Child of a Dead God - Book 6 of the Saga of the Noble Dead
By Barb and JC Hendee

Magiere, Leesil, Wynn, and Chap leave elven lands for the South. Magiere has been having disturbing dreams driving her to an artifact in that direction. But she is not the only person after the artifact. Her evil half-brother and one of the Noble Dead, is following Magiere hoping to get his hands on it. And a group of elf assassins will do anything to bring the artifact back to their own lands.

Each installment has gotten a little more dark and violent. The character development has gotten more in-depth as well. The Hendee's have become true masters of character and world building. This is a fast-paced, action and adventure-filled dark fantasy. The vampires are cunning, the elves are deceptive, and Magiere doesn't even know what the object she's searching for is supposed to do.

While some of the plot lines that have arced over the entire series have been tied up in this sixth novel, the ending has definitely been left open for the coming spin-off series. I'm looking forward to seeing which characters this new series will follow, and more of the fabulous dark fantasy world that the Hendee's have created.

The Darkest Kiss
Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 6
By Keri Arthur

Riley's focused on two cases this time around, and I loved the action scenes while the hunts grew. Riley's smarts and instincts get the job done. Arthur makes good use of the paranormal elements of her world and creates some formidable killers - for one, the bakenecko, she draws on Japanese lore to add complexity to the character. She also adds another flavour of vamp to her world, an emo vamp who feeds on emotion, the power hungry Vinnie promises to be a nemesis Riley is sure to encounter again in the future.

Kellen had left her feeling alone, and she struggles quite a bit with that. She truly did love him, but I believe that, if a man truly loves you, he won't ask you to change. While it hurt that he left, I believe that she's better off. This story sees the welcome return of Quinn, the Old Vampire who couldn't cope with Riley sharing her attentions with other men. Riley seems to be settling down, however, so that when Quinn walks back into her life there's possible some kind of a future for them. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks - I think that while Quinn may be stubborn, it may work out just between them. Like any woman, Riley is being cautious; she doesn't want to get hurt again, and I can understand that.

We get even more between Rhoan and Liander, and Rhoan's inner struggle where Liander's concerned. I really like the banter between Kade and Riley, even though she refuses to let it go anywhere. In true Riley form, she gives the excuse that Jack would get mad about it. We know better. She's not ready for it, but she won't admit it to anyone but herself. And I wonder if anything will come of the banter between Cole and Riley. I think he's very attacted to her and fighting it tooth and nail. It will be interesting to see if anything happens between them.

This book will appeal to those who have read the previous books and I did enjoy it, particularly the Australian rather than American/British/Irish setting. Another excellent novel and I can't wait for the next.

The Outlaw Demon Wails
By Kim Harrison

Witch Rachel Morgan has a demon after her, but that's just one of her many troubles in this action-packed sixth installment of Harrison's Hollows series . A nice guy, Marshal (the witch from Mackinaw Island), might be moving into Rachel's town and life, but she's still getting over her last boyfriend, Kirsten, whose murder she has yet to solve. Elf politician Trent Kalamack wants her to go to the ever-after on a dangerous mission. Rynn Cormel, Cincinnati's new master vampire and ex-leader of the free world, is interfering in her life. Her friend, former demon familiar Ceri, is unexpectedly pregnant, by an unexpected partner. Rachel's mom has a very dark secret related to Rachel's father and Keasley's true identity is revealed. On top of all this, Rachel worries she may have had a too close encounter with a vampire and soon becomes concerned about her own abilities with demon magic. With the help of her feisty mother, Alice, and her pixy partner, Jenks, Rachel boldly tackles every challenge amid a cascade of plot twists that will delight Harrison's fans.

Love the book, love the series. Answers questions that had been stirring in the under current but the book's main mystery is still unanswered. You don't always get all the answers when you expect them and thats what makes this series fun. Kim's a masterful story teller and has a way of making fantastical characters seem like people you know. If Kim keeps writing them I'll keep reading them.

Mister B. Gone
By Clive Barker

Mister B. Gone marks the long-awaited return of Clive Barker, the great master of the macabre, to the classic horror story. This novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his reader - his tone murderous one moment, seductive the next - is a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438. The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power. Jakabok Botch, the child of two demons who has inherited his father's two tails, is rendered even more grotesque after he tumbles into a fire and most of his face is badly burned. A violent dispute with his abusive father, Pappy Gatmuss, leads to the pair being trapped by a net from our world. Jakabok manages to elude capture and eventually finds his way to the home of Johannes Gutenberg, whose wife turns out to be an angel in disguise.

I found this a strange book indeed. This fable about good and evil is less than rewarding. The book's format- simultaneously Botch's first-person narrative and his break-the-fourth-wall address to the reader pleading for him or her to burn the book - may puzzle readers. I really did want to burn this book, but I paid good money for it, so will set it free instead. Hopefully the next owner will enjoy it more than I did.

Duma Key
By Stephen King

Duma Key is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after he barely survives after the Dodge Ram he's driving collides with a 12-story crane on a job site in which he loses an arm and badly fractures his skull.

