A Gaggle of Book Reviews

There are a growing number of vampire and paranormal books out there, and so many of them are wonderful. I’ve written reviews of several, read a lot more, and even have a category devoted to the genre. However, most paranormal novels that include romance have a strong male lead and a woman who makes compromises, but ends up changing him as much as he changes her. A lot of people who read of these stories think that the women are weak. I disagree, but yet look for great paranormal novels where the woman is a strong lead without an immediate romance (I’m not knocking romance, though!). Anyone who agrees with me should definitely check out Jennifer Rardin’s Jaz Parks series!

In Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Jaz Parks, #1), we meet Jaz Parks. Jaz is an assassin who works as a partner/assistant to the government’s chief assassin, a vampire named Vayl who is over 250 years old. In this world, vampires and others are known to exist. Vamps and others are both law-abiding and not – Jaz and Vayl are one of the teams sent to deal with the non-law-abiding set. Jaz is dealing with some major emotional trauma after her boyfriend and previous team were slaughtered, and only she and her brother survived, her best friend and sister-in-law was one of the casualties. As a result of that event, she and her brother aren’t on speaking terms. Her sister is living a decidedly non-CIA life and is happily pregnant, while her dad is retired and bored, pestering anyone around him. Is it any wonder Jaz throws herself into her work?

Vayl and Jaz are assigned to assassinate a top Miami plastic surgeon with ties to terrorist organizations in Once Bitten, Twice Shy. Of course, things are always more complicated than you first expect! Jaz is a “Sensitive”, which means she can smell vampires and identify others. This comes in very handy when the Miami plastic surgeon is discovered to be connected to paranormals in addition to the terrorists. The ensuing story is filled with twists and turns that aren’t expected – the connections between individuals, and the rationale behind them are also surprising. The mystery alone will keep you reading, even if you aren’t a big fan of paranormals!

Jaz is a strong character, and while she develops a crush on her vampire partner, she is first and foremost a CIA employee and assassin. Sure, she gets trapped on the top of a building with her partner’s late wife (can you say awkward?), but she maintains her strength of character throughout. It was heartening to see such a strong character as Jaz break down in tears, or be sidelined for a bit due to an injury – we need strong female role models, but they can’t be infallible! Jaz feels so real, a very multi-faceted character with strong secondary characters to back her up.

Vayl, and Jennifer Rardin’s other vampires require absolutely no sunlight. They also require blood, but do not have to kill or turn their “donors”. They are difficult to kill, but a stake (or other wood) through the heart or beheading will work. Vayl himself is claustrophobic (so he has a tent over his bed rather than a coffin), and a very private man. He has picked Jaz to be his partner to help her develop her Gifts as a Sensitive, as well as for other reasons we will uncover. He is an enigma who manages to make toes curl with just a brush of his hand against Jaz’s cheek. It is a nice change to see a series in which there are both “good” and “bad” vampires, rather than a fully romanticized version of the paranormal world.

I loved Once Bitten, Twice Shy so much that I was thrilled I had Another One Bites the Dust (Jaz Parks #2) on hand to read immediately. I highly recommend ordering both books – once you’ve started reading about Jaz and Vayl, you won’t want to stop! The end of Once Bitten, Twice Shy has an interview with Jaz – I strongly suggest reading that as well, it’s a lot of fun!

Another One Bites the Dust adds some of the secondary characters from Once Bitten, Twice Shy to Jaz and Vayl’s team. These characters had been brought to life in book 1, and are now fleshed out even more – Jennifer Rardin’s writing helps me play out the story in my mind’s eye. I can clearly visualize Jaz, Vayl, Cole, Cassandra, and Bergman in their RV as they set up as a sideshow at the Corpus Christi Winter festival as a cover for rescuing some unique biotechnology stolen by a power-hungry vampire. Picturing Jaz, the CIA assassin and Black Belt as a belly-dancer makes me giggle. Especially when I read her descriptions of all the places she hides weapons in her costume! (We don’t need to mention how much I’d like to be in Corpus Christi in the winter…)

