Some Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Witchy, Vampire, Werewolf Stuff

I read and enjoy a variety of genres.  Back in March, I found Melissa F. Olson's Boundary Witch series and greedily gobbled up the first 4 books in the series.  The other day, wanting more of the urban fantasy genre, I turned again to Olson.  This time it was her Scarlett Bernard series.   

From description:  "Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten feet of her, and any supernatural spells or demonic forces are instantly defused—vampires and werewolves become human again, and witches can’t get out so much as a “hocus pocus.” This special skill makes her a null and very valuable to Los Angeles’s three most powerful magical communities..."


The thing about urban fantasy (aside from contemporary urban settings, mystery, monsters, and magic) is that no matter how dire the situation, our protagonist wins--even if it is only temporary.  Because there is always the next adventure and mystery and monster.

Some of the characters in Dead Spots (which was Olson's debut series) appear later in her Boundary Witch series, so I was already a little familiar with Scarlett and several other characters.  

It was fun finding out about nulls and Scarlett's background, as well as more about Jesse Cruz (human detective) and  the vampires and werewolves of LA.  Scarlett, a null who defuses magic, is a cleaner for crime scenes involving Old World magic.  Initially, these are fairly mild situations, but then...things start to get wild, and Scarlett, who works for a group of vampires, werewolves, and witches, finds herself cleaning up more and more horrific crimes.  Worse, someone is trying to set Scarlett up as the villain.

Trail of Dead.  Who is killing witches and why?  And OOPS, Scarlett's mentor was supposed to be dead.  

Once again, Scarlett must work with human detective Jesse Cruz to find the murderer.  

Scarlett made a bad decision in the previous book--for all the right reasons, but without any concept of the consequences, and it destabilizes Will's wolf pack.

A rogue werewolf , the appearance in LA of the feared Luparii wolf-hunters from France, and a Bargest keep things rolling in The Hunter's Trail.





Of course, these books are not great literature, but they are fun and full of action.  I like the Boundary Witch series better, but the Scarlett Bernard series is Olson's first foray into urban fantasy and is still quite good.  This was supposed to be a trilogy, but Olson does return to Scarlett and friends in future books.  

Looking for some interesting October/Halloween books?  Try Olson's urban fantasy!

Ann Cleeves New Series; The Dead Witch on the Bridge and The Familiars

I've enjoyed Ann Cleeves' Shetland series with Jimmy Perez (which she recently concluded) and her Vera Stanhope series (long may it continue), but she also has a new series in the works!  

I've recently finished two witchy books.

Gretchen Galway's Dead Witch on a Bridge is the first in a series (Sonoma Witches #1), a kind of cozy witch mystery.  Alma Bellrose failed as a demon hunter for the Protectorate and now lives in the quiet and isolated community of Silverpool in the redwood forest.  

When her former boyfriend is murdered, Alma finds herself in an awkward situation that could (and does) turn dangerous.  Various characters are introduced that will no doubt be further developed in future books, but my favorite is Random, the dog that appears on the morning after the murder and becomes quite attached to and protective of Alma.

The first in this series was fun and has interesting possibilities. :)

NetGalley/ Kobo books
Paranormal/Mystery.  Jan. 15, 2019.  Print length:  340 pages.


The Familiars by Stacey Halls is a much more serious book that takes a fictional look at the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612.  

Most of the characters were real people, and Stacey Halls creates a rich and frightening narrative with the character of Fleetwood Shuttleworth.  Fleetwood, a genuine historical figure (as imagined by Halls) is a fascinating young woman whose character grows and develops throughout the novel.

Having suffered three miscarriages, seventeen-year-old Fleetwood is suffering through her fourth pregnancy, ill and frightened that she will once again loses the baby.  After finding a letter written to her husband by a doctor who examined her, Fleetwood realizes that she may not survive this pregnancy, and her fear and distress is heightened.

 When Fleetwood meets Alice Grey, she discovers that the young woman is a midwife.  In her desperation, she insists on hiring Alice to care for her and to deliver her child, bucking the advice of others who believe a more experienced midwife should be engaged.  

In the meantime, Alizon Device is arrested and accused of murder by witchcraft.  Much like in the Salem witch trials, the frenzy of accusations increased and spread.  

