The Silence of Ghosts by Jonathan Aycliffe

Synopsis From Back Cover: 

Dominic Lancaster hoped to prove himself to his family by excelling in the Navy during World War II. Instead he is wounded while serving as a gunner and loses his leg. Still recovering from his wounds and the trauma of his amputation when the Blitz begins, Dominic finds himself shuffled off to the countrysideend by his family, along with his partially deaf sister, Octavia. The crumbling family estate on the shores of Ullswater is an old, much-neglected place that doesn't seem to promise much in the way of happiness or recovery.

Something more than a friendship begins to flourish between Dominic and his nurse, Rose, in the late autumn of that English countryside, as he struggles to come to terms with his new life as an amputee. Another thing that seems to be flourishing is Octavia's hearing. 

As winter descends, sinister forces seem to be materializing around Octavia, who is hearing voices of children. After seeing things that no one else can see and hearing things that no one else can hear, Octavia is afflicted with a sickness that cannot be explained. With Rose's help, Dominic sets out to find the truth behind the voices that have haunted his sister. In doing so, he uncovers an even older, darker evil that threatens not only Octavia but also Rose and himself. 

There is something about this time of year that has me craving a good ghost story. Halloween merchandise is lining the store shelves, the serious decorators have already started on their homes, scary movies become habitual viewing, and my reading tastes get darker. Don't get me wrong, I love a good scare anytime of the year, but this is when I want to wallow in them.

Haunted house stories are my weakness, and I can rarely pass one up. Of my favorite books of all time, at least four of them feature a house I would do anything to visit in real life. I'm not sure how I stumbled across this one, but I'm damn glad I did.

Atmosphere is the key to a well crafted ghost story, and boy did this have a suffocating aura permeating the pages. It enfolds the reader, wrapping them in dread. It crawls in through the readers eyes, burrowing its way into brain tissue. As a reader, I found myself unable to put the book down, because I did not want Dominic, Rose, and Octavia to fade away, lost amongst the depair.

Despite a postscripted ending that I could have done without, and not fully sure I truly understood, if this is typical of Mr. Aycliffe's work, I can't wait to wallow around with him some more. Now, I just need the weather man to get with the program.

Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Caught between my high birth and empty purse, I am relieved to receive a new assignment from the queen. The king's youngest son, George, is to wed Princess Marina of Greece, and I shall be her companion, showing her the best of London - and dispelling any rumors about George's libertine history.

George is known for his many affairs with women as well as men - including the great songwriter Noel Coward. But things truly get complicated when one of his supposed mistresses is murdered.

The queen wants the whole murder hushed. But as the case unfolds - and my beau, Darcy, turns up in the most unlikely of places, as always- our investigation brings us precariously  close to the Prince himself.

It's with a heavy heart that I'm writing this review. I love Lady Georgiana. I've highlighted her in a Favorite Fictional Character post, and I truly want her to be happy with Darcy, but as of tonight, I'm doomed to never find out if that wish comes true. Malice at the Palace may be the ninth book in an ongoing series, but it's my last.

The one note side characters that have been annoying me for a while, actually improved in this book, but not by much. Queenie still needs to disappear for good, but Belinda won back some of my sympathy. Georgie's common grandfather, and her aristocratic brother and sister-in-law all made reappearances, and I was happy to see them.  They haven't been around much, so they hadn't been getting on my nerves. Darcy is still as dashing and charming as ever, and everytime he's on the scene, I grow just a tad bit jealous of Georgie for hooking him. Sadly, this isn't enough for me to continue with the series. Overall, her charcters are one note caricatures, and no improvement in this area is enough to make up for my real issue with this series.

I am absolutely done with the author's homophobic attitude. She treats gay and bisexual men as jokes. For nine frickin books I've been patiently dealing with it for Georgie's sake. I prayed that her treatment of them would improve, but it's only gotten worse. Every single gay or bisexual man is portrayed as either someone to pity, someone to scorn, the butt of a joke, a manipulator looking for a wife to hide his gayness behind, a money hungry twink, and now a full fledged murderer.  The poor guy is being blackmailed, so he decides to kill his oppressor, not that I blame him, but come on already. Naturally when Georgie stumbles upon the solution, he tries to take her out, but is summarily pushed down the stairs to his death, by ghosts of all things. I liked the guy, he was an interesting character, and we knew nothing about his sexuality until the end.  He didn't deserve the treatment he got.

The authors attitude almost seems pathological and deliberate in nature. Over the course of nine books, there is not a single gay or bisexual male character that breaks the mold I mentioned before. The author seems obsessed with gay and bisexual men, as they appear in every one of the nine books. But why are none of them not somehow portrayed in the manner I listed earlier. Of course I could be over thinking this. Maybe it's simply that she can't write characters, outside of Georgie and Darcy, that are more complicated than a paperdoll. Her other side characters are one dimensional stereotypes, so why should gay and bisexual men be any different.

Either way, I'm over it. I'm going to miss Georgie and Darcy, and I'm sad I'll never see them married.

The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

It is 1906, and few in the teeming metropolis of New York City have heard of, let alone seen, the hugely wealthy man who controls so many of their lives. Few, too, would have heard of the extraordinary events that took place at the Paris Opera house more than twenty years before-a story as dramatic as any of the operas themselves: a tale of Love and murder and passion, the heartbreaking legend of the Phantom of the Opera.

I'll admit to having loved this book at one point in the time. Designed to be a sequel to Andrew Loyd Webber's musical, The Phantom of the Opera, it tells a rather convoluted tale of greed, family secrets, and unrequited loved. It captured my imagination from the beginning, but it's been at least 12 years since I'd read it. When I picked it back up the other day, while I wasn't as enchanted as before, it still managed to pull me in with it's operatic version of soap opera goodness.

The Phantom, now known as Erik Muheheim, escaped Paris with the help of Madame Giry, and has managed to raise from rags to riches in New York City. He has built a business empire to be envied, but never lost his love and fascination with Opera. His denial of a box seat at The Metropolitan Opera house, forces him to build a grander rival, and that sets the stage for the rest of the book. Christine is hired to sing, and when she shows up with her young son, the secrets come out in the open, and nobody will live the life they planned on from that point on.

The Phantom of Manhattan mixes old and new characters, seamlessly weaving them with secrets, love affairs, and enough tragedy to create a tale Susan Lucci could have sunk her teeth into.