Another One Bites the Dust delves further into each character, and we watch Jaz begin to heal from the earlier events in her life. Jaz’s initiative, strength, and her sense of teamwork make her a character whose story I really enjoy following. The world of Jaz Parks feels so real, as if Jennifer Rardin had been a fly on the wall as these adventures took place. Jaz’s story is told in the first person, by Jaz, so we see into her thoughts and know only what she knows. Thankfully, she’s very clever, and the insights are not made exclusively by her male counterparts. By the end of Another One Bites the Dust, I’m anxiously awaiting a romance, and can feel the sexual tension in the book. It’s so great to read novels by an author who takes things slow and deals with Jaz’s recovery from her trauma as well as her feelings for her partner. Jaz’s father also returns, and is seen in a different light, helping Jaz heal.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy was listed as one of the Top 13 Books of 2007 by SciFi Chick!

I’m really looking forward to the February release of Biting the Bullet (Jaz Parks #3) and the following release of Bitten to Death (Jaz Parks #4)! I’m really curious what will come next for Jaz, Vayl, and their friends – and if romance is in the offing!

Check out my review of book 3 – Biting the Bullet 

These books were received from the publisher for review.

Kitty and the Silver Bullet is the newly released fourth werewolf mystery by Carrie Vaughn. Have you read the first 3 books of the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn? If you somehow missed them, go pick them up, and then read the newest release! These books have a wonderful mix of humor (a werewolf named Kitty?), romance, suspense, paranormal creatures, and the realities of the mundane world. If you aren’t one of those people who must read all books in exact order (ahem), each Kitty Norville book is a great stand-alone novel and will fill you in on the prior happenings without boring readers who have been following the series.

The basic concept of the series is that Kitty Norville is the first publicly “outed” werewolf. She creates a supernatural call-in show in her first book Kitty and the Midnight Hour, and in doing so has to leave her Pack in Denver. Kitty moves from city to city with her weekly radio show, and is summoned to Washington DC to testify in front of Congress about werewolves and vampires in book two – Kitty Goes to Washington. In book three Kitty takes a vacation from her radio show to write a book and hang out with nature (a la Walden). Things don’t go exactly according to plan, and she ends up with a supernatural mystery, a romance, her own small Pack, and proof of the adage that “you need a vacation after your vacation” in Kitty Takes a Holiday.

In Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Kitty Norville, Book 4), Kitty’s mother is ill, and she needs to return to her home, Denver. When Kitty left Denver, it was not entirely her idea – if she wanted to leave the Pack, she to leave the area, just like someone leaving an abusive spouse. In fact, Kitty gets involved in Pack politics again when a new werewolf comes to her for help escaping the clutches of Carl and Meg (the dysfunctional and abusive Denver Pack alphas), and things don’t end well. Kitty is determined to right the wrongs that she feels she should have prevented, and gets sucked into the world of paranormal politics.

We have gotten peeks into werewolf and vampire politics in earlier books, and it isn’t all that different from human politics – other than the amount of death involved. Opponents aren’t just beaten, they are permanently removed. In Kitty and the Silver Bullet, we delve deep into the politics and intrigue that is under the polite veneer of the paranormal world. Kitty finds herself challenging her former Pack leaders in an attempt to stabilize the paranormal community in Denver. At first, though, the world becomes completely unstable, and Kitty has to protect her small new Pack, as well as her biological family.

Carrie Vaughn has created a world in which the paranormal community is beginning to interact openly with the mundane world. Vampires and weres are known to exist, and while some people are superstitious or antagonistic, a lot of people are accepting. Each of the characters – even characters you only see a few times – come to life in such a way that you wonder for a moment if Carrie has become a ghostwriter for a real werewolf…

I really like the way Carrie mixes the paranormal with the mundane. Kitty may be a werewolf, but she still has jealous feelings of her sister’s life – married with 2 kids. Her mother is still nosy, and asks polite questions about her daughter’s full moon nights as if Kitty had joined some type of club. Kitty has the reality of needing the income from her radio show, and maintaining a good face for the public. There are problems as Kitty has to balance the paranormal and the mundane, which makes the characters and story Carrie has written come to life even more.

