Early Review - The Lost (Celestial Blues, Book 2) by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 369 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: March 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062064653
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Celestial Blues series
Source: Amazon Vine for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the Celestial Blues series by Pettersson. I really enjoyed it. I love the well done investigative urban fantasy and how it has a bit of old-fashioned flare to it. This is supposed to be a trilogy, but I haven’t heard any information about the 3rd book yet.

Grif has been given time to remain on the mortal plain and solve his murder if he concedes to help guide souls that would otherwise be Lost. When a new drug hits the streets people start dying in horrible ways. Grif isn’t allowed to interfere, but that same can’t be said for Kit. As an investigative reporter she is determined to find where the new drug is being distributed from and save the lives of these addicts before they become Lost.

This was a fun investigative urban fantasy. I really enjoy, Kit, the heroine. She has an upbeat approach to life that is fun to read about. We learn a lot more about Kit’s past in this book and about the darkness that lies there. We learn about why she has chosen a Rockabilly lifestyle and how she fights her personal darkness.

Grif, is an excellent male lead for Kit. He is complex and a bit confused about his purpose as a temporary mortal angel. He is still absolutely supportive and respectful of Kit. We also learn a lot more about Grif’s past. He works to solve the mystery of his murder and along the way we learn more about his lovely dead wife that he pines after so badly.

This story presents an excellent, and slightly gorey, mystery to be solved. The mystery is well done and nicely wrapped up in this book. There is both the mystery of the mysterious and vicious drug source to be solved which is self contained to this novel, and the bigger mystery around Grif’s murder that has spanned multiple books.

The book is well written and moves forward at a good pace. I enjoyed reading the story and found it to be engaging and entertaining.

Overall a well done urban fantasy with old fashioned flare. I enjoyed it. The combination of Rockabilly elements and angelic lore make this something a bit different than other urban fantasy reads out there. Recommended to those who like investigative urban fantasy. The heroine is unique and upbeat.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge

Early Review - The Taken (Celestial Blues, Book 1) by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 432 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: June 12, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0062064646
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Celestial Blues series
Source: ARC through Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got an advanced copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This is the first book in a new series by Pettersson called Celestial Blues. Previously Petterssen wrote the Signs of the Zodiac series which I enjoyed. This book was an interesting start to a new series; I enjoyed the characters and the world was decently done as well.

Griffin used to be a PI, now he is a Centurion...an angel who escorts people to their place of rest after they die. When he helps out a dying woman (against the angelic laws) he is sentenced to dwell in human flesh until he collects the soul of Kit Craig. Kit is investigating a prostitution ring and has no idea how deep in trouble she is. This is no ordinary prostitution ring; and Griffin will have to decide if we will do his angelic duty and watch Kit’s death or go against his duty and save her.

I really enjoyed the two main characters; they were fun to read about and a bit different from the normal types of characters you get in these paranormal series. Kit follows a rockabilly life-style; I liked her dedication to something different and enjoyed how it gave an old-fashioned flare to Kit’s character. I really enjoyed Kit’s sunny attitude and how she strove to find something good in everyone. She does come off as a bit too perky at times; but since most urban fantasy heroines are all bad-ass and serious, I enjoyed the change.

Griffin is your typical hard-boiled PI type; except he is understandably a bit old-fashioned (being he’s been dead for 50 years or so). I like the gruff, stoic hard-boiled types and again enjoyed the old-fashioned flare he had. I loved how he acted respectful, yet a bit old-fashioned toward Kit but he still respects her strength and her tenacity.

The romance between the two isn’t all that compelling, but their mutual respect makes it a relationship that is nice to read about. There isn’t a lot of sizzle here...more of a slowly building relationship of trust.

The story is a well done murder mystery of sorts. This is definitely a book for adults. There are a few orgy scenes, lots of violence towards women, and some sex scenes as well. If violent sex or violence towards woman (Kit and Griffin are trying to bust a rather disturbing prostitution ring) really bothers you a lot I would not recommend this book.

