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Mystery, Romance Under the Full Moon
Books reviewed: Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney, Dead to Me by Anton Strout, Dead Over Heels by MaryJanice Davidson
An urban werewolf tracks down a killer in “Howling at the Moon” by Karen MacInerney.
Sophie Garou works very hard to keep her secret safe from the rest of the world. Her mother, a Gypsy witch, is the only one who knows her secret and helps to keep her werewolfishness at bay with the help of wolfsbane tea. Sophie seems to have it put together — a terrific boyfriend, a wonderful best friend and a job that could see career advancement in the near future.
Then Sophie gets a threatening letter sent to her at work — that someone knows her secret. Her nosy assistant finds her wolfsbane tea and mistakes it for drugs, sparking random drug testing at work. Her boyfriend wants to celebrate their anniversary — on the night of the full moon and her job’s big client is coming to town that same day. Sophie has enough on her hands, and then her mother is accused of murdering a politician by giving him a poisonous love potion. Sophie’s mom swears there was nothing out of the ordinary in the potion, and Sophie decides to investigate for herself. Throw in a wild pack of werewolves and another hunky werewolf dating her best friend, and Sophie’s got too much to handle. Can Sophie clear her mother’s name?
A mix of romance, mystery and the paranormal, Sophie’s story will have you howling for more. The next book, “On the Prowl” is due out in fall 2008.
“Howling at the Moon” is published by Ballentine, a division of Random House. It is $6.99 and 360 pages long.
•
Move over, Harry Dresden, there’s a new paranormal investigator in town!
In “Dead to Me” Anton Strout introduces Simon Canderous, a psychometry-powered agent of New York’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs. With the power to know the history of things he touches, Simon is teamed up with Connor “I See Dead People” Christos, in the “Other” division of the department. If it doesn’t fall into any neat category, the department kicks the invesigation over to these two.
Simon, who recently gave up a life of crime for the bureau, isn’t sure about all the red-tape and paperwork, but likes the thought of working on the side of good. It is through his good side (and klutziness) that he meets displaced ghost, Irene, who doesn’t realize she’s dead, and gives her a place to stay while he determines what happened to her. Throw in a mysterious wooden fish that everyone wants to get their hands on, a rampaging bookcase, and a temp who works for an evil cult that has a crush on him, and Simon’s got more than he can handle. But with a sarcastic remark or two and a great leather jacket, he’s going to unlock the puzzle of this mystery for the side of good.
A great blend of paranormal and mystery, Simon (and Anton) are a welcome addition to the genre.
“Dead to Me” is published by Penguin. It is $7.99 and 354 pages long.
•
New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson gives three short stories in her various paranormal worlds in the anthology “Dead Over Heels.”
In “Undead and Wed,” Betsy, the queen of the vampires, and her husband, Eric Sinclair, are trying to enjoy their honeymoon. Too bad Betsy’s best friend, Jessica, and her new boyfriend crashed it and there’s a rogue vampire on the loose, snacking on young appetizers. Jessica’s determined to put a stop to it and get some freetime with her man in this funny story.
In “Survivors” a famous reality star, Con Conlinson actually gets stranded on a desert island and really does have to survive, not fake it for television. But he finds it’s not quite deserted when a local mermaid comes to call.
Helping him to actually survive, Con’s soon head over heels for his otherworldly beauty, but when the rescue team finally arrives, will he choose his regular life over her?
In “Speed Dating, Werewolf Style” one of the Wyndham pack werewolves, Cain, has to get married before her next birthday per a pact she made with her best friends as a child. She turns to the last remaining single one and best friend, Saul, to help her find a suitable mate.
But every guy Saul finds for her is wrong somehow - from the werewolf with allergies, to the alcoholic, to the nitpicky one, to the smoker, to the nailbiter, to the guy who talks too much. Why is Saul picking such bad guys for her?
Once again Davidson’s sarcastic, witty and biting (literally) characters saunter across the stage of the book, with all of the humor and romance you’ve come to expect.
“Dead Over Heels” is published by Berkley, a division of Penguin. It is $14 and 266 pages long.
Contact Amy Mendenhall at amendenhall@newsandsentinel.com. Visit her blog at www.newsandsentinel.com for guest blogger, author Caitlin Kittredge’s take on world building, and visit amendenhall.livejournal.com for past columns.
