Virna DePaul: PARA-OPS Series

Author: Virna DePaul
Series: PARA-OPS Series
Plot Type: SMR
Ratings: V4; S4; H2
Publisher and Titles:
     Wraith's Awakening (free e-story)
     Chosen by Blood (2011)
     Chosen by Fate (10/2011)

     This blog entry was updated and revised on 11/5/11 to include a review of the second novel in the series: Chosen by Fate. That review follows this overview of the series so far:  

     If you know your military history, you know that one of the first things that you do to weaken your enemy is to cut off his food supply. Without a means of nourishment, the enemy can't fight at full strength. What if your enemy is a vampire? How do you apply that strategy? You cut off his supply of pure, fresh blood, of course.

     DePaul has come up with an inspired and extremely creative idea here. In her world, America has recently ended its Second Civil War—this time between humans and supernaturals (aka Otherborns). As a means of defeating the vampires during the war, human scientists invent a drug that changes human blood so that it no longer provides vampires with the nourishment they need to remain strong. That forces the vamps to the treaty table and ends the war. Now, however, in the post-war world, vampires are losing their powers and fading away from malnourishment. Government scientists have been working on an antidote to the blood drug, but the head scientist has just been murdered and the formula for the antidote is missing, as are all the samples. 

     The story arc for the series involves the machinations of the earth goddess, Essenia, who believes that humans and Otherborns have made such a mess of their lives on earth that they deserve to be destroyed. She makes a bargain with Kyle Mahone, leader of the FIB's Special Ops Tactical Unit, that she will allow everyone to live if his group of humans and Otherborn can work together as a unit as they investigate crimes that keep the humans and Otherborns apart.  

     In Chosen by Blood, Kyle Mahone (who has a history with the vampire queen mother of this book's hero) determines that North Korea is involved in the theft of the antidote, so he puts together a team of Otherborn and humans to retrieve the drug. The team leader (and the hero) is Knox Devereaux (dharmire: half vamp/half human), leader of a large vampire clan. As the story begins, Knox is married to Noella (a full vampire), but has been head-over-heels in love with Noella's BFF, Felicia Locke (human FBI agent), ever since he met her (which was after he married Noella). Knox's marriage is not a true love match. As he says, he "loves" Noella, but he's not "in love" with her. In fact, Noella is aware of the Knox-Felicia attraction and has given her approval for the two of them to hook up. Felicia, however, won't go to bed with Noella's husband. Even when Noella dies (very early in the story), Felicia stays away from Knox. She knows that he will marry another vampire so that he can produce more vampire children. Knox is somewhat protected from the malnourishment that affects full vampires, and he feels that he is obligated to procreate with a vampire female so that his clan will remain strong into the next generation. Early on (after Noella dies), Knox makes plans to wed a European vampire, but he wants Felicia as his full-time lover. Needless to say, Felicia turns thumbs down on that idea, even though she loves Knox to distraction.

     Back to the antidote plot thread: Felicia becomes a member of Knox's team along with a werewolf, a wraith, a mage, and a psychic. We are introduced to all of the team members in book 1, but we are not told all of their personal secrets. Those will come in later books. After the team goes through the painful process of unification, they head off to North Korea to steal back the antidote. The remainder of the book follows the team as they do their retrieval thing. By the end, Knox is faced with new information about his father's death and the betrayal of one of his Vampire Council members. He must also come to terms with his long-term prejudices against humans if he is to win over Felicia.

     I have to say that this whole vampire-blood-drug concept is one of the most fresh and inventive ideas that I've seen in paranormal fiction in a long time. I just wish that DePaul were a better writer. I couldn't get interested in the lead couple—particularly Knox. He is so stereotypically alpha that his every word and action are absolutely predictable. Although we are told over and over again how "in love" each one is with the other, their love story stays at just that shallow level. We never are told (or shown) exactly why they love one another, except on a very basic lust level. What is that love built on? Seemingly, just physical attraction.

     Unfortunately the plot of this book is so filled with inconsistencies and melodrama that it's a head-shaker rather than a hold-your-breath read. If I were to explain all of the inconsistencies, I'd be giving away spoilers, but here is one example: At the very end, a brand new set of villains pops up from absolutely nowhere (10 pages from the end). You'll see other examples of plot oddities for yourself if you read the book. I do plan to keep reading the series for now in the hopes that the story-telling improves.  

