I’m not sure how this series passed me by originally, but I’m really glad I found it.
Fortitude Scott is a vampire, or almost a vampire. He has yet to I’m not sure how this series passed me by originally, but I’m really glad I found it.
Fortitude Scott is a vampire, or almost a vampire. He has yet to grow into his fangs….and he honestly hopes he never does, even though it’s all inevitable. His mother is the formidable Madeline Scott and doesn’t take no for an answer when she wants Fortitude home for dinner, but when he’s not at his Mother’s house he spends his entire life pretending to be fully human. Which is all he ever wanted to begin with. Is to be normal and human, but it’s hard to pretend when he has to drink his mother’s blood monthly in order to survive right now.
It’s a gritty urban fantasy along with some really funny dialog between Fort and his best friend Suzume, a Kitsune, as they try to find a couple of missing girls. He is certain that a visiting vampire, that his mother has welcomed into her territory, has kidnapped these girls in order to try to make his own child vampire. The process is extremely difficult to perfect, and because of this difficulty, this vampire has been using and discarding young human girls until he can find one that works. You’ll be surprised to find out how vampires are born in this one, as it’s completely different than anything you’ve probably ever heard or read before.
I had a hard time putting this one down and am well into the second book of the series, which so far is even better than this one. I love Fort’s dry sense of humor and Suze’s sarcastic wit. Between the 2 of them you’ll be laughing out loud, even if the storyline is gritty and sometimes gruesome. Definitely worth reading.
I have to admit, I love a good Faye or Jonathan Kellerman book. I’ve followed Peter and Rina Decker since the beginning of the series and loved every I have to admit, I love a good Faye or Jonathan Kellerman book. I’ve followed Peter and Rina Decker since the beginning of the series and loved every minute of it. Unfortunately this one just didn’t do it for me.
Actually that’s not true, I was into it right up until the last third of the book. And then it all fell apart.
In this book, Peter has retired from the LAPD and taken a job with a small town police department in upstate NY so they can be closer to their kids who have all moved out to the East Coast.
He takes on a new partner, a spoiled rich kid who went to Harvard and only got on the force because his dad called in a favor with the Mayor. The only good thing is the repartee between them and I wouldn’t mind seeing the kid show up in future books.
Despite his attitude, Peter manages to mentor him and get him to come down off his high horse. But in the middle of ho hum, Greenbury, NY, Decker gets called in to investigate some stolen artwork, which ends up being a bigger deal than they thought, and part of a bigger investigation of stolen Russian artwork. Then, as usual, people start being murdered.
Faye had to do an incredible amount of research for this one, especially on Russian artwork, government deals between countries related to priceless artwork, and all the intricacies regarding well known works of art in general and I give her kudos for all of that work. Sadly, it all went completely over my head. Way too many details that just didn’t make sense to me.
I was also left feeling like they didn’t really resolve anything and that the people responsible were never really brought to justice. There was a lot of alluding to who it was, and that it was “handled” by the Russian government, but there was no real closure for me because it all happened off the page.
I even went back and re-read the last part of the book and I still didn’t really understand what the resolution was and who the true killer was. Peter did a lot of speculating, but nothing was confirmed, at least not outright.
Rina also gets more involved in this one, and despite her fun, snappy comebacks to the men on the case, she ends up having way more say in the investigation than seems realistically plausible, for someone not on the police force. Not to mention she verbally takes on the Russian government…. really?
I will definitely read another Kellerman book (Faye or Jonathan) but let’s hope the next one is way less complicated and has a better resolution....more
Along with humans, the world is divided up into Sylphs, Satyrs, Goblins, and Magi, also know as Preds. And each one preys on the human population in tAlong with humans, the world is divided up into Sylphs, Satyrs, Goblins, and Magi, also know as Preds. And each one preys on the human population in their own way. In this world humans can bargain for anything they desire as long as they use their soul as collateral. But most people don’t realize what they have until it’s gone, so Jess bargains for innocent souls by giving the Preds the soul of an evil person in return. She feels that this way she is giving back to humanity, since she’s been cursed with the need to feed on human misery in order to survive.
But when a serial killer is on the loose, and Jess is framed for the murders, she goes to Lucen, the one person she knows can help to keep her safe but he’s also the one person she feels most vulnerable.
I liked this book, it reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, but for adults. I liked the descriptions of the Pred towns outside of Boston and every time she went to Shadowtown or The Feathers I envisioned Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley.
Jess is likable too, but could be extremely annoying at times. She asked for help, but made it almost impossible to protect her. She doesn’t want to be dependent on anyone and instead of letting someone protect her, she goes out of her way to go off on her own, and would put herself in obviously dangerous situations. Several times I wanted to yell at her because she was acting like the dumb blonde in a scary movie, who continually does stupid things.
Jess has an interesting relationship with Lucen, but because he’s a Satyr and feeds on lust, she doesn’t trust that what she feels for him is real. That it may all be due to his ability to incite lust in whomever he wants. But she slowly comes to the conclusion that what she is feeling is real, and determines that he’s the only one she can trust.
