Jacqueline Carey

Jul 312010

About Jacqueline Carey

Best known for the epic Kushiel’s Legacy series, she has won several (and well deserved) awards for her work.  She currently resides in Michigan although she loves to travel. Surprisingly to me, she has no tattoos!

Jacqueline Carey’s Official Author Site

My Comments

If I had to choose just one word to describe Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series it would be ‘Breathtaking’.  It had been a while since I had read a fantasy series that was so smooth to read, absorbing and utterly engaging.  The world and characters she creates are wonderfully real and I just love them all.  I can’t recommend it highly enough and is always on my list of recommendations when asked by friends for something to read.

Bibliography

Kushiel’s Legacy

Naamah Trilogy

The Sundering

Santa Olivia

Bound to Shadows

Jul 292010

A beheaded vampire is found outside a Melbourne vampire club and an already testy Riley is sent in to investigate.  As the body count starts rising, Riley has her work cut out for her to find out who, or what, is behind the murders.  With civilities between the local vampire and human population breaking down it’s only a matter of time before violence breaks out.  Dante Starke, the owner of the club is a vampire with an aura that makes even a Guardian nervous, but Riley has to get answers.  Two human women are found dead in their beds, with no discernible cause of death and Riley feels there is somehow a link.  How or why is something she has to figure out, even with the distraction of her hated soul-mate Kye making a reappearance.

I’ve hugely enjoyed the previous books in the Riley Jensen Guardian series.  They are easy to read, exciting, erotic and action packed yet Bound to Shadows takes it to the next level.  The emotions inherent throughout the book seemed more real, more tangible.  Fear, rage, lust, love and sorrow and the latter is what got me in the end.  It made me cry.  Without spoiling anything, the big kick in the gut was something I knew might happen and something I knew had to happen but the way that whole section was written was just perfect, right to the last word.

Riley is definitely up there as one of my favourite urban fantasy heroines.  Conflicted often by her half-vampire, half-wolf soul, she tries to do the best she can for each but also stay true to herself.  She’s fierce in everything she does whether it’s loving or fighting and while diplomacy might not be her best trait, she achieves what she needs to sometimes at the cost of herself.  Brilliantly and consistently written.

I loved that we saw more of Quinn in this book and the bond that is between him and Riley.  They are a great foil for each other and while you learn more of his history and how powerful he can be, I sense that there is a lot more to come and it won’t necessarily sit well with Riley.

I still love the interactions with her twin brother Rhoan and his mate Liander, they make a great couple and the big question they ask Riley, something she never thought would be possible brought a tear to my eye.

I can’t really say much more (and I really want to!) without spoiling it so I will just say this; Bound to Shadows – Read it… just read it.

If you are new to the series then get started as this is book 8,  Find ‘Full Moon Rising’ and get going!

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Book Information

Shades of Night

Jul 272010

New Chicago is in chaos after Iridium’s actions led to the Corps brainwashing signal being turned off.  Every Extrahuman linked to the corps by the seemingly innocuous earpiece was affected.  Some felt free, some went mad and others used the opportunity for their own agendas.  With former Superheroes battling humans and Extrahumans alike, it’s up to the few heroes who kept their sanity to try and save the city.  With Jet leading the new group, it’s so few against so many, yet even without Corps influence, they are Heroes and still believe in their duty to protect humanity,  to bring their former colleagues either to justice or back to the fledgling group forming outside of the Corps influence.  Help comes from an unlikely source with Iridium but just as things seem to be getting back in control, one of the worst Supervillains in history somehow escapes from his cell in Blackbird Prison.  Doctor Hypnotic, a mental power, turns everyone in his path to unmoving zombielike statues and he is only just getting started.  Bitterness and rage at his core, it will test the powers and strengths of every remaining Superhero to bring him down.  Will there be a new dawn for New Chicago or will it remain forever in the shadow of night.

