Flame Seeker

Kay Danella

Heat, Dec 2009, $15.00

ISBN: 9780425230824

As the eldest daughter of her clan, Alithia is responsible for obtaining an ancient relic.  With the artifact her people will prosper in peace; without it they will falter.  On her trek to another reaml, she must have two husbands escort her.  All the men will compete in a contest chosen by Alithia.

The males are excited and expect to duel for the honor.  Instead of battling blades, Alithia chooses a different type of sword.  She selects her champions by who gives her the most pleasure.  Phelan and Taith are her mates for the journey with each wanting to be the only one standing by her side.  However, the perilous journey forges bonds that none of the three anticipated when they start on the quest.

This is an interesting erotic romantic fantasy starring a duty bound heroine who chooses the contest and its rules.  The two survivors continue the friendly rivalry for the hand (and other bodily parts) of Alithia.  Although the story line is thin as opposed to the hunks’ middle legs, fans of erotic romances with a touch of fantasy and lot more touches of the bodies of the lead triangle will want to read this heated tale.

Harriet Klausner

Garden Of The Moon

Elizabeth Sinclair

Medallion, Dec 1 2009, $7.95

ISBN: 9781933836980

Her mother believes her paranormal skill is an embarrassing curse; her father does not understand her skill, but cares what happens to his daughter.  Sara Wade sees ghosts.

Although their motives differ, her parents concur with Sara moving onto Harrogate, an estate she recently inherited from her late grandmother.  She wants to renovate the old house that she realizes she shares with two ghosts.  Jonathan Bradford claims she is his beloved Maddie Grayson who is in an old diary Sara found.  She believes Jonathan, who sends her back to his era to the year he died 1805.  The other spirit in her present wants Jonathan dead while Sara prays she can save the life of her beloved.

Garden of the Moon is an engaging reincarnation romance starring an intrepid heroine willing to risk her soul to go back to save that of her beloved, Jonathan who has waited two centuries for her return while sharing hell on earth with his enemy.  Although the moving back and forth between the present and the early nineteenth century feels jarring, fans will enjoy this fine paranormal romantic suspense due to the brave Maddie.

Harriet Klausner

Wild Instinct

Sarah McCarty

Heat, Dec 2009, $15.00

ISBN: 9780425227619

“Garrett”.  The werewolf clan rejects Garrett due to his human blood.  However, they turn to him to rescue Sarah Anne, whose son is missing and daughter may prove to be the child prophesized as the bringer of doom.  Still he knows his mate when he meets her and will risk his life to keep her safe.

“Daire”.  The werewolf Daire saves Teri, but cannot save her unborn.  He knows his mate, but she believes his bond is not one of love but of protectiveness.  Daire has to persuade her it is both.

“Curran”.  He seeks Rachel, who has Sarah Anne’s son with her.  When Curran finds the pair he knows she is his mate, but she rejects his assertion and distrusts him to bring the duo to safety.

These three exciting interrelated werewolf romances contain fully developed characters who make for a strong thriller as the sex is hot but not over-gorging the action-packed story lines especially the relationship issues as the men know but the women doubt.  Sarah McCarty provides her audience with a superb collection.

Harriet Klausner

Total Oblivion, More or Less

Alan DeNiro

Ballantine, Nov 24 2009, $15.00

ISBN: 9780553592542

No one in the Minnesota town was prepared for the invaders, the ancient Scythians wearing NBA Lakers jerseys.  Everyone was captured and placed in camps.  However, survival takes a plunge and not because all non-fast food joints were closed.  Wasps were transmitting a new form of the deadly plague by air and by sting.

Sixteen year old Macy and her family manage to escape to the Mississippi hoping to find a safe haven in what is left of civilization.  None quite realize the invaders have taken over the country and are now at war with one another to see just who will be the top lord.  However, Macy and family manage to reach St. Louis, where her dad says he has a job at a university’s astronomy department.  As Macy recovers from the plague, she meets Em the submarine captain and Wye whom she is not sure of whose side he is loyal to while her brother is sent for trial to Nueva Roma and her sister is sold into indentured servitude while her father has become the leading astrologer in the Mississippi.