I’ve read many other werewolf books, and each one accepts and rejects different parts of the mythology surrounding weres. This series continues the sense of reality by not idealizing the paranormals. Carrie’s lycanthropes can’t tolerate silver, are very sexual creatures, are very loyal to their Pack, only have vague memories of what the wolf does, and can change at times other than the full moon (but they must change on that night). In the previous books in the Kitty series, she had explored more of her sexual side, but in Kitty and the Silver Bullet, she has found a mate. We wonder, along with Kitty, if this mating is on the human side as well, or if it is just for the good of the Pack… Carrie had foreshadowed this pairing starting from the first book, but the build-up was so slow that I didn’t expect the relationship, even though it felt right.

Kitty’s world, as created by Carrie, is fascinating. Each mystery has twists and turns that even a chronic mystery-reader can’t predict. The stories are engrossing, and it is easy to become so involved in the novel that you forget to eat! Carrie’s weres and vampires aren’t perfect beings- this isn’t an idealized view of the paranormal world. This world is made all the more real because there are pluses and negatives to everything – you can’t get sick as a werewolf, but you can’t maintain a pregnancy, either. The novels are filled with tough choices, and moral ambiguities, all of which contributes to how real it feels. Each character plays an integral part, and they all help develop both the plot and each other’s personalities. It is amazing how surprised you can be by a character, only to look back in the story and see where the path started towards that event. Carrie’s sense of foreshadowing and hidden clues to the mystery is incredible.

I highly recommend Kitty and the Silver Bullet, as well as the rest of the Kitty series to anyone with an interest in mysteries, suspense, werewolves, or just a good, engrossing read. If you haven’t read a werewolf or paranormal book yet, this series is a good place to start, because of the verisimilitude. Give it a try – you’ll end up reading the rest of the series, and then looking for more good paranormal reads!

If you’re still wavering on whether to read Kitty and the Silver Bullet, check out the great storyline and Carrie’s gripping writing in chapter 1 of Kitty and the Silver Bullet, posted as an entry in Carrie’s blog! Excerpts are tricky, though – I just read the excerpt in the back of Kitty and the Silver Bullet, and now I don’t want to wait until Fall 2008 for the next book!

This book was received from the publisher for review, but I bought the first three books myself.

True to the Game, by Teri Woods is the book that really put urban lit on the map when it was first published in 1994. Her novel gives us a vivid look into the gritty reality of urban life – the women, drug lords, and the rest of the residents of South Philly. True to the Game II continues that look into the underbelly of urban life. If you like books and movies about the lives of mafia and crime lords, you will really enjoy these two books, and be anxiously awaiting the release of True to the Game III.

When Teri Woods first self-published True to the Game in the early 1990s, she was selling it to the people in her neighborhood of Philly, as well as on the streets of New York City before finding a publisher. A middle-class, mid-thirties, white woman from the suburbs was probably not on her radar as a potential reader, but now that True to the Game has been republished, along with True to the Game II, here I am reading and reviewing. If you grew up worrying about being politically correct and/or in a different environment from the setting of True to the Game you may have some difficulties with some of the language used in the novels. No, I’m not talking about swearing, murders, or drugs. Within the culture of these novels, the word “nigga” is used between characters casually and with great frequency. It was very disconcerting at first, especially after years of being taught how to be politically correct, but once you really get the feel for the story line and the characters, the words flow and the language contributes to the book’s authenticity.

True to the Game introduces us to a world many of us have never seen – the life in and around the projects of Philadelphia. We meet Gena, a 17 year old who is at once mature for her age as well as immature and superficial. Gena and her friends are accustomed to making it on their own, finding ways to get themselves out of the projects. However, their method of doing this seems to rely exclusively on getting money from boyfriends – often thousands at a time. Getting “paper” is an expected part of life and part of why you spend time with men. You wouldn’t date someone who wasn’t “papered up”.