He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s. Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters - and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key?

The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction. This is the Stephen King we all know and scared us out of our wits so well. I urge you to read it. Highly, highly recommended.

20th Century Ghosts
By Joe Hill

Fifteen of the best short stories I've read in a very long time. Some are skin crawling horrid, some are touchingly human, but all are gripping and thought provoking.

Giant bugs, blow-up friends, vampires in training, flying blanket capes, a very strange museum of death; each story is a world of its own, all are the world of Joe Hill.

Critics often say, "I couldn't put the book down." I put 20th Century Ghosts down a half-dozen times, asking myself, "How could this guy be so damned good?" Do yourself a huge favor. Buy 20th Century Ghosts.

Embraced by Darkness
Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 5
By Keri Arthur

Riley Jenson is part vampire and part werewolf. She had been forcibly given an experimental fertility drug in her past. She has developed a few interesting powers due to side effects, such as the abilities to see souls rise and spirits walk in the shadows. Riley never knows when another ability will pop up. However, they tend to come in handy during her job.

Riley and her brother, Rhoan, are Guardians; they are the super-cops, hunter-killers, of the nonhuman world.

When Blake Jenson, her family's alpha male, demands Riley help the pack, Riley is ready to tell him to get lost. Riley and Rhoan had been thrown out of the red pack back when they had been thirteen-year-old pups. But Blake throws down a verbal gauntlet when he informs Riley that should she refuse to help or fails in the mission her mother's life would be forfeit. Riley is now on the hunt for a serial killer. At the same time, Riley's lover is trying to convince her to quit her work. Yet should Riley do so, many will die.

This is the fifth book in the Riley Jenson Guardian series. The plot starts out immediately, on page one. Readers are able to dive right into the scenario. The action slows down two or three times during the course of the novel, but gets hotter than a blow torch by the end. Well worth following this series.

Dangerous Games
Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 4
By Keri Arthur

Dangerous Games is the fourth book in the series by Keri Arthur, and each of the stories pulls the reader deeper and deeper into the lust filled life of vampires and werewolves that is Riley Jensen. With each story brings her closer to becoming a true Guardian, and right now she isn't so sure this is a bad thing anymore. This time she hunts a serial killer, but this killer is beyond anything she has ever faced before, because this killer isn't anything that is from this time or place.

In Melbourne’s urban underworld, there’s a nightclub for every fantasy and desire. But for Riley Jenson, one such club has become an obsession. Riley, a rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, hasn’t come in pursuit of pleasure but of an unknown killer who’s been using the steamy nightspot as his hunting grounds. Leave it to Riley to find the only ticket into the heavily guarded club: Jin, a deliciously hot-bodied bartender who might just provide the key to unmasking a killer unlike any other in the Directorate’s experience.

Taunted by a former colleague turned rogue, distracted by an ex-lover’s attentions, Riley follows Jin into a realm of pleasure she could never have imagined. Along with trying to stay focused enough to stay alive, she also has to battle her desire for her on again off again lover Quinn. This time her vampire lover may have crossed a line she isn't going to be able to let pass.

All in all, the Riley Jenson guardian novels are still an entertaining new series. I will definitely be buying the next one.

Tempting Evil
Riley Jenson, Guardian, Book 3
By Keri Arthur

Riley, almost a full guardian, is placed as the sexual entertainment and fighter (among other women) at Deshon Starr's estate - he is the kingpin of the great crime cartel that is responsible for the breeding labs and the experimental cloning. Riley's psychic powers are growing, as is her strength. This assignment will prove her mettle as a guardian. Although reluctant, she is determined to stop Starr's cartel, and if possible stop Starr.

The action is nonstop and the story progresses Riley and her guardianship. Quinn the ancient vampire and Kellen, the alpha werewolf, vie for Riley's heart. Neither will step aside for the other. Both are very strong characters. There is a lot of sex (willing and not) in this book - moreso than the other books.

I will be reading the next Riley Jenson book. She has strengthened and is a fuller character. Although she still is on the finding her were soulmate jag. - I think that Quinn may have a different plan, and that's what makes it interesting. Tempting Evil is a good read, and the series is great.

Heart-Shaped Box
By Joe Hill

Hill features a particularly merciless ghost in his powerful first novel. Middle-aged rock star Judas Coyne collects morbid curios for fun, so doesn't think twice about buying a suit advertised at an online auction site as haunted by its dead owner's ghost. Only after it arrives does Judas discover that the suit belonged to Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of one of Coyne's discarded groupies, and that the old man's ghost is a malignant spirit determined to kill Judas in revenge for his stepdaughter's suicide. Judas isn't quite the cad or Craddock the avenging angel this scenario makes them at first, but their true motivations reveal themselves only gradually in a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations. Hill gives his characters believably complex emotional lives that help to anchor the supernatural in psychological reality. His subtle and skillful treatment of horrors that could easily have exploded over the top and out of control helps make this a truly memorable debut.

This book is a true spine-tingler. Read it!

Watch an interview with Joe Hill on YouTube.

