Moon’s Fury
C.T. Adams & Cathy Camp
Tor, Oct 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780765356642

Tedford County, Texas Sheriff Cara Salinas is the alpha leader of her werewolf pack. When Minnesota pack second in command Adam Mueller arrives in Texas, Cara has some concerns as werewolves normally stay close to home. Cara has not been made privy to the knowledge that the Sazi Counsel has decided to disband the Minnesota pack and relocate the members to other packs; some like Adam will join Cara’s squad.

However, Cara has other immediate concerns besides her attraction to the newcomer. As the sheriff she needs to stop a serial killing group of Sazi eating the offspring of her and his packs. Adam has found his soul mate and assists Cara as they investigate the murders only to uncover a lethal conspiracy that could set back the Sazi for years to come.

The Sazi moon thrillers have been consistently some of the best romantic fantasies on the market in recent years. The latest tale MOON’S FURY will add to the reputation of the authors and their top rate series. The story line contains two terrific subplots; a well written paranormal police procedural and a romance in which being a soul mate is not enough as both need to learn to respect the other. As with the previous books, each one expands the Adams-Camp mythos, but also can be read as a stand alone.

Harriet Klausner

A Highlander for Christmas
Sandy Blair
Zebra, Oct 2007, $5.99
ISBN: 9780821779972

In 2007 in a Boston neighborhood, a gang of hooligans terrorize Claire MacGregor at her antiques store shop. As he fusses with an eighteenth century puzzle box, she wishes for some peace on earth, at least in her store during Christmas, but instead a naked hunk arrives.

Highlander Sir Cameron MacLeod is confused as he struggles with all that he sees as he insists the year is 1745 and he is preparing for the battle of Culloden. He needs to return home to perform his duty even in a losing cause. Claire tries to help him, but the local witch fails at sending him back in time. As he gets into all sorts of trouble with the law and giving back to the gang what they gave Claire, they fall in love, but he is eighteenth century and she is twenty-first.

The key to this wonderful time travel romance is the tongue in cheek humor as the eighteenth century style chauvinistic honor keeps getting the good intention hero in twenty-first century trouble. Claire is a solid protagonist and the supporting Bostonians enhance the plot; however Cam makes the tale as he struggles to adapt to modern day living demands that make it a bit difficult for a kilted warrior to walk down Beacon Street carrying a sword.

Harriet Klausner

Wicked Dead: Lurker
Stefan Petrucha and Thomas Pendleton
Harper, Sep 2007, $7.99
ISBN: 9780061138492

Anne, Mary, Shirley and Daphne take turns telling a haunting Wicked Dead story. Anne is first as she relates Lurker to her pals at the run down Lockwood Orphanage.

In her mind teenager Mandy lives an ideal life even factoring in her boyfriend Dale who messed up real bad so she dumped him. Everything is fine and apparently normal for instance Naughty Nic skipped school. However, normalcy crashes for everyone when they learn Nic failed to attend because someone murdered her. Not just Mandy is shocked by the tragedy; the entire Lake Crest High School personalizes the homicide and the town is traumatized that such an act could happen here.

Stunned although not a close friend of the late girl, Mandy finds herself seeing visions of an unknown person, who she begins to believe is Nic’s killer dubbing him the Witchman. An apologetic Dale wants Mandy to forgive him and take him back while she is considering Kyle the Internet dude she has not met, but would like to soonest.

LURKER is the first of four horror novellas as each of the ghostly female “pajama party” pals stare at bones and tell a tale of death. Mandy is a terrific lead character holding the tale together while fearing she will meet the Witchman who haunts her sleep. The murder mystery and the aftermath reaction to it especially of the victim’s school peers bring a reality to this entertaining tale with a stunning fascinating otherworld twist. Although targeting young teens, boomers also will appreciate this opening Wicked Death thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Endgame
Kristine Smith
Eos, Nov 2007, $7.99, 416 pp.
ISBN 9780060503598

Change has come to humans and the Idomeni aliens when they first met in space and got to know each other. Right now, there is an uneasy coexistence between the two species with treaties in place to guide behavior and interactions. Hybridization is a choice to blend the two species into one, sometimes for health reason and sometimes for the need to find a better way of life. The hybrids live in Thalassa which is trying to become sovereign.

The impetus for Hybridization and alien and human getting to know one another is condemned by the leader of the Idomeni people yet some are not afraid to speak their beliefs even though they are anthemia to the zealots on his homeworld. The hybrid woman Jani Killian is shattered when her mentor is assassinated and she vows to bring his killer to justice. To do that, she will have to change the beliefs of Idomeni, wreck havoc by arranging the largest mass exodus ever known and overthrow the regime whose leaders sent the killer.

This latest Jani Killian novel is science fiction at its’ very best. Splinter groups try to drive a wedge between human and alien relations. Yet because the two species are more alike than different they are fated to achieve only minor success, but doomed to failure in the larger sense. Jani is a well developed character; she is independent, doesn’t pay attention to diplomatic protocol, does what she believes is right even if it disturbs two civilizations and is totally loyal to her friends. Kristine Smith is a superb species builder who creates a vivid picture of aliens especially on their homeworld and a deep look at human reactions to them.