The world building was really good, and the idea of being able to “Soul Swap” was an interesting concept, that I don’t think I’ve read before. I look forward to reading the next one in the series....more
I have to say – this one surprised me. What a great concept, and unique world building.
Isa has magic, and can create Living Ink, although chooses not I have to say – this one surprised me. What a great concept, and unique world building.
Isa has magic, and can create Living Ink, although chooses not to do it, because it’s dangerous. Live ink is exactly what it sounds like. Whatever is tattooed on your body, is alive, and shares living space with you.
What she does do is bind ink on those who have live ink when it goes rogue and attempts to leave the body. How creepy is that? Especially for someone who has tattoos?
Someone is summoning all of the live ink off their host’s bodies, and it’s killing them and the host in the process. Isa may be one of them after a psycho kidnaps her and tattoos live ink on her, unless she can stop them.
Isa is an interesting character with an interesting back story, that slowly starts to come out throughout the book. She’s tough, and likable, and you can’t wait to see her kick some ass after what’s been done to her.
I couldn’t put this book down. It was action packed from the moment I turned the first page. There is a small love interest although it doesn’t really turn into much of anything until late in the book, I assume it will be full blown in the next book coming out November 18th.
Fans of gritty urban fantasy will love this one....more
Let me start by saying that the Signs of the Zodiac series is one of my all time favorites. Reading this 12 chapter novella several years after what wLet me start by saying that the Signs of the Zodiac series is one of my all time favorites. Reading this 12 chapter novella several years after what was considered the last book of the series, has given me hope that there may be more to this series in the future.
Joanna Archer is the child of both light and dark forces and everything that has happened previously in the series has led up to this moment. She is finally living peacefully with the man she loves and carrying his child. Then she finds out that her mother, the woman who gave everything up so Joanna could live, is missing. So there is no question, she has to find her. In her search she stumbles on more than a few surprises. I won’t go into more details than that, since this is a short story and it’s easy to give things away that aren’t intended, but if you haven’t read this series you should, but start with book one. The Scent of Shadows...more
Madison has always been able to see the souls of people. She can tell if they are good or bad, depending on how their soul shines, or doesn’t shine. SMadison has always been able to see the souls of people. She can tell if they are good or bad, depending on how their soul shines, or doesn’t shine. She thought she was the only one who could do this, and had no idea that this skill had a purpose until she applied for a job creating bumper stickers. The job ends up being a front for an organization that eradicates evil using this particular power. She also has more skills than she realized after she gets some training from a retired agent. But even so, she’s no tough chick, at least not yet, but if her skills catch up to her desire and enthusiasm to wipe out evil she’ll be a formidable opponent.
Of course her lack of training and inability to control her power makes for quite a few funny moments as she tries to be a badass….and her embarrassing moments usually end up being in front of another agent who is hotter than hot, as well as the hot veterinarian she takes her cat to.
If you can get past a few grammatical errors, it’s a good start to a new series. A fun read despite evil lurking around every corner. There is some fun, snarky dialog, with several laugh out loud moments too. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.
If you like Hannah Jayne’s Underworld Protection Agency series, you’ll enjoy this one....more
Jim C. Hines has created an amazing new world where people can actually use the items found within books, as long as the user believes they exist. (foJim C. Hines has created an amazing new world where people can actually use the items found within books, as long as the user believes they exist. (for example, they could pull out the “drink me” potion from Alice in Wonderland, and it actually works to make you smaller/larger) Not everyone can do this, only a select group, but the books themselves don’t succumb to the magic until thousands of copies are distributed and read by the masses. The reader has to believe, in order for it to be real. However there are consequences for using too much of this magic.
The book centers around Isaac, a Libriomancer who has been a librarian for the last 2 years because he was forbidden from using magic. The group that monitors other libriomancers are called the Porters, and they felt that Isaac had gone too far down the path into magic, and could easily become possessed by the characters in the books he loved to use/read. But when someone else becomes possessed (by characters like Hannibal Lector) and tries to end the magical world, Isaac is the only one who can really stop him.
This book deserves 5 stars for originality alone. I couldn’t put this one down. The world Hines creates does have other magical creatures, like vampires, werewolves, wood nymphs etc, and there are limitations and rules about how this magic works, (like a libriomancer shouldn’t be able to write a book for the sole purpose of using whatever he created as a weapon, or some other life changing tool) but the ability to use books the way they do is every reader’s dream, or possibly nightmare considering every genre of book out there, especially if it’s in the wrong hands.
The book itself is a very easy read, and unlike other books of this genre, there was no confusion as to what was happening. It was explained in detail, and made perfect sense, despite being unrealistic. There were a few hard to believe moments, but if you believe the other parts, then I guess those unbelievable parts aren’t so far-fetched.
I loved this book, for it’s originality alone, and incredible world building, but as a long time lover of books, this particular ability would be a fantasy come true. Despite the damage it could cause if not careful.
I am eager to delve into the next book in the series which has already been released, with a 3rd on it’s way in January. If you love to read, and sci-fi/fantasy is your genre, this is the next book you should pick up....more
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