UPDATE! Gena Showalter's LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Gena Showalter with a review of the ninth book in her LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD SERIES: The Darkest Seduction.

Click on the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

UPDATE! Lara Adrian's MIDNIGHT BREED SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Lara Adrian with a review of the climactic tenth book (Chance's story) in her MIDNIGHT BREED SERIES: Darker Than Midnight.

Click on the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

Shawntelle Madison: COVETED SERIES

Author: Shawntelle Madison
Series: COVETED
Plot Type: UF Light
Ratings: V4; S3; H2
Publisher and Titles: Ballantine
       Coveted (5/2012)
       Kept (11/2012)

       WORLD-BUILDING       

     In this world, the supernatural community includes werewolves, witches, warlocks, wizards, and all kinds of fae, from mermaids to goblins to dwarfs. The lead characters are members of the Toms River, New Jersey werewolf pack. Although humans don't seem to know that the supernatural world exists, I'm not sure that they could miss seeing such things as a zombie waiter in an upscale restaurant or a major werewolf war, both of which are a part of book 1.

     The series heroine is Natalya Stravinsky, a twenty-something werewolf who was kicked out of her pack because she suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and because she rejected an arranged marriage with a top-level pack family. Five years ago, Nat had her OCD pretty much under control, but then her boyfriend, Thorn Grantham, deserted her and she fell prey to her weakness—buying Christmas ornaments, scrupulously cleaning them up, and storing them in pristine white boxes that are neatly stacked everywhere in her antiseptically clean house. Nat's OCD is a huge part of the plot, to the point that you just want to tell her to get a better therapist and work a lot harder at getting over it.

     One of the cover blurbs compares Nat to Carolyn Crane's hypochondriacal heroine, Justine Jones, but really, there is no comparison—not between the heroines and definitely not between the two series. Crane's series has a beautifully crafted mythology and a smart and sympathetic heroine, two things that this series lacks. Click HERE to read my review of Carolyn Crane's excellent DISILLUSIONISTS TRILOGY.

       BOOK 1:  COVETED       

      The story opens with a mild bedroom scene—a flashback that involves clean sheets, chocolate syrup, and empty promises. And that's about the end of the sex for our heroine in this book. After having been gone for five years, Thorn, the pack leader's son, has finally returned home, and he's slated to marry the daughter of one of the pack's top families. Thorn comes back only because his father has been injured, and wants Thorn to take on some of his responsibilities. Even though Thorn rescues Nat occasionally from threatening situations, he doesn't come across as much of a hero. He has agreed to the arranged marriage, but he keeps hanging around Nat—showing up in her bedroom, breathing heavily in her ear, and telling her how much he wants her...if only things were different. They never have a real conversation, so it's hard to tell what the attraction is between them.

     Nat's life as a rogue werewolf means that she has no werewolf friends. Even her family is mostly estranged from her, except for her grandmother.  Family members and pack members are disturbingly rude and cold to Nat much of the time. When Nat's college friend, Aggie (also a werewolf), turns up at her door, Nat is thrilled for the companionship, even though she's nervous about having someone live in her ultra-clean house among all her treasures—or as she calls them, "my children."

     Meanwhile, the Long Island werewolf pack is trying to take over the Toms River pack's territory, and their pack leader (Luther) wants to kill Nat. During most of the book, no one seems to have a clue as to why the Long Island pack is so focused on Nat. When we finally get the answer, it is a total rip-off. Obviously Nat has to have known all along why the pack leader wants to kill her. Why didn't she speak up? Why didn't she include it in one of her interminable interior monologues? Who knows?

     Part-way into the story, Nat rejoins a therapy group, hoping to get her OCD under control. There, she is partnered with Nick, a sexy wizard who also has an OCD problem. Obviously, Nick is going to be the third point in Nat's love triangle along with Thorn. He's a much more likable and interesting guy, so that probably means she won't choose him.

     This book has so many problems, it's hard to know where to begin. First, there's the author's lack of skill in writing from the first-person point of view. Then there are the grammatical errors and the awkward use of language. Counting up the cliches would be "like plucking fruit off a tree." (p. 278) And don't forget the numerous holes in the plot. At one point, Nat's home is flooded by a creek next to her home that we have never heard about before this point. The flood is included in the story solely because the author needs Nat's treasures to be damaged so that her relatives can finally show some sympathy as they help her clean up after the flood waters recede. The story abounds with loose ends, like the eccentric therapy group member who merits several pages of description and is never heard from again. And then there's another unnecessary scene in which some tree nymphs plan (but never come close to carrying out) a kidnapping and humiliation of Nat's brother. It's a silly scene in which they fill their car with pink duct tape and shaving cream—and it adds absolutely nothing to the plot. Perhaps the author intended these scenes to add humor to the story. If so, it didn't work for me. The way to add humor is to integrate it with the plot, not to manufacture "humorous" situations and drop them in every once in awhile before getting back to the story.

