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The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson

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The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 1)
The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 1)
Vicki Pettersson

Joanna Archer is one of the daughters of a rich Las Vegas mogul – Xavier Archer. While her sister Olivia is a blonde socialite whose character is sweetness and light, Joanna is the dark and brooding sister – a traumatic event has separated her from others and colored her view of the world. Olivia is loved by Xavier, Joanna is not. Their mother, Zoe, left mysteriously many years ago, and as Joanna's birthday comes around, people start to approach her, and she becomes aware of a hidden war between dark and light which may have something to do with her mother's disappearance, and definitely has something to do with Joanna.

The Scent of Shadows is a book I'd classify as dark urban fantasy. It's set in Las Vegas, there are monsters and heroes and superpowers in it and there are a lot of horrifying and violent elements to it as well. I think the series I'd compare it to in the darkness scale is maybe Lilith Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series. This book wrung me out, but I did find the ending somewhat satisfying and I am looking forward to book 2, The Taste of Night.

(On an aside: the creepiest death scenes I've read in a book for the past few years was in Tamara Siler Jones' Ghosts in the Snow. Eeeek, I needed breaks after each murder. Of course, I am squeemish.)

In The Scent of Shadows the violent bits were not as gorey as the book above, but there was also a lot of emotional pain to deal with on top of it.  It's told from a first person perspective, and I could just be ridiculously sensitive, but I had to put the book down then pick it up and continue when I was ready. To tell you the truth, it's not uncommon for me to put a book down to process what I just read for all kinds of reasons, but with this book it was about processing emotions. The heroine, Joanna Archer, goes through anger, pain, loss, heartache, treachery, vengeance.. and I was emotionally invested. Basically, Joanna's emotional state was well written.

The world building was slow at the beginning and then revelations came in doses as Joanna seemed to be kept in the dark about many things until she absolutely had to know. The explanation of the Zodiac is something that will probably continue on to the next book. In this first book, I understood the gist, and some major points about their powers and their life cycles, but really knowing their history and why they exist is still unclear to me. Joanna is still a fledgling to this world so it makes sense she doesn't know everything yet, and I hope to learn more about "superhero" training and more about the good guys and bad guys in the next book. I thought the comic book explanation was a little odd, but that's a nit. My favorite part of the world building was the scents - the ability to smell emotions and even thoughts. Luckily for me, this was a major part of the Zodiac world.

This book was also long - 455 pages, which I'm not sure everyone will like. It did feel long to me when I was less than a hundred pages in and was still wondering what was going on. I think it really stopped mattering to me after a certain pivotal scene at Olivia's apartment. After that, I could have read forever.

Overall an engaging, gritty story with an ass-kicking heroine. Worth a read if you like something a little dark.

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The Hero Strikes Back by Moira J. Moore

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The Hero Strikes Back
The Hero Strikes Back
Moira J. Moore

This is the second book of this series. I reviewed the first book, Resenting the Hero here. Book two continues where book one left off – Dunleavy Mallorrough (Lee) and Shintaro Karish (Taro) are a Shield and her Source, who protect the populace from natural disasters. Taro senses these disasters and channels them away while Lee protects Taro and shields his body from the forces which would otherwise tear him apart. Paired together after years of training at an academy from an early age, they will have to work together for life. If one dies, so does the other.

After their last adventures, the Pair is back in the city of High Scape, normally a hotbed of disasters which the Pairs must avert. Now there are odd climate changes, but not disasters, and on top of that Lee is afraid for Taro because minor nobles have been disappearing. Again Lee is the narrator of this story so we see everything from her perspective. I get the feeling that although she's supposed to be an observant and quiet Shield, she misses a lot about other people and how they perceive her. After their rough beginning as a Pair, she and Taro have a closer relationship, with some moments where I thought both were being very oblivious about how deep the relationship really was.

So far this series is light fantasy – easy reading, not too taxing, but there is an underlying layer of more serious subjects. Unfortunately the books point out these underlying layers and then frustratingly nothing really gets resolved about them. In book one, it's pointed out how terribly some Shields (steadfast, dependable) are treated by their Sources (flightly, dramatic), but while Lee is shocked and dismayed by this, she doesn't act. In book two we learn of how both Sources and Shields are resented by the population for getting everything for free, and there seems to be a mistaken notion that they do hardly anything for it, but if the Pairs are doing their jobs, the normal population should never know what disasters they have avoided. The resentment by the population, which usually is far below the surface, is exacerbated by the odd climate changes – blizzards, snow in July followed by miserable rain and hot muggy days followed by snow again. For some reason, these don't count as disasters and Sources/Shields can't do anything about them (I thought this was odd but OK.. I guess I'll go with it). Meanwhile, from Lee and Taro's perspective – they had to sacrifice their whole lives for this job – they left their families at an early age, they can't earn any money so they can't give any heirs anything when they die, and their lives are on the line protecting the public, all while they are stuck with a partner they may not like, who might stupidly die and take them with him/her. When the unrest finally dies down, I didn't see any resolution to this problem of public misconceptions of Shields/Sources and the work they do. Is it another thing that Pairs are just supposed to deal with? And what about the odd climate changes? Theres a resolution, but there is more to it that I really hope gets addressed in subsequent books.