The Buried Book by D.M. Pulley

Synopsis From Back Cover:

When Althea Leary abandons her nine-year-old son, Jasper, he's left on his uncle's farm with nothing but a change of clothes and a Bible.

It's 1952, and Jasper isn't allowed to ask questions or make a fuss.  He's lucky to even have a home and must keep his mouth shut and his ears open to stay in his uncle's good graces.  No one know where his mother went or whether she' coming back.  Desperate to see her again, he must take matters into his own hands.  From the farm, he embarks on a treacherous search that will take him to the squalid hideaways of Detroit and back again, through tawdry taverns, peep shows, and gambling houses.

As he's drawn deeper into an adult world of corruption, scandal, and murder, Jasper uncovers the shocking past still chasing his mother - and now it's chasing him too. 

Why does it seem that the vast majority of publishers synopses either exaggerate an aspect of the book, or take you in a totally misleading direction?  Half the time when I sit down at the computer to write a review, I want to rebut an aspect of the synopsis, but I'm going to reign that instinct in this time around.  It's not that the inconsistencies don't bug me, because they do, but it's rather that I'm too tired to write my own synopsis, and the issues I have with the publisher's version aren't bugging me enough to force my hand.

And I think that's the overriding feeling I have towards the book as a whole.  I'm simply apathetic towards the finished product, and I have no clue on what to say about it. If I could state I loved it, or even hated it, that would be one thing.  I could then pull it apart, highlight the reasons behind either feeling, and finish with why I think you should or shouldn't read it.  Rather, I find myself in this rather limbo like existence, and I feel horrible about it.  I didn't like it, nor dislike it, and that's all I can really say about the story itself.

Regardless of my antipathy towards the book, I'm absolutely enthralled by the hero of the book, Jasper.  I don't think it's possible for me to come across a fictional kid, and love them more than I do him.  He has to be the bravest, most stubborn, and determined character I've come across in a very long time.  I do think he acts a little too old at times, and I'm not really sure an actual nine year old would have acted in the manner he did, but I really wish I would have been as brave as him at that age.  If I ever read this book again, it will be because of Jasper.

I would like to thank Lisa of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read more reviews.

The Ninja's Daughter by Susan Spann

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Autumn, 1565:  When an actor's daughter is murdered on the banks of the Kyoto's Kamo River, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo are the victim's only hope for justice. 

As political tensions rise in the wake of the shogun's recent death, and rival samurai threaten war, the Kyoto police forbid an investigation of the killing, to keep the peace.  Undeterred, Hiro and Father Mateo undertake a secret investigation into the exclusive world of Kyoto's theater guilds, where nothing, and no one, is as it seems.  Their investigation soon reveals a mysterious golden coin, a forbidden love affair, a missing mask, and dangerous link to corruption that leaves both Hiro and Father Mateo running for their lives. 

Before I sat down to start this review, I went back and reread my review for the second book in this series, Blade of the Samurai.  I could cheat, copy and paste that review here, with maybe a few edits, and call it a day.  For the most part, it would be an honest review of this book, but blogger ethics are kicking in.  I figure I better get to writing a fresh review to convince you that no matter what, this is a book, and a series, worth reading.

I should start with the similarities, just to get them out of the way.  I love Hiro and Father Mateo.  I would gladly spend the rest of my life hanging out and talking with them.  I have a preference for Father Mateo, but it's a slight one as both are well written and fascinating to read.  Despite my love for the two protagonists, I'm still wishing I could get lost in the setting more.  While I think the author builds a realistic, and three dimensional world for the reader to explore, I still don't get the impression that Hiro and Father Mateo belong exclusively to feudal Japan.  I could just as easily see them in modern day New York, and while I love them both, I wish that wasn't so.

The biggest difference between the two books for me was the atmosphere of the book.  This was one just a tad bit darker, a little heavier, and I loved it.  I want a mystery book to envelope me when I'm delving into it's pages, and this one did.  It had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, and I had to force myself to put it down when my attention was needed elsewhere.  I'm really needing to go back and read the two books I've missed in this series, since hanging out with Hiro and Father Mateo is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes.

I want to thank Lisa of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The Broken Hours by Jacqueline Baker

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

In the cold spring of 1936, Arthor Crandle, down on his luck and desperate for work, accepts a position in Providence, Rhode Island, as a live-in secretary/assistant for an unnamed shut-it. 

He arrives at the gloomy colonial-style house to discover that his strange employer is an author of disturbing, bizarre fiction.  Health issues have confined him to his bedroom, where he is never to be disturbed.  But the writer, who Crandle knows only as "Ech-Pi," refuses to meet him, communicating only by letters left on a table outside his room.  Soon the home reveals other unnerving peculiarities.  There is an ominous presence Crandle feels on the main stairwell.  Light shines out underneath the door of the writer's room but is invisible from the street.  It becomes increasingly clear there is something not fight about the house or its occupant.

Haunting visions of a young girl in a white nightgown wandering the walled-in garden behind the house motivate Crandle to investigate the circumstance of his employer's dark family history.  Meanwhile the unsettling aura of the house pulls him into a world increasingly cut off from reality, into black depths, where an unspeakable secret lies waiting. 

I haven't read a lot of H.P.  Lovecraft's writing, nor do I really know much about his personal life, so when I stumbled upon this book in the store, and was captivated by the cover, I knew I had to give it a shot.  Once I got it home, it stayed on my bedside table for a few days, but once I picked it up, I was lost in a world of Gothic madness and fear.

If you have seen the movies Thr3e or Dream House, you will quickly catch on to what's going on, and you will definitely get a good understanding for the title of this book.  If you haven't seen those movies, I'm not going to spoil the book, or the movies for that matter, by explaining what they all have in common.  Just know this, even though I was able to figure out the twist of this book about half way through, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it, nor did it keep me from buying into the story of Arthor Crandle and his employer.  The clues are there for you to pick up on.  As long as you are paying attention to the side characters, and how they interact with Arthor as he encounters them, you won't stray too far into the woods.

This is one of those books where the atmosphere is everything.  This is a book that you feel enveloped in from the moment you first crack it open.  It's heavy and oppressive.  You feel like you are drowning underneath a layer of unease and tension.  From the moment Arthor appears on the page, you know he is not going to have a an easy time of it, and that he is hiding from his life  The tension and unease all stem from him, like a miasmatic fog wafting over a fetid swamp, you know he is the source of it all.