Not for everyone, Total Oblivion, More or Less is an enjoyable futuristic thriller in which the conquering invaders come from the ancient past.  The story line is a combination whimsical look at what truly civilization is when calamity strikes on a mass scale in a world gone mad.  Sub-genre fans will enjoy traveling the DeNiro American landscape escorted by courageous Macy who learns the mighty Mississippi means civilization to all types of groups.

Harriet Klausner

The Devil’s Alphabet

Daryl Gregory

Ballantine, Nov 24 2009, $15.00

ISBN: 9780345501172

Teenager Paxton Martin fled Switchcreek, Tennessee to avoid the impact of a deadly retrovirus that either killed people or changed them into grotesque creatures and to never see his father again.  The disease never went beyond the small town, but Pax vowed to never return to “Pandemonium”.

However, thirteen years after he left, he learns of the suicide death of his friend Jo Lynn so he comes home for her funeral.  She had been changed by the virus into a seal skin baldie beta as opposed to becoming a towering argo or an obese Charlie like others became.  His plan includes avoiding his dad, but he alters his scheme when he learns that Jo Lynn may not have hung herself and that a small town in Ecuador has suffered the same fate.  He begins the investigation even as his brain tells him leave immediately.

This is a terrific evolutionary science fiction small town horror thriller that as its underlying basis asks the audience to define human.  The story line is fast-paced throughout as Paxton returns home to a town that has evolved into four distinct races in a survival of the fittest scenario.  The key, which makes The Devil’s Alphabet enthralling is each of the key characters representing the four primes seem genuine, which makes their race appear realistic.  Although the father-son relationship seems to ramble, fans will enjoy Daryl Gregory’s strong tale.

Harriet Klausner

The Silver Skull

Mark Chadbourn

Pyr, Nov 2009, $16.00

ISBN 9781591027836

Will Swyfte may be Elizabethan England’s greatest spy, but he is used to thwarting no one as his image is just that, a façade to give the beleaguered people a hero.  However, this time his superior Walsingham assigns Swyfte to a real project.  He must prevent the Faerie and their Spanish minion from acquiring the Skull, the Key and the Shield; if the enemy obtains the three magical artifacts Britain as we know it will be no more.

The Cold War between England and Spain appears ready to turn hot as Spain and its ally Faerie are posed to invade.  However, the Queen’s sorcerer Dr John Dee has brought back some balance between the adversaries.  It is now up to the swashbuckling showman to prove he is the real deal with Dee providing him the latest in magical and mundane technology.

The first Swords of Albion Elizabethan historical fantasy is a fun swashbuckling thriller with a James Bond in a late sixteenth century paranormal England and somewhat Spain set up.  The story line is fast-paced and filled with action while also somewhat reminding readers of Elizabeth Bear’s Prometheus Age series.  From Drake with love to the Armada, to a deep connection to modern issues of national security vs. personal freedoms including the torture debate, THE SILVER SKULL is a fabulous Swyfte thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The Satin Sash

Red Garnier

Heat, Dec 2009, $15.00

ISBN: 9780451228031

The only person who can shake Grey Richard’s calm demeanor is Antonia Kearny.  He loves Toni and cannot deny her anything.  Toni asks Grey if he is into a ménage a trios.  He is taken aback but cannot say no although the third person she wants is his business partner and best friend, Heath Solis who is much more open and passionate about life.

The trio goes together on a weekend in Mexico where they plan mindless unending sex.  Toni uses the two men as her lovers with each doing whatever she requests of them.  However, once the sex ends with the weekend, will the relationships survive?

The Satin Sash is an entertaining erotic triangle starring fully developed lead characters who are more than just fully developed c**ks.  Toni is a fascinating protagonist who has Grey wrapped around her finger with a string tied to his penis.  He soon proves much more.  Although the MFM has been used a lot lately, the depth of the three participants make for an interesting tale as the players and the readers know the outputs but wonder the ultimate outcome.