     In the most illogical and manipulative scene in the book, after Nat's brother is rescued from the Long Island werewolves, he is taken to his aunt's home to recover. Now, the aunt lives within walking distance of his parents' house, so why is he recovering at his aunt's house and not his parents' house. And why aren't the parents there with him. His mother has been worried sick about him, so why would she turn her back on him now? The answer to this is that the author needs him to be in a certain place with a certain few people so that he can once again be attacked. If the author followed the logical flow of things and put him with his parents, there would have been too many people around for the second attack to take place. This is the kind of plot manipulation that makes for a below average book with an above average level of annoyance for the reader. The attack scene that follows is staged so awkwardly and illogically that it is head-shakingly dreadful. A band of enemy werewolves sneaks up on the house, creeping in to grab a shotgun off a table and a cellphone from a purse. You'd think that if they could get inside and grab the gun and the phone they would then attack the only two people in the house who are conscious, but no...once again logic definitely does NOT prevail. What happens instead is that the enemy werewolves all go down into the basement to hide, and then come back up again and attack through the cellar door. They have sent poisoned food into the house, and they have been inside to check things out, so they are sure that the inhabitants are mostly sick or unconscious, so why in the world don't they attack while they are in the house grabbing the shotgun? And why don't they split up and attack from multiple angles? And why would they all go into the basement and then come right back up again? This whole section of the book quickly went from unconvincingly improbable to unbelievably awful.

     I'm afraid that I can't recommend this series based on book 1. I'm willing to take a look at book 2 in the hope that the writing improves, but I'm not optimistic.

UPDATE! Hanna Jayne's UNDERWORLD DETECTION AGENCY CHRONICLES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Hannah Jayne  with a review of the third book in her UNDERWORLD DETECTION AGENCY CHRONICLES:  Under Suspicion.

Click on the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

Suzanne Johnson: SENTINELS OF NEW ORLEANS

Author: Suzanne Johnson
Series: SENTINELS OF NEW ORLEANS
Plot Type: UF
Ratings: V4; S2; H2
Publisher and Titles: Tor
       Royal Street (4/2012)
       River Road (11/2012)
       Elysian Fields (Spring 2013)


       WORLD-BUILDING       

     The Sentinels are wizards who maintain order among the preternaturals (aka pretes) of the world. They are divided into groups called Congresses, based on their powers. Red Congress wizards use physical magic; Green Congress wizards are more witchlike, using spells and potions; Yellow Congress wizards are telepaths; Green and Blue Congress wizards use creative and intellectual powers. Each wizard is mainstreamed into the human community as a means of keeping his or her magical identity hidden.

     In this world, most pretes live in the Beyond, a realm separate from mortal earth, where each group lives together in its own area—kind of like little supernatural villages. In New Orleans, some of the pretes live in Old Orleans, a realm between the mortal world and the Beyond. In order for a preternatural from the Beyond to enter the mortal world, he or she must be summoned by a wizard or cross through a transport (i.e., a portal). Some pretes are allowed to live in the mortal world, mostly werewolves and shape shifters (which are two very different creatures in this series). The series has one group of undead that is new and inventive—the historical dead. These are famous people who, although dead, are still hanging around hoping to get back to earth for one reason or another—people like Jean Lafitte and Marie Laveau, who want money and power, and Louis Armstrong, who just wants to keep making music in his favorite city. Also living in the Beyond are the gods of various cultures. The strength of their undead existence depends on how many people still remember and believe in them.

     The Sentinels are ruled by the Elders, a stereotypically crotchety and über-traditional group of men who are headquartered in Edinburgh. They want to maintain the status quo and keep as many pretes as possible away from mortal earth. Humans are mostly unaware of the existence of pretes, but the FBI knows enough to have its own, secretive prete squad.

     The heroine of the series is Drusilla Jaco (aka DJ), a Green Congress wizard who is forced to become the Sentinel of New Orleans when her mentor, Gerald "Gerry" St. Simon (Red Congress), disappears during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Her hero (one of them, anyway) is Alexander (Alex) Warin, a shape-shifting Enforcer who works for the Elders, mostly as a terminator of out-of-control pretes. As is almost always the case in paranormal fiction, DJ has a second possible love interest—Alex's non-magical cousin, Jacob (Jake), who owns a nightclub in the French Quarter.