As she loses trust in almost everyone else, Fleetwood comes to trust Alice Grey,  and when Alice is also caught up in the accusations and imprisoned, Fleetwood is determined to save her.

What resonates so strongly in the book is the role of women--obedient wives, powerless over their own wealth; the importance of producing an heir and the dangers of childbirth; women whose opinions are ignored, and who are easily blamed for things that have natural causes.   

Initially, I was distressed and worried by Fleetwood's vulnerability, but the book moved
 into a compelling story as Fleetwood and Alice work together to insure Fleetwood's health and a successful childbirth.   Then Fleetwood does her best to prevent Alice from facing the gallows after her arrest. 

There is also an understated, but intriguing element of the supernatural that gives some ambiguity to the story.  I liked the way this was hinted at, rather than emphasized.

Interesting tidbit:  Sharon Bolton's The Craftsman is a suspenseful modern take on Pendle Hill and the witches.

NetGalley 
Historical Fiction.  Feb. 19, 2019.  Print length:  352 pages.

The Vanishing Season; The House of Secrets

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen is a debut novel that introduces Abby Hathaway, who now goes by the name of Ellery to keep her privacy in tact.  As a child, Abby was kidnapped and tortured before being rescued by a young FBI agent.  She is the only victim of a serial killer who survived.

As an adult, Ellery changes her name, moves to Massachusetts, and joins a police force in a small town.  Keeping her life as private as possible shields her from an onslaught of journalists who might want to revisit her kidnapping and rescue.

But as birthday cards begin showing up with cryptic messages, Ellery becomes increasingly uneasy.  And near the time of each birthday card, a local disappearance occurs.  Unable to get the local police chief interested without giving herself away, Ellery contacts the FBI agent who rescued her with her concerns that a new disappearance will be occurring soon.

I suspected the villain, and I didn't find him especially believable, but an interesting first novel from Joanna Schaffhausen.

The cover of this one bothers me.  Does anyone else think the cover is a little weird--under the word season?

ARC in the mail.
Crime/ Mystery.  2017.  274 pages.

Originally published in 2016 as Weeping in the Wings, the book is being republished under the new title of The House of Secrets.  

From description:  Sarah Bennett has two secrets: she sees ghosts, and she is in love with a spy.

When Sarah takes a job with occult expert Dr Matthew Geisler, he promises to help her understand the sorrowful spirit that seems to have attached itself to her.

I can't resist a ghost story and this one had several interesting features as the setting is during WWII at a home converted into a psychiatric hospital.  However, a lot of the more interesting possibilities were overlooked and the characters felt one-dimensional.  There was too much going on:  ghostly presence, espionage angle, psychiatric facility and mental illness, family dysfunction, a runaway bride, gas-lighting, romance, etc., etc.  

If only one or two of these aspects had received more attention and some of the others eliminated, I would have enjoyed it more.  Another problem for me is that this is the second book in the series, and there are many references to events in the first book which I have not read.  I felt really left out of background material.

NetGalley
Paranormal/Mystery.  2016; April 2019.  Print length:  252 pages.

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Just for fun:  Mr. Bean in the Art Gallery

 Check the above link for more silliness.

Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella and Some Links

Lately, I've been in the mood for ghost stories and decided to try Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella which was free on Kindle Unlimited.  

Ghost Gifts was an interesting blend of mystery, ghostly visits, and romance.  Aubrey has inherited a psychic gift and "sees dead people."   Sometimes her gift gives a sense of closure to the ghosts make contact.  But sometimes the connections are dangerous, and Aubrey makes every effort to control her contacts. 

In the present, Aubrey is managing quite well with her job at a local paper dealing with real estate, keeping her unusual talent a secret.   

Then her boss assigns her to work on the shocking discovery of a skeleton found sealed in a wall.  Way out of her usual purview.  Unable to get out of the assignment, Aubrey is partnered with the difficult investigative reporter Levi St. John.    

Aubrey is no shrinking violet;  she has worked hard for a normal life and has attempted to avoid unwanted ghostly contacts, but she has no problem speaking her mind.  Both reporters resist the partnership, but eventually, they work together, and Aubrey's gift turns out to be crucial to solving the murder.

