Reviews :: Book Genre :: Urban Fantasy :: Page 11

Huh. Have this ever happened to you? You finish a book, and after you turned that last page you thought, “Huh. Not sure what I think about that.”

Believe it or not, this doesn’t happen to me very often. Usually I know right away if I love, like, or hate a book. I know if a book is mediocre once I read the final page. I know if it has cemented itself on my “Best of the Year” list. With Myke Cole‘s debut novel, SHADOW OPS: CONTROL POINT (Amazon)… I just don’t know. Hopefully I come to a decision by the end of the review, otherwise this will get awkward.
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Carrie Vaughn‘s first love was the short story, having published more than 50 in various Science Fiction and Fantasy publications over the years. Today she’s best known for her Kitty Norville series, but KITTY’S GREATEST HITS (Amazon) represents Vaughn’s considerable talents with shorter fiction. This is a compilation of mostly previously published works, and a few new pieces.
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Thank you, oh thank you Literary Gods! I was terrified that BLOOD AND FEATHERS by Lou Morgan (Amazon) would turn out to be Twilight with angels standing in for vampires. Why read on with the threat of a sparkly-vampire guillotine hanging over my head? Well in case you hadn’t noticed I have become a big fan of Solaris Books. So far this is a publisher that has done little to steer me wrong. Oh and there is a quote by EBR favorite, Sarah Pinborough that goes a little like this…

“Dark, enticing and so sharp the pages could cut you, Blood and Feathers is a must-read for any fan of the genre.”
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LIGHTBRINGER (Amazon) is newcomer K.D. McEntire’s first novel in a new YA series. It starts off with Wendy’s twelfth birthday, and a terrible car accident that awakens her inherited latent ability–she’s a reaper, and can help lost souls to leave limbo and find the Light. But she came into her powers too early, and learning the nuances of guiding the dead has come with a price.

By the time she reaches high school she’s already reaped a thousand souls under her mother’s strict tutelage. But during the summer mom was in an accident and lays comatose at the hospital while Wendy struggles with helping her dad with two younger siblings, a secret but increasing reaper load due to her mother’s absence, and as a result her grades are slipping. Poor girl has no time just to be a regular teenager.
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I think Steve was giggling maniacally to himself as he added this book to my review stack. He probably took one look at the cover and assumed it would be bad. Go ahead, take a look at it again. You might make that assumption, as well. And would you be wrong?

OK, who am I kidding… yeah, Steve’s unerring taste runs true, even without having read it. Unfortunately I did have to read it.
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NOCTURNAL by Scott Sigler (Amazon) is a most curious creature. In all my years of reading I can’t remember coming across a book quite like it. This isn’t because NOCTURNAL features some brand new theme or idea, but because it is a book that showcases Sigler’s evolution as an author and still manages to be an inferior novel than its predecessors. Considered to be Sigler’s most ambitious novel to date, NOCTURNAL is a supernatural police procedural with a score of highs and lows.

Monsters lurk in the ruins of San Francisco’s past, striking out at night to hunt for those who won’t be missed in order to sake their blood thirst. Homicide detective Bryan Clauser is drawn to this dark secret by a crop of serial murders that bear chilling resemblance to his own twisted dreams. With his partner, Pookie Chang by his side, Bryan must uncover the mystery of Marie’s Children and the shadowy vigilante known as Savior who kills the killers with supernatural strength.
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Superheroes are extremely prevalent in pop-culture at the moment. It seems that half the books in my To-Read Pile feature some form of super human shenanigans. With all these options it takes a lot to rise above mediocrity and offer something truly gripping. Ayize Jama-Everett has written a book that does just that. THE LIMINAL PEOPLE (Amazon) is a supernatural crime thriller that reads like NBC’s failed television drama Heroes meets the hit action film Taken starring Liam Neeson.

I make the comparison because when I’m reading a review, comparisons often catch my interest and help me form a basis on which to start considering whether or not I should fork over the cash. THE LIMINAL PEOPLE undoubtedly reflects shades of Heroes and Taken, but in the end it eclipses both.
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Over a year ago when Jayné Heller’s uncle died, he left her as his heir. Little did she know at the time that she’d be inheriting the equivalent of a small nation in money and property. Then she spent the next year learning what Uncle Eric really did for a living: he hunted riders, the demons or malevolent spirits that take over human bodies and minds. As a result, not only does she take over his fortune, she takes over his job. She has no idea what she’s really getting into.
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Let me be clear about something right away. HELLHOUND ON MY TRAIL by D.J. Butler (Amazon), is not the next Great American Novel. It is the first in a series of novella-length works (Rock Band Fights Evil) that appeal to those of us who need a bit more Pulp Fiction in our reading.

HELLHOUND follows Mike Archuleta as he takes one last gig as a stand-in bassist for a band out in the middle of nowhere. Why is this his last gig? Because he plans suck-starting his gun after the set. Mike is a complete alcoholic, a pretty good bassist… and he is haunted by the ghost of his dead brother, Chuy. Naturally, whenever someone uses the phrase “one last [insert job here]” you know right away that things will go wrong.
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I am not the ideal target audience for a YA novel. But lately… man, it seems like there have been some amazing YA novels coming out. I suppose this is the benefit of being a reviewer–reviewers have to read everything. Because of this, my already broad reading tastes seem to be in a continual state of expansion. They evolve. But whatever, right? You just want to know what I thought about the YA novel VODNIK by Bryce Moore (Amazon).

Before we begin, I can already see some of you readers wondering where you have heard that author’s name before. He’s an occasional reviewer here at EBR. Before you all grab your torches and pitch-forks, remember that I am ALWAYS honest when it comes to reviewing a novel. If I like it, I like it. If I hate it, I hate it. Bryce approached me a while ago asking me to review his novel, VODNIK. I believe my exact words were, “OK… but you realize I have to be honest right?” He realized the position I was in, and still agreed. I guess he felt pretty confident.

With good reason.
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