Of course, like any good Gothic story, the house plays a big role in the tone of the book.  It's falling apart, full of memories and ghosts, and presents the perfect backdrop for Arthor and his secrets.  It's a confusing labyrinth of secretes and misdirection, all built around the goal of playing games with Arthor's, and the reader's, mind.  It's hard to put a finger on what's real, and what's not.  But, as long as you follow the trail of bread crumbs the author leaves behind, I'm sure you will be able to figure it out for yourself.  If you can't, I'm sure Arthor will help you feel at home.

Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Synopsis From Back Cover:

It's a cold day in Sleepy Hollow, and Ichabod visits Patriots Park for a moment of peace.  Instead, he receives a disturbing vision from his wife, Katrina, in which she delivers a cryptic but urgent message: he must retrieve the Congressional Cross that he was awarded by the Second Continental Congress for bravery in action.  There's just one problem: Ichabod was killed before he ever received the medal, and he is not sure where it might be.  Together, Ichabod and Abbie set out to uncover the mystery of the cross and it's connection to George Washington and his secret war against the demon hordes.  They soon learn that a coven of witches is also seeking the cross in order to resurrect their leader, Serilda, who was burned at the stake during the Revolutionary War.  Now they must locate the cross before the coven can bring back Serilda to exact her fatal revenge on Sleepy Hollow.

It's not often that I even take an interest in reading a television tie-in.  Most of you know that I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I own all seven seasons on DVD, and I watch them all at least once a year.  For a while, I was devouring the tie in books as well, especially those written by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.  For the most part I loved them, though there were a few misses.  I've, in the past, even been able to get into a few Torchwood books, and have reviewed a few of them on the blog; The House that Jack Built by Guy Adams, Bay of the Dead by Mark Morris, and Something in the Water by Trevor Baxendale.  Now I've been in love with the show Sleepy Hollow since it debuted last year, so when I was given a chance to review a tie-in book, I was on board.

I was expecting to fall in love with the book as well, and while I can't say I disliked it, I'm pretty sure I didn't love it either.  I'm not sure what the show has that didn't translate into book form, at least not this particular book, but there was something missing for me.  I think part of it was trying to take Ichabod's accent and speech patterns, and putting it on paper.  They just don't come across the same way they do if you are hearing them.  It's all well and good for an author to point out that a character is being sarcastic or if they are being a little slow on understanding modern vernacular, those things just work better when you can actually hear what is going on.  I think another part of it may be that the chemistry between Ichabod and Abbie works better on screen.

The other issue I tend to have, and it was the same problem I had with the Buffy books that didn't work for me, is when an author tries to work the book around certain episodes of the show.  It makes the whole thing feel a bit disjointed and odd, and is an extra story is being forced in there, where it really doesn't belong.  Television tie-ins, at least for me, work best when they take the basic structure of the show, and go from there.  They don't try to force the book into a certain timeline dictated by the parent show.  Yeah they are in the same universe, but they tend to be separate from what's going on on screen  I want to be able to truly get into the books, even if I've never seen the show.  I'm just hoping that if I pick up another Sleepy Hollow tie-in, that it will work for me, better than this one did.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books, for this review.

Blade of the Samurai by Susan Spann

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

June 1565: Master Hiro Hattori receives a pre-dawn visit from Kazu, a fellow shinobi working undercover at the shogunate.  Hours before, the shogun's cousin, Saburo, was stabbed to death in the shogun's palace.  The murder weapon: Kazu's personal dagger.  Kazu says he's innocent, and begs for Hiro's help, but his story give Hiro reason to doubt the young shinobi's claims.

When the shogun summons Hiro and Father Mateo, the Portuguese Jesuit priest under Hiro's protection, to find the killer, Hiro finds himself forced to choose between friendship and personal honor.

The investigation reveals a plot to assassinate the shogun and overthrow the ruling Ashikaga clan.  With Lord Oda's enemy forces approaching Kyoto, and the murderer poised to strike again, Hiro must use his assassin's skills to reveal the killer's identity and protect the shogun at any cost.  Kazu, now trapped in the city, still refuses to explain his whereabouts at the time of the murder.  But a suspicious shogunate maid, Saburo's wife, and the shogun's stable master also had reasons to want Saburo dead.  With the shogun demanding the murderer's head before Lord Oda reaches the city, Hiro and Father Mateo must produce the killer in time... or die in his place.

I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to say about Blade of the Samurai.  Much like the last book I reviewed, All I Love and Know by Judith Frank, I'm of two mind on this one.  Where a relationship flaw threw me in that previous book, it's the setting that I'm having a hard time with in this one.

Part of the reason why I wanted to read Blade of the Samurai, was because of how much I enjoyed the first book in the Sugawara Akitada series by I.J. Parker,  The Dragon Scroll.  It's another series set in feudal Japan, and I fell in love with the feel of the entire book, even if the characters where a bit stiff and formal in their behavior, dictated by the setting.  The author brought that time period to life for me, and I couldn't imagine the story or those characters living at any other time, or in any other place.

I didn't get that with this book.  The author used the language and even some of the cultural differences to frame her story, but I never got that total immersion experience I was looking for. The entire time I was reading it, I would occasionally forget about the setting, and I was able to picture it somewhere else, in another time.  It just never felt like a fully fleshed out real world to me.  And I'm sad to say, I was a little disappointed by that.

On the other hand, I loved Hiro and Father Mateo, and just about every other character in the book.They were fun to hang out with, and I'm really looking forward to their next mystery.  And as far as mysteries go, while there was nothing that really stood out for me, it was a nice solid story, that kept moving along.  There were no plot holes, or odd jumps of logic.  Everything progressed in a linear fashion, and I really did enjoy the story overall. I just wish the setting would have been a little bit more concrete, allowing me to really lose myself in it.

I would like to thank Lisa of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The Tin Box by Kim Fielding

Synopsis From Publisher:

William Lyon's past forced him to become someone he isn't.  Conflicted and unable to maintain the charade, he separates from his wife and takes a job as caretaker at a former mental hospital.  Jelley's Valley State Insane Asylum was the largest mental hospital in California for well over a century, but it now stands empty.  William thinks the decrepit institution is the perfect place to finish his dissertation and wait for his divorce to become final.  In town, William meets Colby Anderson, who minds the local store and post office.  Unlike William, Colby is cute, upbeat, and flamboyantly out.  Although initially put off by Colby's mannerisms, William comes to value their new friendship, and even accepts Colby's offer to ease him into the world of gay sex.

