Book 43 - Little Black Lies by Sandra Block

I enjoyed this book for the most part...lots of good psychology refreshers for me and a good little plot twist.  And...the author is a neurologist...I find that awesome.

I do have a few small complaints though...I feel like the characters could have been developed more and the ending felt completely rushed like the deadline was on and it needed to be wrapped up asap.

Anyway...on to the synopsis of the story...and this is going to be brief and rushed because it's basically all you need to know.

Dr. Zoe Goldman is a psychiatric resident dealing with her own bullshit and her own psychiatric issues.  She's got ADHD in that can't sit still and OMG SQUIRREL kind of way so she's on Adderall.  She has a weekly uncomfortable couch session with her therapist (and by that I mean the couch is literally uncomfortable...not some taboo psychiatrist/patient sex thing going on) in his nautical themed office (douchebaggery) to discuss her birth mother having died in a fire and her adoptive mother having early onset dementia to the point she is already in an assisted living facility.   Zoe was given a newspaper article regarding the fire, a picture of her and her birth mother (supposedly), and the obituary of her birth mother.  She also is now having a dream that she hasn't had for at least 10 years so it's all got her wondering about her birth mother.  Her own mother is a dead end due to the dementia so she tries dream rehearsal and hypnosis, but those lead to no answers at all.  She's also got this shitty mathematician French ex-boyfriend who has moved away and can't decide if he still wants to be with her or not so he's stringing her ass along and she's letting him even though there's a super hot nurse named Mike who is all about her.  So...she's got all of this shit going on, plus she's supposed to help other crazy people...

Enter her newest patient, Sofia Vallano who has been in institutions for years because when she was an early teen she killed her mother and stabbed her brother in the eye.  Good night...
Long story short, Sofia is bat shit fucking crazy, claims her dad raped her and her mother let it happen but she apparently doesn't remember this until her long lost brother (with one less eye) comes to visit.  He's such the spitting image of dear old dad that is just kicks all of these traumatic memories back into play.  I call bullshit you crazy bitch.  But, she can't seem to remember killing her mother...but she remembers stabbing her brother...kind of.  Again...I call bullshit.

Anyway, when all is said and done, Zoe learns that the picture of her and her birth mother is some other woman and her daughter, the article about the fire and the obituary are fake, but the only mother she really needs to care about is the one who adopted her and went through all of this trouble to protect her.  Because the truth is....SOFIA IS HER SISTER!  DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!!!  When Zoe was little her psychotic sister killed their mother and stabbed their brother while he was trying to protect Zoe.  Zoe was adopted by the social worker who handled her case while her brother went to foster homes until he was old enough to get out of the system.  Of course, Sofia tries to kill her ass upon revealing all of this but she makes it out alive and Sofia is still bat shit crazy.  Zoe breaks up with Jean-Luc (the mathematician French ex-boyfriend) because he's an overall asshole and actually gives things a shot with Mike.  Yay happy endings.

So yeah...big plot twist was Sofia.  It all happened relatively fast and while I should have seen it coming I didn't.  I did enjoy the psychological terms and the drug names though because that shit is all in my interest areas.  This book was a fast little read with a good plot twist so if Block puts out another book, I'd probably pick it up.

Book 42 - Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

So I'm halfway through this book and had to put it down.  If you've read my review of Beautiful Disaster then you know Abby and Travis frustrate the shit out of me...

So for everyone's sanity, and to prevent me from cunt punting someone, I'm putting it down for a while and will resume at a later date.

Book 41 - Angel Time: Songs of the Seraphim by Anne Rice

LOVED. LOVED. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED!  

More...yes, please, and thank you!  

This was my first Anne Rice novel...shocking, I know.  I loved every single page of this book.  I was utterly drawn in and didn't want to put it down. 

The book opens with a man describing himself, the Mission Inn, and the nearby San Juan Capistrano with its Serra Chapel.  Rice gets a little wordy here but if you can make it through all of the elaborate descriptions of the buildings, it picks up speed.  The stage is set for the narrator, a contract killer, to take the hit on a target given to him by 'The Right Man' as he calls his boss.  The problem with the whole situation though, is the Mission Inn is the one place Lucky the Fox can be himself - without disguises, without fear.  He stays in the honeymoon suite, the Amistad Suite, every time he stays at the Mission Inn where he reads for hours on end about angels, theology, the Renaissance, the Dark Ages; and he plays the lute.  How cool is that?  And how random is that?  I've never read a book before about anyone who played the lute...for fun!  I immediately liked Lucky the Fox as he is known when he's a hit man.  Lucky has been battling with his own faith in God for years and asks the big questions of God.  Why him?  Why did He let certain events happen?  And even goes so far as to tell God he doesn't believe He exists.  I really found myself relating to him in that I feel I've been on my own spiritual journey for the past year and a half...trying to find my way back to God, regretting ever having walked away, finding peace and joy in the bad times, rejoicing in the good times.  I just really found myself having a moment with this character that I've never had with any other.  So for me, this really hit home and was probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much.  

Anyway, Lucky carries out the hit, silently with poison that looks like a heart attack, but he notices a man sitting on the terrace outside the room.  The man can't see him, Lucky knows because he knows everything about this room.  He's stayed in it so many times, himself.  His sanctuary has now been defiled by murder.  And in his head is the voice telling him to kill himself.  End it all.  Use the other syringe he brought (as a backup/just in case) and take his own life.  Enter in that eternal darkness.  It is when this voice is at its loudest, louder than it's ever been before, that the man on the terrace steps in and tells him not to listen to it.  Of course, Lucky things he's hallucinating the man, especially when the man tells Lucky he is an angel and he has a special mission for Lucky.  Lucky cleans up his stuff, leaves the room, leaves the hotel, and heads back to his own garage to rid himself of the accoutrement he required for the hit...all the while the angel, now identified for Lucky's purposes as Malchiah, walks along with him and gets in his van with him.  Lucky things he's going crazy.  It is not until Malchiah shows Lucky his life that things begin to change...

Lucky the Fox was born as Toby O'Dare in New Orleans.  He didn't have it easy.  His father was a power wielding cop who liked to proposition prostitutes and then beat them.  He went to prison and was stabbed after only being in for 2 months.  His mother was an alcoholic who really completely fell into the abyss after her husband was sent to prison.  He had one brother, Jacob, and one sister, Emily; both younger.  He worked hard playing his lute on the street for money and when he was a bit older he got a job at a restaurant playing the lute.  On weekends he would work tirelessly on the street corners.  He became the bread winner and care taker of his mother, brother, and sister.  He also went to school, maintained good grades, and even regularly attended church.  He met a girl, Liona, and immediately became enraptured with her.  He lost his virginity to her and tried regularly to see her on top of everything else he already did.  Sometimes, when he was on the street corners playing his lute, she would come join him and sing.  They were to meet up and attend their high school graduation together; but on this particular day, his mother was being just extra.  He left the apartment after his mother was passed out, skipped his high school graduation instead playing his lute for money, and when he had played until his hands could play no more, he went to the church to pray.  When he returned home, he knew immediately something was wrong.  He found his brother and sister drowned in the bath tub.  His mother had slit her wrists in the bed.  It was at this point that I almost open wept in public when I read this.  My heart broke for Toby.  I wanted nothing more than to hold him, comfort him, and pray for and with him.  

Toby left New Orleans the next day and headed for New York.  He got a job playing the lute in a restaurant owned by Alonso.  The two became close but Toby never really let anyone close again.  It wasn't until Alonso confessed to Toby that the Russians were going to take all of his businesses and kill his family that Lucky the Fox was born.  Toby took it upon himself to exact revenge on what the Russians had done to Alonso so he sought them out, disguised himself, and killed them all.  When he told Alonso what he had done, Alonso pulled some strings and Toby was taken to 'The Right Man'.  And thus, a contract killer is born.  

I loved the telling of Toby's life, as it was told from the perspective of Malchiah.  He gives a different perspective because no only does he tell us about Toby's life, but he lets us know how Toby's guardian angel felt about things.  He'll say sometimes that the angel wept, or felt sorrow, and smiled...that sort of thing which I thought was a nice touch.  I've often wondered how my guardian angel feels...maybe I don't really want to know.  The concept of angels and their relation to their human charges as portrayed in this book was utterly fascinating to me.  