I was originally annoyed with Gena’s perspective until I realized that we were both expecting money as our due at the same age, though I was expecting it from my parents, while she was expecting it from men. I became impressed with Gena’s attitude when she ditches her boyfriend after he beats her up – there are too many books where the women stay with abusive men. Of course, if Gena hadn’t dumped Jamal, she wouldn’t be available when a much better offer comes along.

Gena’s world changes when she starts dating Quadir, one of the top drug lords – she’s got paper. Gena goes on a trip to the Bahamas, and she moves up from an apartment on the edge of the projects to a mansion. Woods tells us Gena’s story from multiple points of view – Qua, Gena, their friends, and their rivals. When Gena has made it big, her spending feels wildly excessive and overdone, but in my world, wealth is understated. In her world, if you’ve got it, flaunt it! She definitely flaunts it well, with more clothes than she can wear, rooms that are never used, furs, and jewelry encrusted with diamonds.

True to the Game is an intense book that pulls the reader into a world that exists outside the law and in a unique time and place. Anyone who has lived in the world of drugs, crime, and a mix of poverty and excess will love reading a book that hits so close to home. For those of us who have never been a part of that world, it offers us a peek inside – a rare opportunity to really understand the world from a completely different point of view.

When True to the Game concluded, I didn’t know how a sequel would work. Even the author writes,

“The first thing that ran through my mind was, how? How do I write the sequel to a book that has been deemed a classic? How will I keep the spirit of my characters alive? How will I write a Part II that everyone will love just as much as they loved the first”

Gena has lost Qua, and her world changed forever. While I had wondered what would happen next to Gena, the story line seemed to have come to a conclusion. I was curious to start True to the Game II right away and see if it could stand as a legitimate sequel to the original, or if it would be a shadow of True to the Game, especially since there had been a 13 year gap between the two publications.

My skepticism was unfounded. By page 9 of True to the Game II, I was hooked. Gena is working on getting herself back into the game, and ends up hooking up with the one man she should be avoiding. We cringe impotently as we see what is happening, but since Gena doesn’t have the same omniscient perspective, she can’t see where she is heading, nor the true identity of her new man.

True to the Game II continues to explore the hidden underworld of drug lords, crime, and cops in Philly. This second novel shows us the law enforcement perspective, and I was surprised to find myself cheering for the “bad guys”. Woods has really created characters you with whom you can bond, bypassing the stereotypes and exploring the realities. There are so many hidden secrets unearthed, and so many secrets hidden in this novel that it feels like we are walking through a maze – who knows which secret, and when will the other characters find out what has been hidden? When one character is having a hard time living with his decisions, we squirm for him, and we want to beat Gena over the head for missing clues about her new boyfriend. These intensely drawn characters come to life, even if you are reading about them from the world of the suburbs.

It’s possible that the language of True to the Game II is just as strong as in the first novel, but I had become used to it. The shock had worn off, and it wasn’t distracting any more. There is more violence in book 2, however, and it’s more personal – one man’s vendetta. In book 1, however, the violence is more routine – one group of drug dealers versus another. Seeing the world of the streets from the police officers’ perspective is also unique to True to the Game II, and while perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised by the behavior of the police, I am appalled. I suddenly understand why some people believe that police officers are part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

The secrets that were unearthed and hidden in True to the Game II, as well as the cliffhanger ending make me anxious to find out what happens in True to the Game III! Unlike my reluctance at the beginning of the other novels, I doubt I’ll be starting it with any reservations at all.

I give both books high marks, and they are definitely recommended reading for anyone with a love of crime novels!

(No one was harmed, and only one dinner almost burned while doing research for this review)

These novels were received from the publisher for review

I never read excerpts, because they end up just teasing me with what I can’t have. However, I did read the excerpt of True to the Game III, because I just couldn’t stop at the ending of True to the Game II. I can’t wait to read about Gena’s next adventure. It has not yet been released but it is available for pre-order, so you can make sure you get it as soon as it’s released.

I love finding a new-to-me author that has already written a series of books. It gives me several books available to enjoy, and I don’t have to wait impatiently for the next book to be written! I am grateful I found the Melanie Travis dog mysteries by Laurien Berenson.