Interesting characters, a well-plotted mystery, subtle clues that entwine characters and events past and present into a complex whole.

Kindle Unlimited.

Mystery/Supernatural.  2016.  Print length:  386 pages.   

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I often collect links of interesting articles, then forget about them.  Here are a few that I found on an unfinished draft:  

For readers who enjoy the supernatural, this article on ley lines.

I've been following Steve McCurry's photographic blog for years.  The photos are from every part of the world and cover most human activities along with quotes.  The title is this entry is "To Light a Fire" -- with photographs of readers from Afghanistan to Yugoslavia.  I love his blog.

Wage inequality: A study of more than 2m books has revealed that titles by female authors are on average sold at just over half the price of those written by men. (Source)  The article goes on to say the study was a result of VIDa counts that foun a "skew towards reviews of books by male authors, written by maler reviewers."

Read a Book--it could save your sanity.  From a study by  The Journal of the American Medical Association: "researchers discovered that readers’ risk [of dementia] was significantly lower than non-readers."  YAY!

What My Sister Knew, The Ghost of Marlow House, and True Fiction

Twins--their similarities, their difference, their relationships--consistently provide fodder for novels.  When you are a singleton, twins are a genuine curiosity, and novelists make the most of our inquisitive nature.  What My Sister Knew by Nina Laurin examines the strained relationship between a pair of fraternal twins.  

The dynamic between good-looking, smart, and dominant Eli and his less attractive and bullied sister Addie is cause for unease even during their childhood.  

When Eli, at thirteen, is convicted of a terrible crime, Addie's life does not immediately improve.  Years after the tragedy, however, Addie finally seems set for a better life.  She's in a good relationship and has overcome many personal demons.

Then Eli turns up again, and Addie's world begins disintegrating.  What does his sister know?

Read in May.  Review scheduled for June 5.

NetGalley/Grand Central Publishing

Suspense.  June 19, 2018.  Print length:  384 pages.  

The Ghost of Marlow House  is a fun cozy paranormal mystery.  Danielle inherits an old mansion that she hopes to turn into a B&B.  But in addition to the house and furnishings, she quickly realizes that she has also inherited a ghost who doesn't realize he's dead.  

Light and entertaining, The Ghost of Marlow House reminds me a bit of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.   Danielle needs the ghost to move on in order for her B&B plan to work. Eventually she manages to convince Walt Marlow that he is, indeed, dead.  Walt, however, is not ready to leave his home and enter the afterlife and persuades Danielle to investigate his death.

This is the first in a long series and reads as such in several ways, but I found it an entertaining counterbalance to some of the darker mysteries I read.  


Free on Kindle.

Paranormal Mystery.  2016.  Print length:  256 pages.

True Fiction is another book that lands on the light side of the scale.

From the blurb:  When a passenger jet crashes onto the beaches of Waikiki, bestselling thriller writer Ian Ludlow knows the horrific tragedy wasn't an accident.

Years before, the CIA enlisted Ian to dream up terrorism scenarios to prepare the government for nightmares they couldn't imagine. Now one of those schemes has come true, and Ian is the only person alive who knows how it was done...and who is behind the plot. That makes him too dangerous to live.

Comical and yet...I've often wondered, as I'm sure some of you have, if some fictional scenarios have not actually been translated to real life.  The idea that the CIA or terrorists  have taken ideas from fiction doesn't sound that far-fetched to me.  Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.

True Fiction offers adventure, suspense, and comedy as Ian Ludlow, nerdy author, must think like his fictional protagonist if he wants to survive.  

Kindle Unlimited

Suspense/Humor.  April 1, 2018.  Print length:  248 pages.

JUST for Fun


We are all influenced by book covers, but take a look at some of the pulp covers of classic literature!  (source: Literary Hub)

For more pulp covers of classics

On Ghost Stories, The Dead House, and Turn of the Screw

The Dead House by Billy O'Callaghan is rather spooky ghost story that has its roots in the Irish potato famine.  When Maggie, an English artist, seeks sanctuary after a brutal attack, she discovers a place in Ireland that seems made to order.  A ramshackle cottage that needs a complete overhaul in a setting that speaks to every fiber of her artistic center...and perhaps, to something else.  