Oh the cover – again, don't know why it was made to look like this book could be humor, it isn't, but it shows Lee and Taro with probably Lee's mother, but maybe its Taro's. Both Lee's and Taro's mothers come to visit in this story. It was interesting to see more of where these two came from and how this may have colored their personalities, but this wasn't touched on as much as I expected with the cover. It was a smaller side story. We learn more about Taro's years before he got training at the academy and how that affects his personality now. We also see what Lee's mother thinks of how Lee was taken away at such and early age. There is a discussion there that again, Lee with her stoic personality just listens and says nothing even though we can see she's thinking plenty. Drives me nutty when she does that! I also think it drives the other characters nutty too.

Excerpt of chapter 1 here.

Basically – an ongoing series, that has a lot of things I'm interested in seeing resolved so I'm pretty much sucked into seeing what happens. I also like how flawed the characters are, even though they can drive me nuts (of course Lee) so that's sucking me in too. It looks like there is so far 6 books planned from Lee's POV, and then 2 more by another character (?? hmm wonder who. It's not Taro). There is a cover of book 3, Heroes Adrift, out on Moira Moore's website and I like it much better than the first two.

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BTT: Comfort Food

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This weeks Booking Through Thursday:

"Okay . . . picture this (really) worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a good book, something warm and comforting that will make you feel better.

What do you read?

(Any bets on how quickly somebody says the Bible or some other religious text? A good choice, to be sure, but to be honest, I was thinking more along the lines of fiction…. Unless I laid it on a little strong in the string of catastrophes? Maybe I should have just stuck to catching a cold on a rainy day….)"

 

It's pretty hard to say what I'd read until the scenario happens. But I'm pretty sure that the trend is A Book I Know Has a Happy Ending to cheer me up. I will gravitate to books with really good reviews that am pretty sure can take me away from feeling crappy. So this year Driven by Eve Kenin and Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie were books I got because I was feeling down, and they did their job. It helps if the book is really well written too, like Tanith Lee's Silver Metal Lover – I think I read that 3 times during bad patches. And VERY inexplicably, and embarrassingly, I have read Simon R. Green's Blood and Honor like 8 times over the years when I'm feeling just blue for no reason. It's a comfort read and pretty… I hang my head here…sword-buckling fantasy something something..  I don't know why I keep reading it! The spine is getting damaged and if you know me, I'm REALLY REALLY picky about how I hold my books, but I've owned this one since I was 15.

I also just read whatever is available sometimes. After a break up I was reading some Sydney Sheldon novel, don't remember what it was about anymore. I've had a bad month and right now I'm reading Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson. I do not recommend it if you are feeling down. You will need breaks from the emotional turmoil, but I keep reading anyway.

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Driven by Eve Kenin

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Driven (Shomi)
Driven (Shomi)
Eve Kenin

So Dorchester publishing has this new line of futuristic romances called Shomi fiction. All the covers of the books so far published are manga inspired, and the stories are a fusion of romance with sci fi, fantasy, thriller, action, and manga type genres. It's very unique sounding and I like cross-genre books so I've been keeping an eye on Shomi. So far Wired by Liz Maverick, Moongazer by Marianne Mancusi, and Driven by Eve Kenin are out. I'm probably going to pick them all up eventually. 

Excerpts for: Wired ,  Moongazer , and Driven

My first buy was Driven because … seriously – it has siberian ice-truckers in it. I was gravitating to it because that sounded really interesting, plus I kept seeing good reviews for it, liked the excerpt, had $5 in Borders bucks burning in my pocket and a hankering for a HEA. Also a disregard for the length of the TBR (97).