William's self-image begin to change when he discovers a tin box, hidden in an asylum wall since the 1940s.  It contains letters secretly written by Bill, a patient who was sent to the asylum for being homosexual.  The letters hit close to home, and William comes to care about Bill and his fate.  With Colby's help, he hopes the words written seventy years ago will give him courage to be his true self.

You wouldn't think that a gay romance novel would actually have a social conscience.  Or if it did, you would think it would be a lighter lesson, not a history of the way gay men and women were treated by a medical profession that viewed them as diseased.  And not in the way that would make those same professionals look upon a patient with kindness and compassion, it's the kind of disease that makes the patient immoral, crazy, and dangerous.  As hard of a time it is to grow up gay now, I can't even fathom growing up in a culture that allows the forced imprisonment of gay men and lesbians, that allows every sort of medical experimentation to be preformed upon them, that allows full frontal lobotomies in order to "cure" the perversion that is rotting the brain.  I can't imagine the fear that would instill in someone, constantly looking over their shoulder, having to hide who they are in order to stay alive.  The self hatred that would impose on most people would be heartbreaking by itself, but the fear of falling in love, of allowing yourself to be happy, knowing it could go horribly wrong on so many levels, to keep that as far from yourself as you can, would be a soul shattering way to live.

As a gay man in the here and now, I know that is the life that many gay men and women have to lead in many countries.  Middle Eastern and African countries are rife with stories of men, some in their teens, being killed for kissing someone they are attracted to.  All you have to look is towards Uganda who just made being gay punishable by death, or the way Russia is starting to treat it's gay citizens as lepers and criminals.  I know that those horrors exist in the world, and that while I can still get bashed in this country, I'm not scared of living my life to the fullest.  But that wasn't always the case, it wasn't even 60-70 years ago that these same attitudes existed in this country.  I always joke that I would have loved to be born in the 20s because of the music and movies that came out in the 30s and 40s.  I would have loved to have been around when it was first coming out.  To see the new Thin Man movie the weekend it came out, to go to a dinner club and dance to the beat of my favorite music, would have been heaven to me.  But then reality sets in and I start imagines the rest of my life as a gay man, and I am forced to realize that I was born at the right time.

I don't want to you think that this book is heavy and depressing, because it's not.  I won't lie, reading Bill's letters had me tearing up at times, but the romance between William and Colby made up for that.  You can see a lot of Bill in William, but thankfully, William is living in the right times, even if he is going through some of the same issues of self doubt.  William had already taken the first step by leaving his wife, though he decides to hide out soon after that.  Coming into contact with Colby sort of forces the issue, and the two of them strike up a friendship that grows into something more.  He ends up having the relationship that Bill wanted to desperately in the past, a relationship between two loving adults who don't have to hide how they feel.

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

Synopsis From Back Cover:

1845:  New York City forms it's first police force.  The Great Potato Famine hits Ireland.

These two events will change New York City forever...

Timothy Wilde tends bar, saving every dollar in hopes of winning the girl of his dreams.  But when his dreams are destroyed by a fire that devastates downtown Manhattan, he is left with little choice but to accept a job in the newly minted New York City Police Department.

Returning from his rounds one night, Tim collides with a girl no more than ten years old... covered in blood.  She claims that dozens of bodies are buried in the forest north of Twenty-third Street.  Timothy isn't sure whether to believe her, but as the image of a brutal killer is slowly revealed and anti-Irish rage infects the city, the reluctant copper star is engaged in a battle that may cost him everything...

I'm almost positive that this will be my last mystery review of the year.  I was finishing this one around the time I was starting to feel burned out on my favorite genre.  I'm not saying this book was the nail in the coffin, because it wasn't.  I actually loved this one, the narrative voice was a standout for me, and it kept me entertained the entire time I was reading it.  Instead, I blame Bev of My Reader's Block and Yvette of in so many words....  They have been feeding my addiction for years now, and that addiction is finally wearing me down.  I have always been a mystery lover, especially those of a certain age.  But it's been getting to know those two wonderful bloggers, that has caused my addiction to really take off.  So I'm giving it a rest until the beginning of next year.

I have been wanting to read this book for a while now.  It's been recommended to me over and over again by those who love mysteries, and even a few that just enjoy a well written book, regardless of genre.  For whatever reason, I kept putting it off, and putting it off some more.  Then lightning struck, the heaven's opened up, and a ray of light hit my bookcase in such a way, that it made not picking up the book all but impossible.  I was a moth being drawn to a flickering light, with no way to escape my fate.

I have to admit, my fate was in pretty good shape by the time I turned the last page, and closed the book for the final time.  I got lost in the New York City of old, and quickly found myself getting involved with the characters lives, and caught up in their action.  Much like 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan, The Gods of Gotham drew me into the streets.  It allowed me to breathe in the same air, smell the sewage and mud running in the streets, feel the heat of the fire that gutted a huge section of the city, and live the terror that the Irish were feeling in a new city, hated by everyone else around them.  It made the city, and the time period, a living breathing entity.  And I thank Lyndsay Faye for her brilliant ability to spin a yarn.

Archangel by Michael Conner

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Archangel is set in an alternate universe Minneapolis, in the late 1920s, after a decade of devastating plague.  Hun, a blood disease that appeared during World War I, ended the war and is killing more people every year.  Like other great cities, Minneapolis is a shadow of it's former self, isolated by the breakdown of civilization.  Whites are dying while blacks are immune and trying to forge a new social compact in a radically changed society.  And a mysterious woman calling herself "the Archangel" broadcasting the music of the jazz age - and the real, uncensored news - from a pirate radio station.

Danny Constantine, a young newspaperman, discovers a weird series of murders that looks like the work of a vampire.  But in a world of bad news, even his own paper doesn't care to print his discovery.  Danny has been alone in the world since his wife dies of Hun, and his investigation becomes his personal crusade, involving him with an embittered black police officer, a doctor seeking a cure for the disease, and the social forces contending for power in the crumbling city - and finally, with the Archangel.

I'm not sure if most of you know that I'm originally from Minnesota or not, but it's a huge part of who I am, and the reason I read this book.  I live in Kansas now, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of moving back home.  I will be one of those odd people who actually retires back north.  Minnesota is in my blood, and I never tire of reading books that are set in such a grand state.  So when I saw this book at the library book store for less than two dollars, and was set in a version of Minneapolis very different from the reality, I knew I had to get it.  Of course, it took a few years to read it, but the deed is finally done.

I will have to admit that I'm not normally charmed by alternate reality fiction, especially when it's about the past, but for some odd reason, I was hooked on this book from almost the beginning.  I think it had to do with the characterization, both good and evil, and in the way the author was able to flesh them out in such a way, that I bought into the narrative.

