Luke Findley, an emergency room doctor in the small town of St. Andrew, Maine, gets a surprise when the local sheriff brings an unusual murder suspect to the hospital: a young woman, covered in blood. After cutting away her shirt so he can examine her for injuries, the woman grabs the scalpel from the tray next to her bed, pleading with Luke to let her go, saying the man she killed had asked her to do it. When she gives Luke the name of the dead man, the family which founded the town but has had no one living there for over a hundred years, Luke finds it hard to believe her. (more…)

Dead on the Delta, the fabulous first book in what promises to be a terrific new series, introduces Annabelle Lee, one of a very small group of humans immune to fairy bites. Annabelle’s immunity lands her a job with the FCC (Fairy Containment and Control), which sends her into the Louisiana bayou to collect samples of fairy eggs and excrement. In the world of the novel, fairies existed unseen among humans, but until terrorist attacks on chemical plants caused mutations, they were unable to open their mouths wide enough to attack human flesh. (more…)

Darkness Undone, the fabulous fourth installment in the excellent Marked Souls series, begins with league Bookkeeper-in-training Sidney Westerbrook out taking a walk in the Chicago streets to clear his head. On loan from the London league office, Sidney has two objectives: to assist the Chicago league of talya after the defection of their former Bookkeeper and to study the mated-talyan bond—a phenomenon long believed myth but recently occurring in Chicago. (more…)

Pariah #4 is explosive. We see Franklin Hyde’s past, his parents, and what led him to believing that he could save the Vitros by moving them to a secluded island or stretch of land. Because of his family connections, he’s able to acquire an island and his parents support. This is where previous Pariah issues coincide. Franklin collects all the Vitros, most peacefully, some by force. The problem is that he never played the political game, and certainly not as well as his parents. He believes they will not betray him, he believes that he’s giving the Vitros a chance…
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Pariah Issue #3 is probably the darkest issue yet. In it we have a Vitro who is unlike the other Vitros we have met before.

The Story
In this issue Robert is the lead, and he is twisted inside. His parents were the first to come out to the public about what it meant to have a child Vitro, and wanted to exploit him to make money. From there Robert left home and now manipulates humans with psychological triggers. He stands back and watches the results, calculating and memorizing, wondering what makes humans do certain things, what happens when you introduce a new stress into situations I do not even know if I would call him evil. (more…)

This is the second issue in the Pariah comic series, and I realized that each issue is going to be about a different Vitro. This issue was about Lila, and was explosive.

The Story
The story opens with Lila and her gang of Vitros. They are in the woods hiding, and are currently being attacked by the government special ops. We see the backstory of how they got there, and learn a little bit more about the virus that was released (which is why all Vitros are on the run now). Lila and her companions worked in a government lab/school where they were assigned to special projects and used their brains to help. (more…)

Shady Lady is the third installment in Ann Aguirre’s urban fantasy series. The book starts off with our heroine, Corine, back running her shop in Mexico. The action kicks into gear when the character of Kell Ferguson comes to warn her that her actions in the previous two books is coming to bite her in the butt.

Corine, Kell, and Corine’s ward, Shannon, go on the run, while trying to find a solution that does not end up with Corine dead. The Montoya cartel is pulling out all the stops to hunt Corine down using warlocks and other practioners as assassins. Kell really shines, and even though we have not seen him since book one, the way he is written makes it so you want him in every book from here on out. (more…)

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen is a warrior – she has to be. In a future where the stuff of our imaginations are now common commodities, she lives in the shadow of the technological empire known as the Capitol. Surrounding this mysterious center of Panem are the Districts, and she lives in the poorest of them. Life is a constant struggle of survival harkening back to the ancient times of humanity. But every year, something worse than the day-to-day battle intrudes into their lives, a single event that pulls every District in, even the Capitol. That event is the Hunger Games. As punishment for a long ago attempt to overthrow the Capitol, the Games are televised for all the world to see—and they HAVE to watch. A boy and a girl from every District participates in the Games. And what is the premise of the Games? To kill every other contender until only one is left. (more…)

Jayné Heller is about to learn why she is different, but secretly she has a suspicion that the she is being ridden and the idea terrifies her. Her dead uncle has done something to her and whatever it is, she wants it undone, but the implications of being free leave her petrified. This thing, whatever it is within her, has never acted against her will and has even saved the lives of her friends while destroying demons. As Jayné and Ex seek assistance from Ex’s old order, Jayné realizes sometimes there really is a lesser evil and what is within is definitely minor in comparison to what awaits her if she is exorcised. Too bad the priests do not understand what is happening and what awaits them should Jayné release the Black Sun’s Daughter.
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Jacob is sworn to his Vampire Queen and to their newborn son. When she is brought up on charges by the Fae Queen, it is up to Jacob to save his beloved family from anything the courts throw at them and stay true to his vow no matter how much he may have to sacrifice for the ones he loves.

Lyssa is caught between two enemies who demand their piece of flesh from the Vampire Queen. The Vampire Council and the Fae Court have no love between them and she is the bound by the laws of both. (more…)

Phineas McKinney knew that he had broken the rules by getting involved with his still-human family, but that bridge had already been crossed, and his brother was actually going to be an asset to him thanks to his current predicament. The Love Doctor, Dr. Phang, had had enough of the by-the book rules of the “good guy” vampires. His job as a spokesman for Blardonnay on the DVN network gave him the opportunity to get an “in” with those who knew where the new Queen Corky was hiding out.
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Devi is haunted by her twin brother’s disappearance one day while they were taking a walk. In the years following the loss of her brother, Devi goes through the motions of living and does not get close to people or let anyone in, but she finds the mysterious new employee at her favorite used bookstore intriguing. When she suffers a migraine and seizure near the entrance to the bookstore and he comes to her aid, they set a chain of events in motion that will bring her closer to finding out what happened to her brother, but the cost may be much higher than either is willing to pay.
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Aron is a young man unfortunate to be born to a father who cares more about his pleasures than about ensuring the safety of his family. Aron is left to pick up the pieces when their Thane Wulfgar comes to address missing tithes owed for the protection he provides. When Wulfgar sees Aron, however, he gives the young man a choice: become Wulfgar’s thrall (indentured servant) for a year or watch his family home be burned to the ground. Aron understandably chooses to be a thrall, though he learns what his duties to his temporary master are the hard way.
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In 2036 a deadly plague is released into the world. The plague is known as “The Blood Virus” that results in the manifestation of vampyres.

Fast forward to 2412. Vampyres live and work among the mortals but are still struggling to establish their place in a world filled with distrust and fear. (more…)

Tess Livingston, an FBI agent, and Ian Ritter, a journalist, are rushed off a bus in Ecuador. Neither has any memory of how or when they got on the bus. They both have tickets to Esperanza but they do not know why and no one is bothering to explain it to them.

When Tess and Ian come together a prophecy will be fulfilled and the tiny town of Esperanza, a town overrun with brujos, will wage war. (more…)

In the first book of the series, Lexi has lost her soul mate, Matt. Fearing that she won’t recover from the grief, her parents send her to Italy for a summer course. Her interest in life is somewhat renewed when she meets Tyler. As their relationship progresses, she learns that Tyler is a vampire, and after an accidental bite, their souls become imprinted. There are many complications, one of which is that Matt returns to her life—also as a vampire!
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Val Kovalin gives us an interesting view on angels and demons in her novel Trinity Trespass. Angels go to Heaven but aren’t necessarily good by our standards; in fact, the demons call them Enslavers because they tend to do evil things to humanity. The Demons aren’t always much better. During the nuclear explosion of 1945, the atomic blast opened a portal from Hell to Earth, something that has never happened since. (more…)

Celia West gets kidnapped – a lot. Since her parents, Warren and Suzanne West, are also Captain Olympus and Spark, two of the most powerful super-humans in Commerce City, she also always gets rescued. When the terrific After the Golden Age opens, Celia, now twenty-five and a successful forensic accountant, gets taken hostage right off of a city bus on her way home from work. (more…)

Sweet baby Jesus. Those were my first thoughts when I finished Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones, the third book in the Charley Davidson series.

After being nearly tortured to death, Charley and her trusty sidekick, Cookie, are back in action. Not only are they investigating a new turn of events in the matter of one Reyes Farrow, but they’re also looking into the disappearance and possible murder of a surgeon’s wife. (more…)

By a Thread, the terrific sixth installment in the exciting Elemental Assassin series, begins with Gin Blanco, Ice and Stone elemental, fending off yet another attack from two guys seeking to make a name for themselves by taking out the notorious assassin, The Spider. Ever since killing Mab, the Fire elemental that pretty much ruined her life, Gin’s no-longer-secret identity has been attracting all and sundry to her door. (more…)