       BOOK 1: Royal Street       

     The titular location—Royal Street—is in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter, where many of the events in the story take place. As the action begins, DJ is meeting with Jean Lafitte in an attempt to trick him into going back to the Beyond. When she is successful, he gives her one of those "I'll be baacck!" shout-outs as he fades away. You can be sure that he makes good on that threat. Soon thereafter, the Elders order DJ to evacuate because Katrina is bearing down on New Orleans. Leaving Gerry behind to protect the city, DJ heads to her grandmother's home in Alabama where she waits out the hurricane and worries about Gerry, who disappears about a week after the storm. The elders order DJ back to New Orleans when they discover that Gerry has gone missing and that Katrina has damaged the boundaries between the moral world and the Beyond, allowing marauding pretes to stream into New Orleans. When DJ reaches her house (luckily in an unflooded neighborhood), Lafitte is waiting in ambush. Just in the nick of time (but much to DJ's annoyance), a tall, sexy, well-armed man bursts in and shoots Lafitte, forcing him back to the Beyond. The rescuer introduces himself as Alex, her new partner, and informs DJ that together they will be co-Sentinels of the city. The Elders (and Alex) suspect that Gerry has gone rogue, while DJ is sure that he has fallen victim either to the storm or to a villainous prete.

     The plot follows DJ and Alex as they search for Gerry and investigate a series of voodoo-related murders of National Guardsmen. At each murder scene, the perpetrator has drawn a voodoo véve, and soon those drawings show up on the doorsteps of all of the wizards in New Orleans, including DJ's. As DJ reads through Gerry's journals, she begins to realize that Alex and the Elders might be right—that Gerry may have gotten himself involved in a dangerous bargain with Baron Samedi, a voodoo god who is trying to build up enough power to take down the Elders. She also makes a stunning discovery about her own genetic heritage. As the conflict is resolved, both DJ and Alex are put into situations where they must choose between the safety of family and the greater good of the Elders' laws.

     The love triangle develops as the story moves along, with a love-hate relationship growing between DJ and Alex, a flirtation developing between DJ and Jake, and ripples of jealousy pulsating between the two men. During the climactic resolution, Jake has a life-changing experience, so we'll have to see how that affects his love life.

     This is an inventive new series with a fresh take on the supernatural mythos. The idea that the preternaturals are mostly confined to the Beyond is interesting, although the details of the world-building are not completely spelled out in book 1. For example, why do the Elders allow some pretes to live in the mortal world, but not others? The concept of the historical undead is fascinating, and it opens up lots of possibilities for future story lines. Maybe Elvis can stop in for a visit (kind of like Bubba in the SOOKIE STACKHOUSE series). Johnson certainly captures the look, feel, and even the smell of post-Katrina New Orleans. Her descriptions of the devastation in the flooded neighborhoods is horrifying in its detail. The three main characters are solid—if not as inventive as the mythology. Actually, the most fascinating character is Lafitte, and you can bet he'll be turning up in future books.

     Click HERE to read chapters 1-3. Click HERE to read "Royal Street Easter Eggs"—notes and images that amplify chapters 1-3 of the book.

UPDATE! Alaya Johnson's ZEPHYR HOLLIS SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous blog entry for Alaya Johnson with a review of the second book in her ZEPHYR HOLLIS SERIES: Wicked City.

Click on the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

Juliana Stone: LEAGUE OF GUARDIANS SERIES

Author: Juliana Stone
Series: LEAGUE OF GUARDIANS
Plot Type: SMR
Ratings: V5; S4; H2
Publisher and Titles: 
       Wrong Side of Hell (Prequel, 3/2012)
       Wicked Road to Hell (4/2012)
       TBA novella (10/2012)
       King of the Damned (11/2012)

       WORLD-BUILDING       

     This series begins about 2 years after the final book in Stone's JAGUAR WARRIORS series. At the end of that series, we met "Bill," the mysterious, otherworldly man who rescued Julian Castille and Declan O'Hara from Hell. In exchange for his help, Bill required them to serve him. Now, we learn that Bill is really Askelon, a Seraphim who leads the League of Guardians. The Seraphim are angelic creatures who rule the upper realm, but they sometimes go too far in their zeal to destroy everything and everyone they believe to be evil. Their army is called the Seraph. 