Of course the plot, on it's face, is believable, but maybe not on such a global scale.  I think it's perfectly rational, if stretching the science a bit, for a pandemic to kill off one race and the leave the others alone, we already have diseases that only afflict people with certain racial backgrounds.  I'm just not sure setting in the 1920s, made the idea of a pandemic doing such a thing, plausible or not.  I understand that it's during World War I, and that Spanish Influenza spread like wildfire, but in my head at least, the two diseases would have to spread differently.  I'm probably over thinking it, but that's just who I am.

What really won me over was the idea of using such a global catastrophe to explore race relations in the 20s, given the backdrop of one race slowly dying out.  Of course, I didn't live back then, but the way it was talked about, felt real to me, and sheer violence in thought, from both sides, made me sick at times, but it felt a little similar even today.  I know we like to say race relations have improved over the years, and I think for the most part, that's correct.  But there are still segments of all the communities that have resentment over one issue or another, and in many ways, they still rear their ugly heads.  So it was interesting to see both white and black characters in the book say and do things, that while it would make me sad, wouldn't surprise me if I saw it happen today.

Even the mystery of who is doing the killing is cleverly worked into the overall narrative.  It's what allows all the divergent characters to come into contact with each other, which allows for some explosive and dynamic relationships.  I fell petty hard for most of the characters, including the main bad guy.  I understood where he was coming from, in a rather twisted and egotistical way, he felt real.  At times, I forgot I was reading a book that did not happen.  I'm not sure how these characters would have been written had the Hun not happened, but I am sure that they couldn't have been written any better than this.

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Christmas Eve, 1931.  On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street.  The following day, the Prime Minister's office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met - and the writer mentions Maisie by name.  Tapped by Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch to be a special adviser on the case, Maisie is soon involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and will to inflict destruction on thousands of innocent people. 

I have a habit.  Granted, it's a habit that ebbs and flows, and isn't one that plagues me at all times.  It doesn't rule my life, nor are their signs I can watch for, to make sure I'm prepared for the onset of it.  And I never know when it will leave me alone for a while.   I know you have no clue as to what I'm talking about, so I will fill you in.  I tend to latch onto an author for a while, reading their books in a gluttonous fashion.  I've done it my whole life.  Agatha Christie, Robert Jordan, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Erle Stanley Gardner, and now Jacqueline Winspear have all been targets of my stalking.  I fall in love, roll around in their worlds, and eventually run out of books, or start to get a hangover.  I think I'm somewhere in between on the Maisie Dobbs books.  I'm almost out of books to read, and I think I've reached a point where I have a full tummy.

It's not to say I didn't enjoy Among the Mad, because I more than enjoyed it, I loved it.  I'm just thinking that it's going to be a while before I pick up the remaining few books that I need to get to.  Maisie is one of those characters I want to know in real life.  I'm not sure she would find me interesting enough to be my friend, but I sure would like the chance.  And to be honest with you, I'm not even sure it's Jacqueline Winspear I'm getting mind weary of.  I think it has more to do with the genre, and the type of mystery she writes.

You all know that I'm a mystery fanatic, normally, I can't get enough of them.  I think I'm starting to reach a point where I really do need a break from them though.  I'm not giving up all mysteries, but I think I need to start reading a few more books, of various genres, in between them.  And when I do read a mystery, it will more than likely not be set in England between the two World Wars.  I think the setting, time period, and themes explored; are getting to be a bit much for me.  I'm starting to drown in war fatigue, both figurative and literal.

I know I haven't really given you a lot of reason to read this particular Maisie Dobbs book, but all you need to do is read my other reviews, for her other books, and you will understand why I loved this book as well.  Actually, this is probably one of my favorites, as I really enjoyed seeing Maisie change focus, and be brought into the government fold a bit more.  It's an interesting dynamic, and I wonder what the series would have been liked had it happened earlier.

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Synopsis From Back Cover:

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment to investigate a potential land purchase.  Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath is pastoral surface she finds evidence of something amiss.  Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggest a darker criminal element at work.  A peculiar secrecy shrouds the village, and ultimately Maisie must draw on her finely hones skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases yet.

So before I sat my happy butt down to do this review, I reread the post I did for the previous book in the series, Messenger of Truth.  Much like that review, I really have nothing new to say.  I'm still loving the series, I still love Maisie Dobbs, and I'm still loving the journey she is taking.

I am wishing I had read the entire series in order, instead of reading some of the later books before these middle few.  I think I would have understood Maisie and some of the, well I don't want to say mood swings, but I'm not sure what else to call them, that she experiences later on in the series.  It was nice to see James Compton, and the beginning of the relationship he has with Maisie later on.  Though it's still business at this point in time.  I'm actually hoping against hope that when I catch the books on the other sides of those I've already read, that they are still together.  If not, I'm going to be heart broken.

I know, especially when I started the series, that I would comment on the gentleness of the tone, that it's not a hard hitting mystery series.  I'm starting to think that I was using the wrong term, but again, I'm not sure what else to call it.  Despite the horrors of what happen to the victims in these books, I'm never tense or on edge.  There is something about the author's style, Maisie Dobbs herself, and I think the pastoral settings that so many of these books are set in, that I find myself relaxed the entire time I'm reading them.  Even when I'm reading about the real physical violence done out of ethnic hatred, I'm enjoying the story for what it is.  I'm not stressing out or having any sort of negative reaction to what I'm reading.  Honestly, I'm still not sure I'm explaining myself all the well, so I'm going to stop rambling on this point.

As for the mystery itself, it's heartbreaking in it's simplicity, and shocking in it's cause.  I know, that the crimes in this book, have actually taken place.  But it's always painful to be reminded of how far we can be driven by fear and hatred, how ordinary people can be scared into doing something so violent and so horrible, that they live with the shame and guilt the rest of their lives.  It's a sad testimony to human frailty, I just wish it didn't exist in real life.

The Mirrored World by Debra Dean (Giveaway Included)

Synopsis From Dust Jacket: 

Born to a Russian family of lower nobility, Xenia, an eccentric dreamer who cares little for social conventions, falls in love with Andrei, a charismatic soldier and singer in the Empress's Imperial choir.  Though husband and wife adore each other, their happiness is overshadowed by the absurd demands of life at the royal court and by Xenia's growing obsession with having a child - a desperate need that is at last fulfilled with the birth of her daughter.  But then a tragic vision comes true, and a shattered Xenia descends into grief, undergoing a profound transformation that alters the course of her life.  Turning away from family and friends, she begins giving all her money and possessions to the poor.  Then, one day, she mysteriously vanishes.

Years later, dressed in the tatters of her husband's military uniform and answering only to his name, Xenia is discovered tending the paupers of St. Petersburg's slums.  Revered as a soothsayer and a blessed healer to the downtrodden, she is feared by the royal court and its new Empress, Catherine, who perceives her deeds as a rebuke to their lavish excesses.

Most of you already know that I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, with few exceptions, I normally can't connect with the approach the author chooses to take with the subject.  So you may be surprised to see that I agreed to review The Mirrored World by Debra Dean.  If I don't like historical fiction, why choose a historical fiction book to review.  My friends, that's a good question.  So let me try to explain it to you.

Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated by the men and women who have been so revered, that they are called saints.  I was intrigued by the happenstances and situations that could place someone in a position to be considered a actual saint, anointed by God to do good works on Earth.  Whether they came from the Roman Catholic tradition or not, saints have always fascinated me.  St. Xenia is from the Russian Orthodox tradition, and while I had never heard of her before this, I was hooked on the synopsis.  I was ready to delve into her life and find out, even if it's only a fictional account, what happened in her life to lead her down the road to sainthood.

So now, I get to explain why this book was no different than almost every other historical fiction book I've read.  I was wanting to learn about St. Xenia, her life and her beliefs.  Instead I got a puff piece told from the viewpoint of a cousin who shared Xenia's life from childhood to old age.  And when I say share, I really mean they were around each other all the time until Xenia went out on her own.  After that we only glimpse Xenia when the two come together again, often times years go between those meetings.  I didn't get to see Xenia at work in the slums, except through the cousin's eyes, and that was just a little glimpse.  I didn't get, from Xenia's viewpoint, why she took this path or what she was personally feeling at the time.  Everything I learned about Xenia is secondhand knowledge.

Now I know The Mirrored World is historical fiction, not a history book.  I get it.  If I really want to learn about St. Xenia, I should read nonfiction books about her life.  I shouldn't rely on a fiction book to sate my curiosity.  But is it wrong to expect more from a fictional account of a real person's life?  Shouldn't the subject of such a book get to tell her own story, instead of it being told from the viewpoint of someone else, someone who isn't around for much of her life?  I get that an author has the prerogative to tell a story from any viewpoint they want, and honestly, the writing was quite good.  It was a well crafted exploration, and I'm glad I read it.  I just wish, like I do so many times when I read historical fiction, that there was more meat on the bones.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The wonderful group at TLC Book Tours have generously offered my readers the chance to win a copy of this book for themselves.  The giveaway will last until 11:59 pm, CST, on 8/19/13.  You must be a resident of the United States to enter, and all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address.  

The Resurrectionist by E.B. Hudspeth

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Philadelphia, the late 1870s.  A city of gas lamps, cobblestone streets, and horse-drawn carriages - and home to the controversial surgeon Dr. Spencer Black.  The son of a grave robber, young Dr. Black studies at Philadelphia's  esteemed Academy of Medicine, where he develops the unconventional hypothesis: What if the world's most celebrated mythological beasts - mermaids, minotaurs, and satyrs - were in face evolutionary ancestors of humankind?

The Resurrectionist offers two extraordinary books in one.  The first is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life.  The second book is Black's magnum opus: The Codex Extinct Animalia, a Gray's Anatomy for mythological beasts - dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus - all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations.  

I'm really at a loss on how to start this review.  The bigger problem, once I do get it started, I'm at an even bigger loss on where to go from there.  And I'm really flabbergasted on how I would finish it off.  I really don't know what to say about this one.  I loved it, I was disappointed in it, I loved it some more, and then it sat on my shelf waiting to be reviewed.  And therein lies the confusion I'm feeling.

The love started off with the concept of the book.  The idea of creating a book around a fictional doctor who went over the deep end and decided that humans are descended from mythological creatures, it's pure genius.  Then making that same doctor start experimenting of animals and humans in order to recreate those creatures, just brings it over the top.  The first half of the book is this imaginatively, convoluted story of a man who takes a once promising career, and descends into madness.  It's also the weakest half of the book, hence my disappointment.

Since it's a fake biography, I wanted the narrative to convince me that Dr. Spencer Black was in fact a real person.  I wanted to become so engrossed in the story of his life that I would be able to forget he never existed.  That never happened.  I'm not sure I can really pinpoint the issues I had with the story itself.  Some of it was the pace of the story, it was a bit jarring in places.  I also think it was the fact that none of the characters around Dr. Black were fleshed out enough to provide a support system for his story.  The pieces, which were there, never fit together.

And then the magic happened.  When the codex starts, all the problems I had in believing the reality of the "biography", were forgotten.  The anatomical details and the gorgeous way they were rendered by the artist, made me really believe that these creatures existed.  They even came close to having me convinced that there could have been link between us at some point in time.  I was, and still am, in awe of the details the illustrator was able to bring out in the creatures.  If I could, I would love to have some of them enlarged, framed, and hung on my wall.  I loved this section of the book so much, that had I written the review right away, it would have been glowing.  I waited though, and that changed my outlook on it.

In the end, I'm just not sure the codex was able to overcome the issues I had with the "biography."  I'm a reader, and I'm a reader that wants to get lost in the story.  I want to be able to willingly suspend my disbelief and get transported to another place and time.  I want to forget that I'm reading a fiction book.  And sadly, that never happened for me.  Had this been just a picture book, it would be my favorite of all time.  As it is, it's going to sit in a permanent home on my shelves, and I'm sure I'll pull it out and look at the wonderful illustrations.  I'm just not going to revisit the first half again.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Part Of The Synopsis From Back Cover:

A mysterious island.  An Abandoned orphanage.  A strange collection of peculiar photographs.  

As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  As Jacob explores its decaying bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine's children were more than just peculiar.  They may have been dangerous.  They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason.  And somehow - impossible thought it seems - they may still be alive.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before, but I'm really good at ignoring those books that everyone else seems to be reading.  I will probably never read The Night Circus, Water for Elephants, or The Hunger Games books.  I'm the same when it comes to movies and even a lot of the music that comes out anymore.  I'm not sure it's something I've ever really done on purpose, but I tend to avoid them like the plague.  I think it helps that for the most part, they never sound like books I would want to read anyway.  I'm really bad when it comes to most YA titles that I see being reviewed all over the place.  I hate to say it, but I think I actually turn my nose up on most of it.  I'm not proud of that last fact, but it's an instant reaction anymore.

All that being said, when Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children first starting showing up, I'll admit that I was a bit intrigued by the cover and the premise of the book.  It does fit into my rather odd tastes, despite it being a YA book.  The last time a YA book knocked my socks off, was when I read Rotters by Daniel Kraus.  It blew me away, and while the two books have widely different concepts, they both explore some of the darker aspects of human behavior and the lengths we will all go through to find home.

I wish I could tell you that this book blew me away the way Rotters did, but I can't.  And honestly, I'm not really sure any YA book really stands a chance of matching the way I reacted towards that one.  That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book, because I had a lot of fun reading it.  It just won't be life changing or all that memorable to me.  I do want to say, that I enjoyed it enough to want to read the next book in the series once it comes out.  It was an interesting look at what it means to be human, and how appearances are rarely what they appear to be.

Now granted, all that exploration is done through some rather fanciful and contrived character exploration  The whole premise, of writing a book around a set of pictures, is a little too forced at times.  It stilts the action in places, and I'm not sure it really serves any sort of character development.  It seems as if some odd choices were made in order to fit the story around a certain pictures, instead of trying to find a picture to fit where the author wanted to take the story.  I think it hurt the way I felt about the characters, which never really allowed me to invest in any of the secondary children, and barely kept me interested in Jacob.  It's really the themes and undercurrents that saved the book for me, and allowed me to enjoy the book despite it's inherent flaws.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

London, 1931.  On the night before the opening of his new and much-anticipated exhibition at a famed Mayfair gallery, Nicholas Bassington-Hope falls to his death.  The police declare the fall an accident, but the dead man's twin sister, Georgina, isn't convinced.  When the authorities refuse to conduct further investigations and close the case, Georgina - a journalist and infamous figure in her own right - takes matters into her own hands, seeking out a fellow graduate from Girton College:  Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator.

The case soon takes Maisie to the desolate beaches of Dungeness in Kent, as well as the sinister underbelly of the city's art world.  And while navigating her way into the heart of the aristocratic yet bohemian Bassington-Hopes, Maisie is deeply troubled by the tragedy of another, quite different family in need.

In Messenger of Truth, Maisie Dobbs again uncovers the dark legacy of the Great War in a society struggling to recollect itself in difficult times.  But to solve the mystery of the artist's death, she will have to remain steady as the forces behind his fall come out of the shadows to silence her.

I've been sitting here for well over an hour, trying to figure out something to say, that I haven't said about the other books in this series.  If you guys have read any of my other reviews, you already know that I love this series.  You know that I think Maisie Dobbs is one of the most interesting characters to ever grace the hallways of mystery ficiton, of any genre of fiction.  She is a complex, engaging character who never fails to puzzle, engage, or even annoy me at times.  Not matter what emotion she is instilling in me, I love her.  But you guys have already read me stating that, even if not in those exact words.  So I'm still at a lost for what to say.

And as is the usual, the mystery itself is just as interesting and complex as the woman charged with solving it.  It's a mystery that takes a surprising turn at the end, and I am more than willing to admit, it was an ending I never saw coming.  The clues and signs were there, but for whatever reason, I completely overlooked them. It was a solution that saddened me in ways I can't go into, otherwise you might figure it out yourselves.

One quick point I do want to mention, while I found the Bassington-Hope family to be one that could hypnotize me into liking them, I'm pretty sure I would have reacted in the same way Maisie did.  At first she was just as hooked as most of us would have been, but overtime she began to realize exactly who they were.  And she accepted them for that, she was on guard, but she enjoyed her interactions with them.  Georgiana, I think I would like her.  She is a very intelligent woman, who despite her outward appearance of frivolity, has a inner strength to be admired.  I also think I would have liked to know the deceased artist.  From everything I learned of him, though he wasn't the perfect angel some wanted him to be, he seemed to be the most down to earth of them all.   Despite the arrogance and selfishness he showed, I don't think he had a malicious bone in his body.  And anyone who had the sight and the talent he had, is someone to know.  And by the way, I really want to spend some time on those beaches of Dungeness.

The Bedlam Detective by Stephen Gallagher (Plus Giveaway)

Synopsis From Back Cover:

From a basement office in London's notorious Bethlehem Hospital, former policeman and Pinkerton agent Sebastian Becker is sent to interview Sir Owain Lancaster at his country estate.  The wealthy industrialist returned alone from a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon, claiming that wild beasts killed his family and colleagues.  He tells Becker that the same dark creatures have followed him home and are responsible for the death of two local girls and rumors of beasts on the moor.  But while madmen may see monsters, some monsters hide in plain sight.

I'm not sure I would ever want to put myself into Sebastian Becker's shoes.  He has recently moved back to England, a move that has left his family poorer than they had been in the States.  He no longer does official police work, or even the work he did for the Pinkerton Agency.  Instead he is working for the Masters of Lunacy, who job it is to decide if a peer is sane enough to run his own estate, or have it controlled by the crown.  It doesn't pay near enough to keep his family in the life style they enjoyed in the states, nor does it really feel as if it's something Sebastian really enjoys doing.  Not that I could blame him, not sure deciding if people are crazy or not is really something I would want to do either.

Well his latest assignment sets him down in the middle of a tragedy that seems to repeat itself all too often.  Young girls repeatedly disappear on the moors surrounding the resort town of Arnmouth.  And too often, those young girls are found horrifically mutilated.  On the day Sebastian Becker arrives in town to investigate Sir Owain's sanity, the bodies of two more girls are found, torn to pieces.  Becker can't help but assume that Sir Owain's rambling tales of the slaughtering of his family and expedition by Amazonian monsters may be hiding the truth.  Maybe the troubled peer is acting out in ways unbecoming of someone in his position.

It's up to Becker and the local law to not only figure out the true story of what's been happening to these young women, but to figure out if Sir Owain's Amazonian monsters followed him back home.  On top of that, Becker is dealing with serious family issues that would break many men, especially when it's on top such a draining investigation.

I have not read the book that proceeds this, which I think may have been to my detriment.  It feels as if a lot of the character development was accomplished in the first book, so a lot of the time I felt as if I was playing catchup.  Some of the family dynamics were a bit odd to me, but it's mainly because I didn't see them when they were living a happier life.  I'm not trying to whine about it, but it did hurt my enjoyment of the book.  Hopefully, when I get around to reading the first book, I'll feel as if I have a better understanding of who Sebastian Becker is.