You can read the description elsewhere, but the main characters are Mike, an art dealer in London; Maggie, an artist; and Alison, who has a gallery in Ireland.  The three are tied together through friendship, and in the case of Mike and Ali, something developing into love.  

The frame of the novel is similar to that of Henry James' Turn of the Screw and the book seems to be heavily influenced by James' work--in both content and style.

The pervasive sense of the sinister which James achieved is lacking, however, because O'Callaghan breaks it up with Mike's relationship with Ali, lighter episodes that relieve some of the tension.

The writing is often lyrical, but something about the logic goes awry.  Turn of the Screw is ambiguous--is it a ghost story or a psychological deterioration?  The first time I read it in high school, I thought it the most chilling ghost story ever.  On subsequent reads over the years, I recognized the other possibility, which is equally as chilling, perhaps even more so.  The sense of unease remains, the ambiguity remains, and whichever way you read it, Turn of the Screw is a frightening tale.

The Dead House is a ghost story that draws on James' work, but lacks the layers, the Freudian aura, the question of whether or not the young children,  Miles and Flora, have been corrupted by evil, and the story's refusal to take a side, to guide you to one conclusion or another.  Henry James left the interpretation up to the reader, but regardless of how one reads it, the experience is harrowing.  O'Callaghan leaves you with a ghost story that doesn't quite end, almost as if a sequel could be possible.

The Dead House has garnered many positive reviews, but it lacked some mysterious quality that allowed me to "suspend my disbelief."  

For me,  The Turn of the Screw remains the epitome of an excellent ghost story regardless of how you interpret it.  My second favorite is The Broken Girls by Simone St. James which combines a genuine ghost story and a mystery.

NetGalley/Skyhorse Publishing

Paranormal/Ghost Story.  first published 2017; May 2018.  Print length: 224 pages.

The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James

After reading Simone St. James' The Broken Girls, I decided to try another of St. James' paranormal mysteries. In the aftermath of WWI, many in a nation grieving the loss of a generation of men and boys turned to seances, psychics, and mediums who promised communication with the dead.

The Other Side of Midnight, set in 1925 London during this resurgence of spiritualism, involves psychics and a handsome debunker of psychics in a paranormal mystery/romance.

When Ellie Winter's former friend and rival Gloria is murdered,  Gloria's brother engages Ellie to find out who killed her and why.  Ellie teams up with James Hawley, war veteran and debunker, and the two begin investigating--discovering secrets and courting danger along the way.

The Other Side of Midnight is a pretty light read.  There were elements I liked well enough, but I wasn't bowled over by any means.  I do like that St. James wants to write books like the ones she enjoyed by Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart:

"It wasn’t until my mid-20s that I discovered the old Gothics that were popular from the 1950s to about the 1970s – those musty old books you can find by the dozens, each one featuring a variation on the cover of the girl with flowing hair and nightgown fleeing a dark, foreboding house. These books are, shall we say, of varying quality (my personal favorite from my own shelf: “Lois Chalfont must choose between the devil and death!”) But several of the authors of old Gothics were truly talented, Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt being the top names of the genre.

I read – and still read – those books like crazy, and as I did I asked myself, “Why doesn’t anyone write these anymore?” So I write them, but I add my own sensibility to them. I make my heroines strong and independent. I set them in the 1920s. And I add ghosts."  (source)

The Other Side of Midnight was a bit of a disappointment after reading The Broken Girls, St. James' latest book.  (I wrote a little about The Broken Girls here when talking about books out next year.)  It was a modern ghost story with roots in the past that kept me enthralled and uneasy the entire time.  My full review is scheduled for Feb. 28, and the book will be published in March.  

So...while The Other Side of Midnight was not exactly what I was hoping for, I want to try Lost Among the Living, which returns to the post WWI setting.

And if you love a good ghost story, pre-order The Broken Girls!

Whispers of Warning by Jessica Estevao

Although the second in the Change of Fortune series, Whispers of Warning functioned well as a stand-alone.  I liked the setting--a spiritualist hotel with echoes of the real spiritualist towns of Lily Dale, NY and Cassadaga, Florida.  

