than the ones before it in many ways, and I appreciated the break.

I can’t say a whole lot about the plot beyond what’s written on the back cover without going spoilerish. As I mentioned above, not a fan of the typical fae mythology – although I really like Zee and the way the author weaves the truth behind the fairy tales into this series. I just prefer them more when they aren’t taking center stage and this book – at least the last half, they are definitely center stage.

I have the next one on it’s way to me now and I can’t wait to read it.

Biting Bad: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel #8

My favorite of the UF/PF series I read, and Biting Bad was excellent. It felt a bit like Christmas, having everyone together and getting along; no dramas between Merit and Ethan, Mallory back to being a main character, Catcher back – the gangs all here!

 

I’m certain I’ve said this in every review for every book in this series, but the character writing is just excellent. Dry wit, sarcasm, excellent timing, all make the dialogue just flow beautifully, and reading about the Chicagoland vampires is like being there with them. I have such a detailed image of Cadogan House, Grey House, Little Red – even Merit’s parents house (well, until her mom redecorated).

 

A lot was happening in the plotlines of this book: riots, political strife, family interference, McKetrick. But I never had any trouble following anything that was going on; the story flowed smoothly and once I picked it up, I didn’t put it down again until I was finished (Thank goodness it was a Saturday!). As one thread of the overall story arc is resolved, another one starts to unravel, taking us into the next book. I cannot wait.

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson Series #4)

Bone CrossedBone Crossed
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780441016761
Series: Mercy Thompson #4
Publication Date: January 26, 2010
Pages: 309
Genre: Urban Fantasy

As a shape-shifter with some unusual talents, Mercy’s found herself maintaining a tenuous harmony between the human and the not-so-human on more than one occasion. This time she may get more than she bargained for.

Marsilia, the local vampire queen, has learned that Mercy crossed her by slaying a member of her clan—and she’s out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from direct reprisal by the werewolf pack (and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha), it won’t be Mercy’s blood Marsilia is after.

It’ll be her friends’.


I was prepared to dislike this book, as the synopsis didn’t sound all that interesting to me, but the author did an excellent job defying my expectations.  I was dreading the whole aftermath of the last book, but found myself admiring the way she handled Mercy’s recovery. I also dreaded the whole vampire-revenge storyline, but the plot-twist was excellent! I genuinely enjoyed the first 80% of the book. The part I liked the least was the end, which, I suppose, wasn’t written to be liked. Ms. Briggs does evil well. However, she gets points for not dragging the ending out so very long and I liked the way everything wrapped up quickly and satisfyingly. I’m looking forward to reading more of this series.

Sleeping With The Entity

A quick, entertaining read, provided you don’t expect too much of it. Likeable characters, formulaic plot. The author did a very good job with setting and description – I could easily imagine the street in Chicago where the vampires called home. Her descriptions of the cupcakes were almost fattening themselves.

 

All in all, a fun read the held my attention.

Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3)

Iron KissedIron Kissed
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9780441015665
Series: Mercy Thompson #3
Publication Date: January 2, 2008
Pages: 287
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Though Mercy can shift her shape into that of a coyote, her loyalty never wavers. So when her former boss and mentor, Zee, asks for her help, she’s there for him. A series of murders has rocked a fae reservation, and Zee needs her unique gifts, namely her coyote sense of smell, to sniff out the killer.

But when Zee is accused of murdering the suspect Mercy outed, he’s left to rot behind bars by his own kind. Now it’s up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy’s loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can’t decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her…


I was dreading this book because I knew what was waiting for me in it, but I had just finished a Janet Evanovich, and if that isn’t inoculation enough against a dark, intense read, I don’t know what is, so I picked Iron Kissed up off Mt. TBR and started reading.

There’s no doubt that this is a great series with excellent characters. I enjoyed the slightly stronger focus on Samuel vs. Adam and I’m happy that this triangle isn’t going to drag on indefinitely. I also really enjoyed finding out a bit more about Zee and some of the fae folklore, although the fae as a group don’t hold a lot of fascination for me.

Iron Kissed is closer to a traditional murder mystery than the first two, and I have to admit I had the evil pegged from it’s first scene, but there’s so much going on in this book that it didn’t at all matter – I’m not even sure the author’s first goal here is to keep us from knowing who the evil is.

Finally the scene I dreaded the most: I was relieved to find the author didn’t feel the need to be disgustingly graphic about the physical brutality, but she does manage to convey the horror and creepiness of the scene vividly by exploiting the mental angle. I think of all the disturbing scenes of the overall horror, the one in the car ride over to the garage was the most disturbing for me. In just two (maybe 3?) short sentences, I’m completely creeped out, and horrified by the lack of free will Mercy suffers. The garage scene felt a bit jagged – like a film clip that was missing frames – but I was completely ok with that. I was happy to have details filled in when needed after everything was over and the body parts swept up.

This isn’t a series where I’ll be reading the books back-to-back until I catch up, but I’ll definitely keep on reading.

Tulle Death Do Us Part (A Vintage Magic Mystery #6)

I was very frustrated with rating this book. It’s a GREAT read, but the author pissed me off so badly in one area I almost didn’t finish reading the book. So, I’m giving it 3.5 stars but rounding up in good faith that she’ll quit screwing around with Mad!

 

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Madeira and Nick finally get their acts together and declare a commitment to each other in a previous book, after making the reader love him for his charm and his obvious adoration of Maddie. Only to have him act like a complete ass at the beginning of this book – off stage! – by just up and leaving her without any explanation, and when she does finally get in touch – he not only completely blows her off, but he lets a woman answer the phone (a character from the last book)! WTF?!?! And then midway through the book, sends her a text message we’re all supposed to embrace as a kindness. Again, WTF?!?!

INSERT SPOILER TAG HERE

 

I really like Werner and I always loved the banter and the chemistry between him and Maddie, but I did not appreciate the emotional slap-fest the author puts this reader through. The really good series (and this has been one up to now) – I get emotionally invested and attached to the characters. And well, the way this book started was just crap.

 

Ok, rant over. As I mentioned, Tulle Death Do Us Part is a great read once you get past the bitch-slap the author gives her readers. An old mystery involving the upper crust of Mystick Falls and secret scavenger hunts. And secrets. I’m so attached to these characters, and it’s such fun to see them in their element, sleuthing away and trading witty dialogue the entire time. Pure entertainment. Werner has come into his own and he and Maddie have great chemistry, working together to figure out what happened all those years ago.

 

I can’t say whether the mystery itself was well done or not. I freely admit to being completely distracted by what was going on with the characters. The ending was climatic for so many reasons; the decades old mystery only one factor.

 

I’ll read the next one – I’m too hooked on this series to stop now. But I really hope the author cools it and shows Maddie some compassion (or her readers – I’m not sure Maddie is all that fussed).