Skinwalker: Faith Hunter

I am impressed by Faith Hunter’s talent for world – building, she has created another winner in the Skinwalker book. The main character is very likable and action is tight. I really enjoyed the relationship between the main character and the Beast. It was interesting concept and held my attention through out the story.

I recommend this book and hope that it’s the start of a series.

Publisher: Roc
Publication Date: July 2009
Format: Kindle
Author Web Site:  http://www.faithhunter.net
Rating: Recommend, Comfort Read

Description (Amazon)
Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind—a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she’s been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie’s Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who’s killing other vamps…

Buy at Amazon in Print or Kindle

Santa Olivia: Jacqueline Carey

I picked this up from the Library yesterday around 4pm and I finished it by 8pm. I really enjoyed the story of Loup Garron. She is a wonderful character and it was a pleasure to read her story. I don’t think that I would like another Loup book. Loup’s story felt complete to me, but I would like another tale about the genetically modified solders in this universe.  There seems to be a lot to explore in that world

While I was reading this, I kept thinking about the movie Million Dollar Baby… the boxing was the key. Not sure why I didn’t bring in Girl Fight, but it did remind me of women’s boxing. Thankfully I was far more pleased with the ending of Santa Olivia than I was with Million Dollar Baby.

Fans of Jacqueline Carey’s other work will enjoy Santa Olivia.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: May 2009
Format: Print

Author Web Site: http://www.jacquelinecarey.com/

Rating: Recommend

Description (Amazon)
Loup Garron was born and raised in Santa Olivia, an isolated, disenfranchised town next to a US military base inside a DMZ buffer zone between Texas and Mexico. A fugitive "Wolf-Man" who had a love affair with a local woman, Loup’s father was one of a group of men genetically-manipulated and used by the US government as a weapon. The "Wolf-Men" were engineered to have superhuman strength, speed, sensory capability, stamina, and a total lack of fear, and Loup, named for and sharing her father’s wolf-like qualities, is marked as an outsider.

After her mother dies, Loup goes to live among the misfit orphans at the parish church, where they seethe from the injustices visited upon the locals by the soldiers. Eventually, the orphans find an outlet for their frustrations: They form a vigilante group to support Loup Garron who, costumed as their patron saint, Santa Olivia, uses her special abilities to avenge the town.

Buy from Amazon in Print or Kindle

Bitten to Death & One More Bite : Jennifer Rardin

Jaz Parks is a fun character. I really enjoy reading about her antics and adventures. I think the thing that I love the most about this series is that main couple isn’t on the fast track to the bedroom. It’s not all about the sex with a Jaz Parks story, and that is great. Because the other elements to these books are terrific… humor, adventure, sarcasm, etc…

Description
Jaz Parks here. My latest mission has taken me to the ancient Greek city of Patras; but instead of soaking up its splendor, I’m here to infiltrate a Vampere Trust. Only two vamps have ever escaped the tightly bound communities and lived to tell the tale: Edward "The Raptor"Samos, the most reviled criminal mastermind in recent memory, and Vayl, the CIA’s number one assassin who also happens to be my boss.
The Raptor is trying to take over Vayl’s former Trust. Unfortunately the Trust’s new leader has her own plans.
This job is going to be the death of me.

Buy from Amazon in Print

Description (Amazon)
It’s Jaz Parks. I’ve already smoked the guy who was the pain in the CIA’s you-know-what for the past few years. But now, in the power vacuum left by the death of Edward "The Raptor"Samos, a struggle for supremacy has begun between his former allies.
The CIA feels the balance must be maintained. So when an agent planted among the Weres discovers a plot to assassinate the Coven’s leader, my vampire boss and I are brought in to take out the woman hired to do the deed, a killer who might be as wily and Gifted as ourselves.
So it’s off to the Scottish Highlands for some twisted fun among murderers, demons and half-crazed relatives. Sometimes being a top-secret CIA assassin isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Buy from Amazon in Kindle or Print

 

Made To Be Broken: Kelly Armstrong

Made to Be Broken is the second in Kelly Armstrong’s hit-woman (Nadia Stafford) series. I thought that the first was a great read and the second does not disappoint. All of the elements of the first are present the hits, a mission that Nadia and her mod squad must complete, and development of the relationships between the mod squad members. I really enjoyed how the author treated the relationships in this book, it’s not a straightforward plan of X falls into bed with Y. There are other considerations and you also see the relationship between Nadia and Evelyn evolve.

Overall I thought it was a very good read. If you are a Kelly Armstrong fan  Repairman Jack fan you will enjoy this series.

Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: February 2009
Format: Paper 

Description (Amazon)

The author of the acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series returns with her latest novel featuring an exciting heroine with a lethal hidden talent. This time she’s hot on the trail of a young woman no one else cares about—and a killer who’s bound to strike again.
Nadia Stafford isn’t your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, she’s known only as “Dee” to her current employer: a New York crime family that pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance and her old instincts go into overdrive.
With her enigmatic mentor, Jack, covering her back, Nadia unearths sinister clues that point to an increasingly darker and deadlier mystery. Now, with her obsession over the case deepening, the only way Nadia can right the wrongs of the present is to face her own painful ghosts—and either bury them for good, or die trying. Because in her book everyone deserves a chance. And everyone deserves justice.

Author Web Site: http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/

Rating: Comfort Read, Series Read Continue, Recommend

Warrior Spirit by Alex Archer

Ahhh…Annja Creed. These books are always a quick read for me. They are not something that I have to think about, I can just sit back and be entertained by Annja and her big sword. I am about 3/4 the way through the book and it is a good as all of the others in the series. It’s nice to see female adventure, and I enjoy reading it.

Crap! I misplaced the book…

UPDATE: Rogue Angel goes graphic – http://sqt-fantasy-sci-fi-girl.blogspot.com/2008/01/rogue-angel-goes-graphic.html

Book Description A priceless artifact could restore a family’s honor — or destroy everything in its wake. While vacationing in Tokyo, archaeologist Annja Creed is approached by a man who desperately needs her help. Kennichi Ogawa, the last descendant of an ancient warrior family, is trying to locate a stolen artifact. Legend has it that the vajra was mystically endowed by a warrior’s spirit to help the Yumegakure-ryu family forever be a source for good. But the vajra could help the forces of evil if it gets into the wrong hands. And now the bloodthirsty Yakuza and a group of hired ninja are after it. As Annja and Kennichi trek through the fog-enshrouded mountains of the Iga province to find the relic, they must also outsmart the vicious Yakuza and ninja who are dangerously close to uncovering the vajra first…and to destroying their competition.

Cover: The covers for the Annja books are done very well. They incorporate a mixture of mystery and edginess that convey the tone of the novel well. Although, I can say that I prefer the partial form compositions similar to the Rogue Angel cover, over the covers that depict the entire figure as seen in the cover for The Chosen.

 

Web site: http://www.melodom.net/welcome.htm