Vox
Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell
David Fickling, Oct 2005, $12.95, 385 pp.
ISBN: 038575083

Relatively young Librarian Knight Rook Barkwater flying the Stormhornet completes his aerial patrol of the Edge that overlooks the Edgewater River. He begins to head back to the library to report the usual strange lights in the sky and mutants in Screetown, but observes columns of Shrykes on Great Mire Road as if the aviary creatures were preparing for war. However before he attains the haven of the Library, he hears a roaring noise and suddenly Stormhornet spins out of control. He crashes in Screetown where his escape fails and he becomes a prisoner.

He is taken to the sunken Palace of the Statues, home or prison depending on one’s view of the fallen tyrant Vox Verlix. Though exiled and not remotely like the greatest librarian of all times, Vox remains a force to be reckoned with albeit no one believes that. He warns his former compatriots that a storm is coming, but will they listen to an insane fallen one? Though Rook believes him having observed the lucid moments of his “host”, what can he do even if he manages to escape being somewhat a novice.

Fans of Potter will enjoy the Edge Chronicles; especially the books containing the adventures of Rook (see LAST OF THE SKYPIRATES). Rook is a terrific lead character who holds the tale in focus, but Vox is the fascinating one as the audience will wonder whether he warns out of duty or spite. Though this tale can stand alone, most fans will find it even better by reading at least beforehand LAST OF THE SKYPIRATES to gain a better understanding of motives and how far Rook has come. Still this is a fine edge of the seat young adult fantasy thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Maranther’s Deception
Nik C. Colyer
Singing Reed Press, Apr 2005, $15.00
ISBN: 0970816340

Martin and Leigha Vandorfor cut a deal in which she will join him for two fun filled weeks in the desert heat and afterward he would escort her to an entire theater season. The Sonora Desert proves inhospitable from the start as Martin drives off the road at night. In the morning, they find themselves buried under sand dunes that arrived rather quickly to inter their vehicle. The pair begins a terrible march in hostile conditions seeking help. There is nothing but sand everywhere until they reach rotting edifices under a rocky ledge. Needing rest they take shelter.

Leigha finds a strange-looking talisman that seems to appear out of nowhere. Not long afterward, an elderly sorceress medicine woman Maranther appears once again apparently out of the air; she informs Martin that she abducted his woman and if he ever wants to see her again he will need to look back at what brought him and Leigha together; in their past lies their hope for a future.

MARANTHER’S DECEPTION is a very intriguing tale that takes elements from a relationship family drama and fantasy, but places them inside a horror story; that is the skill of Nik C. Colyer as he effortlessly combines the sub-genres. The Vandorfors are a couple struggling to find commonality as he wants the great outdoors and she wants the arts. Their compromise seems to be the right thing, but instead leads to danger as the mysterious Maranther puts them through a relationship test like no other. The reason why and Martin’s efforts to find and rescue his beloved spouse make for quite a vivid thriller; fans will taste the sand that is everywhere.

Harriet Klausner

A Vision of Murder
Victoria Laurie
Signet, Dec 2005, $6.99, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0451217152

Professional Psychic Intuitive Abby Cooper and her friend Dave McKenzie form a partnership to purchase a fixer-upper that they will repair and sell. However, instead of the handy Dave making repairs, he learns first hand by a drill targeting his head. Abby and her boyfriend FBI Agent Dutch Rivers, who is recovering from a gunshot wound, conclude that the place is haunted by a ghost who they quickly find out was murdered inside the house. Abby believes the only way to rid the house of its unwanted resident is to solve the homicide.

She quickly learns that to solve her investigation she must first locate a buried cache of jewels lost during World War II. However, someone else wants the gems and has killed before and will do so again. On top of that Abby needs to calm her ghost who is irate that Dave is making changes to her home; that seems simple enough for a psychic however as Abby knows seeing a ghost makes her want to flee into the night so to chat with a specter is giving her the willies.

The latest Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye tale is a fabulous who-done-it in which the spirited sensitive sleuth must uncover the killer of the ghost haunting her recently purchased fixer-upper. The story line is fast-paced as the heroine and her injured boyfriend investigate the case only to find it getting increasingly complex and dangerous from the mortal realm. Fans will highly praise this fine ghostly murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

A Vision of Murder
Victoria Laurie
Signet, Dec 2005, $6.99, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0451217152

Professional Psychic Intuitive Abby Cooper and her friend Dave McKenzie form a partnership to purchase a fixer-upper that they will repair and sell. However, instead of the handy Dave making repairs, he learns first hand by a drill targeting his head. Abby and her boyfriend FBI Agent Dutch Rivers, who is recovering from a gunshot wound, conclude that the place is haunted by a ghost who they quickly find out was murdered inside the house. Abby believes the only way to rid the house of its unwanted resident is to solve the homicide.