There are some good twists in the book, they made the book engaging...if a bit disturbing at times. There are definitely parts here that will give you a bit of a yucky feeling; but I still thought they were well done.

The book ends well and left me looking forward to Kit and Grif’s future adventures.

Overall a good start to a new paranormal/urban fantasy series. I really enjoyed the unique and fun characters; I love the old-fashioned flare added to a modern day story. I enjoyed the twisty turny plot and thought the writing was well done. There isn’t a ton of romance here, and what is here isn’t all that compelling. The book also gets a bit graphic in the sex/violence arena. I would recommend this book to fans of investigative urban fantasy. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series to read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Early Review - The Neon Graveyard (Signs of the Zodiac, Book 6) by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size:  384 pages
Publisher:  Harper Voyager
Release Date: May 31, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0061456794
Stand Alone or Series: 6th Sign of the Zodiac
Source: E-Galley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the sixth and final book in the Sign of the Zodiac series by Pettersson.  This book did an excellent job of wrapping up the series.  It was fairly predictable but moved at a good clip and wrapped things up nicely.  You definitely need to read the previous books to know what is happening in this book.

 Joanna Archer is in hiding with the grey rogue agents.  As a unit they have two goals: get access to Midheaven and destroy the Tulpa.  Joanna is also set on rescuing Hunter from Midheaven's ruler, Solange.  It will take all of Joanna's wits and cunning to do all she needs to do to survive and to protect herself and her unborn child.

This book was a fitting conclusion to the series.  It moves at a fast clip and a lot happens throughout.  I did think it was a bit predictable; but that being said it should give readers of the series the type of ending that they will enjoy.

It was nice to see that things that happened earlier in the series (for example Joanna loosing some of her power in Midheaven) finally make sense in this book.  There are a number of little things that come together in this book, showing that Pettersson really had things well thought out when she started this series.

In this book basically all the agents are here.  We learn more about the grey agents and see significantly more of the Light Agents.  Of course the Shadow Agents join into the fun too.  Some significant people are killed and things really comes to a head with Warren, the leader of the Light Agents.  And, yes, Hunter is in this book.

Overall I enjoyed this book.  It was paced well and did an excellent job of wrapping up this series.  Fans of the series should be pleased with how it ends, even if it is a bit predictable.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- E-book Reading Challenge

Review - Dark and Stormy Knights Edited by P.N. Elrod (4/5 stars)

All of these stories have something in common; they feature a "knight" someone who will go to heroic measures to protect innocents (or to make some money). 

The best of the bunch is Ilona Andrews "A Questionable Client"; this is a great story in and of itself and is a great sample of Andrew's writing style.  Kate Daniels fans will love it too because it fills an important event that happened between Kate and Saiman.  My second favorite was Caine's "Even a Rabbit Will Bite" loved the characters and the irony of the story.

There were some stories that were entertaining but not outstanding.  "Even Hand" by Jim Butcher give insight into John Marcone's character from the Dresden Files.  "Rookwood and Mrs. King" by Saintcrow introduces some new characters that I hope she expands on in a series.  "Shifting Star" by Vicki Pettersson gives you a story about Zoe's Tulpa, Skamar; unfortunately if you aren't reading Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series I think you will be totally lost as to the meaning behind this story.

My least favorite of the bunch was Beknighted by Deidre Knight; there was a bit too much of a romance vibe going on here and the world wasn't described well...I thought it didn't really fit with the rest of the stories and the theme of this anthology.

Overall a decent anthology.  The Ilona Andrews story makes it worth reading.  The other stories provide good samplings of some of the best Urban Fantasy authors out there.  This is definitely urban fantasy and not PNR; which was awesome...it seems like so many anthologies tend towards paranormal romance (PNR).  I personally got it from the library but it might be worth buying if you are a huge fan on one of the series represented.  See below for a description and mini-review of each story.

- A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews (5/5 stars)
We get to find out about that time Kate served as a bodyguard for Saiman.  Action-packed filled with sharp humor; it was nice to have that story filled out some.

- Even Hand by Jim Butcher (4/5 stars)
A story from John Marcone's point of view.  It was interesting to gain some insight into Marcone.  The story was entertaining but over-all nothing mind-blowing.

- The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher (4/5 stars)
A story about a hunter who assassinates Beacons that lure evil creatures called Terraphages to earth to destroy humanity.  This was an entertaining story, I enjoyed the main character and there was a lot of action.  I am curious as to what else Butcher has written, but not curious enough to immediately pick up books by her to read.

- Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine (5/5 stars)
Story about a retired dragon trainer and the young trainee that is supposed to take her place.  I liked this story it was entertaining and ironic.  I love how the story wrapped up but wasn't all that surprised at the ending.  Overall a great story.  I have read some of Caine's Weather Warden series and like her okay as an author in general.

- Dark Lady by P. N. Elrod (3/5 stars)
This is another Jack Flemming story.  In general I am not a big fan of Elrod's Jack Flemming stories and this story was no exception.  I've read some short stories with Jack and the first book in the Flemming series.  This was another noir/gangster-type vampire story.  It was okay and was well-written.

- Beknighted by Deidre Knight (2/5 stars)
An artist has to pay a steep price to free a knight from his prison.  The world surrounding this story isn't very well defined and it is a bit confusing.  This is more like a romance than anything else and was my least favorite of the bunch.  There are parts of it that are a bit amusing and the idea is interesting...just not that well done.

- Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson (3/5 stars)
If you have read all the Signs of the Zodiac book (which I have) then this story will be an interesting read for you.  It features Skamar, Zoe's tulpa, and takes place sometime after the 4th book in the series.  We get to learn more about Skamar as an individual and about what she is doing while Johanna is recovering.  Kind of interesting.  I think anyone who has not read the series will be totally lost though.

- Rookwood and Mrs. King by Lilith Saintcrow (4/5 stars)
Story about a woman named Amelia who comes to investigator Rookwood with a plea that he kill her already dead husband.  Not much world-building but there was a lot of action and the characters were interesting.  It would be great to see some books about Rookwood and Amelia in the future.  Previously I have also read Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series and liked it.

- God's Creatures by Carrie Vaughn (3.5/5 stars)
Story from the point of view of Cormac the Bounty hunter from Vaughn's Kitty Norville series.  Basically it just tells about Cormac going on a wolf hunt.  It was okay and I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't add much to the characters for me and as a stand alone story it wasn't anything special.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Review - Cheat the Grave (Fifth Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

After the last book in this series "City of Souls" we were all wondering where Pettersson was going to take the story of her power-stripped heroine.  Well in this book she takes us in a new direction; it was pretty well done and made for a good addition to the series.

Joanna Archer gave up all of her superpowers to save a child and her home city of Las Vegas.  She's been abandoned by the Agents of Light and the only ones who have stood beside her are her (Olivia's) best friend Cher and Cher's mother.  Now Cher's mother is getting married to an Indian Price and Olivia/Joanna Archer has a huge event to plan.  Unfortunately Joanna/Olivia is being chased by an assassin from Midheaven not to mention the Tulpa may have figured out her identity as well.  Joanna needs help if she is going to survive as a mere mortal.  Enter the Grey Agents; neither Light nor Dark, they are the conglomeration of rogue agents.  They may be just what Joanna needs if she is going to stay alive and get Cher's mother safely through her wedding.

This was a pretty good installment in this series.  Joanna's life as Olivia take center space for the first half of the book.  Now the heir to the Archer businesses Joanna must attend meetings, etc, while still keeping up Olivia's social life.  Given this I found the beginning of the book to drag a little bit.  Joanna spends a lot of time talking about how alone she is and how no one will help her; she has a point, but I kind of felt that we could have moved through this part a bit faster.  Joanna does seem to have matured some in this book, so that was good to see.  Some of the new characters introduced with the Grey Agents are interesting and should add some fun to the book.

Once Joanna meets up with the Grey Agents things pick up pace a lot.  There are numerous fight scenes and we begin to discern the direction that Pettersson is planning to take the story in future novels.  There are a couple of wonderful surprises in the second half of the story.  Joanna takes a few trips to Midheaven and even Hunter pops into the story a bit more.

Overall I thought the book started slow but really picked up in the second half and ended up being an enjoyable read.  Definitely a transition book in this series but a good one.  I enjoyed it in the end.  Now I am eager to read what happens next.

This book goes towards the following reading challenge:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Unbound edited by P.N. Elrod (4/5 stars)

This anthology includes 5 new stories by popular paranormal authors. In all cases (except for Marr's story) the stories are set in preexisting worlds created by the authors. My favorite of the bunch were "Ley Line Drifter" which gives you a closer look at Jenks' family and "Rekoning" which introduced me to Jeaniene Frost's writing. This book made me want to learn more both about Frost and Drake and read some of their series. "Dark Matters" by Petttersson is an important read for those of us reading the "Signs of the Zodiac" series as it explains in full some of the events that happened in "City of Souls". Marr's first adult story "Two Lines" was also a pleasant surprise and I liked it quite a bit more than her young adult series.

In general the stories in this book tend more towards action/urban fantasy than romance. I personally enjoyed that. All in all a great collection of stories. See below for more detail on each story in this anthology.

"Ley Line Drifter" by Kim Harrison (5/5 stars)
An excellent story set in Harrison's Hollows world, it's about Jenks helping a fellow pixie. You learn more about pixie culture and there is a ton of action. Given the ending I am wondering if what Jenks and Ivy unleashed will come back to haunt them in the next Hollows book.

"Reckoning" by Jeaniene Frost (5/5 stars)
A prequel to the Night Huntress series by Frost. This story tells about a vampire named Bones who is hired by the New Orleans Queen vampire to take out some serial killer Ghouls. On top of this hunt for the killers, someone is trying to kill Bones. I have never read any of Frost's Night Huntress books but based on this story I will have to check them out. I like her writing style; no-nonsense and lots of action. Bones was an intriguing character and Frost creates an interesting variation on paranormal alternate worlds.

"Dark Matters" by Vicki Pettersson (3/5 stars)
This is a prequel to her "Signs of the Zodiac series". It tells the background/history of JJ/Hunter. It was good to read a story that made the events in the "City of Souls" (book 4) make more sense. I still don't understand why "City of Souls" couldn't have explained what this story did. If you are reading the "Signs of the Zodiac" series then reading this story is a must. As for the story itself I didn't like it all that much (aside from the info it gives). The story is more a romance than anything and much of the action is pushed aside for numerous sex scenes. It was okay, but nothing to write home about.

"The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten" by Jocelynn Drake (4/5 stars)
Prequel to the Dark Days series by Jocelynn Drake; I have not read any books in this series. This story follows Mira as she tries to track down a nightwalker killer and avoid assassination herself. Both Mira and Knox are intriguing characters. The story was action packed and hints at an interesting world. An enjoyable read. I will have to check out the Dark Days series eventually to see how I like the full novels.

"Two Lines" by Melissa Marr (4/5 stars)
This story tells about Eaven, she is a human that will become a glasitig is she ever does two things: kill and have sex. She is hell bent on staying human. Things get out of control when she starts hunting a drug lord. When her grandmother provides a sexy bodyguard for her Eaven begins to wonder if her desire to stay human is worth the sacrifice. Not as much action as the other stories, this story presented a very unique world with supernatural creatures different than I was used to seeing. I actually like Marr's writing style in this story quite a bit more than her writing style in her "Wicked Lovely" series.

News - Next Anita Blake Book, Blue Bloods Book 5, and Sign of the Zodiac Book 5

I was researching the next books in series I am reading and ran across some information that was new to me.

The wikipedia article for Laurell Hamilton has been updated and showed that Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Book 18 will be entitled "Flirt". Amazon.com has the release date as Feb. 2nd 2010.

Melissa de la Cruz shared via Twitter that the 5th Blue Bloods book will be entitled "Misguided Angel" and will be released in the Fall of 2010. I know we are all still waiting for the 4th Blue Bloods book to come out in a few months. But just in case you wanted a head up :-)

Also is anyone is reading the "Signs of the Zodiac" series by Vicki Pettersson you will be happy to know that there is going to be a fifth book in the series. It is on her website that the book will be called "Cheat the Grave" and will be out in the summer of 2010.

Okay well that is all the news I have for now!

City of Souls (4th Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson (3/5 stars)

This is the 4th book in the Signs of the Zodiac series by Vicki Pettersson. It was my least favorite book in the series so far. Joanna is confused and is running around not accomplishing a whole lot for most of the book.

Joanna broke her changeling in the last book and because of that the Manuals of Light can't be written and the Light agents have lost all their safe zones. Needless to say the Agents of Light are in serious trouble. Warren tells Joanna that she better fix it ASAP and hints that Joanna will find her answers in Midland and that she should find the new tulpa (her doppelganger from the last book).

First for the good stuff. It was cool to learn more about Midland. It was also nice to have the doppelganger involved more. A lot of the plot elements relating to how the changelings affect the Agents' powers were really interesting.

Joanna screws up a lot in this book. Those who thought she was changing as a character in the third book will be disappointed. Even worse is the fact that many of the Agents of Light are not what they appear to be. By the end of the book I felt like there were no Agents of Light. I thought many of the characters acted very out of character; there weren't really any characters that I liked by the end of the book. The deal with Joanna and Hunter was kind of whacked; I can't say more without revealing spoilers. Also I thought it was odd how Joanna is trying to convincingly play Olivia's lifestyle in the beginning of the book but then she (kind of) forgets about being Olivia. There were some small parts where she has to "act like" Olivia; but there aren't really any repercussions for her walking out on the bachelorette party in the beginning or of her doing any other un-Olivia actions. There is one spoiler I need to address cause it irritated the heck out of me so...

SPOILER START-------------------------------------------
What was with the amount of time spent on Joanna losing pieces of her soul and powers? It seemed like it was going to play a really important part in the story; like getting her powers back was going to be a major plot point. Then at the end of the book she looses all of her powers. Well then what was the point of angsting over some small power loss. The only thing I can think of is that now she can go and get the lost power back or something like that. The way the book ended really made me wonder if this is the last book in the series.

Okay, I need to comment about Hunter and Warren too. Hunter was such a sincere character, what was the point of having him do a complete 180? Also what was the point of Warren aiding this whole twisted set-up?
SPOILER END----------------------------------------------

So overall I though the book was okay. Some of the plot line was interesting and the plot definitely twists and turns enough to keep your mind engaged (or at times just plan confused). The characters don't really act like themselves and the bizarre end to the book leaves you wondering if there will be anymore books in the series. Kind of a disappointing book but still kept my interest.

The Touch of Twilight (Third Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

This is the third book in the Sign of the Zodiac series by Vicki Pettersson. This book was a strong addition to the series, a lot happens, and many things from the last book are resolved.

In this book Joanna Archer is struggling with a number of things; one of the Shadow Agents (under cover as Rose) has her sights set on Joanna's childhood sweetheart Ben, Joanna is being hunted by a mysterious doppleganger, something has happened to the changeling that protects Joanna, the Tulpa is still trying to woe Joanna to the "darkside", and on top of all this the third sign of the Zodiac is imminent. Of course there is also the issue of Joanna's daughter, Joanna's lack of a relationship with Hunter, and Joanna's missing mother. When you take it all in, there is a lot going on in this book.

For the most part it was a very good book and I enjoyed it. I loved the addition of the doppleganger. I loved that more depth was added to Zane, the comic book store owner. I also liked that Joanna is learning more about her powers and finally taking a bit more responsibility for her actions. It was a very interesting book. I also liked that Pettersson is trying to take this a bit beyond most paranormals by adding a deep Mythos behind her characters and adding interesting theories of vibrational frequencies behind the power of the super heros.

There were a few things I didn't like though. For a lot of the book I feel like Joanna is confused and just has two much going on. It is almost like Joanna has horrible ADD and can't focus long enough to complete anything. It makes me wonder if maybe Pettersson is having some trouble focusing on what the point of the story is; maybe she's thrown too much at Joanna for this character to get things done in some symblance of order. Joanna's fixation with Ben and blindness towards him is irritating, as is her reluctance to accept her new life. Joanna's lack of training and knowledge is also irritating, usually in this type of story you would have at least a small period where the hero learns what their capabilities are and Joanna doesn't do that; she just stumbles through the story. Also, even though I liked the inclusion of scientific theory behind the special super hero powers, I felt like the vibrational theory explanation was a bit contrived. It felt like Pettersson was making up these theories on the fly and hadn't really thought them though.

Even though this wasn't the tightest most well put together story that I have ever read, and the main character seemed unfocused and scattered at times, it was still a very good book. Joanna has a lot of depth as a character and the story is wildly creative and interesting. Joanna does redeem herself at the end, showing that she is growing as a character and making progress in accepting who she is. This isn't quite the book I had hoped it would be, but I have high hopes for the next novel. These books are just a hair away from being something really extraordinary.

Holidays are Hell edited by Kim Harrison (5/5 stars)

This was a compilation of four novellas edited by Kim Harrison. Overall I thought it was a great set of stories. I zipped through this book so fast. My favorite story was the Kim Harrison one; my least favorite Six by Liu.

Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel is by Kim Harrison
This was a great prequel to the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison. It was a lovely stand alone story, but had more impact if you have read that series. It was fun to read about a younger Rachel who is still struggling to recover from Rosewood syndrome and trying to decide if she should join the IS or not. It was nice to read about a time in her life that helped get her to where she is at the start of the series. Great quality of writing, excellent, just like all of Kim Harrison's stories.

Run, Run Rudolph by Lynsay Sands
This story was a surprise for me. It was funny, light-hearted, and I really liked it. I have never read anything by Lynsay Sands before. I liked her light writing style. There is nothing heavy or cotemplative here, but it was a fun read all the same. I might check out more of her writing based on this story. Basically it tells about a woman who gets zapped by a molecular experimental machine and can change shape. She ends up being hunted from someone from her brother's past and what ensues is pretty funny.

Six by Marjorie M. Liu
This was my least favorite story. I have never read anything by Liu before. This story was about a Chinese agent, your basic trained from birth assasin, and how she ends up getting involved in the paranormal community. Liu did a good job of switching writing style when she switched character perspective. Still, I didn't care for the writing style and I though the heroine was a bit boring.

The Harvest by Vicki Pettersson
This was a prequel to the Signs of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson. The story is told from Zoe Archer's (Joann's mom) point of view. It tells us more about what happened to Joann's daughter and give interesting insight into both Zoe's relationship with the Tulpa and her relationship with Warren (the leader of the Light Zodiac). I am not sure how good of a stand-alone story this is; but if you have read some of Pettersson's books you will absolutely love this story. It explains so much about why Zoe did what she did and sheds a lot of Light on why Warren and Joann interact the way they do.

All in all a great combination of stories. I plan on ordering some of the other Hell compilations that have been edited by Harrison. Hopefully those will be as high of quality as this book was.

The Taste of Night by Vicki Pettersson (4/5 stars)

This was the second book of the Signs of the Zodiac series by Vicki Pettersson. I didn't think book was quite as good as the first one, but it was still a fast-paced and fun adventure to read.

With the second sign of the Zodiac looming imminent over the city of Las Vegas, Joanna Archer is desperate to figure out what the Shadows next move is. Unfortunately the rest of Light team is happy that things are in balance and are content to let things stand as they are. Will Joanna act on her own and foresake her other Light members? Will she finally get her revenge against the Shadow who raped her? Is she still able to pull off being Olivia without any mishaps? All of these questions and more are answered in this book.

This was a great book. Things happened quickly and a lot happened. The whole story was wrapped up nicely and nothing seemed forced, the pacing was great. It was hard to put the book down and I was holding my breath the whole time wondering what would happen next.

There was a lot I liked about this book. I liked the progression of the story in general. I liked Hunter, I liked JoAnna, I even think that the Tulpa makes a great bad guy. I love that the idea of events being reported in comic books was expanded. I loved the inclusion of more philisophy around believing things into existance. I think this is a great series.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was that Joanna really made a horrible heroine. She made mistake after mistake, and sometimes I wanted to smack her and talk some sense into her. Luckily though, by the end of the book, it seemed like Joanna was maturing and coming into her own as a heroine. I hope that this trend continues throughout the next book. That is one thing I don't like about the Anna Strong Chronicles, I am four books into that series and Anna is still making the same mistakes she made in the first couple books. Characters need to change and mature.

I conclusion, I love this series. I have the third book and am very excited to read it!

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Petterson (4/5 stars)

The Scent of Shadows is the First Sign of the Zodiac; the first book in Petterson’s Zodiac series. This book exceeded my expectations. I was braced for yet another paranormal series featuring an angsty heroine; but what I got was so much more than that. This book is something both men and women would greatly enjoy; it is much more of a super hero story than a paranormal romance.

Joanna Archer is an heiress. Her father Xavier Archer is a Las Vegas tycoon who owns a number of casinos in Las Vegas. Joanna’s sister, Olivia, is more your typical playboy bunny type of heiress, while Joanna is kind of the black sheep in the family. In her early teens Joanna suffered a devastating attack that left her different, more brooding than her fun loving sister Olivia. Joanna turned to photography; taking pictures of the dark side of Las Vegas. Then the day before her 25th birthday she was attacked on a blind date, only to be rescued by her childhood sweetheart Ben – now a cop. What Joanna didn’t know was that the streets of Las Vegas were not what they seemed to be, and on her 25th birthday she would undergo a change that she had never imaged.

This is a well-written, fast-paced book. What I really liked though is the complexity and creativity of the Zodiac troop and their alternate realities. This book left behind many typical paranormal series subjects and took me somewhat unexpectedly into the realm of comic book heroes. With the Zodiac troop zipping in and out of alternate realities there was a little sci-fi in here too. The Zodiac fighters of both the Light and Dark troops are intriguing; their powers very superhero-like and also very varied. The comic books that serve as their newspapers are creative, comical, and intriguing. The epic struggle of Light and Dark in a city constantly balanced on the edge of sin is compelling. Joanna is a complicated character, as are many of the characters presented to us in the Zodiac troop.

The major story arc is nicely resolved; but a large number of side stories are left unresolved, leaving me yearning for the next book.

I did have a couple issues with this book. The first is that it *is* complicated. The set-up is a bit confusing, although to Petterson’s credit the idea behind the Zodiac troop is complicated, creative, and something very new to her readers. So, I expected the set-up to take a bit of time for me to be comfortable with; I am happy to say by the end of the book I did understand it and ceased to feel slightly confused. My other complaint with the book would be that the characters superhero powers are not well defined. I am still not quite sure I understand what Joanna’s power is, I am not quite sure I understand what the other characters powers are either. Maybe Petterson wants the unveiling of their powers to be deliberate and purposeful, or maybe she just did a poor job of conveying them in the story…time will tell which it is.

That being said I think this book is much better than the Anna Strong Chronicles or the Mercy Thompson series. It is not quite as good as Kim Harrion’s series. It is more on par with the Dante Valentine books. I hope that the future books can continue to elaborate on this story; I also hope that Joanna doesn’t fall into the pit of darkness that Dante Valentine did and continues to show the Light in her character.