Ruby Proulx is happy to be living with her aunt in a hotel which offers various psychic readings to its guests.  Ruby is a "clairaudient"--a voice guides her talent as a medium, and her abilities are growing.

When Sophronia Foster Eldridge arrives as a guest, Ruby is impressed at both Sophronia's reputation as a Spiritualist and as an outspoken Suffragette.  But Sophronia's goal is more complicated than purely seeking the vote, and she presents a threat to someone who wants to derail her platform.

Ruby begins to recognize that Sophronia has a manipulative side, yet she still wants to support Sophronia's goal of gaining the vote for women.  

While the setting intrigued me, the book was a little slow.  I think I was looking for something similar to Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer, something a little more complex, but I like the cover.

Blog review scheduled for Oct. 17, 2017.

NetGalley/Berkely Publ.

Paranormal Mystery.  Sept. 19, 2017.  Print length:  331 pages.

Five Books Due in 2018

Often the books I get from NetGalley are 6 months or more in advance of publication; this can be frustrating because I don't want to publish reviews that far in advance, but I can't hold off reading the books.

Here are some brief descriptions of books I read in July and August that won't be published until 2018.  Reviews will follow closer to publication dates.

*The Night Market by Jonathan Moore (Jan.)   "..a near-future thriller that makes your most paranoid fantasies seem like child’s play."
Intense and uncomfortable speculative fiction. Engrossing, disquieting, conspiracy, manipulation, ambiguous conclusion.  I haven't read The Poison Artist by Moore, but now I want to--I think.  Maybe because I am now so distrustful of any rich and/or powerful institution (business, industry, church, state) right now, The Night Market had a chilling effect.

A Cold Day in Hell by Lissa Marie Redmond (Feb.)  (Cold Case Investigation #1) The major story line involves a current case in which detective Lauren Riley agrees to help a defense lawyer whose godson is on trial for murder.  OK, but not a series I will pursue.

The English Wife by Lauren Willig (Jan.)  Kind of spooky Gothic Lite.  If you are looking for Wilkie Collins or Du Maurier, this isn't going to satisfy, but The English Wife can provide an entertaining few hours and will be appreciated by fans of the author.

*The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor (Jan.) Had my complete attention from beginning to end!  Suspenseful, twisty psychological--an impressive first novel.  

**The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (Mar.)   Yes! A great ghost story!  I love a good ghost story, but I'm fussy and critical--and frequently disappointed when most ghost stories turn out to be less than I hoped for.  The Broken Girls was more than I expected or hoped for. Two time frames, a boarding school, a murder mystery, and plenty of suspense.  

I'm surprised the publication wasn't scheduled for October or November--prime reading time for eerie, mysterious, and supernatural stories.  Of course, I thoroughly enjoyed it in the heat of summer, but still...it would have been the perfect book for an autumn evening with a fire in the fireplace and a cold wind moaning outside.

An Eclectic Mix of Mysteries

The Curious Affair of the Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief caught my interest with the cover, the idea of a psychic, and this brief description: "Should you find yourself in need of a discreet investigation into any sort of mystery, crime or puzzling circumstances, think of Jesperson and Lane . . ."

 The first page had promise.  Miss Lane had been friend and collaborator to a "Miss X" -- a psychic investigator and member of the Society of Psychical Research, but when Miss Lane suspects her friend of her own brand of chicanery,  Miss Lane takes abrupt leave of Miss X and returns to London. 

In search of a job, Miss Lane happens on an advert for a position as a consulting detective with Mr. Jasper Jefferson.  Her previous position involved investigating psychic phenomena, perhaps detective work would not be too much of a transition.

But the book didn't seem to know where to go:  humor? quirky? serious? real  or fake psychic abilities?  The first seemed to offer an offbeat, quirky narrative, but that got lost fairly quickly.  Miss X is initially presented as perhaps being vindictive and vengeful, but that, too, disappears.  Miss Lane and Mr. Jesperson should have some chemistry, it is certainly implied, but it fails to feel genuine.

The possibility of fleshing out these characters remains, but in this first book in the series, Miss Lane and Mr. Jesperson remain two dimensional.  Both characters need a good deal of development to help them evolve into interesting and unique personalities rather than pawns around which a story emerges.  The plot is a little muddled and could use some efficient editing. 

The Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief has potential for a fun and suspenseful series, and perhaps the next in the series will give a bit more "character" to the characters, a clearer tone, and a more incisive plot.

NetGalley/Random House

Paranormal/Mystery.  First published in 2016; May 16, 2017.   


Lie to Me by Jess Ryder begins with an old videotape that Meredith discovers in the attic. When her father realize that she has the tape, he is upset and attempts to seize it, but Meredith keeps it and is later stunned to see her four-year-old self with the mother who disappeared shortly after the tape was made.  Meredith's investigation into the meaning of the tape and what happened to her mother leads her to a crime that occurred thirty years ago.  

Putting the pieces together reveals a number of surprises associated with the murder that took place at Dark Pool and questions about who was responsible.  Meredith researches the trial and meets some of the people involved. Since the hypnosis and past life segment wasn't really pursued, I wish it had been left out, but Meredith's persistent search for answers kept me interested although I didn't always find her behavior reasonable.

Told from three perspectives, the plot has several twists.  

NetGalley/Bookouture

Crime/Suspense.  April 19, 2017.  Print length:  388 pages.

What really created my interest in What the Dead Leave Behind was the idea of Blizzard of 1888, and strangely,  I finished the book a few days before the prediction of the huge blizzard to hit New York and the east coast in mid-March of this year. 

Prudence McKenzie, still grieving over her father's recent death, awaits the arrival of her fiance as the blizzard sets in, covering New York in snow.  Charles, however, will never arrive and will be one of the 200 bodies discovered on New York streets in the aftermath of the storm.

Charles Linwood and Roscoe Conkling were out in the storm; Conkling made it to safety, but Charles' body was found after the storm.   

Prudence is devastated.  Her doctor had recommended laudanum to help Prudence deal with her father's death, but had issued strict instructions.  Now, Prudence is even more in the drug's clutches.

OK- there is a wicked stepmother and some dastardly deeds done, but Prudence does have some support in the characters of Roscoe Conkling and Charles Linwood's friend Geoffrey Hunter, a former Pinkerton Agent.

I assume this is to be a new series.  Although my main interest was the Great Blizzard, that part of the story is only at the beginning.

source

source

A Buried City: The Blizzard of 1888
The Great Blizzard of 1888  

NetGalley/Kensington Books

Historical Mystery.  April 25, 2017.  Print length:  304 pages.

The Undesired and Catching Echoes

The Undesired opens with a scene of a father and young daughter in a car, dying from the exhaust fumes.  Your mind automatically wonders how they got there and who is responsible.  

Chapter One introduces single father Odinn, whose ex-wife has recently died.  Odinn struggles with the responsibilities of being more than a weekend father and seeks ways to help his daughter with her grief.

When a colleague dies unexpectedly, Odinn finally gets an interesting assignment investigating possible abuse at a home for young offenders.  The plot moves back and forth from the present to the past.  

The past segments allow us to see the home and the inhabitants through the eyes of Aldis, a young woman who does the cleaning.  In the present, Odinn attempts to balance a series of problems--interviewing individuals who were at the home during the 1974 incident, new information that makes him curious about his ex-wife's death, and his concerns about his daughter.

Definitely some surprises, especially in the conclusion.  It is so tempting to put the spoiler here, but it would change the way the reader approaches the novel.

Icelandic writer Yrsa Sigurdardottir's The Undesired is a standalone and not part of her Thora Gudmundsdottir series.  

This new cover beats the previous two options by a long shot.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Psychological Suspense.  2012; 2017 (translation).  Print length:  362 pages.


Catching Echoes: Reconstructionist Series Book 1 by Meghan Ciana Doidge has murder, witches, and vampires.

I liked the first of this one quite a lot and was hoping for a fun paranormal romp.  

Unfortunately, the charm of the first portion of the book began to dissipate in the middle, and I was not at all impressed with the conclusion. 

I liked Wisteria in her reconstructionist role,  but the frequent references to a hidden magical power that others seem to recognize and leave Wisteria puzzle--feel contrived.  The creepy attraction between witch and vampire is a given. Much of the middle felt like filler, and it isn't a particularly long book, so that's a lot of filler. The conclusion was disappointing.