      Chosen by Fate tells the love story of the living-dead Wraith, and the psychic shaman, Caleb O'Flare. They were the most colorful and interesting characters in Chosen by Blood, so I was looking forward to reading their story. Click HERE to read a free prequel e-story (Wraith's Awakening) that provides background on Wraith's tragic past. In this world, a wraith is a ghost with a corporeal body. Wraiths are generally humans who have died and then risen as platinum blond, blue-tinged creatures who have absolutely no memory of their human lives. Probably their worst trait is that they feel extreme pain if their skin is touched by a human or an Otherborn. Wraith sees her life as having only two options for avoiding pain: complete isolation or complete addiction to pain-killing drugs. Instead, Wraith has chosen a third option. She has learned to enjoy pain in a perverse way, and can no longer experience pleasure unless pain is there, too. Wraith and Caleb were attracted to one another from the moment they met (in book 1). Caleb is a human shaman with powerful healing skills and the ability to communicate with his ancestors and walk in the realm of Essenia, the earth goddess who is manipulating all of the action in this series. Caleb is eaten up with guilt over the death of his friend, Elijah, during the great war between the humans and the Otherborn. Caleb was, of course, not responsible in any way for Elijah's death, but he blames himself and so does everyone else, particularly Elijah's feline family. The love story between Caleb and Wraith is the main plot, but there are many more plot threads, all of which place numerous obstacles in the road to the couple's HEA. The plot kicks off when the para ops team is assigned to solve the rapes of several feline women in Los Angeles, which is Wraith's old stomping ground and where one of her former S&M lovers still owns a sex club. Coincidentally (or not), one of the rapes occurred at that club. Watching this plot grow and develop is like watching a load of brightly colored clothing spinning in a clothes dryer. They spin and spin, tangling themselves together in many different ways. Then the dryer stops, and someone pulls each piece out, shakes it, and folds it up neatly. And so...the plot threads in this book build up, intertwine themselves in labyrinthine ways, and then grind to a halt. After the quick climax and speedy resolution, the characters sit around and unfold the story, speculating and explaining to each other (and to the reader) who did what and why they did it—and there are so many "whos" and "whys" that it takes more than one conversation over several pages to lay them all out in neatly stacked piles. A mysterious character is introduced briefly near the end of the book so that she can act as a kind of deus ex machina: a female vampire named Jesmina Martin. Jesmina will no doubt show up in the next book, perhaps as a love interest for the werewolf team member, Dex Hunt, since there seemed to be a spark of attraction between the two of them.

    This book was more enjoyable for me than the previous one, but it was definitely over-plotted. The extremely high level of angst in the romance was unbearable at times. These two thrashed around emotionally to the point that it was surprising that they could actually follow through on their team's mission.

Karina Cooper: DARK MISSION SERIES

Author:  Karina Cooper 
Series:  DARK MISSION 
Plot Type:  Dark and Gritty Urban Soul Mate Romance (SMR)
Ratings:  Violence--4-5; Sensuality--4; Humor--1
Publisher and Titles:  Avon
         "Before the Witches" (novella prequel, 7/2011)
         Blood of the Wicked (5/2011)
         Lure of the Wicked (6/2011)
         "No Rest for the Witches" (novella, 11/2011)
         All Things Wicked (1/2012)
         Sacrifice the Wicked (9/2012)
         "Wicked Lies" (novella, 3/2013)
         One for the Wicked (4/2013)  (FINAL)  

     This post was revised and updated on 12/4/12 to include a review of the fifth and FINAL novel in the series, One for the Wicked. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of the rest of the novellas and novels in the series:    

        NOVEL 5:  One for the Wicked        

     Just to review, here are the couples who linked up during the series. You'll definitely need to know who's who and who's with who when you read this final novel:

   > Silas (former missionary, now rebel) and Jessie (visionary witch)

   > Phinneas (human rebel) and Naomi (former missionary, now healing witch and rebel)

   > Caleb (Jessie's brother) and Juliet (both witches)

   > Simon (witch) and Parker (former missionary, now rebel)

   > Danny (rebel) and Jonas (former missionary, now rebel)

     One of the problems with this book is that Cooper has used "S" and "J" as the first letters of many of the lead characters' names. Towards the end, when all of the couples from the previous books enter the plot in rapid sequence, it's difficult to cast your mind back and remember just who everyone is. We have Jessie, Juliet, and Jonas; Silas, Simon, and Shawn—and they all begin to run together as the scenes quickly jump from couple to couple, sometimes with scenes of all three "S" and/or "J" characters in the same scene. I definitely had to put the book down at one point and go back to my reviews to refresh my memory as to characters' names and relationships.

     Having said all that, here's the final story line: Shawn (a rebel) kidnaps Kayleigh Lauderdale, the genetic scientist who is the daughter of Dr. Laurence Lauderdale, the current series villain. Shawn is supposed to take Kayleigh back to rebel headquarters for questioning, but he wants to use Kayleigh as a trade-off for a group of his fellow rebels who have been captured by the Mission, so he drugs her, drags her off to an abandoned house, and ties her up. As Shawn and Kayleigh hide out in Seattle's lowest levels, a series of earthquakes hits the city, causing both of them to be injured and forcing them to rely on one another to survive. I need to mention that just before Shawn drugs Kayleigh and carries her off, he poses as her security guard, and she makes a pass at him that he accepts and fulfills to her great satisfaction (if you get my drift). Naturally enough, when she wakes up tied to a chair with a major headache, she is more than a little pissed off. Thus, their relationship begins as the typical lust/hate type that we have seen between other couples in this series. 

