Claimed by Shadow and Season of the Witch

I have 2 recent additions to my To Be Read List.

The first is Claimed By Shadow by Karen Chance. Roc, 2007 (April, 3, 2007)

From the publisher: Clairvoyant Cassie Plamer has inherited new magical powers-including the ability to travel through time. But it's a whole lot of responsibility she'd rather not have. Now she's the most popular girl in town, as an assortment of vamps, fey, and mages try to convince, force, or seduce her-and her magic-over to their side. But one particular master vampire didn't ask what Cassie wanted before putting a claim on her. He had a spell cast that binds her to him, and now she doesn't know if what she feels for him is real or imagined...

The second - Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert. Dutton, 2007 (April 19, 2007)

From the publisher: Season of the Witch tells the story of Gabriel Blackstone: hacker, information thief, and skilled “remote viewer.” Asked by a former lover to investigate the disappearance of her stepson, Gabriel’s suspicions fall on Minnaloushe and Morrighan Monk, two beautiful sisters who live in a rambling Victorian house in London. Independently wealthy, the sisters spend their time dabbling in alchemy and the ancient Art of Memory — invented by the Greeks and used by alchemists and magi such as Giordano Bruno and Leonardo Da Vinci. The sisters are white, or “solar,” witches, who aim to use alchemy not to turn lead into gold but to attain ultimate knowledge and therefore ultimate power. Gabriel soon becomes convinced that his client’s son had been murdered and that one of the women is the killer. But which one? As Gabriel infiltrates the world of the sisters, he finds himself drawn inexorably deeper becoming entranced even as he realizes that he is in mortal danger. When he is caught snooping, Gabriel must race to unlock their secrets before they can retaliate. To save himself — and the one he loves, presuming she is not guilty — Gabriel will have to fight one of the sisters within the landscape of her own mind.

I will post reviews when I finish reading each intriguing title.

Fangland by John Marks

Marks, John. Fangland. Penguin Press, January 15, 2007

This is a book not to be missed by any vampire aficionado. I started this book and really had a hard time putting it down. It is one scary thriller.

Below is a copy of the review I recently wrote for Library Journal.

New York TV producer, Evangeline Harker, travels to Transylvania to interview reputed Eastern European crime boss, Ion Torgu, for a segment on The Hour. They meet one evening in the small town of Brasov where Torgu strongly suggests that they will be more comfortable at his own hotel only a short distance away. Although wary of this sinister man Evangeline reluctantly agrees. The building is in a desolate area. There are no other guests and no staff visible, and that night he locks her in her room. Her attempt to escape takes her down an unlit, fetid stairwell where she encounters Torgu at his most monstrous, chanting words of death and feasting on blood. Back at the New York studio, Evangeline’s family and coworkers realize that she has disappeared and no one can locate her. John Marks has written an electrifying, 21st century tale of horror which pays homage Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Marks, however, goes much further and creates a hideous vampire more frightening and horrifying than anything that ever came from Stoker’s imagination. This review is reprinted by permission of Library Journal. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Books I Have Read Recently

Date: February 27, 2007 9:43 PM

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason. Signet (Paranormal Romance), January, 2007

According to the author this Regency romance is very much based on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The heroine, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is the next in a long line of Gardella vampire slayers, and she is quite an engaging character as are others in this book (Number one in a trilogy).

Blindsight by Peter Watts. Tor 2006

Along side the human race live vampires. Humanoids who became extinct during the Pleistocene era and have been resurrected by modern science. Their predatory habits are kept in check, but their special DNA and vast intelligence aids humanity as it ventures into space. A brilliant SF novel!

See Full Review

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez. Tor, 2005.

A hilarious book featuring two good old boy characters - Duke, a werewolf and Earl, a vampire. They are driving through the desert with their beat-up truck when Duke decides he's hungry and pulls up to Gil's All Night Diner. They are the only customers because, according to the owner, zombies have been scaring people away. Whacky characters and great dialog make a dynamite combination.

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich. St. Martin's 2002

A novella by crime writer Evanovich. This part of her Stephanie Plum series. OK, this isn't about vampires but it does have a supernatural element in the form of a handsome stranger who suddenly appears one morning in her kitchen. One minute she's alone and the next she's not. A good mystery with a happy resolution.

13 Bullets by David Wellington. Three Rivers Press, May 2007.

Special Deputy Jameson Arkeley of the US Marshall service has the permanent assignment of tracking down vampires. In a time when most humans believe vampires to be extinct Arkeley knows the truth. Twenty years earlier he had led a SWAT team against Piter Byron Lares a vampire creature responsible for a string of vicious murders. Lots of action and gory scenes in this novel. Not for the squeamish!

Click here for a serialized version of the novel

Tanya Huff's Vicki Nelson TV Series Update

On LiveJournal author Tanya Huff talks about the filming, etc of the Vicki Nelson TV series - Blood Ties - which will be shown on Lifetime beginning March 11 at 9pm.

See her blog for more information.

Blood Ties trailer

Song in the Dark by P. N. Elrod

A favorite series of mine is The Vampire Files by P. N. Elrod. The setting is gangster ridden Chicago of the 1930s. Jack becomes enamored of a beautiful woman named Maureen whose bite causes his transformation into one of the undead. Book 1 is entitled Bloodlist. Below is my review of book 10 as printed in Library Journal.

Song in the Dark (The Vampire Files). Ace, September 6, 2005. ISBN: 0-441-01323-6 384p.

In the eleventh installment of The Vampire Files series set in 1930s Chicago, protagonist Jack Fleming fights inner demons as well as mortal bad guys. Whenever Jack uses the vampiric power of hypnosis to influence someone, raging pain envelops his mind and body. Eventually he realizes that its cause derives from the horrific torture he endured under the now deceased gangster Hog Bristow (see Cold Streets, Ace 2003). As it turns out some in the Chicago underworld are Jack’s buddies. In fact he runs pal Gordy Weem’s gang while Gordy recovers from mob related violence. As temporary boss Jack must solve the mysterious death of an entertainer at Gordy’s club Nightcrawler. Author Patricia Elrod knows how to pace the action without resorting to the use of cartoon characters. These characters (inlcuding vampires) are believable and many are a pleasure to know. This review is reprinted by permission of Library Journal. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.