After seeing his life looking in from the outside, Toby is utterly overwhelmed and repents for all he has done.  He begs the Lord for forgiveness for ever having separated himself from Him which is a prayer that I am all too familiar with.  He believes Malchiah is who he says he is and it now that we all learn why Malchiah has come to Toby.  He wants Toby to use his skills as being cunning, eloquent, and slightly deceitful, at least as far as disguises go, to go back through periods of time to prevent bad things from happening.  

His first assignment is to go back to 13th century England to prevent a woman and her husband from being potentially killed for the supposed murder of their daughter.  It is when he goes back to this time that we learn the story of Fluria, a young Jewess, who fell for a worldly man and became pregnant.  She being Jewish, and him forced by his family to pick up the cloth of the Christian faith, they could not be together.  His name was Godwin and he begrudgingly traveled to Paris to become a priest but upon arrival he had an epiphany in which he realized his worldly ways were not the way he wanted to live.  He became a very devout man but still continued to write to Fluria and she to him, despite the wishes of either of their families.  She never told him about her pregnancy, or that she had twin girls, Lea and Rosa.  Her father helped her raise them and even arranged for her to marry an old Jewish man to make the story fit with Godwin NOT being the father.  When her husband passed, they returned to Oxford where she, along with her father Eli, raised the girls.  She met one of her father's students, Meir, and he asked for her hand in marriage.  Fluria felt she could not enter into a marriage with someone else without him knowing the true story of her girls' father so she wrote a letter to Godwin admitting the truth to him and asking guidance.  Well...Godwin shows up and his plan is to take one of his daughters with him, to which Eli is outraged.  However, Rosa, always sensing Godwin, the man from her mother's letters, was their father, agrees to go with him.  So, Eli disowns all of them.  Fluria and Lea go with Meir to Norwich because he has just inherited property from a relative while Rosa returns with Godwin to Paris to take up the Christian faith.  Time passes and Lea becomes sick with what we now know as an appendicitis and the child passes away.  The community is outraged at her disappearance because just days before her passing, she went to see the Christian Christmas pageants with some of her friends, and now the whole community things her Jewish parents have killed her.  Who the hell thinks like that?  I guess it's possible though considering people are lunatics.  Anyway, Toby has shown up to prevent Fluria and Meir for being persecuted for what was a natural death of Lea.  He travels to Paris to talk to Godwin and get Rosa to return to Norwich to pretend to be her sister Lea so that Meir and Fluria may leave Norwich unscathed.  Luckily, the plan works!  Toby is successful is his mission and no harm befalls any of the Jewry of Norwich!  Woot Woot!  Way to go Toby!  However, Toby is attacked by an outraged crowd of villagers and even some of the Dominican Friars who say he is a liar and may very well have just let murderers escape.  The last thing Toby sees as his head is banged in the ground, the blood running down his scalp, are all of the people he has killed over the past 10 years.  

He awakens back in the Amistad suite, his laptop open, his normal clothes on.  He wonders if it was all a dream.  He sobs for what feels like hours because he has lost everyone he has ever felt close to.  His family, Liona, Fluria, Meir, Godwin...everyone.  He feels utterly alone and even Malchiah is not showing up even when he calls his name.  He calls 'The Right Man' and tells him he's done.  Tells him he'll never kill again.  And surprisingly, in very unMafialike fashion, he lets him go.  Toby stays at the Mission Inn for 2 weeks and writes a book about his entire experience in the 13th century.  It isn't until he sits outside, having finished his book, that he prays once again.  When he looks up, he sees Malchiah sitting across the table from him.  Finally, he is at peace again knowing it wasn't all just a dream.  Malchiah says they have another mission though and no time to waste.  He also says though before they begin, there is one more thing Toby must do.  Toby must find his first love in New Orleans because there is a 10 year old son there who needs to hear from his father.  

DUN DUN DUNNNN....AHHHHHHH HE'S A DAD! 

Now, of course Rice goes into a lot of detail.  She is able to provide such great depth of character that I really feel like I know these people.  She is a bit wordy in the first little bit, as I said before, but if you can get past that...just hold on because it gets SO MUCH BETTER.  I have so many feelers for Toby and who he was, what he became, how he changed once again, and the man he is now.  Such fantastic writing and just...ahhh...I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. 

God bless you, Anne Rice!  I stinkin LOVED THIS BOOK!!!  And...I'm fairly certain I'm totally in love with Toby O'Dare.  I seriously just can't say enough good things about this book.  I can't wait to read the next one!  

Book 40 - After Alice by Gregory Maguire

I have a high school diploma, a bachelor's degree in Chemistry, and a master's degree in Forensic Science.  I do not say that to brag, but rather to state, that even with all of that education, I still do not feel I was smart enough to read this book.  I confess, I had to look up some of the words.  I had to trudge my way through complex descriptions, imagery, and wild ass tangents that I honestly feel were not fucking needed.  It took 4 fucking pages to describe Ada falling down a mother fucking hole.  FOUR. FUCKING. PAGES!  Dude...cut it out.

Short, sweet, and to the point?  I'm so glad I'm done with this book.  It's a fantastic concept and could be great if done by someone else; but I seriously dislike having to read a paragraph a couple of times in order to understand what I just read.  It's supposed to be a leisure book, but instead I just feel exhausted.  My brain hurts.

If you're a Maguire fan, God bless you and I'm sure you'll love it.  As for me though, not so much.

Moving right along...

Book 39 - The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr

I think, the best way for me to begin my ramblings on this book, is to state that I long with every fiber of my being to read the next one in the series.  It recently came out and I purchased it over the weekend.  It is currently downstairs taunting me to pick it up and bury myself in it, not sleep, and be cranky at work tomorrow.  But alas, I know if I read it now, I will be stuck waiting...and waiting...and waiting for the next one...and I am not nearly patient enough to abide all of that waiting.  So instead, I am filling my time with other books until I return to Miss Eliza Jekyll/Lizzie Hyde.  Let's see how long I can hold out.  

As you would imagine, based upon the title, this series involves the daughter of Dr. Henry Jekyll from literature's famous, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.  Dr. Eliza Jekyll is a medical doctor who also happens to work with the Metropolitan Police as a crime scene investigator in Victorian London during the Steampunk revolution.  OH BE STILL MY HEART...I JUST HAD A NERDGASM!   It's seriously all of my favorite things rolled into one book!  

Much like Eliza who has Lizzie hiding just underneath the surface, there is this whole other underworld of London with supernatural beings.  Creatures, people who have a touch of the 'weird', and all sorts of seedy  and shady characters.  It is in this underworld that Lizzie fits in, while Eliza fits in with the more proper and socially acceptable London society.  

What is so awesome about this book, other than containing all of my nerdy interests, is that Carr has multiple plot lines running, and even this supernatural undercurrent plot line, but somehow she melds it beautifully together.  The writing and story start out as almost 2 different stories, much like Eliza and Lizzie seemingly being two different people, but then blends through unexpected ways to meld into one perfect finale.  Carr includes a plot twist I never saw coming even when I thought I knew what was up.  There's a multiple murderer out there killing women and taking certain body parts and just when you think you've figured it out, there's a plot twist.  Eliza has been taken care of by an anonymous benefactor ever since her father died, and you think it's going to be someone off the wall, but it's not and the revelation is surprising.  

I kind of don't even really want to blog about this book because I feel I would be giving away something no matter what I say.  Believe me when I tell you, it's worth it to go buy it/rent it/check it out at the library/borrow it...whatever you have to do to read it  I was completely and totally absorbed from the very first page and couldn't stop myself from reading, and reading, and reading some more.  I wanted to know everything I could about Lizzie, Eliza, Remy, Finch, Will, Temple...all of them.  I couldn't wait to find out who the killer was.  I wanted to know the secrets Remy was hiding.  I wanted to know if Eliza would ever feel for Remy what Lizzie does.  I wanted to know why a psychotic, razor wielding, murderer could take Eliza's breath away.  And believe me, you don't get all the answers in this book.  There's a nice little cliffhanger at the end that just sucks you right in and leaves you longing for me.  At least it did for me.  

So, if you like a bit of the supernatural, wolfies, murder, Victorian England, dual personalities, science, technology, anything Steampunk related, a bit of sexual tension, and even a book with underlying themes and symbolism about the shadows of ourselves we keep hidden....THEN GO READ THIS FUCKING BOOK!  I cannot say enough good things about it.  Viola Carr may very well be my hero.  

And even if you don't like that stuff...GO READ THIS FUCKING BOOK!

Book 38 - Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell

So I read things a bit out of order...this guy is actually the precursor to Inspector of the Dead but I was unaware there was a series until after I read the second book, first.  Honestly, that's not important though.  You don't really need the first book in order to understand the second on.  Anyway, I enjoyed Inspector of the Dead so thoroughly that I knew I needed to go back and read the first.  David Morrell definitely does not disappoint.  Now, it took me a while to get through this book NOT because of the book but because work kind of took over my life.  After working at least 10 hours a day for weeks, I honestly would just come home and sit so not a lot of reading was accomplished.  Moving on...

Murder as a Fine Art opens in Victorian London with the perspective of the 'artist'.  We travel with him on his journey as he murders a shop owner, his wife, the servant girl, the young daughter, and the baby...yes...baby.  If you're super squeamish, you won't make it through some bits and pieces of the book.  We learn that this murder parallels a murder that occurred 43 years before and became notoriously known as the Ratcliffe Highway Murders.  I absolutely LOVE how Morrell takes factual events in history and melds them with fiction to produce this fantastic literature without compromising the events.  In reality, a family was murdered in a shop and a few days later, a tavern keeper and his family were murdered.  In Murder as a Fine Art, more people are killed; first with the family and then with a whole slew of people at a tavern.  The 'artist' takes it up a notch from what happened 43 years prior.  

Following the murder, Detective Inspector Sean Ryan is on the case, along with Constable Joseph Becker.  They begin some honest police work looking for clues, finding shoe prints and actually making casts (the forensic scientist in me squealed with glee during that part), and trying to find witnesses who may have seen anything out of the ordinary.  Eventually, the city is in such a panic because it would appear no one was safe.  During their investigation, Ryan and Becker stumble upon Thomas De Quincey, the 'Opium-Eater', who wrote very detailed works on the original Ratcliffe Highway Murders.  Immediately, De Quincey becomes a suspect simply based on how much knowledge he seems to know about the original murders.  After meeting De Quincey, Ryan and Becker realize there is no way this 70 year old man with an opium addiction could have slaughtered these people; but they do realize he could be a very valuable asset.  De Quincey, despite his heavy laudanum use, is really quite brilliant and has a perspective that most people do not.  De Quincey is able to study the crime scenes and essentially develop a profile of the killer.  

At the same time Becker and Ryan are trying to work with De Quincey, the Home Secretary Lord Palmerston wants De Quincey arrested simply so the people will believe the killer is behind bars and peace will resume.  Lord Palmerston apparently has more power than Queen Victoria herself so he orders De Quincey locked up Coldbath Fields Prison.  When he is locked up, a man working with the 'artist' calls in a favor to have the food in the prison laced with sleeping medicine so everyone will be asleep while the accomplice attempts to kill De Quincey.  Seriously, the 'artist' has a hard on for killing De Quincey.  The assassination attempt fails and instead the would be assassin is killed.  Also while De Quincey is locked up, an assassination attempt is made on Lord Palmerston, but lucky for him he has a military war hero Colonel Brookline as his personal security detail.  

Against the wishes of Lord Palmerston, Ryan and Becker continue to work with De Quincey after he breaks free when Brookline and Palmerston try to imprison him again.  It is around this time that De Quincey has figured out who the killer is.  De Quincey used to live on the streets of London in his younger days so he knows how the beggars work and he knows how to use favors.  It is with this experience he remains undetected so he may work with Ryan and Becker to catch the killer.  It is while De Quincey is in the underground of London with the dregs of society that a woman named Margaret comes into the police station wanting to speak to Ryan about the original murders of 43 years before.  She reveals her history to Emily, De Quincey's daughter.  Forty three years before, Margaret worked at a linen shop with a douche bag for a boss.  He rarely let her have a day off but on one of those days off, she met a man named John Williams.  They did the horizontal polka and she became pregnant.  Her boss was pissed because how could take care of his children if she was pregnant with one of her own??!! She expressed to John that she would be fired soon which pissed John off.  When she was out on an errand, John confronted her boss, Mr. Marr, which became heated and out of control.  The end results was the murder of the shop owner and his family.  When Margaret found out what happened, she wanted nothing to do with John Williams which led him to commit murder days later.  John Williams was caught and hanged.  Margaret had the child but he took the name of a former soldier she met and lived with.  The former soldier's name....was

BROOKLINE.  

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!!  

Yep...Brookline is the son of John Williams and he lost his fucking mind studying these murders.  He read everything about them he could, kept a sketch of John Williams in his pocket until he wore it out and had to get another.  Literally, OBSESSED with his father and the murders he committed.  He joined the military when he was young and became part of an elite group that worked for the British East India Company trading Opium for other goods.  We all know about the Opium Trade and the Opium Wars.  It was during his time in India that he developed his hang up with Opium and was made to read Thomas De Quincey's book, Confessions of an Opium Eater.  Enter his hang up with De Quincey.  Dude is seriously just off balance.  

In the end, Brookline dies, De Quincey is free to hang out and help on the next case, and Becker is promoted to a Detective.  There are lots of other goodies in this book and a good bit of back story on De Quincey that I have left out.  I just love that there's a plot twist that you never see coming and Brookline always seemed like a minor character.  He also has a lot of weird things going on that I have left out.  He's quite twisted.  Kind of throws into question is it nature or nurture that makes us who we are?  Did he kill because his father killed?  Would he have not done it had he come from a better family?  Had his mother actually talked with him about who his father was and what he had done would he have tried to kill her?  Would have still killed his kind of step father?  Would he have killed all those people 43 years later? 

Very well told story by Mr. Morrell!  I look forward to the next installment in the series.  I'm sure De Quincey will confuse us all to the point we actually understand what he's saying.  

Book 37 - Changeless: A Parasol Protectorate Novel (2) by Gail Carriger

This review will be incredibly brief and substantially biased simply because I don't like where my characters were left...THIS IS NOT OKAY!

So we enter the second in the Parasol Protectorate series with Alexia and Conall living in honeymoon bliss...at least until a regiment of werewolves shows up on their front lawn.  Then to make matters worse all supernatural beings suddenly lose their supernatural-ness...at least for a little bit and only for a small radius....but still...what the monkey?!  Ivy is in love with Tunstell...Ivy is engaged to NOT Tunstell....and Alexia's sister has been dropped off on her doorstep.  Also, Conall has headed for Scotland to his original home pack for reasons not provided to Alexia.  Alexia has also made a new friend or maybe enemy in a hat maker/inventor/woman who dresses like a man...Madame Lefeoux.  Fearing for her husband's safety due to this 'plague' of humanization, Alexia and her crew of folks have set off to Scotland...in a dirigible.  The trip to Scotland is anything other than boring with not only Alexia's room being ransacked, but also two attempts on her life...once by poisoning and once by trying to knock her ass overboard.  Anyway, she survives and they make it to Scotland.  

Once in Scotland, it's a long story, but they learn the humanization is being caused by a Preternatural that has been mummified and the Scotland pack brought it back from Egypt with them.  Also, Conall ends up successfully turning his great-great-great-granddaughter (maybe a couple more greats in there) into a werewolf so she can now be the legit Alpha of the Scotland pack.  We also learn it is Alexia's maid, Angelique, who has been trying to kill folks and blah blah blah.  Luckily she's not successful, Scotland has a new Alpha, Lefeoux is actually a friend, and Ivy has eloped with Tunstell....and then the ball drops.  

So I'M PISSED...thus the reason for the short short synopsis and review.  Turns out, Alexia is pregnant and apparently it's a physical impossibility for the supernatural to reproduce.  So Conall loses his mother fucking mind and says the child isn't his and accuses Alexia of cheating...like no matter what she says he doesn't believe her.  Well you can go fuck yourself, Conall because for all your intelligence and at least 200 years of existence, has it not crossed your brain dead mind that when your wife touches you, you become HUMAN, and the last fucking time I checked, TWO HUMANS COULD MAKE A FUCKING BABY....by doing what you ask?...FUCKING!   Carriger has got to get these two back together because right now I'm so pissed off with Conall that even if he did grovel I still might would kick him in the dick.  

So yeah...I'm irritated.  Maybe she did it to keep people reading the series but I'm so damn irritated, I don't want to read the next one for a while.  UGHHHH!  

Book 36 - Haders: Elpis Book 2 by Aaron McGowan

+Aaron Elpis (Aaronelpis) is rapidly becoming a favorite author of mine!  Haders picks up 5 years from where Elpis left off.  Delkol is dead.  Terico is dead.  Suran is dead.  Oh whoops..did I ruin Elpis for you?  You should've listened to me and read the book then.  

We pick up with Lanek, Suran's brother, who has taken over building and servicing airships and trying to pick up the pieces of his life.  He is summoned to the royal Fiefs court by Rilv, the royal head of house.  It has been discovered that there exists these Nexi stones, known as Haders, that were created in order to combat the power of the Elpis.  It is Rilv's mission to find these Haders in order to take down Augurc who is running rampant throughout the land destroying everything and everyone.  Upon the death of his brother, Delkol, Augurc now has half of the Elpis and has used it to perform even greater experiments on his subjects.  He has also made Areo, lady vamp, a non-thinking, non-feeling, killing machine.  Upon Lanek's arrival at the court, in walks Lynx...Mr, I killed Suran.  Lanek loses his shit and threatens to kill him, but Rilv steps in and handles the situation with the telekinesis Hader she has.  Lynx has become a double agent, but of course Lanek doesn't trust him and who could honestly blame him.  Kitoh, the transforming eigni is also in attendance, and it is through his genius we were able to learn of the Haders.  He has also developed an instrument that will very well destroy the Elpis.  Thus, Rilv, Lanek, Kitoh, and Lynx set out on a journey to find these Haders.  Oh what a merry journey this will be......  

We also pick up with Borely who is now a vampire.  He has been living with Jenba and Nivakil, Areo's brother and trainer, respectively.  They are trying to teach him the ways of the vampire, but of course, given his previous history with vampires, he's not so keen on the idea of behaving like one.  He drinks blood only when he absolutely has to and always only from a vial.  He hasn't noshed on anyone yet, and he's really not a fan of using his vampire traits in battle.  

Lanek and crew come to this tiny, remote, elvish town where Lanek is immediately made welcome given the fact he is an elf.  It is through him that the others are made welcome.  However, things quickly go horribly awry when Rilv learns the Hader they seek is housed in the shrine to their elvish deity.  Come hell or high water, this lady is getting this Hader.  Not long after she has obtained it, all the while battling the people of this town, a man shows up claiming to be the salvation of this small town.  He can supposedly save these people because he too has two Haders.  As it turns out, Haders cannot be used against one another.  This man, Kechi, only wants the Haders Rilv has though and all out battle ensues.  Most of the people in this village are killed and the good guys barely escape with their lives, much less the 2 Haders they now have.  Lanek, of course, is devastated by all of this bloodshed.  So many innocent lives have been lost, and Lanek isn't really sure if it's all worth it.  He struggles to find the purpose in this mission, and he wonders at the sanity of Rilv.  Has she become too power hungry?  Has the use of the Hader warped her mind?  

Meanwhile, the vampire city of Istal is overrun by Augurc, the Brotherhood, and these elite vampires who have lost their mind because they're so damn power hungry.  Jenba, Nivakil, Borely, and a young child named Analicia, barely escape.  It is during their escape they encounter Areo now that she has become an Augurc experiment.  Borely and Areo fight, but rather than killing him, she hesitates and runs away.  Once away from harm, Nivakil makes contact with Rilv who tells them they need to head to the port town of Limbo to find another Hader.  This Hader is held by a pirate named Yeaf and it has the ability to summon any weapon out of thin air.  It is during the battle of this Hader that Nivakil and Jenba sacrifice themselves in an explosion so Borely and Analicia can escape with their lives, and the Hader.  

McGowan has this way of blending these multiple story lines together to make the story unfold without losing you along the way.  He then brings it all together for the final culmination.  Borely and Analicia meet up with Lanek and crew in order to take down Augurc.  They're headed to the Fief city of Niez because their Hader map shows there is another one in the area.  They are also being rapidly pursued by Kechi who is bat shit crazy by the way.  This mofo hears a dead man in his head...like for real...the dude he hears is a skeleton who he intends to bring back to life with the Haders.  Anyway, it turns out that Augurc is actually planning to attach Zein, a Shire kingdom that borders Niez.  Augurc has this idea that ideal citizens are emotionless and that without emotion, there would be no wars, no factions, no disruptions, and it would basically lead to a utopian society.  However, these guys prove him wrong.  

A huge, bad ass battle begins with everyone being a little bit confused as to whose side everyone is on.  No one knows where Lynx's allegiance lies, Rilv has lost her damn power hungry mind, Borely and Analicia have split up to find Areo, and Lanek just wants this all to be over so he can find a quiet spot to live in peace.  Augurc has this final experiment that is supposed to be the ultimate weapon but it turns out it could actually be taken out with the power of the Haders.  In the end, the good guys actually get a relatively happy ending and the bad guy kinda does too...

Borely is able to kind of crack the spell on Areo's mind by basically confessing his love for her.  He doesn't say the L word but it's implied.  Augurc basically gives up because he realizes his plans and ideals will never work.  He takes full responsibility for everything that happened and he's placed in jail.  Lynx uses one of the Haders to free his mind and return to being Turan again, even though he will never be able to forget everything he was forced to do while under Augurc's brainwashing.  Areo comes and kinds...sometimes she has no memory of Augurc, sometimes it's all she thinks about, and sometimes she's normal Areo.  They all settle in the same elvish village and they help the people to rebuild their shrine.  The people come to trust the 5 of them and they vow to never let any harm befall the village.  All in all...a happy ending!  

I like the fact that McGowan gave me closure for everyone, but he has also established these 2 kingdoms, and let's be honest...peace doesn't last forever.  He left it just open enough to be able to continue on with more in the future...and I really hope he does.This one was a bit darker than Elpis but equally as cool.  Great descriptions of the battle scenes.  A bit more details about the folks we met in Elpis, but didn't get to know too much about.  All around two thumbs up and a job well done!  I look forward to more great things!          

Book 35 - Return to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Return to the Dark House is, as you would imagine, the follow up to Welcome to the Dark House.  Now...this one...SOOOO much BETTER!  I'm not saying the first one was terrible, but this one develops the plotline and characterization more for the reader.  Now that I know where this one went, the first one makes a bit more sense that it wasn't just a whole bunch of horror movies stuffed together  It allows me to see the first one with a different perspective and a better appreciation.  If you want to know what happened in Welcome to the Dark House...go read that blog post.  

In Return to the Dark House, Ivy Jensen is currently in a mental institution or whatever politically correct term you want to use.  She is now having nightmares where the murder of her parents has started to blend with the Dark House weekend experiences to the point she's not sure what happened when.  For instance, she'll be dreaming the Nightmare Elf is standing at her bed, but when he takes the mask off, it's her parents' killer.  Hello foreshadowing!  Ivy begins keeping a notebook of clues, questions without answers, and theories of her own.  Every so often she demands to speak to a detective and she shares what she has with him, but to her it feels as though they're not listening to her.  And honestly, in my opinion, I don't think they're listening to her.  Eventually, she pretends she's got her shit together simply to get released because there's no way she can track the others from the Dark House weekend while she's in the crazy house.  She gets released and tries to kind of put her life together but it's an epic fail when the Nightmare Elf reaches out to her again via email.  She takes the email to the police, but once again, there's not much they do about it because they believe it's a hoax.  

Ivy eventually says fuck this, and makes contact with Taylor...the one who got away before the Dark House weekend even truly began.  Taylor, also jacked up in the head from finding a dead body in the freezer at the Dark House, decides she'll never be normal and maybe Ivy is the one person who won't judge her.  Taylor's life has been hell because so many judge her as a coward for leaving the Dark House before telling the others they needed to get out.  They blame her for the others being 'dead'...but we learn maybe they all didn't really die that weekend.  Ivy goes to visit Taylor while she's at school and once again the Nightmare Elf makes contact with Ivy and Taylor.  Against Taylor's best attempts at persuading Ivy not to, she gives her number to the Nightmare Elf who also just so happens to be the serial killer who murdered her parents!!! Ivy, trying her best not get Taylor involved any more than she already is, leaves in the middle of the night to follow the directions given to her by the Killer.  Unbeknownst to her, Taylor follows.  The pair end up at an old abandoned Gothic mansion that was formerly a boy's preparatory school.  The killer has them go through a series of terrifying tasks in order for Ivy to maybe find the others from the Dark House weekend.  You'll need to read to see what kind of tasks...I'm not telling you.  I don't like haunted houses so I never would have been able to do this.  I would have only been able to sit in a corner and rock myself back and forth... 

So...there are these journal entries throughout the book by E.W. who happens to be Killer and apparently his mother was psychotic and liked to torture him with ghost stories about Johnny.  She also apparently tried to burn his fucking house down with him inside it.  So...now we see where he got his shit from.  Oh and then he was haunted while at school by Ricky Slater who was a Sophomore who killed himself.  Mother goose...this kid couldn't catch a break...no wonder he's crazy.  But...through these journal entries you see he develops an interest in movies.  This comes into play considering the elaborate set up of Welcome to the Dark House and now in Return to the Dark House, he has Ivy where a go pro camera on her head so he can videotape the entire thing.  This mofo is CRAZY!  We learn that he has this weird ass obsession with Ivy...I think predominately because she makes an excellent scream queen.  She is the perfect lead actress for his movies.  It's all about him and his fucking movies.  He has no concern or regard for her, but it's honestly just weird and creepy.  There's definitely a major psychological part in this book that is revealed WAY more than in the first one.  Personally, I really dig and get into psychological thrillers way more than guts and gore so this was my cup of tea.  The guy is screwy and dangerous and obviously doesn't have a day job since he's able to do this bullshit all of the time.  

In the end, surprise surprise, Ivy makes it out alive.  All of the footage from the experience is gone...taken by the Killer on his quick exit before the cops showed up.  I'm not telling you how it all unfolds or who all actually made it out from the first Dark House weekend.  I will say, though, I'm ready for the next one!  Ivy has charts, graphs, clues, all of this 'I'm going to catch the psychotic serial killer' paraphernalia on the wall of her bedroom.  Now that she knows the Nightmare Elf and the serial killer who murdered her parents are the same person, she's dead set on finding him.  I really like this new Ivy.  There's such development and transformation of her character from the beginning of the first one to the end of this one.  She's becoming quite the strong minded young woman, and she's becoming less afraid every time.  Her determination to save her friends drives her own despite any fears she may have.  I know it's not over yet, and I can't wait for the next installment.  

Get on board with this series, kids!  It's young adult too so if you have a young adult who's into scary movies...let them read it.  There's no sex and very little swearing.  If you'd let them watch Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween then they'll be just fine with this book.  If you're an adult and dig scary...then read it.  It's quite inventive and detailed.  It's not Rob Zombie scary but there's a good bit of suspense that will keep you turning the pages.

Book 34 - Elpis by Aaron McGowan

So I stumbled upon this book because the author, Aaron McGowan, liked a photo of a book I had posted on Instagram (look him up @aaronelpis), which led me to visit his page where I saw he had posted a link for a limited time offer to obtain his ebook for free.  Boy, am I glad I did!  Wow...what a fantastic read!  I was pretty sure it would be good based on the Goodreads ratings, and I was so not disappointed.  I'm typically not a fantasy reader or even really science fiction...not necessarily because I don't like it, but more because I just don't know what to read.  This one...A DEFINITE WIN!

Elpis is nothing but full on action and adventure from page 1!  The story begins with us meeting Terico, a blue haired sixteen year old who is handy with a sword...a literal sword.  He, his father, and his best friend, Turan, are in some underground caves searching for this gigantic plant monster because its roots can be used by Terico's mother to make medicines for patients in the clinic.  This scene kind of sets the stage to allow us to see the interaction between Terico and his father and the strong relationship they have.  Terico's father uses this time to teach his son valuable lessons, not just about fighting, but about life.  We also get to see the relationship between Terico and his best friend Turan.  The two have a camaraderie basically like that of brothers..which comes into play much later on.  When they return to Terico's home, with the roots!, Suran is in the kitchen whipping up a little breakfast.  Now, Suran is this cute little red haired girl who Terico has had a crush on since forever.  She is an elf but not the keebler kind...more like LOTR kind.  She is a very selfless young lady and constantly says thank you even if someone is thanking her.  Suran leaves saying she must go help her brother with something, and Terico and Turan set off for school after breakfast.  What they stumble upon on their walk to school will change their lives forever.  Smoke and fire can be seen in the distance and the further they get into the town center, the more destruction they find.  Terico, fearing for the safety of Suran, begins searching the school building only to find everyone dead and the entire building up in flames...yet there is no sign of Suran.  Upon exiting the burning school, barely able to breathe, Terico is attacked by a member of the Brotherhood...this clan of bad guy warriors who are working for the evil Shire brothers, Augurc and Delkol.  He also sees Turan is in a battle with 2 members of the Brotherhood.  Now...they don't just fight with swords like it's all medieval...oh no.  In the world of this book, there exists these powerful stones called Nexi stones.  Each color has a different power that can be used through a simple mental connection with the stone.  For instance, a green Nexi stone will produce vines that can be controlled by the wielder's mind.  Light blue is for ice, dark blue is for water, orange is for super strength, teal is for communication, red is for fire...you get the picture.  It's really quite inventive and the battle scenes described using these Nexi stones has been well thought out.  I seriously would watch the movie about this book!! Back to the battle...ultimately, Terico becomes so exhausted from the smoke inhalation and the use of the Nexi stones that he basically passes out...meanwhile Turan is kidnapped by Augurc.  Now this motherfucker is CREEPY!  He likes to experiment on people...and Nexi stones...and uhhhh just all around mad scientist bad guy creepy experimentation.  He has green Nexi stones grafted into her arms so basically he uses vines as extra arms like that Octopus character in Spiderman and he has a light blue Nexi stone grafted into his hand so he can shoot out ice spikes and stab folks!  He's just creepy and weird and ugh!  Terico eventually comes to enough to stumble back the way he came in hopes of finding his mother and father but his house has already burned down.  He finds more mayhem and destruction at the town cathedral where exhausted once again he falls to the floor.  During his semi-conscious state, he sees the other brother, Delkol, kill everyone who tries to battle him, including Terico's parents.  He beheads Terico's parents in one smooth motion.  Terico succumbs to the darkness and when he awakens, he finds the town burned down and he is the only one left alive.

Terico begins burying the dead of the town in mass graves, and while digging on these graves, he uncovers an underground hiding place of the town drunk named Jujor.  Jujor begins explaining to Terico that the Shire brothers, specifcally Delkol, were looking for a piece of the Elpis stone.  Legend has it, the Elpis stone contains the power of all Nexi stones and was actually used to create them.  Apparently, someone along the way realized it could be used to destroy the world so it was broken into 4 pieces and hidden in different locations.  Jujor and Terico set off to find the first piece, deep underground.  Before they can go though, they need something to battle the Forsaken with, these creatures who are half human half kind of wolf like who honestly have no rational though other than to kill.  In order to obtain a Nexi stone to battle them, they travel to a nearby town to see Febraz, a vampire who once saved Jujor's life.  They obtain from him an indigo Nexi stone, which has the power of soul catching.  Since the Forsaken are neither dead, nor alive, they can't really be killed...only their souls can be taken.  Febraz gives the stone to them after Terico saves his life by alerting him to the fact the blood he is about to drink is poisoned.  Febraz though also requests that Terico do him a favor, whenever he asks for it, and he cannot say not to it.  Terico agrees and off they go.  Jujor and Terico successfully find the piece of the Elpis stone down deep in the caves where an underground town used to exist...thus the residents of this town eventually became...the Forsaken.  Upon retrieving the Elpis fragment, Terico is summoned to Febraz who asks him to help his daughter...

Terico is sent to Istar, a vampire city, to help Area, Febraz's daughter, pass her Rite.  Basically, during the Rite, 2 vampires battle each other to the death,  The victor wins a pink Nexi which has transformative powers thus allowing vampires to walk in the sun.  Area wins, but of her own volition, and she and Terico are teleported back to Febraz but what they find upon their return is not what they were expecting.  Febraz is on the floor with a knife aimed at his heart...the sword held by a Brotherhood member who actually turns out to be Turan but his new Brotherhood name is Lynx.  He's now batshit crazy thanks to all of the experimentation that has been done on him.  Turan escapes and Terico and Area set off to return to Jujor.  Once they are all together again, their next step is to travel to the island of Vurse, a major island of the Eigni people...they're blue and don't have noses.  They might be my favorite simply because of this.  In order to get to Vursa, they need to charter a boat but the only one they can afford is captained by a very loud dude named Borely who reminded me very much of a laid back surfer dude.  Borely is immediately smitten with Areo, but it turns out he has a thing against vampires considering his brother was turned into one and proceeded to kill his family, so Borely had to kill him.  Of course, Areo doesn't let on that she's a vampire and it's a while later before Borely finds out.  The two of them develop that 'we really like each other but we're going to deny it and just argue with one another a whole lot but it's our way of flirting' relationship.  They make it to the island of Vursa and find that all of the people are mindless, except for one boy named Kitoh.  Turns out the government is controlling them...specifically one man, Ganto, who has used the indigo Nexi to take their souls.  Ganto also has a pink Nexi stone, which allows the Eigni people to transform into a dragon which is just what he does.  A battle ensues and Ganto is killed, but Jujor is also killed.  Delkol also shows up but eventually he too is too weakened to continue on in the fight so he flees.

Whils recuperating at Kitoh's house, we learn through the teal Nexi, that Jujor was actually working for the royal court to look out for Terico and help him find the Elpis fragment.  They are also arranging for an airship to pick them up and bring them to capitol of Setar.  When the airship arrives, wouldn't you know, it's Suran and her brother!!  SHE'S ALIVE!  The gang is all back together, except Turan, and they all begin telling stories of their adventures and where they have each been since the devastation of their hometown.  Upon arrival near Setar, enemy airships are trying to surround the capitol, so once again the fighting ensues.  Kitoh turns into a dragon and takes out an airship after he drops of Areo and Borely onto another airship.  Suran and Lanek (her brother) work to engage in aircraft warfare with the other 2 airships.  They manage to take one down, but not the other before members of the Brotherhood manage to make their way onto their airship.  During the process, all of the Brotherhood members are killed, except Turan, who is nearly killed by falling out of the airship.  Terico saves him with the green Nexi and they think the jolt of almost dying has snapped him back to his old self.  In reality though, he's too far gone and he stabs Suran with a blade infused with the poisonous gray Nexi.  Terico thinks he has healed Suran with his Elpis fragments, one of which was retrieved by Suran and Lanek.  It isn't until their airship goes down and Terico wakes up in the infirmary that he realizes the gray Nexi poisoned all of Suran's bloodstream and organs...she will be dead within days.  After a couple of days of suffering, Suran actually does die.  SAY WHAT?!  WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!!!!  Terico though finally gets some sleep.  He is hoping that once he has all of the fragments of the Elpis (he has 2 and Delkol has 2) he will be able to bring her back to life.

The armies of Setar come together and have reinforcements from other areas and THE BATTLE IS ON!  I'm not going to tell you how it ends....because you honestly need to read this book.  I will say though...it doesn't end how you think it's going to and I really really really hope there is a sequel!  I really need to know what happens to a few of my favorite characters.

Honestly, this book was AAAHHHHMAZING and I highly recommend it.  I've written a lot here and given a lot away but there's so much I've left out.  You honestly need to read it too simply for the descriptions of the battles.  McGowan is very descriptive so that you can actually see what's going on, but he doesn't get so involved you lose sight of the big picture.  I honestly loved his characters and wanted to just give Terico a hug.  He has been through so much at such a young age.  He's had such responsibility and expectation and even power thrust upon him.  How he managed through it all, I will never know.  He's definitely a strong young man.  I look forward to many more novels by +Aaron Elpis (Aaronelpis)!!!

Book 33 - The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston

So..it's 4:45am and I have to be at church at 9am but I must write my blog first as I just finished this book 15 minutes ago.  I started my Saturday reading at around 2pm on page 124 and finished this book on page 420 at 4:30am.  Yeah...I read 3/4 of it at one time...

I found that this one was quite different, in terms of style, from the other books by Paula Brackston.  Typically, we get information about other characters from conversations with the main protagonist or from information directly from the protagonist; however, in this book Brackston gives us full information straight from the horse's mouth.  It may be in third person but we actually receive great detail about other key characters in this book...specifically the antagonist, Nicholas Stricklend.  Also, she seems a bit more verbose in this book.  It was very easy for me to get rather dragged down in the beginning by the language, but once the story started unfolding I was eager to keep reading.  I would imagine though, if you've never read a Brackston novel before, this one may not be your favorite.  My advice...go read The Witch's Daughter first...become a fan of Brackston, and then read this one.  It's by far her most in depth in terms of character analysis that I feel she has written yet.  

Anyway...on to a little plot and about the book itself!  There's a lot, and I mean A LOT, going on in this book with multiple plot lines and a lot of detailing and characters I'm going to leave out.  Read if for yourself if you want the dirty details!  Good plot twists too that I'm conveniently leaving out for you as well.  As I said...read it for yourself!  

Lady Lilith Montgomery has just inherited the title of Head Witch of Lazarus Coven upon the passing of her father.  Her brother, Freddie, has inherited the title of Duke of Radnor since he is not a witch.  The Lazarus Coven specializes in witchcraft but more predominately, necromancy.  Now, the Lazarus Coven mostly communes with spirits in order to divine the future and ways in which they might prevent certain events from occurring.  London is on the verge of World War I and the Lazarus Coven is on the brink of war with a separate sect of necromancers that are actually sorcerers known as the Sentinels.  They are ruthless and have no regard for who they raise from the dead.  They are power hungry, one in particular set upon bringing about the demise of the Coven is Nicholas Stricklend.  He is a perfectionist who has no regard for anyone else as they all interrupt his ideal of what perfection is.  I honestly rolled my eyes at this asshole a couple of times.  He sees the perfect opportunity to bring the Coven down with this change in Head Witch status.  He has placed spies within the Coven and has summoned a long dead sorcerer to enter, unbidden, into Lilith's thoughts to plant seeds of doubt.  

Also entering the picture, is Bram Cardale, an artist who, against his father's wishes, has come to London to live with a respected sculptor by the name of Mangan, in order to work on his art as a painter.  It is whilst living with Mangan that he meets Lady Lilith and the two feel something about the other.  Of course, the first time they meet is outside an opium den so she definitely does not have the highest opinion of him.  That all changes when her friend, Charlotte, is having a sculpture of herself done for her parents and Lilith accompanies her for her sittings.  During these sittings, Lilith is able to spend time with Bram and eventually the two fall in love.  The problem though is Lilith is engaged to another man, a witch in fact, and the man she finds herself truly loving, is not a witch.  How on earth will this ever work?!  Simple...you have to give Bram more credit than you're currently doing.  

It is one night at a ball, the night before Lilith and Bram are to run away together for a week, that Stricklend sics one of his minions to kill Freddie if Lilith does not tell him the Great Secret and give him the Lazarus Elixir.  The Lazarus Elixir, as you suspect, brings the dead to life and the Great Secret is the final ingredient needed to make the spell successful....and no I'm not telling you the Great Secret.  Read the book and you'll find out.  Lilith has been raised to maintain the secrecy of the Coven and the items she has been entrusted to protect, no matter the cost or sacrifice.  Freddie is killed and distraught with her grief, Lilith decides to use the Elixir to bring him back to life.  It works of course, because she knows what she's doing but after, a literal pit of hell opens up with freaks Freddie the fuck out and he runs away like a scared little bitch.  Appropriate response, I suppose.  Stricklend has men tailing Lilith so when she and Louis, her witchy fiancee, go searching for him, the bad guys find him first and kill him again.  Needless to say, she doesn't meet with Bram and he flees back to his home thinking she has spurned him because of all the differences between them.  UGH.  Years pass...Bram enlists in the war, Lilith works feeding the hungry at the local convent, and she still puts off marrying Louis.  It's because you don't want to marry him and have his babies, girl!  You want to do the horizontal polka with Bram!  DUH!  

Finally, almost two years after the war has ended, Bram is returning to London for an exhibition of his paintings at a local art gallery.  He sends an invitation to Lilith and they meet once again, the sparks flying just as they had years prior.  She decides then and there to call off the engagement, which she does and finally she and Bram do the horizontal polka.  She has also introduced him to the coven and is basically like look I'm a modern woman as it's the fucking 20's and I can love whom I damn well please.  Get off my nuts.  The Coven really has no other option but to accept him.  After their raucous love making, they go up to her rooftop conservatory where they are attacked by Stricklend.  And then...........LILITH DIES!  AHHHHH!  As she is dying she tells Bram the Great Secret which is overheard by the dead sorcerer who is doing the bidding of Stricklend.  Only, the ghosty leaves before hearing everything so the information he delivers isn't quite right.  Bram calls upon Louis to get his ass to Lilith's house and using the Elixir, Louise is able to successfully bring Lilith back to life.  Lilith, in this holy shit badass risen witch mode, confronts Stricklend and his ghosty at the cemetery where she honestly kicks some major ass.  Sucks to be the bad guys in this one because she banishes them to the pits of hell.  I'm telling you...she's a badass!  Bram and Louis survive the attack though and she and Bram live happily ever after.  I hope Louis wasn't too uncomfortable with their kissing and hand holding at the end.  I like to think he found another witchy woman to make him happy.  He was much too bland for Lilith anyway.  

In the end, Lilith found her strength as a witch, Head Witch, in fact and she got the man of her dreams.  Happiness and champagne all around!  Until the next Sentinel asshole comes along to try to steal the Elixir and the Great Secret...

Book 32 - The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James

Gosh...I seriously just love, love, love everything written by Simone St. James.  I love her strong female protagonists, the horrific imagery she presents in certain scenes that have actually given me nightmares before, the wee bit of romance she throws in...just everything.  She provides a perfect blend of historical drama/romance with suspense and horror.

I must say though, compared to her other works, this one is my least favorite.  It's not bad, I just liked her others better.  

In The Other Side of Midnight we meet Ellie Winter, a legit psychic medium who specializes in finding lost things.  She used to help families communicate with their departed relatives; but she doesn't do that anymore and based on some of the things she sees, I don't blame her one bit.  Ellie's mother used to have the gift but as she got older she began losing her powers and instead Ellie would hide behind a curtain to summon the dead for her mother.  It was after her mother lost her powers that they were 'tested' by a couple of researchers to determine if they truly were legit or not.  Her cancer stricken mother was exhausted and had lost her touch so she went along with everyone believing they were fake.  One particular researcher, James Hawley, caught Ellie's attention and vice versa.  He always knew there was something about her, and he was pretty sure they missed something big.  Of course, he becomes her love interest.  What kind of story would I read without at least a little love blossoming around??  Prior to James testing Ellie and her mother, she had met him on one previous occasion by her friend Gloria, who was the only other legit psychic she had ever met.  Gloria and Ellie used to be kind of like besties...partying, smoking, staying out at all times of the night...which for women of the 1920's was becoming popular but still not something you should do.  And, Ellie had her mother waiting at home to worry about.  It was under Gloria's influence that Ellie and her mother were tested...and publicly announced in an article as frauds.  Thus ending the friendship of Gloria and Ellie.  

Cut to roughly 3 years after the incident and a man shows up at Ellie's house for a session to find his sister's lost locket, which Ellie knows is a lie; but she doesn't know what he's there hoping to learn or prove so she kindly asks him to leave.  He doesn't leave before she tells him what he's truly looking for...lost toy soldiers from his childhood...thus proving her psychic ability is legit.  She still asks him to leave but as she's in her back garden after a long hard day of psychic-ness, she sees him standing there.  He introduces himself as George Sutter...Gloria's brother...and he drops the bomb on her that Gloria was murdered the previous night.  He also tells her a note was left for him, by Gloria, the day she was murdered that simple said "Tell Ellie Winter to find me."  Now Ellie is thrust into an investigation to find out who killed Gloria, but she has no idea who all of the players are.  George seems to keep getting information that is and is not in the reports from Scotland Yard so he obviously has some sort of higher up pull.  Turns out he's an agent for MI5 and he actually wanted to recruit Gloria but Gloria's powers were actually starting to dwindle.  She couldn't do as many sessions anymore so she wasn't making money.  An old beau of hers told her about a wealthy couple who wanted to contact their son who had died in the war, and since she was hard up for money, she agreed even though all of the conditions were not her normal protocol.  She went to the home of the client which was the first time she had ever done that and she didn't go through the scheduling with her assistant which never happened.  Things were just off about the whole thing.  Her old beau needed money too because he was selling drugs and was in a tight spot.  

During the investigation, people keep turning up missing.  First Gloria turns up dead, then her assistant goes missing, and then a fake psychic Ramona ends up dead the same day Ellie was going to pay her a second visit.  Ellie is almost caught by the killer on that occasion; but Ramona's ghost provides her with a warning that he's still inside and she needs to get the hell out of there.  Ellie knows she's next on the list...and there's no telling who else might be before or after her.    

Through this long and winding trip through Gloria's life and Ellie's past and the past friendship they shared we learn who the killer is; but honestly, I felt it was so far out of left field.  The killer was just someone I didn't even think about and honestly seemed a little far fetched with absolutely no back story.  Like, I thought it might be George, the brother, but it wasn't.  I'm honestly just kind of eh when it comes to the end.  I thought for sure it would make me gasp in surprise but it didn't.  Instead, I was just kind of like...uhhhh...well alright then...whatever you say.  I don't know...I just feel like it was a 'I'm not sure how I want this story to end so I'm just going to throw this out there and hope it sticks'.  I just didn't really like the ending.  It was going along great and then to me it was a dud...

I will not let this deter me from reading her future works though.  I have never been disappointed by St. James and honestly it was just the ending that fell flat for me here.  I have always thoroughly enjoyed her other works so I'm chalking this one up to "just not my cup of tea".  On to the next...     

Book 31 - Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell

Oh...just...stop what you're doing and READ IT!  You don't even need to read the first one in the Thomas De Quincey series to know who everyone is and to realize that this is a good fucking book!

So I am not a historian, history buff, or anything remotely close to one; but I did actually do a little digging for this book. I knew that Morrell blended fact with fiction, but I honestly had no idea there were so many assassination attempts made on the life of Queen Victoria.  As I said...history was never my thing.  I memorized enough to get an A on the test, recall it for the final, and then immediately cleared the information out to make room for more pressing information....like differential equations and entropy.  As I read this book, I'm realizing I did myself a disservice, but at the same time, I'm loving learning about it now.  I think maybe the older I get, the more interested in history I become.  When I say I love all things Victorian England, I'm honestly speaking of the culture.  I felt in order to fully discriminate between fact and fiction, I had to do a little Googling first...after I finished the book of course. I didn't want to ruin the surprise...surprises to me, at least.

Morrell has a serious skill in blending fact with fiction...like holy shit mad skill.  He weaves this storyline together and throws a couple of twists in there that just left me utterly entertained.  Honestly, if I'm judging based off of this one book; he's a superb writer.

In Inspector of the Dead, there are a few plot lines going on that Morrell blends beautifully.  We begin at a church service where four people enter, looking a little low class, with written permission from Lord Palmerston to use his church pew.  It's a packed house for this particular Sunday, as a decorated Colonel who valiantly fought in the Crimean War is visiting.  Following the illustrious arrival of the Colonel, the vicar gasps as he sees old Lady Cosgrove's head almost fall off and blood leaking out under her pew.  *GASP* *THROAT SLIT AT CHURCH*  In her hand is a note on black paper that simply says "Young England".  Mayhem ensues but is slightly contained considering two of the four low class looking folks are Scotland Yard detectives, Becker and Ryan.  Ryan is the more experienced and sends Becker to the home of Lady Cosgrove to inform the family of her death, but also, to determine just what the monkey has happened to Lord Cosgrove as no one knew this mofo was dead as evidenced by Lady Cosgrove wearing a whole lot of mourning black.  Also in attendance with Becker and Ryan, are opium addict and murder specialist Thomas De Quincey and his daughter Emily.  De Quincey may not have the title of a homicide detective but he might as well be.  De Quincey already has an idea, but it isn't until Becker arrives at the Cosgrove home that they realize Lord Cosgrove has been murdered with his body posed to signify a message...I believe the law is blind but take what you will from it.  He also has a note that says "Edward Oxford" who was the first man to attempt to kill Queen Victoria in 1840.  From there the bodies keep stacking up, each posed in a manner to signify how the killer has been wronged by the system, and each containing the name of someone who attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria.  The queen is immediately alerted after the Cosgrove murders but there's not much she can do about it...she's busy being queen and all.

It isn't until the Grandwood murders that we learn just what the hell is going on -- who the "Revenger" is, why he's doing what he's doing, and who all his targets truly are.  I was honestly shocked and surprised by who it turned out to be.  Fifteen years before, a young Irish boy's mother was arrested for shoplifting because the shop owner planned to strike a bargain with her...her body for her freedom.  He never got the chance to do that though because she was soon transported to Newgate prison and he never said a word about her innocence.  The boy and his father went to London to see about getting her out of prison, at which time the father fell ill for drinking bacteria laden water while the boy returned home for his sisters.  It wasn't until he was searching for help for his father that the boy received the only bit of help, if you could call it that.  The boy was told to tell the guards his mother was in prison for debt and his sisters would be allowed to stay with her until she could figure out how to pay the debt.  Of course he was lying, but it put a roof over his sisters' heads and a bit of bread in their stomachs.  From there it only got worse.  Turns out the guards actually sexually assaulted the young girls and their mother was sick prompting the older daughter to smother her mother and sister, and then hang herself.  The father passed away as well leaving the young boy to struggle and raise himself.  It was at the same time he ran beside the queen's carriage yelling for someone to please help his mother, father, and sisters that Edward Oxford carried out his assassination attempt.  The boy was taken in by a wealthy railroad builder who sexually assaulted him until he pushed him from a train car leaving him paralyzed.  The evil part of me says good for you boy.  He didn't deserve to be abused...he had already had enough to last a lifetime without this fucker putting his hands on him.  Fifteen years later, the boy was a grown man who no one would have ever expected of murder much less creating the new Young England.

In the end, the revenger is just so utterly broken that despite all the people he has killed, I can't help but feel for him.  I honestly just wanted to hold him and say how sorry I was for everything that had happened.  His story honestly broke my heart, and I don't know what I would have done is his place...ended up dead in the streets probably.  It was such a heart wrenching tale that I honestly never really expected.  Morrell has such a fascinating way of blending in the history of the assassination attempts with the fiction of a murderous story line.  Such fantastic writing and creative story telling.  I look forward to the next in this series, and I'm going to have to go pick up the first one.

I honestly barely skimmed the surface when it comes to the content of this book.  If you like a little blending between fact and fiction, definitely pick this up.  It's fast paced with multiple story lines that are flawlessly weaved together for a fantastic read.  Bravo, well done, and a thousand thumbs up to this book!    

Book 30 - Soulless: A Parasol Protectorate Novel by Gail Carriger

Absolutely SUPERB! I absolutely LOVED everything about this book! All of the characters, the fact that it was action packed, a little romantic without the frustrating bullshit of will they or won't they; and it takes place in Victorian London...which if you've been keeping up with me, you know I love all things Victorian London.  I'm honestly convinced that's the time and place my soul was born.  

In Soulless, we meet Alexia Tarabotti who is, of course, a spinster at the very old age of 26...we already have something in common.  She is what is known as a preternatural in a world of humans and supernaturals.  Supernaturals, of course, being vampires, werewolves, and ghosts.  Alexia, however, is not quite human but she's not supernatural either.  The preternatural has the ability to basically 'cancel out' the abilities of the supernatural with a single touch.  She can cause the vampire to revert back to its human form (no fangs or biting) and she can change the wolf back into its human form even on a full moon when none can resist the change.  She has a sharp wit and her tongue often gets her into trouble.  I just love her character and her spirit.  She's a bit feisty and has a fire about her that I would imagine was quite rare for the time.  Alexia lives in a world where the supernatural are fully out in the open, a bit like True Blood, and there are certain governing bodies that keep everyone in track.  All supernatural peoples must register themselves with the Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR).  Even those that do not belong to a hive (vampires) or a pack (werewolves) still must register themselves and would be noted as being roves (loners).  

We first encounter Alexia in the library at a ball because she has stepped aside to request tea because there were no sandwiches at the ball as promised.  How very uncouth of them.  When she enters the library there happens to be a vampire in there; but there's something off about him.  For starters, he's starving and any self respecting hive would not allow one of its own to get to this state of starvation.  Also, he has no clue who she is...and no self respecting hive would not educate its members as to just who and what a preternatural is.  And lastly, he has a fang lisp which is apparently the lowliest of lows and immediately alerts Alexia that something is very wrong here.  In the end, she accidentally kills him because he tries to attack her multiple times.  It was all actually quite a funny incident.  However, the BUR must now step in because this rove vampire is quite suspicious and Alexia could be in a lot of trouble for killing him.  This is where we meet Lord Conall Maccon, Earl of Woosley aka the werewolf Alpha and a lead inspector with the BUR.  He's also yummy deliciousness and has always had these flirty, sparring, quick witted banter matches with Alexia which infuriates him and her alike, but also brings them closer to one another.  With him is his Beta, Professor Lyall and they begin to discuss this random vampire she has just killed.  From here, hijinks ensue for Alexia.  

The local hive is not claiming the lone vampire and Professor Lyall learns that vampires and werewolves are disappearing in not only London, but other areas of England as well.  When he returns to tell Lord Maccon of this information, he finds Lord Maccon and Alexia making out in the street which is most improper.  But, in their defense, Lord Maccon did just save her behind from being kidnapped on her way home after she had been visiting with Lord Akeldama, a most flamboyantly homosexual vampire who you honestly can't help but love.  

Now, a random vampire has shown up and is dead; werewolves and vampires are missing; and someone with a creepy, not human, waxy figure has just tried to kidnap Alexia.  Just what the monkey is going on around here?!  Throw in the fact that Lord Maccon is waiting on Alexia to make the move because that's what werewolf protocol states; and Alexia is waiting on him to return his attentions to her because that's what human custom dictates, and you've got the makings of some actual comedy.  The two of them begin this little dance of trying to make the other jealous when really they both want each other; blessedly, it doesn't take them too long to figure it out and get it together.  

Shit kind of blows up though on the full moon.  The creepy, wax figure thing shows up at Lord Akeldama's house while Alexia is visiting and both are kidnapped.  They're chloroformed and taken to a local science club that has just opened up.  These fuckers...holy cow.  These scientists are trying to figure out ways that supernaturals exist...why do they exist?  How come some can change from human to supernatural and others can't?  Is it an energy transfer?  Is it because one has more soul than another?  How does one quantitate and potentially weight the soul in hopes of knowing, before transformation is attempted, if it will be successful?  Dude...so many questions...and I'm all for science and research because I am a scientist, but uhhhhh even I know inhumane when I see it...whether you're supernatural or not.  These fuckers want to conduct all kinds of torturous experiments on not only vampires and werewolves, but also Alexia.  It's really just fucked up.  The things people do in the name of science...

A battle ensues between Lord Maccon who is trying to get to his love muffin in order to save her ass and the rest of these scientists and their hired goons.  Luckily, the good guys win and the scientists are taken down.  These scientists were taken blood from vampires, and Lord Akeldama being one of the oldest, and placing it into a human (I'm thinking dead), and making their own uneducated vampires.  There's a reason they're transformed within the confines of a hive, people!  There are certain rules and customs that must be taught and followed!  Jeez!  

I really just enjoyed the premise behind it all...mad scientists thinking they're doing what's best for the human population when really I'm not so sure the supernaturals are a threat.  Their numbers are so small and it honestly seems like they haven't caused any unrest.  It's the loco human scientists who are off their rockers.  I love that Alexia is a strong woman and embraces her spinster status.  She basically does what she wants until Lord Maccon makes her his wife...then she still does what she wants, probably more so just to spite him.  She doesn't take his shit and she's just as much an Alpha as he is.  I loved their sparring and flirty banter.  I loved mostly everyone except Alexia's family who is just irritating and meddling and won't leave the girl alone in peace.  They're put in their place, blessedly, a couple of times which made me laugh out loud and smile with pure glee.  I loved Alexia and the fact that she embraced that she was different.  She didn't want to be like the rest of the women of the time and I admire that.  She shows that different is a good thing and I think that's a positive message.  Lord knows, I don't want to go with the flow of the crowd.  

I so look forward to the rest of Alexia's shenanigans...and hopefully steamy, sappy moments between her and Conall!  :)  This is definitely one of those series I'll be buying the rest of at one time.