     The early part of the story follows the couple as they occasionally allow their  romantic emotions to run free as they try to stay alive during the quakes. Then, other couples from past books begin to arrive on the scene, and the story starts jumping from one to another—and that's where the characters begin to blur. 

     In the previous books, Kayleigh was portrayed as clueless about her father's dastardly deeds, and in this book we learn that Dad kept even more secrets from her—specifically, the truth about her own genetic heritage. We already know from past books that Laurence Lauderdale is smart and sociopathic, and in this book, he takes his final horrific actions to, in his words, "make Seattle a better place."

     In this final book, Cooper ties up all the loose ends of the Salem Project (including the cure) and gives us some hints as to the HEA futures of most of the characters, including Shawn and Kayleigh. Once again, my main criticism is that the lead couple falls in lust instantly and lets their emotions rule them, sometimes to a ridiculous degree. For example, at one point, they jump each other's bones in an empty hospital room in the midst of the immediate aftermath of one of the earthquakes, with hundreds of wounded, moaning victims lying in the rooms and hallways surrounding them. I do give Cooper credit, though, for an inventive mythology and a well-crafted ending to the series story arc. If you can forgive the instamatic lust/love relationships that are the centerpiece of every book, this is a solid series. If you haven't read the previous book, there's not a chance that you will understand what's going on in this one, particularly the second half, when all of the series regulars show up and make all kinds of references to past incidents.

          WORLD BUILDING          
     Although the cover art and the setting of this series are both on the urban fantasy side of the paranormal fiction field, each book is actually a romance. The series is set in an alternate Seattle, 50 years after various types of natural, global catastrophes have left the world in a shambles. In Seattle, an earthquake caused a huge split in the San Andreas fault, dumping the city into a bottomless trench that has filled with sea water. (aka the sea trench). New Seattle has been built on top of the ruins in a layer-cake fashion, with the poorest living in the dark and gritty bottom layers of the city and the wealthy elite living up on top in glass-walled penthouses. 

     Back when the devastation began, people looked for someone to blame (as folks are wont to do), and they accused the witches of causing the earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions by abusing their powers. The Church (aka the Holy Order of St. Dominic) stepped in with its "Do not suffer a witch to live" edict and became the ultimate moral authority. In order to be sure that all witches were eliminated, the Church created a highly trained enforcement group called the Mission. Each of the ironically named "missionaries" is a trained witch hunter—and killer. In retaliation against the church's efforts to execute all witches—good or bad—the witches have formed covens to protect themselves as they try to keep themselves hidden from the missionaries. Some of the covens have decided to increase their power through blood rituals so that they can challenge the church. And that is the state of affairs at the beginning of the first book, Blood of the Wicked.

    This series has some strong features, first and foremost being the author's ability to establish a sense of place. The scenes in Seattle's underground ruins are beautifully written as they put the reader squarely in the middle of the darkness and devastation of the pitiful remains of the original city. The mythology is fresh and inventive, with its ongoing Coven vs. Church confrontations that are complicated by the all-too-human hunger for power and influence. 

     If you like the darkness of this series, the idea of multiple social levels, witches, and the representation of an all-powerful church, you might also enjoy reading Stacia Kane's DOWNSIDE GHOSTS series. That urban fantasy series has a heroine (Chess Putnam) who is a drug addict—but she's also a powerful witch and a skillful ghost debunker who works for the Church. In the DOWNSIDE world, the Church of Real Truth saved the day when the world's dead rose up as ghosts and killed much of the population. The lower classes live in a dark, Dickensian world and even speak in a Cockney dialect, while the rest of the population lives and speaks like like modern Americans. It's a solid series, with fully developed, interesting characters. I highly recommend it. 

              PREQUEL NOVELLA: "Before the Witches"              
     The prequel novella that introduces the series takes place five decades before the beginning of the first novel, Blood of the Wicked. It tells the story of Katya Zhuvova, a Seattle prostitute who is also a witch. Her hero is Undercover Detective Nigel Ferris, who is trying to shut down a prostitution ring. Katya is one of the prostitutes, and Nigel tries to win her trust as he attempts to get the evidence he needs to close his case. 

     As Katya and Nigel get together (in many ways), earthquakes literally knock the bottom out of Seattle. This disaster sets the stage for the rest of the series.

              NOVEL 1: Blood of the Wicked              

     The hero of the story is Silas Jones, a missionary who is nearing the end of his career even though he's just in his mid-30s. Silas has a bum knee, a rusty old truck, and a bad attitude. He's been sent to the lower depths of New Seattle to find the sister of a murderous witch, and he can't wait to finish up the case and get out of town. The sister in question is Jessie Leigh, who has been on the run all her life. She is a non-practicing witch who has the ability to reach out telepathically in real time and see events that are taking place far away from her. Jessie's brother, Caleb, is the witch who is at the top of the Mission's hit list. He is the seer for the Coven of the Unbinding, Seattle's largest, darkest, and most powerful group of witches.

