In the Heat of the Bite-Lydia Dare

In the Heat of the Bite

Lydia Dare

Sourcebooks, Jun 26 2011, $6.99

ISBN: 9781402245107

 

In 1817 the vampiric Earl of Blodswell Matthew Halket takes a stroll near Hyde Park when he meets Rhiannon Sinclair during a thunderstorm that appeared out of nowhere.  Though centuries since he was a chivalrous knight he offers her assistance until he realizes that she is the source of the storm.

 

Weather witch Rhiannon wants Matthew to leave her alone as she wants nothing to do with vampires.  She is also abashed that he caught her causing the storm.  When they next meet her weather control abilities go haywire and his supernatural skills act crazy.  To make matters worse, they are falling love with each other.

 

This amusing paranormal Regency romance is a fun lighthearted frolic between two star-crossed lovers whose powers go awry when they are in close proximity to one another.  The fascinating theme grips readers as the vampire and the witch may have to choose between love and their respective powers; both are used to having these skills so if they could survive giving them up (that is if they can) would that prove enough for them to become soulmates?  Leaving the world of werewolves, Lydia Dare provides a warm romantic historical urban fantasy.  

 

Harriet Klausner

Dragon’s Oath-P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Dragon’s Oath

P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

St. Martin’s Griffin, Jul 12 2011, $12.99

ISBN: 9781250000231

 

Dragon Lankford is the Sword Master of the Oklahoma House of Night in St. Louis.  He is also a vampire wrapped up in enigmas and aloofness, but he was not always that way.  In 1830 England, he was called Bryan, the third son of the Earl of Lankford.  Tired of his misbehaving and bailing Bryan out of trouble, his father exiled his teenage son to America.  Before he went on the shop a vampire Marked him.  He has to go to school for four years and if the fledgling survives the Change he will be a full fledged vampire.

 

Dragon attends the school at the Tower Grove House of Night where several of his student peers have crushes on him.  In 1833 twenty-two years old Professor of Spells and Rituals Anastasia casts a spell to enable those fledglings who are attracted to the nobleman to see him as he really is.  He is interested in her and surprises her when he helps her with the spell focused on him.  They fall in love, but the human Sheriff Biddle and a dark magical creature want to destroy him and they believe killing Anastasia will do that.  He comes at his enemies with vengeance though he promised an oath of mercy to his perfect love Anastasia the former Quaker who was and still is his soul mate.

 

The fencing master in the young adult House of Night series, Dragon has always been a riddle to readers and fledglings.  This is the beginning of his “biography” mostly in St. Louis during the Jacksonian Era.  The paranormal historical story line is exciting as the unlikely pair of Dragon the sword master (even as a student) and Anastasia the pacifist Quaker of spells fall in love, but are Destined for trouble. This is as enthralling and as spellbinding as the main series.

 

Harriet Klausner

Touch If You Dare-Stephanie Rowe

Touch If You Dare

Stephanie Rowe

Sourcebooks, Jul 1 2011, $6.99

ISBN: 9781402241963

 

The Guardian of Hate Jarvis Swain fears for his brother who wants Death to take him after his woman rejected him with a stake to the heart.  Although he thinks Rocco is insane as Jarvis spent an undesirable tortuous century and a half incarcerated at Angelica’s Den of Womanly Pursuits, he is obsessed with saving his sibling’s life.

 

After eight years of failed prevention, D-Day has arrived for Death’s Assistant Reina Fleming who remains obsessed with saving the life of her sister.  However, she has no earthly idea how to do so until she meets Jarvis.  She believes he possesses the skills she needed to rescue her sibling.  His agenda to beat Death fits hers.  They team up to try to save their siblings while falling in love, but though she soothes the savage beast she has doubts he is the right person for her even as Death has an appointment at Fenway Park.

 

The latest Soulfire jocular romantic urban fantasy (see Kiss at Your Own Risk) is an over top of the Green Monster satire that continues the lampooning of the sub-genre.  Jarvis and Reina are fascinating characters while the support cast (to include their siblings, Nigel, Napoleon, Death and a horde of other odd paranormal like Reap) enhance the romance between Hate and the Reaper in training.  Fast-paced from start to finish, readers will enjoy the affirmation of basic algebra in which two negatives make a positive

 

Harriet Klausner

Dragon’s Oath-P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Dragon’s Oath

P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

St. Martin’s Griffin, Jul 12 2011, $12.99

ISBN: 9781250000231

 

Dragon Lankford is the Sword Master of the Oklahoma House of Night in St. Louis.  He is also a vampire wrapped up in enigmas and aloofness, but he was not always that way.  In 1830 England, he was called Bryan, the third son of the Earl of Lankford.  Tired of his misbehaving and bailing Bryan out of trouble, his father exiled his teenage son to America.  Before he went on the shop a vampire Marked him.  He has to go to school for four years and if the fledgling survives the Change he will be a full fledged vampire.