She quickly learns that to solve her investigation she must first locate a buried cache of jewels lost during World War II. However, someone else wants the gems and has killed before and will do so again. On top of that Abby needs to calm her ghost who is irate that Dave is making changes to her home; that seems simple enough for a psychic however as Abby knows seeing a ghost makes her want to flee into the night so to chat with a specter is giving her the willies.

The latest Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye tale is a fabulous who-done-it in which the spirited sensitive sleuth must uncover the killer of the ghost haunting her recently purchased fixer-upper. The story line is fast-paced as the heroine and her injured boyfriend investigate the case only to find it getting increasingly complex and dangerous from the mortal realm. Fans will highly praise this fine ghostly murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Mortal Danger
Eileen Wilks
Berkley, Nov 2005, $6.99
ISBN: 0425202909

Former cop now FBI Agent Lily Yu takes time off from her case searching for the dangerous Reverend Patrick Harlowe and the magical staff he stole to attend her sister’s wedding. At the reception she notices a woman whom she believes is Helen, someone she killed three weeks ago. She follows the woman into the bathroom only to be hit on the head. Her lupine soulmate Prince Rule Turner insures her she is okay and to make sure she stays that way he makes her move in with him over her objections.

Just prior to the incident Xitil the Great One summons a fearful minion Gan ordering the demon to work with a young looking female who shockingly does not fear the Great One and the human Harlowe; their target is to drink the blood of the sensitive Lily. Harlowe and his demonic associates have set the perfect trap to capture Lily whose only hope of escaping the minions of hell is Rule, but he may prove to be collateral damage.

This is a terrific “danger” tale that continues taking heroine Lily Yu into new fantasy/horror dimensions and away from her mystery roots. The cat and mouse story line is action-packed as Lily seeks to capture Harlowe who in turn sets a trap so that she as a sensitive to magic can be eliminated. The relationship between Lily and Rule will leave the audience howling while the support cast on both sides of the fight enhances a thrilling tale of combat on mystical realms. Keep an eye out for the enigmatic Cynna Weaver in future novels, perhaps even a starring performance.

Harriet Klausner

Into the Fire
Richard Layman
Leisure, Sep 2005, $24.00
ISBN: 0843956151

Rodney Pinkham tells his captive handcuffed Pamela that he has loved her from the moment he first saw her at Sally’s thirteenth birthday party, but he figures she was like the others calling him piggy behind his back. Since his obsession took hold, he calmly as a matter of fact informs her that he has killed fifteen females and her husband Jim to get to her. No one, but he is to have her as she will be his slave for life. He takes her into the Mohave .

She tries to escape and in the subsequent brawl Rodney is about to kill her when the shot is fired and he falls off her with a bullet in his forehead. Pamela is on a strange bus filled with mannequins and a driver who insists on nobody talking to him while he is at the wheel. When he stops to dump Rodney’s corpse he introduces himself as Sharpe. Quiet Norman picks up Duke and Boots, but soon the trio meets up with the glory bus that Sharpe is driving to Pits, California. Not all will ever leave the bus; those who do cannot leave town which has a population in single digits; Pamela knows she has jumped INTO THE FIRE.

Richard Layman writes a weird horror tale that leaves the audience wondering what eerie escape will occur next forcing the beguiled stunned fan into a one sitting read. The story line never slows down from the moment Rodney informs his prisoner of his fixation until the final mannequin count. INTO THE FIRE is a dark grim tale that stars fully developed characters in nightmarish environs with judgment day occurring in the Mojave Desert with sentencing being an eternal bus ride.

Harriet Klausner

Undead and Unreturnable
MaryJanice Davidson
Berkley, Nov 2005, $21.95
ISBN: 0425208168

In Minneapolis when Elizabeth Anne Taylor died on her thirtieth birthday, her mother bought the gravestone. However, instead of resting for eternity in her plot, Betsy got up that night as the queen of the undead. The funeral was canceled, but her mom thinking you never waste a good pair of shoes decides to place the tombstone on the gravesite anyway. Thus, Betsy visits her gravesite; a touching moment though Betsy worries she might ruin a pair of expensive shoes.

However she has no time for grieving because Betsy must prepare for her wedding with her soulmate (do vampires have souls?) Eric Sinclair after totally rejecting his royal snobbiest (through three previous “Undead” tales). However, irate female ghosts who fit Betsy’s profile of tall and blond demand she track down the serial killer who murdered them. Betsy assumes this is easy to accomplish as how can the culprit kill someone who is already dead so maybe now she can go shopping without the haunting of her dead peers.

No one does humorous romantic fantasy better than the incomparable MaryJanice Davidson. Her latest Betsy’s “Undead” thriller starts off with a graveyard scene and turns eerier by the moment yet always retains wit and amusement. Betsy is in rare form as she plays an amateur sleuth encouraged by ghostly “clones” who nudge her worse than her mom ever did. Eric is his royal coolness except when he deals with Betsy getting into one fiasco after another when all he wants is to share Christmas blood with his beloved. The support cast is as nutty as ever as UNDEAD AND UNRETURNABLE is another wacky fun fantasy with a touch of mystery and a pinch of horror mixed in the red looking eggnog.

Harriet Klausner

Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: Paradise Drift
Sherwood Smith
Tor, Nov 2005, $24.95, 288 pp.
ISBN: 0765304880

Working long and hard hours to re-link the Systems Commonwealth, the crew of the Andromeda Ascendant deserves some R&R. While Tyr is stuck watching the ship, most of the crew transfer to Paradise Drift, a place where the squad can unwind and have some harmless fun playing in a vast variety of virtual games. Adding to the pleasure is that everything is gratis as the leaders of Paradise Drift want to be become members of the revised Systems Commonwealth.

However the bone weary crew quickly learn that there is no such thing as a free lunch as sh** happens. Harper is attacked by a woman who believes she owes him from a past transgression and a bounty hunter Steeleblade stalks Beka. However, Captain Hunt wants Director Vandat, but worries about political repercussions cause by his desires and to make things even worse, he loses a fortune in real money at the gambling tables while unbeknownst to him the ship is under attack. R&R is proving more harrowing than any operational mission.

The sixth entry, as with the previous Andromeda tales, is a fine science fiction that is clearly for fans of the series. The action-packed story line focuses on several members of the ensemble cast as each expects to unwind with a little fun, but instead ends up in some harrowing scenario. This will elate the Andromeda audience, but the multitude of subplots will drive new fans elsewhere. Still Sherwood Smith does a wonderful job with the familiar players as readers will appreciate R&R on Paradise Drift.

Harriet Klausner

The Gate of the Gods
Martha Wells
Eos, Nov. 2005, $24.95, 416 pp.
ISBN 0380977907

The Kingdom of Ile Rien has fallen to the mysterious and powerful sorcerers known as the Gardier who came through an inter-dimensional portal to conquer the planet by trapping sorcerers in crystal balls to use as weapons against the populace. The same tactic worked on the planet where the Gardier conquered the Syprians who don’t allow people with magic to live. Gilead the Chosen One of their god has killed many evil wizards. Tremaine a resident of Ile Rien followed a Gardier ship back to Sypria where she enlisted the aid of Gilead and his brother llias.

They travel back to Il Rien where they enlist the help of the wizard Ariside who is trapped in one of the crystals. He gives them a spell that takes them back to Ilias’ home world where they communicate with their God who sent them into a portal to a place where the power of the Gardier can be destroyed. They travel knowing it might mean their deaths. Back at home, Tremaine’s lethally dangerous father is using his considerable talents to stop the Gardier from continuing the siege of Lodun where dozen’s of sorcerers and thousands of people are trapped by a magic shield.

Tremaine, a scientist in a world that uses magic in its everyday affairs, learns to love a man who lives on a world where magic is an abomination. Her vulnerability and her strength lie in her ability to adapt to any situation. With her group of fellow resistance fighters she learns how to use the world gate spells to hop from one world to another and one place to another to try to achieve her goals. There is plenty of action in this exciting finale to the Fall of Ile Rien trilogy but what make this fantasy so special are the fully developed characters. Readers will understand what motivates them to take perilous risks and hope they succeed n their endeavors.

Harriet Klausner

Threads of Malice
Tamara Siler Jones
Bantam, Nov 2005, $6.99, 528 pp.
ISBN: 0553587102

Since the murder of his wife years ago, Castle Faldorran Castellan Dubric Byerly sees ghosts of homicide victims demanding justice. These otherworldly essences will not leave him any respite haunting him and leaving Dubric exhausted to the point of collapse until he resolves their respective case.

The youthful geese tender Eachann arrives from the northern reaches fatigued, injured, and distraught claiming the dark is killing young boys with the latest victim Braoin, a cousin of the wife of Dubric’s squire Dien. Dubric, Dien and two pages Lars and Otlee head to the Reach to investigate a string of homicides by an apparent serial killer. To his chagrin upon reaching the crime scene vicinity, ghosts of the victims assault Dubric demanding justice. However, he and his staff begin to believe that the adversary is invincible as well as malevolent.

The second Dubric ghostly tale is a much more vividly darker novel than the more capricious sprightly GHOSTS IN THE SNOW. The efforts to use forensics during the medieval era and thereby before the science of criminology has been created add to a fine blending of mystery, horror, and even a touch of the fantasy. Interestingly the investigation is filled with twists and turns, red herrings, and dead ends (literally and figuratively) that makes for a fine who-done-it. Still this is Dubric’s tale as he battles ghostly migraines, evil spirits, rotting corpses, bumbling assistants, and a touch of love to battle an unbeatable foe.

Harriet Klausner