Harriet Klausner

Kitty’s House of Horrors

Carrie Vaughn

Grand Central, Jan 4 2010, $$7.99

ISBN: 9780446199551

One of the talk radio hosts on KNOB is werewolf Kitty Norville, who was forced to change on the air.  Since her outing, other supernaturals that include weres, vampires and psychics have also come out in the open.  Mortals either believe or think strongly a conspiratorial fraud is occurring.  The paranormal want acceptance in a mundane world so when SuperByte approaches Kitty to join others of her supernatural  kind on a reality TV show, she accepts.

They are flown to a lodge in the mountainous wilds of Montana with no one around for miles.  At first the filming proceeds like any reality show, but soon the weres, vampires, and psychics wake up to find all electrical power cut off and three crewmen dead in the plane and three others missing.  They are further trapped and isolated by silver fences and weapons.  The contestants know they are in mortal danger.  A natural leader, Kitty takes charge with resolute determination to kill her enemy before they kill her.  Lives are lost on both sides as Kitty struggles to prevent a massacre in the lodge prison.

Romance, action, and mystery come together in this fabulous urban fantasy mindful in a paranormal way of Christie’s And Then There Was None.  Kitty is an alpha Lara Croft type heroine who goes into danger with her eyes wide open and a grit to be the predator and not the prey.  She not only becomes the leader, she is there only hope of survival as slim as that seems as Kitty’s House of Horrors is a death trap.

Harriet Klausner

Mrs. Miracle

Debbie Macomber

Avon, Dec 2005, $7.99

ISBN: 9780061083464

Widower Seth Webster struggles to raise his rambunctious six year old twin sons Judd and Jason who drive off housekeepers at an alarming rate even when they make an effort to behave.  He has never had time to grieve the loss of his beloved spouse as his personal life is in chaotic free-fall.  Just before Christmas, the latest housekeeper leaves.

A depressed Seth is at the end of his wits especially since there is no one else for the agency to send  when Mrs. Emily Merkle miraculously arrives asking for the position of nanny.  She brings a patient serene elan that encourages yet controls the two boys.  At the same time she also quietly coaxes her employer to move on and courageously ask travel agent Reba Maxwell to go out with him.  Reba has been destroyed by love, but a miracle occurs when she takes a chance on Seth.  Still they will need the power of an angel to overcome their issues.

This is a reprint of a terrific holiday romantic fantasy starring an angelic Mary Poppins character trying to bring a Christmas miracle to the extended Webster family (including his in-laws) and Reba.  Ironically whereas the support cast like the twins and the in-laws are spirited  protagonists with issues while the lead couple is each in a self made defense mechanism rut that requires several miraculous nudges to get them motivated in the game of life beyond caring for others.  Fans will enjoy this lighthearted wonderful life tale, which is being made into a movie, while humming the tune All I Need Is A Miracle Mike and the Mechanics).

Harriet Klausner

The Wolf at the Door

Jack Higgins

Putnam, Jan 5 2010, $26.95

ISBN 9780399156120

In Quoque, Long island a man waits at a pier for Blake Johnson, security adviser to the POTUS, to dock his vessel the Lively Jane; his mission is to kill the American. The British Prime Minister ordered top operatives Harry Miller and Sean Dillon to attend a U.N. gathering in which Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is speaking.  The President wants Blake who will be at the gala to gauge the Russian delegation.

Harry takes a walk in Central Park but is also stalked and attacked.  In London, General Charles Ferguson leaves a late-night meeting of ministers only to see his car with the driver inside explode.   Although all roads lead to Moscow, none of the operatives realize Putin has hired the best assassin in the world Daniel Holley to eliminate the agents who have interfered with the Russian’s plans for world domination; that is except Dillon who fears his most dreaded enemy has surfaced.

The latest Sean Dillon and company espionage thriller (see A Darker Place) is a super entry that moves on several subplots before converging for quite a climax.  The story line focuses with back stories on how each chosen victim was targeted, stalked and attacked with an emphasis on Holly who ironically and fascinatingly holds the plot together; as opposed to Dillon and the other heroes.  Jack Higgins proves he remains one of the grandmasters of the international intrigue thriller with this great entry.

Harriet Klausner