 

Dragon attends the school at the Tower Grove House of Night where several of his student peers have crushes on him.  In 1833 twenty-two years old Professor of Spells and Rituals Anastasia casts a spell to enable those fledglings who are attracted to the nobleman to see him as he really is.  He is interested in her and surprises her when he helps her with the spell focused on him.  They fall in love, but the human Sheriff Biddle and a dark magical creature want to destroy him and they believe killing Anastasia will do that.  He comes at his enemies with vengeance though he promised an oath of mercy to his perfect love Anastasia the former Quaker who was and still is his soul mate.

 

The fencing master in the young adult House of Night series, Dragon has always been a riddle to readers and fledglings.  This is the beginning of his “biography” mostly in St. Louis during the Jacksonian Era.  The paranormal historical story line is exciting as the unlikely pair of Dragon the sword master (even as a student) and Anastasia the pacifist Quaker of spells fall in love, but are Destined for trouble. This is as enthralling and as spellbinding as the main series.

 

Harriet Klausner

Mistress of the Storm-Terri Brisbin

Mistress of the Storm

Terri Brisbin

Kensington Brava, Jul 1 2011, $14.00

ISBN: 9780758235206

 

In Scotland, Sigurd covets power; there is nothing this avaricouse individual would not do to gain more affluence.  He even sells his stepdaughter Isabel to lairds or with connections willing to buy.  She acquiesces to Sigurd’s pimping her in return keeping her sister Thora safe from this abomination and his family business.

 

Sigurd’s latest mark is Duncan a healer with ties to the king.  Isabel stuns Duncan with her touch as he can feel it, which goes contrary to his otherworldly skills that always have diminished his senses.  Duncan takes the whore to his holding to learn about the woman.  She fears his kindness as men are nice when they want something.  Watching him tenderly heal and seeing the aftermath of how much is taken out of her host, Isabel feels trapped as she is falling in love but must protect Thora even at the cost of her heart.

 

The fourth Storm paranormal medieval romance (see A Storm of Pleasure) is a terrific tale of good and evil; yet the key is the impact on innocent pawns.  Action-packed in and out of the boudoir, fans will enjoy the war for Isabel’s heart soul between the kind healer who she loves and the malevolent stepfather who she loathes as her sibling is the bait.

 

Harriet Klausner

 

Dead Dolls Don’t Talk/Hunt the Killer/Too Hot to Hold-Day Keene

Dead Dolls Don’t Talk/Hunt the Killer/Too Hot to Hold

Day Keene

Stark House, Aug 31 2011, $23.95

ISBN: 9781933586335

 

Dead Dolls Don t Talk.  In 1958 Harry and Bonnie meet in a bar on Sunset Strip for a New Year weekend of sex.  She asks him if he thinks he can handle her wealthy husband John.  As the months go by one murder leads to another; Police Inspector Kelly investigates while Hart is the fall guy.

 

Hunt the Killer.  Fishing boat captain Charlie White is released from a Florida prison after serving four years.  The Warden and lifer plus Swede warn him to make an adjustment from self pity by returning to the water.  Zo welcomes Charlie back to civilian life while the latter’s wife Beth does not.  Zo and Charlie make love when someone attacks them; killing Zo and leaving White to die.  However, White survives only to learn the cops hunt him for killing Zo.

 

Too Hot to Hold.  Although taxi driver Mike Scaffidi was unaware of his pending death in two days, his demise begins with picking up Linda Lou Larson at Grand Central Station in 1958.  The model from Chicago abruptly jumps from Mike’s cab only to be hit by a truck.  The accident report filed by the traffic cop leads to one less cabbie.

 

The three reprints of 1950s crime thrillers are entertaining tales that focus on an innocent person trapped in deadly webs not of their making; as one thing leads to another.  Although contemporary when written, the five plus decades turn the entries into enjoyable character driven historical noir pulp fiction.  In the introduction, David Laurence Wilson called the author one of the “Great Trio” (along with Whittington and Brewer) in 1950s crime fiction; this entry affirms Mr. Wilson assertion.

 

Harriet Klausner

The Brink of Fame- Irene Fleming

The Brink of Fame

Irene Fleming

Minotaur, Aug 16 2011, $25.99

ISBN 9780312575441

 

In 1914, Adam and Emily Daggett Weiss own Melpomene Moving Picture Studios in the film capital of the world Fort Lee, New Jersey.  Adam is on location in Flagstaff, Arizona filming a desert extravaganza while his wife rides the rails a week after he left to join him.

 

However instead of a hug and kiss to greet her, Emily arrives in Flagstaff to learn Adam lost Melpomene to their bitter nasty rival Howie Kazanow.  Additionally rather than face the beating Emily would have given to her husband, he vanished with actress Agnes Gelert.  Emily meets private detective Howie Kazanow, who obtains a job for her with movie businessman Carl Laemmle in Hollywood.   He offers Emily a director’s gig if she find missing star Ross McHenry.  When she does, she is thankful Mr. Laemmle never mentioned alive.

 

The second pioneering film-making Emily Daggett Weiss amateur sleuth mystery (see The Edge of Ruin) is an engaging historical mystery.  The story line is at its best when the focus is on pre- WWI Hollywood and its Eastern bigger counterpart Fort Lee.   The whodunit is entertaining though the massive cast of suspects never allow any of the cast to move beyond the stereotypical Peter Lorre’s spinster characterizations.  Still fans of early Hollywood will enjoy Emily finds her groove on the other coast.

 

Harriet Klausner

 

 

 

A Murder in Tuscany-Christobel Kent

A Murder in Tuscany

Christobel Kent

Minotaur, Aug 2 2011, $24.99

ISBN 9780312621025

 

The body of the Director of the Orfeo Trust’s Creative Arts Program retreat Leona Meadows-Mascarello is found near her wrecked car in a ravine.  Apparently her car went off an icy road near Florence in what is obviously a horrible accident.

 

Private investigator Sandro Cellini recalls doing a background check on the ruthless Leona.  Although struggling to make a living and having marital problems since his wife’s slow recovery from breast cancer, Sandro sees discrepancies in what he knows.  Over the objections of the program’s board, the Orfeo family, employees, and current residents at the castle where the retreat is hosted, he investigates.  His wife asks why he is looking into this.

 

The second Sandro Cellini Italian mystery (see The Drowning River) is a fabulous whodunit in which the sleuth finds a zillion suspects residing in or near the Creative Arts Program castle as just about everyone had the means, the motive and the opportunity.  At the same time his personal life appears broken as his marriage nears collapse with neither Cellini knowing how to prevent what looks inevitable.  Both subplots converge on the beleaguered Colombo like sleuth in this engaging investigative thriller.

 

Harriet Klausner

Death and the Maiden-Gerald Elias

Death and the Maiden

Gerald Elias

Minotaur, Aug 16 2011, $25.99

ISBN 9780312678340

 

Due to inner bickering and a potentially devastating law suit filed by fired second violinist Crispin Short, the internationally acclaimed New Magini String Quartet seems on the brink of disbanding.  Although the group has become dysfunctional outside the stage, they still perform well together while new second violinist Yumi Shinagawa has blended in nicely in performances.

 

The Quartet is booked to perform Schubert’s Death and the Maiden at Carnegie Hall once they return from vacation.  However, first violinist Aaron Kortovsky fails to return from vacation and the others learn that if Short wins they are liable to him for millions with their reputations shattered; Short demands reinstatement in three days so he can perform the Shubert concert.  Blind teacher Daniel Jacobus investigates but becomes concerned when he realizes his former student Yumi is the slated maiden Death targets.

 

The third Jacobus amateur sleuth (see The Devil’s Trill and Danse Macabre) is an entertaining whodunit with a surprising final coda.  The inquiry is intriguing, but the story line is at its best when the focus is on the classical music scene.  Although at times the plot slows down even with time running out in terms of the lawsuit, fans will enjoy wondering who plays first and second violin in the Death and the Maiden.

 

Harriet Klausner

 

Ephemera-Jeffery M. Anderson

Ephemera

Jeffery M. Anderson

CreateSpace, May 4 2011, $15.99

ISBN: 9781453870815

 

As the Memorial Weekend beckons, the employees at The Reviewers Review magazine scramble to leave.  Thirty-eight years old writer Nester Cab is chosen as the designated lock up for the holiday driver.  Nester feels like he belongs in a different as his life is filled with ennui at home and at work.  He hides behind cynical facades as only those disenchanted with the sham of the American nightmare can; even his cuckoo clock does not chant.  His boss Aida knows him as the city’s biggest recluse while his excuse for not getting a drink outside the office with her is his review of Amblin’s review.

 

Cab finds a note left behind by an intruder addressed to him including his serial number to locate AWOL Corporal Forsythe who “knows where they are.”  Although everyone except Aida and him are gone from the office, he assumes this is an inane prank.  However, with nothing better to do after a few drinks, he begins a search for the missing soldier.  His inquiry leads him to the violent Neo-Luddite Army whose leader Stillman holds Cab prisoner for indoctrination into the government-corporate conspiracies led by the real power in DC the Secretary of Commerce.

 

This extremely dark thriller is character driven by Cab’s disillusionment.  Ironically it is easier to understand Stillman in spite of his irrational moments than it is the numbed indifferent Cab.  Though not fast-paced, Ephemera is a thought provoking tale as readers will see the outcome of the Reagan legacy is the Eisenhower warning to beware of the government industrial military complex.  To conceal reality, politicians use the mantra of Ephemera to assume the brain numbed public will quickly forget the hypocrisy and lies.

 

Harriet Klausner