The other thing I just have to mention, though for the life of me I don't have to, but I kept thinking about one of my favorite movies the entire time I was reading the book.  I don't know how many of you have seen a French film, Brotherhood of the Wolf, which plays on the Beast of Gevaudan, but the nature of the attacks kept reminding me of the movie.  I wish I could tell you that the rest of the book had anything to do with the movie, but it doesn't.  It's one of those odd connections that our brains make without us really understanding them.

The wonderful group at Crown Publishers have generously offered my readers the chance to win a hardcover copy of this book for themselves.  The giveaway will last until 11:59 pm, CST, on 5/6/13.  You must be a resident of the United States to enter, and all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address.  

Challenges: A-Z

The Fire by Katherine Neville

Synopsis From Back Cover:

2003, Colorado:  Alexandra Solarin is summoned home to her family's ancestral Rocky Mountain hideaway for her mother's birthday.  Thirty years ago, her parents, Cat Velis and Alexander Solarin, believed they had scattered the pieces of the Montglane Service around the world, burying with the chessmen the secrets of the power that comes with possessing them.  But Alexandra arrives to find that her mother is missing - and that the Game has begun again.

1822, Albania:  Haidee, the young daughter of a powerful Ottoman ruler, embarks on a dangerous mission to smuggle a valuable relic out of Albania and deliver it to the hands of the one man who might be able to save it.  Haidee's journey brings forth chilling revelations that burn through history to present day.

I don't know how the rest of you feel about sequels, but I'm always a little leery of them.  Unless a book or movies was planned to have a sequel to it, then for many reasons that unplanned sequel just doesn't seem to work.  Many times, the problem can be as simple as the new installment not being as interesting as the first.  Or it could go to the extreme of completely changing the first one, leaving the reader/watcher feeling cold towards both of them.  Thankfully, The Fire is closer to the first situation.

What's worse, is I wish I could completely explain my reaction to this book, but I can't.  I loved the first book, The Eight, so much that I have read and reread it many times over the years.  I feel in love with the characters, and the historical flashbacks didn't annoy me the way they normally do.  Sadly, with The Fire, I didn't fall in love with the new characters, and actually was wanting more of the old characters.  Nor did the flashbacks work as well for me.  Despite including Lord Byron in them, they seemed even more convoluted and forced this time around.

I guess my biggest issue with the characters is that I just didn't care about Alexandra as much as I did for Cat and Alexander.  Where the parents kept me invested in what was happening on the page, their daughter, while not a horrible character, didn't do the same.  It's not that I didn't like her, I just kept comparing her to her mother the entire time.  The little page time Cat gets, perked me up and kept me far more engaged during her appearances than at any other time in the book.  And the way Alexander is treated annoyed me.  What happens to him in the beginning, though horrifying, was better than the odd way in which he was returned to the reader.  It was a poor use of him.

If it wasn't for Lily getting a lot of page time in this book, I'm not sure I would have appreciated it as much.  Of the new characters, Nokomis included, they were interesting, but they just didn't have the same punch as the first group.  I didn't dislike any of them, but they never felt real to me.  The villains of the piece were probably the weakest of all the new characters.  They just were never developed in the way they should have been.  At least in The Eight, they were essential to the lives of all the other characters.  This time around, they are more of a peripheral group, all on their own.

My last gripe, and I may be alone on this one, is the way the "teams" seemed to blend and change.  In the first book, it's clear that the black team is good and that the white team is bad.  With The Fire, the author plays with that concept a little bit too much, making individuals on both teams good and bad, blurring the lines and forcing a rethink of the Game itself.  I guess within the context of this book, it makes sense, but it seems to be changing the actual history of the Game in order to get to this point.  It just didn't feel "right" for whatever reason.

Now I'm not saying I hated the book, because I didn't.  I love The Eight so much, that any opportunity I have to revisit the world Katherine Neville created is well worth my time.  And I also think it would be safe to say that if she ever decides to write a third book, I'd read that too.  My only regret is that I didn't love it as much as I did the first one.  I wish I could have not let my feelings for the first, reflect on the way I reacted to the second.  But I don't think there is any way to do that, so what's the point on worrying about it.

The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour

Synopsis From Back Cover:

"I am Johannes Verne, and I am not afraid."

This was the boy's mantra as he plodded through the desert alone, left to die by his vengeful grandfather.  Johannes Verne was soon to be rescued by outlaws, but no one could save him from the lasting memory of his grandfather's eyes, full of impenetrable hatred.  Raised in part by Indians, then befriended by a mysterious woman, Johannes grew up to become a rugged adventurer and an educated man.  But even now, strengthened by the love of a golden-haired girl and well on his way to make a fortune in bustling early-day Los Angeles, the past may rise up to threaten his future once more.  And this time only the ancient gods of the desert can save him.

One of the earliest decisions I made about my reading this year, is that I'm going to accept very, very few review books, and concentrate on the books I want to read.  That means I'm going to be rereading a lot of books I haven't touched since I started blogging.  I have missed my visits with old friends, especially those I first discovered as kid.  Zachary & Johannes Verne, Miss Nesselrode, Jacob Finney, Meghan Laurel, and Dona Elena, are characters I first encountered as a wee lad, and I have loved them ever since.

I can say with all honesty, that I am not a Western fan.  I have never been able to get into the genre, movies or books.  My mom on the other hand, is a huge fan.  Growing up, I watched her devour John Wayne movies and Louis L'Amour books.  You can't be a book whore like I am, even at such a young age, and not pick up a book or two that your parents seem to be into.  For the most part, the Louis L'Amour books I read, didn't do anything for me.  But there was something about The Lonesome Gods that has stuck with me over twenty years later.  I have a feeling that it's because the story starts off with Johannes, as a young boy, traveling to California with a dying father.  A child who is facing a unknown fate, and has no clue what will happen to him.  The bravery he shows in the face of death and a black hole of possibilities amazed me the first time I read this book, and still leaves me feeling a little annoyed with myself, thinking I would not have been so brave.

As the book progresses and Johannes grows into a young man who any father would be proud of, the book never looses focus on the danger that still awaits him.  He is surrounded by those who would rather seem him dead, then think of what he means to them.  Luckily for him, he gathers a few close friends around him, friends who are fiercely loyal and will do what needs to be done to make Johannes honors his father's memory.