Doidge has a dedicated fan base who love her books, but if I want a good paranormal YA book, I turn to Maggie Steifvater or Kelley Armstrong.  I do enjoy a little paranormal mischief every once in a while, but this series may not be a good fit for me.

NetGalley/Old Man in the Crosswalk Productions

Paranormal/Crime.  Dec. 2016.  Print length:  234 pages.

The Impossible Fortress and Behind Her Eyes

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak provides an interesting look at the advent of young computer programmers in the 1980's.  Adolescents who were not only fascinated by computers and games, but strongly predisposed to find beauty in writing code. 

Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin has two main interests:  1) writing programs for his own games, and 2) (along with his buddies Alf and Clark) getting hold of the latest Playboy Magazine with Vanna White as the centerfold.

The boys are often amusing with their 1980's teenage angst, and because they are not old enough to buy a copy of the Vanna White issue, concoct a number of elaborate and doomed-to-failure plans to get a copy of the coveted magazine.  

As various schemes fail or are discarded, the boys grow more desperate, and a plan evolves in which Billy is to seduce Mary Zelinsky, whose father owns the shop that sells the magazine.  The idea is to get the security code from Mary so the boys can get into the shop, grab the magazine, and leave enough money to pay for it.

Mary is an even more accomplished novice programmer than Billy, and his real mission is to get Mary to help him with a game he wants to develop.  His agreement with the seduction plan is motivated by the contest Mary has told him about--the best game could win a prize from an admired game designer and possibly a future in programming.  

While the premise has many great opportunities, ultimately, I found The Impossible Fortress deviated into something I didn't much care for.  The heist, when it finally happened, almost prevented me from finishing the book.  

My final assessment: there are amusing portions at the beginning, but the characters failed to make me truly like or care about them and the plot felt hollow.  

Maybe I was expecting too much.

Read in November; blog review scheduled for Jan. 21, 2017.

NetGalley/Simon & Schuster

YA.  Feb. 7, 2017.  Print length:  304 pages.


Behind Her Eyes is a suspenseful and twisty novel that kept me off balance trying to come to grips with the characters.  

Louise, David, and Adele form a strange triangle that works in different ways.  Louise, a single mom, has an almost fling with a man she meets in a bar.  The next day, she discovers that the man in the bar is her new boss.  David is married to Adele and the marriage is complicated to say the least.  (A whole lot of controlling goin' on.)  Adele and Louise bump into each other on the street and form a friendship.  Oops.

A triangle of dumb, and dumber, and wicked.  Difficult to tell at times who is dumb and who is wicked as the perspectives change from chapter to chapter.  What a stew of dangerous emotions.  

It's one of those novels that is hard to put down, that keeps moving from one pov to another and from past to present, with a some "OMG-- you are so dense!" moments, a bit of astral projection, and a twist that you are only gradually prepared for at the end.

So...few people will be able to put it down because the need to know is so strong.  Some will be pleased with the twist at the end, admiring the author's manipulation of the narrative to keep the reader curious and uncertain.  Unsympathetic characters; twisted relationships; a necessary supernatural element to make the novel work. Shades of Edgar Cayce.

NetGalley/Flatiron Books

Mystery/Psychological?  Jan. 31, 2017.  Print length:  320 pages.

Whining and Two Reviews

I've had a period of "withdrawal" since Thanksgiving.  When periods of stress and anxiety hit, I withdraw as much as possible into myself, avoid anything I can get away with, and read. 

Unfortunately, my library is having some work done and the parking lot is full of building materials.  When I arrived last time to return my books, I had to park in the neighboring parking lot, a minor inconvenience, because the worst was yet to come.  

The fiction section was blocked off with yellow tape--you know, like what you see on television marking off a crime scene.  A couple of sad-faced people were standing there looking longingly at the stacks.  I was about to slip through the tape to get to the books, when someone said the section will be off limit for a month!  My frustration left me stuttering.  If I'd had a list I could have had one of the librarians pull the books, but I didn't and was so derailed that I couldn't even think of a single title.  

None of this helped my general attitude or anxiety, but there are book bargains from various sources.

One of those bargains was Fellside, a one day offer for $3.29 (usually $13.99).  I really liked The Girl with All the Gifts, and have had Fellside on my list for some time, so I was quite pleased to find that bargain.

Is there anyone who is not familiar with the plot?  Heroin addict, fire, death of a young boy, conviction, prison, ghost?   There are so many reviews that go into great detail about the plot, and I'm not going to give a synopsis here, just a few thoughts...  

* I found Jess Moulson's conviction of murder hard to believe.  Not that I think the judicial system always works well or fairly, but I couldn't see a murder conviction from the evidence.  Of course, Jess does nothing to help herself.

* Fellside, the maximum security women's prison where Jess is sent, is aptly named.  One meaning of "fell" is a barren moor, but older meanings of the word are distinctly malevolent:  sinister, baleful, deadly, cruel.  Even the "side" part of the name works well with the book's content and the idea of a parallel world.   Fellside is a brutal place with plenty of corruption and violence among both the keepers and the kept.  The prison story is distressing because I suspect that it has more truth than I want to think about.

* The astral projection into dreams and the ghost story...could have worked, but didn't really convince me.  There was a twist in this portion, however.  

* Although I sympathized with Jess, empathy was a little harder to come by because in some sense she didn't feel real to me.  She was, in a way, almost a ghost herself; never a fully-realized person.

I was a little put off from the beginning since Jess' conviction did not make sense to me. The book is too long, and although many scenes are suspenseful, they ended up feeling like filler. If the prison episodes had been condensed, the plot would have been tightened.  The action does speed up toward the end of the book and some of the mystery of the fire is explained--but like most readers, I'd figured out most of it in the initial chapters.  Waiting for hundreds of pages for the principals to figure it out was a bit annoying.

Was I expecting too much?  I don't really believe so.  I read The Girl with All the Gifts in 2014, and there have been so many books since then.  Fellside wasn't my cup of tea, but it has pleased hundreds of others.  

Purchased.

Mystery/Suspense/Paranormal.  2016.  Print length:  485 pages.


I'm not sure how I missed The Sound of Broken Glass as Deborah Crombie's series featuring Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James is a favorite.

The Sound of Broken Glass is the 15th book in the series that began in 1993.  Duncan Kincaid is taking time off to care for Charlotte, his and Gemma's foster child (this story is told in Necessary as Blood), so the main plot involves Gemma.  

Gemma and DS Melody Talbot investigate the death of a respected (but not particularly liked) barrister found in a compromising situation in a hotel that the man has used for casual sexual encounters.  Then another barrister is found murdered in similar fashion. 

The case requires backtracking to an event 15 years earlier and is slowly unraveled through both interviews and flashbacks.

As usual, Crombie makes use of characters from previous books, but in a way that doesn't interfere with understanding the current book.  I like the feeling of meeting familiar characters who have appeared in previous plots, and the way Crombie weaves them into the story in a purposeful way.  Have to admit to being surprised at Melody Talbot's out-of-character behavior.  

I read To Dwell in Darkness (#16), the next in the series last year, but Crombie has a new book scheduled to come in February.

Purchased.

Police Procedural.  2013.  Print length: 531 pages.

Interesting that The Sound of Broken Glass is actually a little longer than Fellside--and did not feel nearly as long.
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I have 18 book reviews scheduled for 2017--from January - June.  One of the hazards of NetGalley is that you can read a book 6 months or more before publication.  These are books that I've read since July of 2016--so I've been scheduling them for 6 months.  All of these are already posted to Goodreads, but the blog posts are scheduled closer to publication.  

Half of them are scheduled for January:

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry

Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner

The Girl in the Garden by Melanie Wallace * (beautifully written!)

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

Old Bones by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles * (great one-liners:  "You're no fun on a road trip, Thelma"

The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan

Dare to Remember by Susanna Beard

Stasi Wolf by David Young * (interesting look at East Germany in 1975; unique police procedural because of setting)

The three with asterisks are my favorites-of course, that's just my opinion, but for me they stand miles above the rest.  Most disappointing was Brunonia Barry's The Fifth Petal.  I really liked The Lace Reader, but found The Fifth Petal boring.