The world in Driven is a post nuclear landscape with an extreme climate. Much of it is governed by a corrupt New Government Organization and by big business (headed by bad guy Duncan Bane). The two main characters are a couple of toughies who value supressing emotion and making quick decisions to stay alive in their harsh environment (a sub-zero Northern wasteland). Raina Bowen is in hiding from Duncan Bane, and determined to win the 50 million interdollars awarded in to the first trucker to deliver their cargo to Gladow Station. Wizard is the contact she was supposed to meet at Bob's Truck stop so that she can get a special license to ride the ICW, the Intercontinental Worldwide. Unfortunately, things go wrong at their first meeting, and the two are thrown together for longer than expected. There is a lot of action as they run from and fight the bad guys – who do remind me of the bad guys in the Mad Max movies.

The story is told from a third person POV, and mostly centers on Raina, although a couple of times the focus shifts to Wizard and his take on the situation. I thought the quick shifts to Wizard was a little odd in the story, and it felt very romance-like to get a tell-not-show, short internal monologue but it wasn't done often. Wizard has a robotic personality which I enjoyed. He reminds me of Data on Star Trek; he has a hard time with human interaction, misses subtle humor and sarcasm and confused about sayings because he tries to interprete them literally. Raina is similar in having a tight rein on her emotions, but not such an extreme case as Wizard (she has them) – she keeps people at a distance and has long hardened herself to expect betrayal. I enjoyed how she pointedly shoved Wizard away when he encrouched her space and hid her feelings even when she found herself attracted to him. It was an interesting relationship to see develop between the two loners.

I thought the author did a great job blending both light science fiction and romance. Lovers of only one of those camps may be turned off by the presence of another genre blended in here, or they may enjoy reading something different. I definitely liked the blend. There are sex scenes and while they did go on a little, they didn't feel gratuitious. The world-building was done well – information (on technology, politics, communication, whatever) was given as needed, not as a huge info dump, and the plot was action packed and well paced. Even till the end it kept my interest. There was a good balance between the story and the focus on the relationship. A recommend for those who like romance and who like cross-genre books. Maybe futuristic romance is going to be the next big thing after paranormals in romance? Hmm.

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BTT – Goldilocks

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This weeks Booking Through Thursday question:

"Are you a Goldilocks kind of reader?

Do you need the light just right, the background noise just so loud but not too loud, the chair just right, the distractions at a minimum?

Or can you open a book at any time and dip right in, whether it’s for twenty seconds, while waiting for the kettle to boil, or indefinitely, like while waiting interminably at the hospital–as long as the book is open in front of your nose, you’re happy to read?"

Hmmm.. I need some light. I don't like the room to be dark, and if its too sunny, it hurts my eyes and I need sunglasses to read (I have light sensitivity). 

It's hard to read with the TV on, but I can do it. Radio is much easier to ignore.

I don't mind interruptions and putting the book down, but if its certain people like my mom who interrupt me and then a minute after I pick up the book again interrupts again, and then does this a dozen times, I get a little miffed.

I don't care what chair I'm sitting in or how comfortable it is.

I can probably read most places. I carpool, and I read in the car this morning on the way to work and the light changed across my page with trees blocking and unblocking the sun, and we had the radio on, and the car was obviously moving, but I still read about a hundred pages. I've just always been a person who can concentrate and block out everything else. Sometimes I won't even hear people trying to interrupt me. This actually makes certain people annoyed - they think I'm deliberately ignoring them. I really don't hear them. The same thing happens if I'm watching something on TV that I'm really focused on. Or when I'm thinking intently about something.

I'm pretty much an anti-Goldilocks reader.

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BTT – Statistics

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OK, I'm going to start doing this meme each week. Booking Through Thursday posts a book related question and bloggers reply on their blogs and link the answer.

 

"There was a widely bruited-about statistic reported last week, stating that 1 in 4 Americans did not read a single book last year. Clearly, we don’t fall into that category, but . . . how many of our friends do? Do you have friends/family who read as much as you do? Or are you the only person you know who has a serious reading habit?"

 

I think that all of the people in my circle of friends have read at LEAST one book last year. Probably more. The one person I know who doesn't read at all is a work friend who I know watches a lot of TV instead. Family: my parents read, and I read, but my brother who used to read a lot hasn't been reading (he asked me for recommendations recently so I think I can pull him back over to the dark side), and my sister doesn't like reading either, but even she likes books - art books.

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Nightseer by Laurell K Hamilton

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Nightseer
Nightseer
Laurell K. Hamilton

A quickish review. I haven't been into Hamilton for a while, but I saw this at Goodwill and picked it up for 50 cents. It's a reissue of her first novel and I was interested in seeing Hamilton's earlier work. This book is very different for the paranormal/urban erotic fantasy she's famous for today – this is straight fantasy,

The story focuses on a young noble named Kelios with some unusual powers – she's a seer plus she has magic abilities. She lives somewhere that sounds like a special place of learning for magic. I got the impression that all magic users have to get an education and become a "master" in their particulay skill before they are allowed out in the world. In Kelios' case, she is a master in one ability but still a journeyman in the other.