Sophie Garou works very hard to keep her secret safe from the rest of the world. Her mother, a Gypsy witch, is the only one who knows her secret and helps to keep her werewolfishness at bay with the help of wolfsbane tea. Sophie seems to have it put together — a terrific boyfriend, a wonderful best friend and a job that could see career advancement in the near future.
Then Sophie gets a threatening letter sent to her at work — that someone knows her secret. Her nosy assistant finds her wolfsbane tea and mistakes it for drugs, sparking random drug testing at work. Her boyfriend wants to celebrate their anniversary — on the night of the full moon and her job’s big client is coming to town that same day. Sophie has enough on her hands, and then her mother is accused of murdering a politician by giving him a poisonous love potion. Sophie’s mom swears there was nothing out of the ordinary in the potion, and Sophie decides to investigate for herself. Throw in a wild pack of werewolves and another hunky werewolf dating her best friend, and Sophie’s got too much to handle. Can Sophie clear her mother’s name?
A mix of romance, mystery and the paranormal, Sophie’s story will have you howling for more. The next book, “On the Prowl” is due out in fall 2008.
“Howling at the Moon” is published by Ballentine, a division of Random House. It is $6.99 and 360 pages long.
•
Move over, Harry Dresden, there’s a new paranormal investigator in town!
In “Dead to Me” Anton Strout introduces Simon Canderous, a psychometry-powered agent of New York’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs. With the power to know the history of things he touches, Simon is teamed up with Connor “I See Dead People” Christos, in the “Other” division of the department. If it doesn’t fall into any neat category, the department kicks the invesigation over to these two.
Simon, who recently gave up a life of crime for the bureau, isn’t sure about all the red-tape and paperwork, but likes the thought of working on the side of good. It is through his good side (and klutziness) that he meets displaced ghost, Irene, who doesn’t realize she’s dead, and gives her a place to stay while he determines what happened to her. Throw in a mysterious wooden fish that everyone wants to get their hands on, a rampaging bookcase, and a temp who works for an evil cult that has a crush on him, and Simon’s got more than he can handle. But with a sarcastic remark or two and a great leather jacket, he’s going to unlock the puzzle of this mystery for the side of good.
A great blend of paranormal and mystery, Simon (and Anton) are a welcome addition to the genre.
“Dead to Me” is published by Penguin. It is $7.99 and 354 pages long.
•
New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson gives three short stories in her various paranormal worlds in the anthology “Dead Over Heels.”
In “Undead and Wed,” Betsy, the queen of the vampires, and her husband, Eric Sinclair, are trying to enjoy their honeymoon. Too bad Betsy’s best friend, Jessica, and her new boyfriend crashed it and there’s a rogue vampire on the loose, snacking on young appetizers. Jessica’s determined to put a stop to it and get some freetime with her man in this funny story.
In “Survivors” a famous reality star, Con Conlinson actually gets stranded on a desert island and really does have to survive, not fake it for television. But he finds it’s not quite deserted when a local mermaid comes to call.
Helping him to actually survive, Con’s soon head over heels for his otherworldly beauty, but when the rescue team finally arrives, will he choose his regular life over her?
In “Speed Dating, Werewolf Style” one of the Wyndham pack werewolves, Cain, has to get married before her next birthday per a pact she made with her best friends as a child. She turns to the last remaining single one and best friend, Saul, to help her find a suitable mate.
But every guy Saul finds for her is wrong somehow - from the werewolf with allergies, to the alcoholic, to the nitpicky one, to the smoker, to the nailbiter, to the guy who talks too much. Why is Saul picking such bad guys for her?
Once again Davidson’s sarcastic, witty and biting (literally) characters saunter across the stage of the book, with all of the humor and romance you’ve come to expect.
“Dead Over Heels” is published by Berkley, a division of Penguin. It is $14 and 266 pages long.
Contact Amy Mendenhall at amendenhall@newsandsentinel.com. Visit her blog at www.newsandsentinel.com for guest blogger, author Caitlin Kittredge’s take on world building, and visit amendenhall.livejournal.com for past columns.
(Anonymous)
thanks much