     When Silas rescues Jessie from a street punk (whom he hired to accost her so that he could come to her aid), he does not realize that she is a witch. He sweeps her up and carries her off to a safe house where they begin to act on the electrical sexual attraction between them. As the story progresses, Silas and Jessie are constantly in danger, either from the witches or from the Mission. The Coven wants to kill Silas and sacrifice Jessie in a death ritual, while the Mission wants to force Jessie to find her brother—and then execute both of them. It's a lose-lose situation for the unhappy couple. At one point, Silas and Jessie are rescued from the sea trench by a mysterious elderly woman (Matilda) who provides them with sanctuary in her home deep in the trench. Matilda reminded me of the elderly folks that Stephen King likes to use in his stories as wellsprings of goodness and wisdom (most notably Mother Abagail in The Stand). Blood of the Wicked ends in an apocalyptic battle between Silas and the Coven, with Matilda reappearing to play a strategic role. By the end of the book, Silas and Jessie get their HEA ending, as we always knew they would.

     The developing romantic relationship between Silas and Jessie is really the central point of the plot. Cooper tells a good story, pulling the reader right along to the bang-up ending. Silas and Jess do fall in lust/love a bit too quickly, and I thought that the period of hate/lust before they succumbed to their undeniable feelings was a bit short, but then, these aren't called soul-mate romances for nothing. The other plot thread involves the ramifications of the bond between Jessie and Caleb: the reasons why he previously tried to cut off all contact with her and why he now needs her for a mysterious and scary ritual. One big problem I have with Jessie is that she only uses her "vision" powers once. Why doesn't she use them to avoid some of the ambushes that she and Silas keep walking into? Also, even at the end, it was not really clear why Caleb had been murdering all those women. How could that be a good thing? And how can Jessie ever forgive him? Click HERE to read an excerpt from Blood of the Wicked.

              NOVEL 2: Lure of the Wicked              
     In the previous book, we saw the dark underbelly of New Seattle. Now we go topside to take a look at how the rich and famous live in these post-apocalyptic times. Naomi West (aka Naomi Ishikawa) is a missionary who has been sent by the Mission to take down a rogue missionary named Joe Carson. Carson is believed to be hiding out at Timeless, a luxury spa owned by two women and their son, Phinneas (Phin) Clark. Yes, Phin has two mommies, and the three are devoted to one another—plus, they definitely have family secrets about some mysterious behind-the-scenes activities at Timeless.

      Naomi has the typical tragic past that we find in many paranormal fiction heroines. Her mother walked away when she was five years old, and her father committed suicide shortly thereafter, leaving her to be raised by the Mission in an orphanage. As she thinks to herself at one point, "Why was she mad?....Because she didn't want to know that Phin had two mothers? When she didn't even have one?" (p. 149) Naturally enough, Naomi is filled with rage that has built up since her terrible childhood, and now it is spilling over into her present life in very destructive ways.

     The story follows Naomi as she is attacked by a witch and then tries to solve the disappearances and murders of guests at the spa. Naomi and Phin fall in lust within moments of meeting each other, and they float on waves of sensuality all through the story—balanced, of course, by the fact that neither one totally trusts the other—and for very good reasons. In the climactic scene that resolves most of the plot issues, Phin faces a tragic loss, while Naomi accepts a gift that she's not sure that she really wants. Towards the end, Silas and Jessie from Blood of the Wicked drop in for a cameo to assist in the plot resolution.

     Once again, the lead couple falls in love the moment they lay eyes on each other—no build-up scenes of simmering sensuality—they just go for it right away. The plot has some interesting depth beyond the SMR story, with the rogue missionary lurking behind the scenes, Naomi's mother making a surprise appearance, and Phin running his secretive operation behind the spa walls. This is definitely not your average paranormal romance series, because the series has a strong and well-defined story arc that is building towards a revolution of sorts, led by a growing group of disgruntled missionaries and good-hearted witches who oppose both the Mission and the Coven. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Lure of the Wicked.

             NOVELLA 2.5: "No Rest for the Witches"              

     This novella resolves the relationship between Phin and Naomi. As the story opens, Jessie, Silas, and Naomi are living with Matilda in her cottage deep beneath Seattle, down by the sea trench. Naomi is still adjusting to her new life as a rebel, and she misses Phin tremendously. Phin remains up at the top level so that he can continue to carry out his rescue operation and spy on the Mission. When Jessie has a vision that Lillian, Phin's mother, is in danger, Silas and Naomi go off to rescue her from her kidnappers. 