Shades of Night is a worthy successor to Black and White.  It was good to be back with my favourite characters Jet and Iridium again and see how they cope in such a desperate situation.  They don’t disappoint and given how different their personalities are, their interactions understandably start off frosty.  However, there is a lovely moment at the end where you learn how Iridium really feels which really touched me.  The writing was really succinct and emotional and I really felt their bone weariness at what they were having to do, yet still having the courage and determination to see it through.  They are after all, Superheroes.

As in Black and White, the book switches perspective at certain points and also with ‘Then’ and ‘Now’.  It’s well done and never gets confusing as to where you are and who you are reading about.  You learn a huge amount of history about the Corps and the Icarus Project and really, those sections are what provide the twists for the story.

Jet and Iridium’s backgrounds are fully explored and I really felt for the two main characters as children who really, had no chance of normal lives thanks to the machinations of the Corps and even their parents.  I love that they turned out to be the Superheroes they are in spite of it all.  After learning her past, it’s no surprise Iridium became as conflicted as she is but she doesn’t hesitate to do what she feels is right.  Jet is the one who suffers most I think being less flexible and believing in the Squadron, the Corps and procedure.  Admirably, she still managed to pick up the pieces and help save her city.

Just to touch on the Latent Network, I felt this was a great addition and explained much about the way powers work.  Not everyone is powerful enough to be in the squadron but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their talents and I enjoyed seeing them get to work and what they were able to achieve.

All in all, a good, fast paced and exciting read about true Superheroes, Supervillains and those caught in between.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Book Information

The Killing Place

Jul 162010

With Maura Isles missing, a burned car with four bodies and the local police insisting nothing more sinister was going on than an accident, Detective Jane Rizzoli refuses to accept the evidence that her friend could be dead.

A wrong turn in the snow led Maura and her companions to Kingdom Come, a place of questions and mystery.  A town abandoned, seemingly in an instant and no evidence of the occupants other than a few unsettling clues.

Will Rizzoli find her friend alive and uncover the truth behind Kingdom Come?

It was great to see a new ‘Rizzoli and Isles’ book.  I’ve definitely enjoyed the re-releasing of Gerritsen’s romantic thrillers but she creates something very special when she gets these two characters together.  Their shared history makes them very good friends and I love how that closeness was portrayed when Jane Rizzoli realised her friend was in trouble, possibly dead.  Two such different personalities yet they work very well together.

As to the story, well I read the whole book in one day and couldn’t put it down.  It was gripping, absorbing, emotional and kept me on the edge of my seat hoping that things were not how they seemed.  After the initial build up, the shocks kept on coming in Gerritsen’s usual style yet they were all natural progressions, nothing forced or out of line with what I thought the characters would do.

The pace worked really well, starting at an easy flow then increasing until I had to take breaks to have a reality check before diving back in again.  The twist at the end was outstanding and I was completely oblivious to it until it arrived, although I did have the sense that all was not right, I just couldn’t put my finger on why.

It’s always hard to know how much to say without spoiling it for others but there were a few moments that really got to me, and I’m sure you will know exactly what I mean when you read The Killing Place for yourself.

And you really need to, it’s a good one!

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Book Information

Silent Truth

Jul 152010

BAD Agent Hunter Thornton-Payne is on a mission along with his own personal agenda.  The assassin that robbed him of his best friend four years ago is back in play by the Fratelli organisation. While BAD’s interests lie with his own he is content to wait it out.  When he meets Abbie Blanton and her quest for answers to her mothers mysterious illness, he sees a connection and opportunity that could lead him straight to the killer.  With Abbie a target, he has to try to keep her at arms length and safe so he can find the answers they both need.  Abbie has other ideas and is determined to help, leaving Hunter at risk of being hunted not only by the Fratelli, but BAD itself.