After receiving several recommendations, I read A Pedigree To Die For (Melanie Travis Mysteries), by Laurien Berenson. I really liked this book, the characters were multi-faceted, despite it being easy, light read. The main character has a 4 year old, and she actually enjoys being with him. And he acts 4, not like a mini-adult. My only quibble with the book is that the main character had a gut feeling, and it was wrong. I can see the need for that from a plot perspective, but I feel strongly about trusting your gut feelings, especially as a mom. It is a minor quibble, though – it was a very engaging, interesting read. As a bonus, I learned a lot about Standard Poodles, and would now be willing to consider having one (if/when our current dogs pass away – I am not getting another dog anytime soon!). This was a wonderful first book in the series, leaving you wanting to read the rest of the books.

Due to a mixup in the library’s InterLibrary Loan system, I received the third book before the second in the series. I started Dog Eat Dog (Melanie Travis Mysteries) with a little trepidation – I never like reading a series out of order. I soon got past that annoyance, as the novel drew me in quickly. This book had none of the annoyances that had bothered me with the first book.

Dog Eat Dog has an intriguing murder, with many twists that left me guessing whodunnit. There are also interesting side-stories where the ex-husband comes back to get to know his son, and the main character’s relationship with her boyfriend (which was kept PG). It all read very realistic, but fascinating. And yet again I became more interested in Standard Poodles and how the dog show world works.

I am looking forward to receiving the second book in the series, and then reading the subsequent books. If you enjoy lightweight, fun mysteries, and have an interest in children and dogs, this series is a great choice.

Underdog: A Melanie Travis Mystery, by Laurien Berenson is a wonderful second book. Her first mystery had a few minor flaws, but was a lovely story. This second book is a huge step forward. The things that had irked me in the first book weren’t there, and the storyline was just as compelling and interesting as the first book.

The Melanie Travis series is about a schoolteacher single mom (with a 4-5 year old son) who is pulled into investigating deaths in the dog show circuit by her Standard Poodle breeding aunt. They do a wonderful job of showing you the intrigues in the show circuit, and the best (and worst) features of several breeds.

The first book irked me by insinuating that parenting itself isn’t a challenge, you must have something else to keep your mind busy. It also had a few minor realism flaws (babysitter available with a 10 minute warning), but the story was good enough to allow one to overlook the minor annoyances. The second (and third – Dog Eat Dog) don’t have those annoyances, and continue to have the amusing and intriguing storylines.

I’m going to be requesting the rest of the series through my library!

I received a copy of What the Dead Know: A Novel by Laura Lippman from her publisher, Harper Collins through the book tour at BlogHer. I am so incredibly grateful to have received this book. It is an amazing read!

The premise is this: Two sisters (15 and almost 12) go to a mall the Saturday before Easter, 1975. Their father is working in his store, and their mother is working as a Realtor. They never come back. No one finds bodies, nor any traces of them anywhere.

Then, thirty years later, a woman is driving through the area, and is in a car accident. She walks away from the accident, stunned, and when the police catch up with her, she says she is one of the sisters. She is hospitalized for her injuries, and is very reluctant to talk about her time away and about her current life.

The book goes back and forth between a week in the current time and 1975 and the years that follow. The story evolves, telling what happens with the parents, and what the woman tells the police and other people. The police also find information that leaves them wondering – is she really the girl who disappeared? I’ve always been a sucker for books about missing people, and this one has so many twists and turns I enjoyed following, I was consistently annoyed when my eyes couldn’t stay open longer to finish reading!

What the Dead Know: A Novel unfurls the story, and you are immediately gripped by the plot, and drawn in. I was actually scootering back from the park while reading so I could finish the last few pages (and I didn’t hit anyone!), as the mystery was solved in a way I had never expected – I couldn’t put it down! I am immensely grateful to Harper Collins for giving me this book. I strongly recommend you pick one up when it is released tomorrow or request one from the library – but get one soon, it is absolutely worth reading. It is a truly fabulous book. I’ll be looking for other books by Laura Lippman!

I love it when I get the opportunity to review books by authors whose books I have already enjoyed! This is a first for me, on two counts: this is my first time reviewing for Parent Bloggers Network; as well as my first time reviewing a novel after previously reviewing a picture book by the same author. I wrote a review about Jane O’Connor’s wonderful picture book Fancy Nancy, and now I’m writing a review for her first novel – Dangerous Admissions: Secrets of a Closet Sleuth. The simply fabulous Fancy Nancy has become a staple in our house – even my husband has read it often enough to remember it. My daughters were disappointed that Dangerous Admissions doesn’t take place in a posh place like Paris, and that the characters don’t dress fancy. However, the world of the exclusive prep school in New York City is decidedly fancy, as well as potentially lethal. I grew up in a small wealthy town, and have seen the world of “I’ll do anything to get into xxx college” – it’s a world that is prime material for a murder mystery!

Dangerous Admissions is a wonderful mystery with a touch of chick-lit. This mystery set in an elite NYC private school (The Chapel School, aka Chaps), where a few special words from teacher and adviser Mr. Tutwiler can get you into (or keep you out of) an Ivy or other elite college/university. When “Tut” is found dead by a student, questions start about his cause of death – murder? old age? suicide? stress? Rannie Bookman is the divorced mom of a “lifer” (a Senior who has been at Chaps since kindergarten), a freelance copy-editor, and a tour guide for the Chapel School (since she lost her full-time publishing gig). Rannie is motivated to add “closet sleuth” to her other jobs when her son Nate was the last person on Mr. Tut’s calendar before he was killed. (One un-intentional slip on the part of the publishers, though – the back of the book says that the mystery is at the school Rannie’s children attend. At the time of the novel, one child has graduated, so she only has one child at Chaps. Slightly ironic following the description of Rannie losing her job over a copy-editing mistake, though hers is funnier – leaving off the last L in The Secret of the Old Clock.)

I have written before about an author’s choice to use first person or third person, and how it can affect the reader’s experience of the novel. Dangerous Admissions is a great example of third person done right – you see the mystery primarily from Rannie’s point of view, but you also see Nate’s point of view and that of Olivia (the girl who found Mr. Tut). In addition, memos, phone calls, and text messages are also used to convey another character’s opinion. O’Connor shows us so much about each character through these different points of view, as we peer into their thoughts and lives. These little tidbits held in the minds of each character help us start gathering clues about the murder(s), and the other sub-plots within the story.

O’Connor throws out some wonderful red herrings in her mystery; there are so many people with motives, so many hidden secrets within the world of the wealthy in NYC, and so many people with the opportunity to have committed the murder. As each little clue is uncovered, we start building a theory, and then the theory changes when another clue is uncovered. The chick-lit part of the novel also keeps you hooked – the relationship between Rannie and a new beau, teenage lust and longing, as well as Rannie’s search for a permanent job. In Dangerous Admissions, O’Connor even makes Rannie’s freelance copy-editing horribly fascinating – a book about Dr. Mengele’s Nazi experiments.

The ending of Dangerous Admissions is a delicious surprise – a twist that you can see foreshadowed when you look back at the book after finishing it, but one I didn’t see coming. This is very different from some mystery authors who throw in a twist that isn’t linked to anything in the book, so you couldn’t see it coming. In addition, most novels with a chick-lit feel tie up every loose end when the book is finished. O’Connor didn’t do that in her novel, so the story felt even more real to me. The characters developed into people I could imagine meeting for a cup of coffee, and now it feels like I am ready to meet them for coffee again soon to find out what happens next. I hope that O’Connor is considering a sequel!

A definite thumbs up here for Dangerous Admissions. This novel succeeds with multi-faceted characters that are easy to like, a mystery that is surprising, intriguing sub-plots, plus some romance. Fancy Nancy would call it fabulous, darling! (However, most of the topics in Dangerous Admissions would not be appropriate for Nancy!). Win a copy by leaving a comment over at the Parent Bloggers Network, and see links to other reviews of Dangerous Admissions this week!