     The story line doesn't really have much to do with the series story arc because the villains are not part of the Mission, but it is important because it brings Phin and Naomi to their HEA.

              NOVEL 3: All Things Wicked              

     As the story opens, Juliet Carpenter has finally caught up with Caleb Leigh, the murderous witch who wiped out much of the Coven. Juliet, a former Coven member, holds Caleb responsible for the murders of her Coven friends. She and Caleb once had a single passionate hook-up, but now she hates him with a passion that overwhelms every bit of good sense that she ever had. When Juliet calls in the surviving Coven members to turn Caleb over them, they respond by kidnapping both her and Caleb for their own nefarious purposes. At this point, the Coven is led by Alicia, a formerly high-placed witch in the Coven who was badly burned in the conflagration caused by Caleb when he massacred the group and killed its leader. The plot, which is extremely complex and dense with secrets and betrayals, can be somewhat difficult to follow, especially if (like me) you read the last book many months ago. Still, if you stick with it, you'll get the gist of the story: that Juliet is the target of both the Mission and the Coven for reasons that are not revealed until the very end of the story. 

     In the meantime, Caleb and Juliet keep falling in and out of hate/love, with lust being the single uniting factor in their relationship. They spend much of their time being chased through the rot and ruin of the deepest depths of Seattle, stumbling through wreckage and even falling into the sea trench at one point. Eventually, they are rescued by Caleb's sister, Jesse, and her boyfriend, Silas (from book 1). As the story plays out, Juliet discovers the dark secret of her genetic heritage and learns the painful truth about her sister's death—and Caleb's part in it. The previous books were unrelentingly grim and gloomy, but this book is even more harsh and oppressive. Juliet's character is completely clueless for most of the book. Although she has been living by her wits on the streets of underground Seattle for months, she makes so many bad decisions and has so many TSTL moments, that you want to reach into the pages and give her a little "wake up" shake. The connection between Caleb and Juliet is entirely built on sexual attraction. Caleb can't really hold a truthful conversation with Juliet because he must keep so many secrets from her, and Juliet has trouble even being civil to Caleb (except when they're in a clinch) because she blames him for so much of the violence in her life. Their time together is spent either spitting insults at one another, running for their lives, or groping each other's bodies. For me, this is the weakest of the books. Click HERE to read an excerpt from All Things Wicked.

           NOVEL 4:  Sacrifice the Wicked            

     We saw the beginning of the relationship between Parker Adams and Simon Wells in the previous book, but this time they have the starring roles. Parker is the buttoned-down, tight-lipped director of the Mission; she replaced the previous director after it was discovered that he was a witch. Simon is a test-tube creation—one of the Salem Project witches manufactured and controlled by the villainous and power-hungry Dr. Laurence Lauderdale and his wife, Matilda ("Mattie"), who had second thoughts about her part in the project and met her sad end in All Things Wicked. As Simon tells Parker, "I wasn't born..., I was vat-grown. Cultivated in a test tube and incubated by a machine, right here in new Seattle....The Salem Project...makes witches out of genetic material with the greatest odds of survival. Hatches them, raises, them, and turns them into soldiers." (p. 124)

    This plot is all about Church politics as Lauderdale, the director of the the Church's secretive Sector 5 (Research and Development), makes a play to take control of Sector 3—Parker's beloved Mission. Of course, for Lauderdale, this is just one more step in his plan to totally control the Church, and the good guys need to stop him—if they can only learn to differentiate between friends and enemies.

     Lauderdale, through his clueless scientist daughter, Kayleigh, has assigned Simon to work in Sector 3 masquerading as a missionary. In the previous book, Parker learned his true identity and has not yet decided what to do about him. She's conflicted because she is mightily attracted to him—and vice versa. As the story opens, Parker is busy with two urgent projects: Project Domino, which is the investigation into the recent deaths of several of her missionaries, and Project Ghostwatch, which involves a computer hacker who is getting into Mission records. In addition, Parker has evidence that someone within the Church is involved with human experimentation. Simon, who knows all about what's going on in Sector 3, does his best to keep Parker from digging into dangerous secrets, but Parker is determined to get answers.

     Eventually, Lauderdale puts out a contract on Parker, and Simon whisks her off to temporary safety. Although it takes the couple 200 pages to get into the bedroom, they finally give in to their lustful urges and enjoy an 18-page love fest. Their relationship appears to be mostly built on their sexual attraction (just like the other couples in the series), and Parker spends much of the time in deep distrust of Simon—or sometimes just plain angry with him, usually for good reason.

     In the meantime, Simon has his own problems as he faces death due to the disintegration of his lab-created DNA. As he explains to Parker, "The problem is in the longevity....There's something in the DNA that's...broken or fractured or not complete." (p. 125) Simon's current assignment has been to kill Salem Project witches before they completely fall apart, and every time he does so, he sees his own bleak future in their faces. You can imagine how Parker deals with this information when she eventually learns the truth. She had no idea that Lauderdale had infiltrated the Mission with Salem Project witches, and she is furious with Simon for not telling her the truth. On the other hand, she's pretty upset to learn that Simon is at death's door. Simon is a lot like Caleb (the hero of All Things Wicked) in that he keeps massive numbers of secrets from his lover. Simon keeps up that secret-keeping all the way to the end of the book, but by that time, the couple has already declared mutual enduring love, so Parker forgives him.

     None of the conflict is resolved, even some questions are answered and there is the usual violent good-vs.-bad scene near the end. This appears to be a transitional book that carries the series story arc one step closer to completion.

     This book is better that All Things Wicked, mostly because the hero and heroine are slightly more intelligent (although Parker does have a TSTL moment that puts the good guys in grave danger and takes away Simon's chance at saving his own life). My main quibble is that once again, the couple's only link seems to be sexual—not mental or even emotional, just base urges. The romantic connection is further weakened by Simon's continuous withholding of information from his lover, which insults her intelligence and sometimes puts her in danger. These criticisms are also true of most of the heroes in this series. Still, I like the inventiveness of the world-building and appreciate the way that Cooper keeps building towards the inevitable showdown with Lauderdale. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Sacrifice the Wicked.

              NOVELLA 4.5: "Wicked Lies"              

     In this short novella, Jonas Stone finds his true love in Danny Granger, grandson of May—the insurrection leader. As the story opens, Danny is being tortured in a Mission prison cell, and it's up to Jonas to use his electronic wizardry to break him out. During the days of Danny's recovery, Jonas takes care of him in a rebel safe house, and they soon give in to their mutual lustful attraction to one another. 

     In the earlier books, Cooper's heterosexual couples fall for one another as soon as they meet, and Danny and Jonas are no exception. Danny actually is attracted to Jonas through his voice on an ear-com while he is in his prison cell. This story doesn't add anything to the series story arc, but it's a nice character study for two of the good guys.

     Cooper includes an "Author's Note" that includes a description of the "It Gets Better Project" and states that "I will be donating the proceeds from this book to the...Project." 

Nancy Haddock: OLDEST CITY VAMPIRE

Author: Nancy Haddock

Series: OLDEST CITY VAMPIRE (CH trying to be UF)
Ratings; V3-4, S3-4, H3 

Publisher and Titles: Berkley: La Vida Vampire (2008); Last Vampire Standing (2009); Always the Vampire (2011)

     In this world, vampires have revealed themselves to the mortal world, and they are regulated by the Vampire Protection Agency (VPA), which implants each vampire with a GPS chip. Francesca ("Cesca") Marinelli is a 228-year-old vampire living in St. Augustine, Florida. She has recently been freed from an underground crypt in which she was was trapped for more than two hundred years. Cesca survived all that time by drawing small amounts of energy from people passing by on the street adjacent to her burial site. During the renovation of a Victorian mansion that was constructed over Cesca's crypt, her casket was discovered and opened by Maggie O'Halloran, a renovator of old properties. Under VPA regulations, Cesca is required to have a human sponsor, and Maggie has stepped up to take that position in Cesca's life. Cesca is an unusual vampire in that she can day walk, hates the smell of blood, never drinks from humans, stays away from other vampires, and lives a very conservative, quiet life. And—believe it or not—she shops at WalMart. For nourishment, Cesca drinks a bottle of caramel-flavored Starbloods each day, holding her nose as she gulps it down.

La Vida Vampire

      As book 1 opens, Cesca is living in Maggie's penthouse condo and starting her first job—as an Old Ghost Town tour guide. Unfortunately, a vampire hunter (Gorman) shows up on her first tour. He has connections with the Covenant, a vampire-hating pseudo-religious organization. Also on that first tour is a honeymooning French couple who are enamored with vampires. When the wife is murdered and the body bears fang marks, Cesca is hauled in for questioning. At that point, she meets her love interest, preternatural crimes special investigator Deke Saber, who at first comes across as being as anti-vampire as some of the Covenant members. When Cesca's truck is vandalized and she comes under attack, Deke is assigned to stay with her while Maggie is out of town with her boyfriend, Neill. You know what happens next, right? 

     But in the meantime, a mysterious wizard named Cosmil is bringing Cesca's childhood boyfriend to St. Augustine. Triton is a shape-shifting dolphin who disappeared from Cesca's life while she was buried away. At the end of the book, we're not sure what Cosmil has in mind for Cesca and Triton, and we're not sure if her relationship with Deke can stand up to her childhood crush on Triton, her lost love. One last thing: The mysterious Cosmil keeps muttering about an evil Void—some kind of magical construct—that is threatening every supernatural being. We don't find out much about the Void in this book, but it will be a major part of the next books.

Last Vampire Standing

     In the opening scene, Cesca and Maggie are celebrating their move into their new homes, Maggie in the big Victorian at the front of the lot and Cesca in the small cottage at the rear. Peaceful times don't last very long, however. Right in  the middle of the party, a new vampire shows up and begs for Cesca's protection. Jo Jo is a former medieval court jester who has run away from the Atlanta nest, where all sorts of nefarious activities are going on, most of which will affect Cesca at some point in the story. Cesca helps Jo Jo get back on his feet, and in exchange, Jo Jo attempts to help Cesca learn to fly. In the meantime, there is trouble at Lord Ike's place in Daytona Beach. We met Ike in the previous book when he made a few threats against Cesca and accused her of trying to take over his vampire kingdom. Since then, they've tried to stay out of each other's way. Now, however, a human has been found robbed and nearly drained, and he claims that it was done by one of Ike's vamps. 

     Back in St. Augustine, a ghost-busting videographer latches on to Cesca, determined to prove that she is a ghost magnet. On the videos he shoots of Cesca, there are eerie shadows winding around her body, some black and some white—very creepy. As all of this is going on, Triton communicates with Cesca telepathically to tell her that she must beware of the Void. Hmmm...Black shadows, dangerous Void. Could there be a connection? The housecat/panther shifter (Pandora, whom we met in book 1) is back as Cesca's protector. Needless to say, there is a LOT of action in this book, and the whole Void/blackness/creeping-evil story thread is moving right along. An enemy from Cesca's past also shows up to complicate her life. Oh...one more thing. Deke Saber confesses to Cesca that he is a bit more than human—and that's all I'm going to say about that! (Just a note here: We never hear another thing about the mysterious video shadows—not in this book or the next. Why were they included in the first place? Who knows?)

Always the Vampire

     In this book, the series story arc kind of falls apart. New characters are added (including the primary villain) and minor characters from previous books take on much larger roles (Cosmil and Triton). Amongst all of the MANY clothing descriptions (Cesca changes clothes multiple times each day), hair-care moments, and cutesy love talk between Cesca and Deke (way too many eye-brow wagglings), the Void begins to infect most of the supernaturals in Florida, including Deke and Triton, but not Cesca. Cosmil turns up with his sorceress girlfriend to tell Deke, Cesca, and Triton that he suspects that his estranged brother (Starrack) has created the Void and is controlling the spread of the blackness. Now Starrack is after the amulets that Triton and Cesca need to stop the Void. In the midst of all this save-the-world-from-the-Void action, Cesca insists that she can't miss a single night of hostessing her ghost walks and can't postpone a single one of her maid-of-honor duties for Maggie's upcoming wedding. ("Oh you say that the world as we know it is about to end, and my boyfriend is dying of some sort of black plague. Well, I'll take care of that right after I finish sending out these wedding invitations and taking a few tourists to see the local cemetery." Yes, it gets to be just that silly.) Not to mention that we get an overdose of descriptions of various menial household tasks. Let me just say that we learn exactly how many times Snowball's litter box is emptied, disinfected, and refilled—crucial information, I'm sure. This was such a disappointing book. The entire plot can be summed up in this statement that Cesca makes to Maggie when Maggie asks what is going on: "The short version is that there's a power-mad wizard on the loose....He conjured up this thing we call the Void that's infecting and killing vampires with some kind of illness." (p. 214)

SERIES CRITIQUE: This is a chick lit series trying to be urban fantasy. Clothing descriptions abound, as do descriptions of Cesca's decorating efforts (e.g., "I found Saber's note on the turquoise 1950s retro kitchen table..., p. 64). The series starts out well enough, with Cesca trying to catch up with the 21st century and creating a new life for herself. The early parts of the romance were O.K., but the couple never has any disagreements, not ever. Booorrrring...and totally unrealistic. Even when Deke withholds the fact that he is not totally human, Cesca isn't bothered a bit. Not that it matters, since his supernatural abilities are never important to the story, except for the fact that he is susceptible to the Void. 

     Cesca's relationship with Triton is also unrealistic. Although the two frequently bicker about minor issues, Cesca isn't very upset that Triton waited seven months to contact her, even though he was well aware that she had been rescued from her crypt. Now really! This guy was her childhood BFF. He hasn't seen for for hundreds of years. Yet, when he finds out that she has risen, does he call? Does he e-mail? No, he doesn't, and she never bats an eye. Again, not true to life (or even undeath) at all.

     Another problem is that we never see the villain until the very end of book 3. He never pops in to taunt the Cesca and her friends. When the good guys get his description, Haddock waits a long time before she shares it with the reader. He's just this unimaginable evil thing, without personality, and without a physical appearance. I don't know about you, but I like my villains to be complex characters, and I like to meet them early on in the story.