     The League of Guardians was formed to maintain a balance between the forces of dark and light—i.e., the Seraphim and the Demons. Here, the situation is explained in the introduction to the prequel novella: "For millennia the struggle between light and dark, between the upper and lower realms, has been policed by a secret group of warriors culled from every fabric of existence. They are both otherworld and human, male and female. They are known to each other as the League of Guardians. Their pledge, to protect the line between dominions and make sure neither side grows too powerful. If they should fall, so shall the earth, the heavens, and hells. And there will be no more."  As Cale, a Seraphim and a member of the League, explains to Declan (now a Seraph soldier), "Our job is to make sure neither the underworld nor the upper realm become too powerful...yin-yang and all that. Without darkness there can be no light, the line between the two is delicate, like the thinnest weave of silk....We answer to one of the original seven Seraphim—a true warrior who speaks directly to the highest power. (That would be "Bill.") Bill generally takes on a human form in which he is a short, fat, bald man who constantly chews handfuls of gummy bear candy. Why does Bill constantly carry around a bag of gummy bears? Who knows. For me it's just one more of those "cutesy" details that writers throw in to add humor and "humanize" their characters. Unfortunately, it's just silly and annoying—and not funny at all.

       Prequel Novella: Wrong Side of Hell       

     This introductory novella tells the beginning of the love story between Logan Winters, a hellhound, and Kira Dove, a human. Logan's job is to "retrieve souls that were beyond redemption and escort them to District Three—one of several levels in hell—for processing." Logan is also a League member after having been saved from the Pit of Hell by Bill. Fifteen years ago, Bill asked Logan to lead a young girl back to the human realm instead of escorting her to District Three, where Logan's demon overlord had ordered him to take her. Now, the girl has been murdered, and, once again, Bill wants Logan to bring her back. The plot follows Logan as he finds Kira in Purgatory and fights off swarms of demons to return her to Bill. The ending does not completely resolve their difficulties, so I can only assume that we'll see more of this couple in future books.

     The problem that I have with this story, and with the series mythology in general, is that too much is left unexplained. It's as if the author knows way more about the mythology than we do, and she has decided not to let us in on some key points. For example, just why is Kira so important? She appears to have some kind of otherworld connection, but mostly she comes across as a mentally damaged, bratty post adolescent, and no clues are given as to why she is so important to the League. Also, the mysterious identity of Logan's mother is referred to several times, but we never learn just who she is and why it is so important to Logan to protect her identity. But the biggest mystery for me concerns the League of Guardians itself. Other than the idea that they try to keep dark and light balanced, we don't really learn much concrete information about them—not in the introductory novella and not in book 1. All we are told is that sometimes they battle the Seraphim and sometimes they battle the demons. We do learn in the novella that there is apparently a traitorous Seraphim in the mix, but that bit of conflict doesn't show up in book 1. So...there is little continuity in the series—so far. In Stone's previous series—JAGUAR WARRIORS—the world-building was meticulously crafted, but in this series, it feels incomplete and thrown together.

       BOOK 1: Wicked Road to Hell       

     This book tells the love story of Ana DeLacrux and Declan O'Hara, star-crossed lovers from the JAGUAR WARRIORS series. In the final book of that series (His Darkest Salvation), Ana was staked and seemingly killed by Cormac O'Hara (Declan's father, the series villain), leaving Declan in a state of devastation and grief. As Wicked Road to Hell begins, Declan is in New Orleans, where Bill has sent him to track down his latest target. When Declan locates the home in which the target—Kaden, a teen-age sorcerer—is hiding, he is stunned to find Ana—still alive, or actually still undead—guarding Kaden. As it turns out, Ana was also rescued by Bill, and now she, like Declan, is forced to do Bill's bidding. Kaden is valuable to both the underworld and the Seraphim because he has the fifth of seven magical marks. Declan, Ana, and their friends soon learn that there are seven children, each bearing a special mark. Brought together as a group, these marked children will be able to wield tremendous power. The question is, though, will they use their power for good or for evil? Each one has both light and dark in his or her soul, so it's a toss up as to which way they will go. The Seraphim don't want to take any chances, so they plan to collect the children and either imprison or kill them. The Demons, on the other hand, believe that they can fan the flames of darkness, so they want to capture the children and work on their dark natures. The League wants to rescue the children from both groups and give them a chance to make the right decisions.

     The plot follows the twists and turns of Declan and Ana's attempts to protect Kaden and rescue two other marked children who have been captured by Lilith and taken to her Hellish lair. Declan was at Lilith's mercy the entire time that he was in Hell, so he's not happy to learn that he must head back down there to rescue the children. Ana, being the stubborn vampire that she is, follows him. The story is filled with anguished interior monologues by both Ana and Declan as they bemoan their years of separation and worry that they can never overcome the odds and be together. Even when the couple seems to have successfully escaped from Hell, their troubles aren't over, but rest assured that they eventually find their HEA.

     If you enjoyed the JAGUAR WARRIORS, series, you'll probably like this one. It has the same handsome alpha males and feisty, hardheaded females. The plot has a few loose ends (What happened to the Egyptian necklace?), but in general, the story line is compelling and action filled. The primary problem continues to be with the sketchy mythology, which still is missing some concrete details.