Blood Debt
by Tanya Huff

It began with a ghost in his bedroom. A tormented soul hungry for vengeance. The sort of nocturnal visitation that even a five-hundred-year-old vampire like Henry Fitzroy found tiresome. It would lead Vicki Nelson, PI into her most deadly investigation yet. The wraith is determined that Henry and Vicki track down its killer - and is prepared to use a little persuasion by way of the innocent inhabitants of Toronto to ensure their support. Forced to investigate, Vicki discovers a host of souls in desperate torment and evidence to suggest that trailing the killer will only lead to further deaths - starting with her own.

This is the final book in this series and has upset quite a few fans. I persevered and did enjoy it, though Henry's arrogance was annoying until he realises that he is not so superior after all. A tidy wrap-up with yet another kind of monster/bad guy involved.

Blood Pact
by Tanya Huff

It began, as it so often did, with a body. Only this time death has struck close to home for Vicki Nelson, PI. Her mother is the victim. And what at first seems no more than a tragic natural death is about to become the most terrifying case of her career. For Vicki and her sometime lover, the vampire Henry Fitzroy, have discovered something suspicious in her mother's demise. Vicki feels unable to deal with the grief until she's investigated what happened. But she soon discovers that it's not just memories that can be difficult to lay to rest.

Again, a great story, with yet another type of monster to deal with. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, yet the ending leaves you wondering what's in store for the next story as a main character "dies".

Blood Lines
By Tanya Huff

It began with a dazzling vision of the sun. And for Henry Fitzroy, that was the worst vision of all. Sunlight never features high on a vampire's list of daydreams. But for Vicki Nelson, PI, one hallucinatory vampire hardly warrants a drop-everything case - even if they were sometime lovers. Or so she thought at the time. Vicki is investigating a bizarre crime within the Toronto museum Egyptology department. A double murder has been committed, but no one seems willing or able to shed light on the deaths. And it's only when Vicki begins to suspect that minds are being tampered with that Henry's sun-fixation is suddenly not so irrelevant after all.

Blood Lines is the third in this series and carves out some new territory. As I love stories about big, bad Egyptian mummies,I took great delight in discovering that the latest opponent of Vicki Nelson, Mike Celluci, and Henry Fitzroy is an ancient Egyptian wizard who is so old that his origins go back to pre-dynastic times. The series shifts from simply being Vicki's story to making Celluci and Henry equal characters. For the same reason, Henry's powers as a 450 year old vampire are downplayed to increase the part the others play in the final cataclysm. This means good character development and a rich and varied plot. All in all a very enjoyable novel, and the best so far.

Blood Price
By Tanya Huff

It began with blood and death. And Vicki Nelson, PI was at the scene. The victim had been brutally, inhumanly opened up. Messy work. She'd had to cover the corpse with her coat. It had sort of made her feel involved. Now Vicki is caught up in the deadly pursuit of a mass murderer with an inhuman appetite for mayhem and destruction. And her advisor on the case is doing nothing to dampen her growing sense of foreboding. But then, with a being of unspeakable evil stalking the city, only Vicki Nelson would ally herself to Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate child of Henry VIII and a five-hundred-year-old vampire.

Yes, another vampire series. I really like the main character Vicki, as she is not perfect - a retired cop who had to leave because of her failing eye-sight who feels frustrated and at times angry with the world that she is forced to live in. The world she lives in does not know that the supernatural exists - society is blissfully ignorant and happy that way. A quick, satisfying read.

Cell
by Stephen King

Civilization doesn't end with a bang or a whimper. It ends with a call on your cell phone.

What happens on the afternoon of October 1 came to be known as the Pulse, a signal sent though every operating cell phone that turns its user into something... well, something less than human. Savage, murderous, unthinking-and on a wanton rampage. Terrorist act? Cyber prank gone haywire? It really doesn't matter, not to the people who avoided the technological attack. What matters to them is surviving the aftermath. Before long a band of them - "normies" is how they think of themselves - have gathered on the grounds of Gaiten Academy, where the headmaster and one remaining student have something awesome and terrifying to show them on the school's moonlit soccer field. Clearly there can be no escape. The only option is to take them on.

This a fantastic book - classic King. No aliens, space invaders or ramblings. Good old fashioned horror. It maked my realise how utterly dependent on technology we are, and how invasive it can be. A worthwhile read, but then I've always loved a good zombie story or movie.

The Hand of the Devil
by Dean Vincent Carter

When young magazine journalist Ashley Reeves receives an intriguing letter, he leaves his London office in the hope of reporting on an unusual species of insect - the Ganges Red. That evening he arrives on Aries Island and encounters the writer of the letter - Reginald Mather. At first Mather seems no more than an eccentric collector, happy to live in isolation on the island. But when Reeves unearths the horrific truth, he finds himself thrown headlong into a macabre nightmare that quickly spirals out of control. His life is in danger ...and Mather is not his only enemy.

This novel was an easy read. A great story, especially if you have read the back story on his web site. I would have enjoyed more depth to the story, but he shows promise as a horror writer.

http://www.deanvincentcarter.com