     There is one more time when Cesca has no reaction to someone who has done her wrong. Cesca discovers that Cosmil knew that she was buried underground all that time, and he did nothing about it. In fact, he consecrated the property, thus cutting off her telepathic contact with Triton and preventing Triton from rescuing her. Cosmil says that he did it for everyone's good, and Cesca says, O.K. then, no problem. What a wimp she turns out to be!

      All through the series, I promise that you, the reader, will be miles ahead of the characters in interpreting the clues. I'm sorry that this series doesn't pan out in the end (at least, so far) because it has a great premise and a truly fresh approach to the vampire mythos.

Melissa Marr: "Graveminder"

Author: Melissa Marr
Title: Graveminder (Romantic Horror)
Ratings: V4; S3; H2
Publisher: HarperCollins (2011)

     This story takes the Orpheus myth and gives it an inventive twist. Instead of a musician rescuing his wife from the Underworld, we have an undertaker escorting his girlfriend to and from the land of the dead.     

THE PLOT: No one ever really leaves the small town of Claysville. Most folks are born, live, and are buried there, and those who move away nearly always come back before they die. In this creepy (but romantic) horror story, Byron Montgomery and Rebekkah Barrow both left Claysville for a few years, but both felt a compulsion to return. Byron recently came back to help his father in the family undertaking business, and early in the book, Beka comes home for her grandmother's funeral. Beka's grandmother, Maylene, was found dead in her kitchen, seemingly bitten and mauled by an animal, but strangely, the local sheriff doesn't plan to investigate the "accident." Whenever he thinks about it, he gets a migraine headache.  Byron and Beka ask a lot of questions, but get no answers from anyone as more bloody bodies accumulate, and a mysterious, hungry teenage girl roams the town. As it turns out, in Claysville the lands of the living and the dead are closely accessible to one another. Under the town lies a shadowy, dangerous land ruled by the arrogant Mr. D (aka Charles), master of the dead. It is up to Byron and Beka to return some hungry dead to their proper destination and to make peace with their new roles in life.   

THE LEAD CHARACTERS: Beka is the step-daughter of Maylene Barrow's son, so she isn't really Maylene's blood relative, but the two developed a close relationship over the years. Maylene frequently took Beka with her on her regular visits to the town's many cemeteries, where she sprinkled a mysterious liquid on the graves from a silver flask and whispered, "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." If you take that quote and match it up with the book's title, you can figure out what Maylene's role is. Maylene attends every funeral and makes the rounds of all the graves, over and over again. Beka believes that her grandmother does this out of the kindness of her heart, but when Beka returns to Claysville, she learns that Maylene's motivation has always been much more complex. If Maylene didn't mind the dead, they would rise again—and be very hungry.

     Beka's relationship with Byron began when he was her sister's boyfriend back in high school. Although Beka and Byron were attracted to one another, he already had established a romantic relationship with Ella, so when Ella committed suicide shortly after she glimpsed Byron kissing Beka, Beka felt, and continues to feel, such a level of guilt that she has never been able form a relationship with Byron, even though they have always loved one another. Byron is determined to be a part of Beka's life, no matter how small that part may be.    

CRITIQUE:  Marr does a good job of building suspense, all the way to the end. She tells a gothic tale of a small town riddled with shocking, long-held secrets. Her lead characters are well developed, if a bit bland and humorless. Beka has so much guilt and angst built up inside her that she is almost painful to watch. At times, we're not sure that Byron will ever break down her walls. I'd love to have read more about Mr. D, particularly his relationship with Alicia, one of the former graveminders. The two of them are a much livelier and amusing pair than Byron and Beka—and kind of scary. 

     There is a rumor that Marr is in the process of writing a sequel, so perhaps we'll get more of the underworld story in the next book. In April, the book was optioned for a TV series. Click HERE to read more information about that from RT Book Reviews.

     Melissa Marr is the author of the WICKED LOVELY series of young adult novels: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, Radiant Shadows, and Darkest Mercy.

     On her website, Marr has a page entitled "The Graveminders and Their Undertakers," which provides a look into the past. Click HERE to go to that page.

     If you like stories about isolated small towns with serious supernatural problems, check out these two novels. Just click on the titles to go to my reviews:

           American Vampire, by Jennifer Armintrout

          Wild Ride, by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Countdown to Season 4 of TRUE BLOOD!

Just seven more days until episode 1 on June 26th.

Click HERE to read today's great NY Times article about Anna Paquin. Included are comments about the series from Anna and from other cast members.

Click HERE for an 8-minute sneak peak at episode 1 showing Sookie's exciting and danger-filled trip to the Land of Faery.

Click HERE for the official Season 4 trailer. This is the season of the witches!

Click HERE for a behind-the-scenes look at Season 4. 

It's not too late to begin reading Charlaine Harris's SOOKIE STACKHOUSE series on which the TRUE BLOOD series is based. Click HERE to go to my review of the series, which includes a list of the books in reading order. SPOILER: If you had read the series, you would know which of Sookie's men is cursed by witches and finds himself in her arms.