A very big part of Kelios' life is a memory of her mother's death and a vendetta against her mother's murderer. But she has other enemies too. Who are they? Well – you have to figure that out as you read.  The writing is in an easy to read style, but this book feels like the second book of a trilogy rather than the standalone it is – there are a lot of references to an adventure the heroine Kelios had before that sounds like it deserves it's own novel. Along with this is seemingly established relationships that I felt dropped into as I read – friends, enemies.. not much detail why. There were also a lot of references to terms I had to guess at. For instance, I believe Kelios is both an Enchanter and a Sorcerer, but Hamilton doesn't explain the difference. It also felt like a third book could have come after this one because of left over plot strings, plus only towards the end do I feel that I am beginning to get into Kelios' character and a couple of other characters. Leaves me wanting. On top of that, there is a lot of battling and fighting in this book and very little explaining. I'd recommend this as light reading but with a warning that you may feel unsatisfied. I kept reading even though much of it was confusing just because there was this odd relationship between Kelios and a suitor who kept pursuing her and I was wondering where it was going. Otherwise.. I didn't really have a reason to keep reading.

Conclusion: Frustratingly sparse in plot information.

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Cool giveaways from Jeri Smith-Ready

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I got a newsletter from Jeri Smith Ready a couple of days ago and if anyone is interested in her books (I liked Eyes of Crow – it has a coming of age feel, and Voice of Crow should have a mature Rhia), they should sign up. She's giving away goodies to fans. And she randomly draws a name from ppl signed up on the newsletter to win a cool prize. Here are the highlights with offers she has:

"–FREE BOOK DRAWING

Read an excerpt of VOICE OF CROW at
www.jerismithready.com/books/voice-of-crow/excerpt.htm

and reply to this e-mail with the answer to this question:

***Which Ilion battalion attacked Kalindos?***

and -bam!- you’re entered in the drawing.

Prize: autographed copy of VOICE OF CROW, a few weeks before its
release
Deadline: Friday, August 24
Winner will be notified Saturday, August 25

–ANOTHER FREE BOOK DRAWING

Reply to this e-mail and tell me how you heard of EYES OF CROW. 

A bookseller or librarian?  Friend?  Website?  Review?  MySpace?  An
ad?  This newsletter?  You met me at a convention?  You were that guy in
the fender-bender at the intersection of Route One and Fairmount Street
(sorry!)?  Be as specific as your memory allows, and I’ll love ya
for it, plus enter you in the second drawing.

Prize: autographed copy of VOICE OF CROW, a few weeks before its
release
Deadline: Friday, August 24
Winner will be notified Saturday, August 25

–REVIEWER CONTEST

Okay, this isn’t so much a contest as it is a pact.  Everyone who
reviews VOICE OF CROW by October 31 gets an autographed ARC of my May 2008
vampire novel WICKED GAME.  Blog about it, post it on an online
bookseller site, send it to your local newspaper, talk about it on your
podcast, whatever.  Just do it by Halloween and let me know about it.

Again, this is not a drawing.  Everyone–that’s EV-REE-WON–who does
this will get an ARC.  Even if it’s a bad review, though in that case
“ARC” might stand for Angry Red Cobra.  Kidding, of course!  I
love animals.

–ANIMAL OF THE MONTH CONTEST

***Discover Your Spirit Animal!***

Take an interactive personality quiz at www.jerismithready.com/quiz/ to
find out which of twelve Animals from the book you would be.  E-mail
me your quiz results for automatic entry in a prize drawing during your
Animal’s month.  Prizes include totem stones, jewelry and artwork
featuring your Animal.

Monthly prize drawings have been extended for two years, through
October 2009.  So no matter which Animal you are, you still have at least two
more chances to win, and no need to enter more than once.

 

SNEAK PREVIEW OF VOICE OF CROW

Want your very own piece of VOICE OF CROW in your hands in less than a      <—– going fast. She had 10-15 left last night
 week?  The first 40 people who send me their mailing address will
receive a limited edition sneak preview, featuring two excerpted chapters
and a full-color cover.  Autographed and everything.

ORIGINAL COVER FLAT
The original artwork for VOICE OF CROW’s cover is quite different
from the final version.  I liked the first one just fine, but the reaction
from book buyers (i.e., the people who place orders for the
bookstores) was, “Hmm.  Try again.” 