Silent truth is the fifth book in the B.A.D. series and I was really happy to see this book return to the excellent form of Bad Attitude.  That’s not to say the others weren’t good, they were, I just felt there was something lacking that made the first book such an exciting read.  Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love make a brilliant team and their love and pride of this series really shines through.

It was great to go deeper into the character of Hunter.  When he appeared in previous books, he came across as a bit of an ass and that  made me a little wary when I found out that he was the central male character.  When I learned what made him become so, I realised there was so much more beneath the detached surface.  Dangerous and highly trained yet hiding a compassionate heart behind his ruthless exterior.  Very hot and definitely a character to fall in love with!  Abbie was a solid and believable character as well, I loved her naivety despite what she had been through and given how strong and feisty she was, she was more than a match for Hunter.

The pace of the book was really good, well written action scenes and at times it was very tense.  Of course that meant I HAD to keep reading to find out what happened which I can only count as a good thing.  The way the sexual chemistry and heat was built up worked very well and left me almost as breathless as the characters.

The plot was actually quite intricate, several threads coming together that had been building up over the series and I got to see just how widespread the Fratelli organisation really was.  I thought Linette’s character worked really well within it and I feared for her at every turn of events.

Now for the OMG NO! moment.  I am still in denial and hoping for a miracle in the next book but as it stands, much kudos for it being so well played and emotional.  It really got me.

I can’t say more than that without spoiling it but you will just have to read Silent Truth and find out for yourself.  Enjoy!

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Book Information

Why you should read – J. R. Ward

Jul 032010

The first book I read by J. R. Ward was actually the start of a companion series to the Black Dagger Brotherhood books.  Covet impressed me in many different ways and I was curious about what her other more established series was like.  Having now finished the Black Dagger Brotherhood series for a second time and having enjoyed it even more, I can’t recommend this amazing series enough.

So why should you read J. R. Ward?

The characters Ward creates are just phenomenal.  The main cast are the Brothers and their individual stories are the focus for each book.  What makes the series truly outstanding is the presence of the other major players through each one.  You can’t have one Brother without having them all!  Sometimes those appearances are brief and often they are integral to another’s story.

The series begins with Dark Lover and you are introduced to a world of vampires living alongside humans in secrecy.  The Black Dagger Brotherhood are a group of elite vampires, engineered by breeding to be the most powerful and best warriors to protect the race not only from exposure to the humans but also from their unnatural predators – the Lessening Society.  I love Ward’s slant on the vampire mythos, that the traditional view is mostly hogwash spread by the human media with a few truths hidden within the fiction.  The truth is humans have nothing to fear from vampires.  They can’t sustain themselves from human blood so basically, they are just another race that share the planet but in ever decreasing numbers.  There is a war on, between the lessers and the vampires and the Brothers fight night after night to keep the remaining vampire population safe, often at personal cost to themselves.  They are powerful, larger than life and very very hot!

While the plot of each book might mainly be about a character unexpectedly finding their true love (they are romance novels after all), it’s the characters that make them as engaging as they are.  J. R. Ward has such a clear and vivid way of writing that you get to know them so well and the mere mention of a name conjurs up their image in your mind and how they might act and react in certain situations.  I also have to say not once in ten books have I read a scene and thought hang on, he wouldn’t do that!.

You can feel the love and sometimes exasperation Ward has for her Brothers and in turn, shares those things with the reader.   They are all so fundamentally different and you just can’t help falling in love with them, cry for them and your heart bleeds at the sacrifices they have to make for the good of the race.

The females of the series are just as much of a revelation and again so very different from each other.  Each has their own strengths and weaknesses that make them the perfect foil for the jaded and battle-weary Brothers.  Sassy, fierce, loving and brave, each one finds her way into your heart just as easily.

So if you love amazing and emotional stories with flawed yet solid warriors (did I mention they were also hot?) and the females that are more than a match for them then you should read J. R. Ward.  I dare you not to fall in love with them!

© 2011 Grete Evans A blog of myths, romance, fantasy and thrills. Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha