DIK Challenge Review - Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh

Vampire hunter Elena is hired by Raphael, the archangel of New York to track another archangel who has been consumed by bloodlust. Left with little choice but to accept the offer she soon finds herself in more danger than she can handle, drawn to Raphael with a passion she can't deny and finding out secrets that the archangels can't afford to let her know.

Angel's Blood was a DIK pick of Little Alys - so far I'm keeping up the trend of picking a book from a different DIK lady every month. I don't know why this book has been on my TBR pile for so long. I love Nalini Singh's writing but for some reason after I bought it I never seemed to be in the mood to pick it up. But boy am I glad I finally did. I loved it.

The vampire and angel mythology is quickly explained at the beginning of the story, Angels are the masters of the vampires and create them from a chosen few. In exchange for the 'gift' of immortality a vampire agrees to serve the angels for a hundred years. Some vampires however, choose to run rather than keep their end of the bargain and that's where the vampire hunters come in. However, this isn't the whole truth, we discover the more complete story as Elena does.

Elena is perhaps an almost typical UF heroine - kickass...

"You ask a lot of questions for a dead woman."
"What can I say? I prefer to die well informed."

...independent, she cares for her friends but is estranged from her family.

Raphael on the other hand is a refreshingly different 'hero'. He's arrogant, ruthless, logical and calculating - he has to be, he cannot afford for his rule or his judgement to be questioned.

"I don't like to play games."
"Learn."

The chemistry between him and Elena is apparent almost from their first meeting. She refuses to allow him to ride roughshod over her, even though she knows how dangerous it is to deny his request. I thought The Quiet was an interesting concept - a state that Raphael enters into where he becomes ruled by reason and ruthless logic.

I love stories where the protagonists change something in each other. In the case of Angel's Blood the changes are both physical as well as the way they perceive the other. This is a relationship that has only just begun, it's not going to be smooth or easy, but it wouldn't be as compelling if it were.

I thought Nalini Singh's angels were unique, something I hadn't read before. However, they did remind me slightly of the Vorlons from Babylon 5 - imposing their own order on the Universe. Part of me did wonder if the last line of the book

"So it begins."

was intentional. I'm sure this line was said by Kosh (my favourite Vorlon, lol,) in Babylon 5.

This book works very well as an introduction to the world of angels and vampires. We get an immediate sense of how the world works but are left with lots to find out. There are plenty of interesting secondary characters I want to know more about:- Raphael's bodyguards - the Seven, Ilium (I want to know more about the flaw that caused his fall), Ransom and Dmitri (a very sexy vampire), and also how the relationship and dynamic between the angels and vampires works. It's an incredibly rich world and I'm looking forward to going back there.

If I had any quibbles it would be that I didn't always picture the angels with wings. I found it a little difficult to get a picture in my head of how their clothes worked round the wings, how Raphael fit in the bath and why his wings dried so quickly and didn't get waterlogged. Just the little things that niggle at you while you're reading.

Considering this book took me quite a while to get round to. I am desperately looking forward to reading Book 2 as soon as it arrives.

In the Blood by Adrian Phoenix

In the Blood picks up where A Rush of Wings ended with certain forces in government eliminating all evidence of project Bad Seed - the programme designed to produce sociopathic killers under the control of the authorities - leaving Dante and Heather not knowing who they can trust. Meanwhile Lucien the Fallen is caught between protecting Dante his son, and the rest of the Fallen who would see the young Maker installed on their Chaos Throne.

This was the Kelley Armstrong bookclub book for March and I'm sorry that I missed so much of the discussion there, unfortunately it's taking me quite a long time at the moment to get through a book. First off - the cover this time is a 100% improvement over the previous one, less streetwalker, more street smart and is much closer to my own image of Heather and she's even wearing a trench coat. :)

This is a complex tale that builds on the story from the first book, so I can't recommend that you start the series here. Instead I'd recommend you check out A Rush of Wings first. In the Blood has conspiracy on conspiracy on conspiracy but Dante stands at the centre, still hardcore when it comes to the truth, setting an almost impossible standard for others. Lucien tries to tell him

"The truth is never what you hope it will be...And the cost is always higher than you imagine."

If Dante is going to be saved then the Bad Seed project needs putting to rest once and for all, but Bad Seed are no longer the only people after Dante, everyone wants a piece of him for their own purposes, from the shady human government to the Fallen angels. Which brings me to the quote that is at the centre of the book for me, and one which could be applied to most of the characters. Again from Lucien,

"We all do what we must. Each one of us. Then once we've done what was necessary, we begin anew."

More characters are introduced here - Heather's father and sister. And my favourite new character Caterina Cortini - the cleaner - human child of a vampire. She walks between two worlds having not yet made the choice which she'll live in. Through her we learn a little more about the vampire culture and I hope she'll have a role to play in future books.

There is a point in this story towards the end where everything starts to go a little haywire - this is in keeping with the tale and the worldbuilding but I find myself going 'Whoooaaaa, I'm not quite sure about this' and it's credit to Adrian Phoenix's storytelling that she manages to keep me on the ride. In fact if I had any complaints it would be that occasionally I lose track of who the characters are - there is quite a large cast and towards the end as we build towards the climax we get multiple points of view. The one I kept not being able to place was Sheridan. In the previous book if I remember correctly it was Silver and Simone I kept getting confused - maybe I have a problem with names beginning with S?

It seems we haven't yet seen the limits of Dante's powers. The next book Beneath the Skin releases early 2010. And I can't wait to find out what happens next.

The Road to Hell - Jackie Kessler

WARNING - this review contains spoilers for Hell's Belles.

The Road to Hell by Jackie Kessler. Published November 2007

Darn it I thought TBR Wednesday was next week. I was being all clever and organized. :sigh: So apologies for any typos and YAY you get two reviews today instead of one.

Reason for this being in the TBR pile - I'm not sure really. It's just one of those books that never quite made it to the top of the pile.

The Road to Hell continues Jesse Harris's story begun in Hell's Belles (see review below). Although Jesse is no longer a succubus, she won the right to have a soul at the end of the previous book. Now mortal she is trying to enjoy the life she has with Paul, her boyfriend. Unfortunately Hell doesn't want to let her go that easily. And they're willing to use Paul's immortal soul to get her back.

I enjoyed this slightly more than Hell's Belles. Maybe I've settled into the characters more, but I really enjoyed Jesse's voice here, she's even more sarcastic, sardonic and wickedly witty than she was in the previous book. I'm sure her mental note count has increased.

Mental note: Finish planning the rescue before executing it.

This series is still being marketed as Parnormal Romance - so wrong. Jesse is a great heroine, one of my favourites in UF, but I just don't see her as PNR material, and I think this is why the book has so many problem reviews on Amazon. Jesse seduces a female angel (not her girlfriend), has sex with an incubus (not her boyfriend) and and the book starts with her doing a lap dance. Definitely not your typical PNR heroine, she's rude, crude and probably socially unacceptable - and I absolutely love her.

The beginning of the book is absolutely full of stuff that I want to quote here. I think I got to page 23 and realized I wanted to quote most of it because it was so funny. But I'll have to restrict myself.

"You can't claim me for Hell. My soul's clean." Benefit of being only thirty days old in mortal years: that's not a lot of time to wreak havoc.

I love that even when everything in her life is going down the toilet she can still pull out a fast one liner.

One of my favourite things about Jesse is that she doesn't try to be anything other than what she is. Though admittedly she is trying to do her best with the whole human having a soul thing. But even though she has all the tact of a brick in the face, she still manages to pick up friends and seduce angels.

If I had to sum up what The Road to Hell was for me - it's a kind of Urban Fantasy Orpheus and Eurydice tale but with demons, sex and a reversal of gender roles. The book is in two halves - the first part dealing with Hell doing its utmost to get Jesse back, and the second part as Jesse descends back into Hell having been left with no other choice but to return. It has to be said there are a lot less jokes in the second half of the book, but the stakes are a lot higher, so there's less to be witty about.

Even so Jesse proves to be handy with the smart comment

I pressed the staple gun against his mouth and pulled the trigger. SNIKT!...
"I warned you, you little fuck."

and the staple gun. Okay, maybe it's not the wittiest remark ever but it's direct and to the point.

The second half didn't work quite as well for me. Maybe because I'm not completely sure where the story is going, so I'm finding the whole Angels take over Hell thing a little bit difficult to get my head round. At the end it feels like Jesse's story is complete - if only for the moment. But the overall arc of what's happening between Heaven, Hell and Earth is still unresolved. I'm hoping we get more answers in Book 3 Hotter than Hell (Daun's story)which fingers crossed I'll get hold of soon. Amazon UK don't have it as available but I'm hoping that's a temporary problem.

Also available.
Book 1 - Hell's Belles (First part of Jesse's story)
Book 3 - Hotter than Hell (Daun's story)

Wicked Deeds on a Winters Night by Kresley Cole

Number 4 in the Immortals After Dark series published in 2007. WDOAWN got stuck on my TBR pile because I never seemed to get around to reading book 2.

WDOAWN is Bowen and Mariketa's story and partly takes place at the same time as NRFTW (Are you following these acronyms?) during the Talisman's Hie, so I think it would be helpful if you're familiar with that book. Bowen if you remember was after the prize so he could go back in time and save his mate. During the Hie he trapped Mariketa and several other supernaturals. Unfortunately this has upset (to put it mildly) their supernatural races and is threatening to start a major interspecies incident. So it falls to Bowen to go and rescue Mariketa. But that's just the beginning.

With every book in this series I'm hooked more. They just seem to keep getting better and better, which is great if a little worrying.

The glue that holds this whole story together is Bowen and Mariketa's relationship. There's quite a bit of other external stuff going on - The Talisman's Hie, interfering Valkyries, lots more intriguing hints dropped about other characters - mainly the proper introduction of Rydstrom and Cade (they have a younger sister) and who exactly is stalking Regin? (Aside - so glad that Cade has got his own book.)

Their relationship basically starts off as a confrontation and though they have a chemistry between them Bowen is far too caught up in the need to win the Hie and save his mate. So he betrays Mariketa and traps her to prevent her continuing with the Hie. Not the best way to start a courtship. It's only after he goes back to rescue her and they have to work together to escape the jungle that the spark between them becomes something more. But the course of their love isn't going to run smoothly, just when it seems everything has come into place for them the past rises up to bite Bowen on the ass, and he has to decide who and what he really wants.

So let's start with the hero. I like Bowen (more than Mariketa). I liked him in the previous books and I like him here. He's one of those characters who doesn't really have a filter between his brain and his mouth. Maybe this is a Lykae trait as I seem to remember Lachlain from AHLNO being similar. When he feels it is deeply and completely. Even when he loses the Hie, he still asks Wroth if he used the key both times. He never gives up. And he also knows himself very well.

Today he'd learned that she didn't proffer blood sacrifices at an altar - always a gratifying detail to learn about a potential mate.

Mariketa, she's young and in some ways immature. She lies to Bowen about how often she's using her powers even though it's dangerous for her to do so. Some of her behaviour is understandable. He wants her to contain an essential part of herself - akin to her asking him to give up his animal instinct. But sometimes in romances you feel like shouting at the protagonists - just talk to one another damnit!

"Just give me five minutes to get dressed...Five goddamned minutes, Mariketa!"
"Toxic goddamned relationship, Bowen!"

Yep, Bowen makes perhaps one of the biggest mistakes it's possible for a man to make. Despite all the confrontations in their relationship, there's something warm and fuzzy about it too.

But eventually (as with Lachlain) Bowen comes to a realisation of what he has in Mariketa. Though it takes nearly losing her to open his eyes and his heart. Certain scenes Kresley Cole writes so well, she puts you through the wringer. Then just when you think they've finally got it together she takes it away from you, and makes the protagonists work even harder for their happy ending.

And she never lets her protagonists say I love you before time. Even though there are confusions, eventually her characters talk to one another and when they finally open up it feels real and it works.

This is one of my favourite series and even though the next one has a ghost for a heroine :sigh: (I don't really do ghost stories). I'm cautiously looking forward to it.

Tangled Webs by Anne Bishop

This is the Kelley Armstrong bookclub book for April.

I will admit to being slightly worried about this one after reading a couple of reviews, and it's a hardback. But I like to take part in the book discussion on Kelley's site, so thought I'd risk it.

So this review comes with a caveat. I love the Black Jewels series, I love the world and the mythology. I'm familiar with the trilogy, and the anthology, and I've read the previous standalone novel. The review grade I guess, is for other readers who've done the same. I don't think I could recommend this book to anyone unless they had at least read the trilogy. You need the background, I think, to get the most out of the story. If you haven't read the trilogy and like dark fantasy I heartily recommend it. :)

I think the Dear Reader at the beginning of the book is important, it says what this story is, a tale set after the epic battle has been fought. It's a what happened next. It's a catching up with old friends, who now deal with family problems instead of major catastrophes.

So Tangled Webs follows the Sa Diablo family in the aftermath of the events of the trilogy and takes place after the short story in the Dreams Made Flesh anthology. The story is told from multiple points of view. We catch up with Lucivar and Marian, Daemon and Jaenelle, Saetan, Surreal and Rainier. Jaenelle has decided she's going to 'build' a spooky house to scare the Landen families as they don't understand what being Blood really means. At the same time an author is looking for a new story to tell, and in Jaenelle's spooky house he sees a way to manipulate events to spark his own creative drive.

The beginning of the story is more a series of vignettes about the various family members. How they're coping (or not coping) with normal family life. For me this took a little getting into and the spooky house doesn't really come into play until you're well into the book.

The second half of the book follows Surreal and Rainier as they and several landen children try to escape from the Spooky house trap that has been set for them. As Surreal says :-

"Someone has cast us as the lead characters in a mystery about a house that's trying to kill us. Does that about sum it up?"

At the same time we see what Daemon, Lucivar and Jaenelle are doing to rescue them. Anne Bishop doesn't pull her punches. This is still a world where terrible things can and do happen.

There's some wonderful dialogue and set pieces, plus the characters are so familiar now, you can picture everything that's happening as the story unfolds.

"I had considered making a sign that said 'I have a sharp knife and a large Warlord Prince' and floating it over my head, but I don't want to tell anyone about the knife until after I use it, and anyone dumb enough not to notice you deserves to get knocked into a wall."

I think if you aren't a fan of the books you're going to come away thinking nothing much happened. But I guess it depends on why you're reading. There's something about the Black Jewels books that always leaves me wanting more. Just something about that world that fascinates and I hope there are many more books to come.

The Crossroads Cafe by Deborah Smith

The Crossroads Cafe follows the lives of two strangers, Cathryn Deen and Thomas Mitternich as they first become friends and then something more. Both have been scarred by life - Cathryn is physcially scarred when she is horrifically burnt in a car accident, and Thomas is mentally scarred by guilt and depression following the death of his wife and son in the World Trade Center on September 11th.

I read a review of The Crossroads Cafe on I Just Finished Reading. I then checked out Deborah Smith's site, and read the excerpts of the book that are available there. And when, at the end of the excerpt I wanted to read more, I bought the book. The excerpt reminded me a little of Susan Elizabeth Phillips whose books I enjoy.

Before I talk about the story, I'll just mention that as a reading experience it's an incredibly well-constructed book. Split into seven parts each section is introduced with various quotes applicable to that part of the story. At the end there's a reading guide of 12 questions to spark discussion for anyone who's reading it as part of a bookclub. Plus three recipes for biscuits if you're taken with the urge to try baking some yourself after reading about them in the book.

The book alternates between Cathy and Thomas's point of view, we get to experience the events that unfold through both of them. This lends itself very well to the story and I'm glad we got to see inside both of their heads.

Following the accident, Thomas is persuaded by Cathryn's cousin (Delta, owner of The Crossroads Cafe) to phone the hospital posing as Cathryn's husband so they can find out what's happening to her. Unbeknownst to them, Cathryn's husband has already distanced himself from her and isn't visiting her. It is the phone calls and packages from Delta that give Cathryn the strength to keep going, even when she's reached rock bottom.

Meanwhile, Thomas has problems of his own. An alcoholic, he hasn't come to terms with the death of his wife and child, holding himself responsible for their loss.

When Cathryn returns to her grandmother's North Carolina home to make a new life for herself, she gradually begins a relationship with Thomas, that will eventually heal them both.

How to describe this book. In some ways it reminds me of Brothers & Sisters (a programme I swore I wouldn't get addicted to, but did. And I apologize if I seem to be comparing books more and more often to tv shows. LOL). The book deals with a difficult subject matter for both Thomas and Cathryn, but it is full of witty, wry, self-depracating dialogue that brings a smile to your face, whilst at the same time taking you into the hearts of the characters and their community.

"Ravel...was...approximately seven hundred feet above sea level. I was at 4,000 feet. I needed to know she had to look up to me."

The car accident is horrific and hearbreaking, and did have me in tears. Then, the way we hear Cathryn's thoughts when she's in the burn ward, as the doctor explains her situation is very realistic. How she just isn't taking the comments in. How her internal commentary doesn't match up to what people are telling her.

In a way the relationship between Cathy and Thomas starts before either of them have ever met. Thomas writes to her, filling her in on the things that are happening in the North Carolina community. He names a cow after her. It gives her something to hold onto, when she feels like she has nothing left.

Although the initial scenes of the accident are intense, for the most part the book has a slow pace that draws you into the world of The Crossroads Cafe. You follow the burgeoning relationship between Cathy and Thomas, their progression from friends, to lovers, to family. Towards the end I felt like the plot had lost it's way a little bit, and maybe it was slightly longer than it needed to be, but this is a book that I would come back to re-read again and again. Just like catching up with an old friend.

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson

SPOILERS POSSIBLE SPOILERS POSSIBLE SPOILERS POSSIBLE

Where to begin. Joanna Archer has a destiny of which she is unaware. Attacked at 16 and left for dead, she survived against all the odds. But unbeknownst to her time was still running out - now it's almost up. On her 25th birthday she'll be faced with a choice - live or die, fight for the light or the dark. Now as she discovers her family secrets and finds out who she is, she'll take her place in the Zodiac.

This is one of the best books I have read this year. (I will mention here that I'm a huge X-Men and Heroes fan, please note the bias). Combining superheroes and urban fantasy into a compulsive read. Joanna is a flawed heroine, she complains, she bitches and she's got a smart mouth, but she's human, she's real and you empathise with her. And when push comes to shove she gets on with it. It's the fact that she isn't perfect that makes her so interesting to read. She has a duality, drawn to the light and the dark, and she acknowledges that part of herself that is frightening.

Example - when she confronts the construction worker. At the time it seems a bitchy but trivial thing. How many of us speak without thinking every day. But for Joanna it's different, her actions have tragic consequences. It illustrates how easy it would be for her to turn towards the dark.

My favourite quote from the book - "Tell me, XXX, because I feel like I'm missing something here, but what part of 'meet me at the Peppermill' means 'go fight Ajax at the corner drugstore'?" (XXX replaces a character name which would be a big spoiler).

The other characters are equally interesting and well written - Olivia the perfect sister, Warren the mentor with a disturbing past of his own, Chandra the jealous initiate who feels Joanna has stolen her place. What lifts this story above others is the fact it's made clear that though you may be born to the light or dark Zodiac you still have a choice, you can change. Shades of grey are nearly always more interesting to read about than black and white.

Must quickly mention here the comic shop scene which is my favourite from the book and I thought very reminiscent of a similar scene from The Lost Boys movie. Joanna tries to find out about being a superhero (agent of the Zodiac) from the comic books that have been written about them (called manuals), as she's trailed round the shop by suspicious geeks. Just a wonderfully written segment. (Being something of a sci-fi geek I like the whole comic book/trading card angle. :) )

It is another 'The One' story, where Joanna is being hailed as The Kairos born from a mother of the light and a father of the dark. (Naomi, possibly not one for you :)) But I wonder if it's going to be that simple, or if Vicki Pettersson is going to go Star Wars on us. When Joanna was raped at 16 it was by an Agent of the Dark Zodiac and she gave birth to a little girl (the Zodiacs are matrilineal). So if Joanne chooses to be an agent of light...Methinks she really needs to find her daughter no matter how much she doesn't want to, before Grandpa gets his hands on her.

The story isn't perfect, after I finished the book it occurred to me that there were not necessarily plot inconsistencies but certainly confusions (though this could be a personal thing). Especially as regards who did and did not know who Joanna was, hopefully this will be made clearer in future books. I know other people take issue with the fact that a) a cop left his front door open and b) Joanna was able to sneak away from him without him waking up. I do think the sneaking away was pretty much covered in the set up, so I can forgive that. There are also a couple of typos, at least I hope they are typos. On page 414 'ions and electrodes' bumped along Joanna's skin like 'blind bees'. The ions I get, the electrodes(?), possibly it's meant to be electrons, but I like that only slightly better than electrodes.

But this is such a fantastic rollercoaster read that I don't really care too much about these minor problems and the first thing I did after I finished it was order book #2. Highly recommended.

Book #2 The Taste of Night (April 2007)
The Harvest - short story in Holidays are Hell (Nov 2007) featuring Joanna's mother.
Book #3 The Touch of Twilight

Wraith by Phaedra Weldon

SPOILERS POSSIBLE SPOILERS POSSIBLE SPOILERS POSSIBLE

Zoe Martinique is a private investigator with a difference, she has the ability to travel outside of her body - an ability she uses to find out information she wouldn't otherwise have access to. However, one night, things go seriously wrong when she witnesses a murder, worse still, the killer is also a Traveler and tries to pursue her. Now it's a race against time, as Zoe tries to help the detective investigating the case, whilst staying one step ahead of the bad guys.

Bear with the first few pages where Zoe introduces herself and explains the mechanics of astral travel because once the story gets going you're in for a wild ride. Wraith is written in a first person, stream of consciousness style that won't be for everybody - we get to hear every thought that passes through Zoe's head without benefit of a filter. But by chapter 7 I've got a smile on my face and am running with the story. I don't want to put the book down.

As well as the mystery of the murder and why the killer can see Zoe (be warned it gets complicated so you'll need to concentrate), we get to eavesdrop on the various relationships in Zoe's life. This book has one of the most realistic mother/daughter relationships I've read. To begin with it seems very fraught, with the inevitable frictions that such close relationships can develop, but eventually you see that there is an incredibly deep love between the two characters - this made the book for me.

Zoe does take stupid risks, a fact for which she is somewhat apologetic - usually after the fact, with promises to herself not to repeat such mistakes in future. Unlike some TSTL heroines I think there is a valid reason for her behaviour. She first astral projects during a brutal attack which leaves her in a coma. So maybe she feels that if she didn't continue to behave as she wanted to - even when she knows she's taking a risk - that she would be denying a part of herself. But sometimes she should! Hopefully by the end of this book she's learnt that lesson - somehow I doubt it.

I'm going to take a moment here to mention the rape scene, as I know a couple of people who may decide this book is not for them because of this. I don't believe the scene is gratuitous in the slightest, it is necessary to the plot because it's the first time Zoe leaves her body. However, it is disturbing and unpleasant - I had already decided as I was reading it how it was going to go, when things suddenly changed I was broadsided. And at that moment I connected with the character (with Zoe) which made it even harder to read. The scene which follows in the hospital between Zoe and her mother was so well written, it's when you as a reader I think for the first time see Zoe acknowledge how much her mother cares for her.

If I had to be picky there are a couple of places where I wasn't 100% sure of what was going on - though eventually I think I understood the hierarchy of phantasm, symbiont and Wraith. Please don't ask me to explain it though :). And for some reason whenever Zoe fancies someone her thighs swell! I think I understand what was being conveyed but it did bring to mind images of She-Hulk and ripping trousers. Also the epilogue (which takes place two weeks after the main story concludes), gives Wraith a slightly strange ending, but that may be a more subjective comment. I'd be interested to hear what other people thought. Could be I was just gutted that there wasn't an excerpt for the next book. :(

However, when the story is this original and the characters and dialogue are so well written, such minor things are easily forgiven and forgotten. There are several dangling plot threads that need tying up, so my fingers are crossed that this isn't the last we've heard from Zoe Martinique. I want to know what trouble she's going to get herself into next.