Thursday, April 24, 2014

Two lawyers walk into a bar, one Vamp, one Were*


9533378Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old--when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power--plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish--to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.




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*I'm no good with the jokes but I could not resist this line and also to highlight a plot point that I found especially amusing. As you might guess, the Vampire handles the evening legal business and the Werewolf handles the day business. A great business model and very valuable to a druid who could and does find need of such twenty-four hour services. The suits are not a large part of this story but certainly add more color to an already colorful cast of god's, monster's, demon's, and witches who rarely peacefully coexist under the Arizona skies. Oh, and did I mention our main character owns a bookshop??? That sells tea and other fun things? The cool factor abounds in this read, as does the entertainment. That is why I just started reading book two in the series. This time I was lucky enough to find a series that is already well established in number published. Happy reading to me!!



Thursday, April 17, 2014

I thought I'd lost that lovin' feelin'


17932600Stone Cold by Devon Monk


Marked by Life and Death magic, Shame Flynn and Terric Conley are “breakers”—those who can use magic to its full extent. Most of the time, they can barely stand each other, but they know they have to work together to defeat a common enemy—rogue magic user Eli Collins.

Backed by the government, Eli is trying to use magic as a weapon by carving spells into the flesh of innocents and turning them into brainless walking bombs. To stop him, Shame and Terric will need to call on their magic, even as it threatens to consume them—because the price they must pay to wield Life and Death could change the very fate of the world...and magic itself.




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This is a spin off book from the Allie Beckstrom series, that I was sad to see come to an end last year. I adore the wise cracking Shame and knew I had to read this and bonus I got a chance to visit with the whole gang once again. Somehow I missed book one as this title is listed as book two (and final book in this story line) but let's keep that between us, I would not want to loose my Epic Reader street cred over my faux pas. This book read very well as a stand alone so I don't feel inclined to back track to book one.


Now the review. For the first 10% of the book I thought it was either that I'd lost the thread of the characters or the author had written a very one dimensional story. Now that I have finished the book I think it was a deliberate writing tool used to highlight how rough things really were at the opening of our story. Once I got over this first bit I'm sure I did a big internal WHEW! when I realized my lovely friends were as great as I remembered them and the author hadn't lost her s#*! after all. Great reading fun all the way round. 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

I'm a Marshmallow from way back



18209454The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She’s traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.

Now it’s spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is no simple missing person’s case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica’s past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.



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Confession: My love of Veronica Mars touches the border lands of fangirldom. I loved the show when it was on (way too briefly I might add) and the recent movie was a great fix indeed.

In case you didn't hear about it, Marshmallow's, the term for all VM fans, broke a few records on kickstarter.com in March of 2013 by donating over $5 million dollars in 30 days for the Veronica Mars movie. Everything was ready, script, actors, distribution, the only thing absent was the funding, so the call was put out for a hoped for $1 million dollars and the fans more than answered, and yes, this girl gladly put her few bucks down too. 

This book starts just a few minutes after the movie ends, I love that tie-in! I hope Rob keeps the books coming until the next movie can be made. My only whine was somehow I had it in my head this would be a first person told from Veronica's point of view, she has just that right amount of sass and swagger that I would love to eavesdrop in on. Who knows, maybe I will get my wish in the next book.


Friday, April 4, 2014

Reading Dynamite


17333223Goldfinch by Donna Tartt



A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and determined to avoid being taken in by the city as an orphan, Theo scrambles between nights in friends’ apartments and on the city streets. He becomes entranced by the one thing that reminds him of his mother, a small, mysteriously captivating painting that soon draws Theo into the art underworld.








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I call this reading dynamite because this book took me to some pretty dark places that I normally fear to go (thus my usual fare of lighthearted reads) and did it so well that it was mind blowing. The writing was masterful and near the end I was rewarded with some beautifully composed metaphysical discussions and internal dialog. 


Readers Note: This book came highly recommended from a co-worker and admittedly it was a far left turn from my usual reading picks. But as I mentioned in a past post my usual just wasn't scratching the reading itch. Not to worry kids, it's nice to stop off and visit serious reading land every now and then, but I won't be dwelling here.