Curious?  I won’t be posting it on my website ever, but I have about
twenty cover flats with the original artwork.  If you’d like a copy
of this collector’s item, all you have to do is buy any of my books
from Mysterious Galaxy, the awesome independent bookstore:

http://mg.booksense.com/NASApp/store/Product?s=showproduct&affiliateId=JSR&isbn=9780373802906

Just send me your proof of purchase (receipt, shipping confirmation,
packing slip), either by e-mail to jeri@jerismithready.com or snail mail
to P.O. Box 66, Westminster, MD, 21158, and I’ll send you the cover,
autographed.  This is a one-time offer, while supplies last, as they
say.

PERPETUAL FREEBIES

Bookplates: full-color autographed, personalized labels you can stick
inside your very own copies of EYES OF CROW, VOICE OF CROW, or REQUIEM
FOR THE DEVIL, thus getting a signed book without either of us ever
having to leave the house. 

Mini-bookmarks: trading-card size–collect all two!

Simply send your mailing address to jeri@jerismithready.com and tell me
for which book(s) you’d like a bookplate and/or bookmark.  I won’t
even make you send me an SASE—that’s how much I care.  I care
$0.41 worth about you.  If you’re Australian, I care about you $0.90
worth, because you’re really special.  And far away.
"

email her at info@jerismithready.com for the contests.. Meanwhile, sign up on the newsletter for interesting information about upcoming books, appearances and info. I didn't know she's donating some of her author royalties to 
the Wounded Warrior Project, "to assist severely injured veterans in their transition to civilian life." Or that the third book in the Aspect of the Crow trilogy is going to be called The Reawakened. Plus she has a new vampire novel coming out next year (I know people on my friendslist like vampires) called Wicked Game. OOoOo! Neat stuff I say!

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Stray by Rachel Vincent

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Stray
Stray
Rachel Vincent

Ah, butt shot cover. The only thing that really bugs me about this cover is that the scratch marks don't look right. I expect them to be parallel with one another. This is the type of thing I get distracted by.. other than the butt.

Anyway, this is the first of what looks to be a series about a female werecat named Faythe.  Her father is the leader of the pack, the Alpha, and oversees a territory south of the Missouri and east of the Rockies to the Mississippi. Faythe is one of only 8 unmarried female werecats in the U.S. so she feels overprotected and fights bitterly for her independence. She's the rebel in her household. She is the only female to insist on college, and although she's supposed to be left alone, she knows her father has her under guard. Unfortunately for Faythe, her "independence", such as it is, is coming to an end. Werecat females are being abducted, and she is made to go home for her protection.

There is an excerpt of the first chapter. I read it before I decided to get this book, but the excerpt actually made me worry a little bit that I wouldn't like Faythe. Why? Well.. if you read it, Faythe puts herself in a dangerous situation instead of asking anyone for help. She has options, but feels that she has to prove herself so is willing to get hurt to do so. Well.. this stubbornness is a reoccurring thing. I think one reviewer on Amazon called her "Too Stubborn To Live". I was worried this would drive me crazy, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did not. I can't say the same for everyone who reads this, but I could understand this flaw – she's still growing up, and she's blind to the position her parents have to take. I know someone like Faythe – my younger sister, so maybe I'm just naturally more patient with this. That and as the book progresses, I think we see some of the blinders removed from her eyes. She begins to see things differently and I think she finds out that her independence is really hiding from responsibility.  As a reader I also secretly called her spoiled. The only girl, the youngest, she calls her father "Daddy", and even when she's "independent"  at college, she bills her father without telling him that she's graduated and signed up for grad school.  I think that in book 2 (Rogue), we're going to see a more mature Faythe. That's the way I see the books going. If not.. I may find the stubbornness harder to deal with, but for now it makes her a very interesting heroine for me and I hope it continues.

Another trait that I felt that some of the werecat characters seem to have was – greater emotion closer to the surface. Maybe it's the animal nature, but Marc, Faythe's ex-fiance shows a lot of territorial jealousy, and Faythe has a lot of anger and lashes out at Marc often. I'm a bit baffled at their relationship. He's still unable to accept her breaking off of their engagement, and she can barely speak to him without wanting to hurt him. I want to know – what happened?! There's some backstory there.

Stray is a debut novel and its 600 pages long. Which I was surprised by. I thought the length was a little long, but it wasn't overly so, but I also enjoy movies that go longer than expected, so not sure how other readers feel about this.

Overall I really liked this one. I think the series will have a similar satisfying girl kicking-butt feel as Kelley Armstrong or Patricia Briggs. The only warning I have is there is brutal violence in this book. The bad guys are really nasty and like to toy with their victims, and both they and the good guys can turn into giant black panthers that kill.

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