Harriet Klausner

Servant: The Awakening
L.L. Foster
Berkley, Oct 2007, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425218747

Demons live amongst us looking like normal humans; most people cannot distinguish a demon from a mortal. Gabrielle “Gaby” Cody is unique as she can and believes she has a divine responsibility to destroy these evil essences. Her burden as a demonic assassin has left Gaby all alone.

Detective Luther Cross is attracted to the enigmatic Gaby, but fears she is a serial killer. Still he wants to help her even though he does not understand her. He also realizes he can feel for her kindhearted loser of a landlord Morty Vance, comic book storeowner, who worships her as if she is warrior princess starring in his favorite comic books that she secretly draws. Still though she would like things different, Gaby believes no relationships can be for her as her holy mission comes first before love and soul-mates especially a nosy cop.

This is an entertaining paranormal romantic suspense that grips readers from the moment Luther crosses swords with Gaby and never slows down as he struggles with her vigilantism and she with her solo act. Morty serves as a sidekick although he is unaware of what his heroine does even as her comic books are autobiographic. Romantic fantasy readers and fans of Buffy and the movie They Live will want to read the first tale in the human war against demons.

Harriet Klausner

Bloodline
F. Paul Wilson
Forge, Sep 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765317063

Filled with guilt as he knows his vocation holds him culpable for the hit and run assault on his girlfriend Gia that left her battered and their unborn dead (see HARBINGERS), Repairman Jack has quit trying to fix things. He concentrates on helping his beloved heal physically and emotionally while keeping her and her daughter Vicky safe though he would not mind learning more about the Watcher who is always near at night but never there when Jack goes to confront him.

When single mother Christy Pickering asks Jack to help split up her teenage daughter Dawn from twice her age Jeremy Bolton, he says no. However, Gia demands Jack take on the case as she insists they need to return to the norm, which for Jack is repairing things. Jack learns that Bolton has captured the attention of Dawn as the first male to show interest in her. He also finds out that the Feds have a scientific interest in Bolton, who’s DNA makes him into a homicidal beast. Bolton’s half brother Hank Thompson shares that same violent DNA while leading the Kickers cult. The siblings know their mission as assigned to them from their late father is to sire the dawning of a next generation of evil.

The latest action-packed Repairman Jack thriller is an over the top implausible tale that will grip fans from the onset. Even when Jack stays domestic to keep Gia and Vicky safe, the story line is faster than the speed of light and never decelerates as BLOODLINES sets up the book twelve. Although not the strongest entry in this terrific series, the latest saga is still an enjoyable tale.

Harriet Klausner

Ain’t Myth-Behaving
Katie MacAlister
Pocket, Oct 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416524932

“Stag Party”. Wanting to remain the Irish god Cernunnos, Dane Hearne, needs his wife, Fidencia to renew their vows at the annual Beltane ceremony. However, this year his spouse says no. He has a week to find a bride or lose his godly status. He thinks the gods must be with him as American visitor Megan St. Clair arrives at his castle; all he has to do is persuade her to marry him for eternity.

“Norse Truly”. Alrik and his Viking crew are fated to sail for eternity unless a Valkyrie ends their curse. Centuries of following the Swedish coast pass when the American Brynna arrives to see her family. An accident dumps her into the sea where Alrik demands she ends their torment, but she is a modern day Yank with no idea how.

These are two amusing romantic fantasies in which the Gods and the Vikings learn first hand that modern day American women kick butt.

Harriet Klausner

Reader and Raelynx
Sharon Shinn
Ace, Nov 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 9780441014699

In the realm of Gillengaria in the capital city of Ghosenhall, King Boryn knows there is unrest in the Southern Houses especially by the Rayson Fortunalt, who wants to wear the crown. Hoping to avert a civil war, the monarch decides that his nineteen years old daughter Amalie should make an advantageous political marriage. When she meets with her suitors, guards are hidden nearby as well as the mystic Cammon, who reads the truth in the hearts of others.

As Cammon reads the intentions of Amalie suitors in order to root out the malevolent ones, he befriends the lonely princess. He feels for her being an expendable pawn of power as he sees inside her soul and knows how noble she truly is. When war comes to the land in spite of Boryn’s efforts, many lords turn traitorous with avaricious eyes on the throne. As Cam and Amalie fall in love, they risk their lives defending her father, her friends and the kingdom.

Sharon Shinn, known for her romantic fantasies, writes a beautiful adult fairy tale that readers will appreciate as they hope the apparent star-crossed wannabe lovers overcome the impossibility of forming a marital relationship. The kingdom of Gillengaria seems real even with magical elements considered part of the norm as the political backstabbing and in-fighting brings a sense of authenticity to the realm. Although the plot has been used often by genre writers, Ms. Shinn provides a vivid spellbinding addition to the superb Twelve Houses saga (see THE THIRTEENTH HOUSE).

Harriet Klausner

Darwinia
Robert Charles Wilson
Orb (Tor), Sep 2007, $14.95
ISBN: 9780765319050

In 1912, war in Europe seems imminent when an alien realm Darwinia abruptly replaces Europe on planet earth. The United States is unconcerned with what has vanished; instead declares the cosmos event a Miracle and encourages colonization especially by the devout who believe this is God’s work to replace evil with good. Over the next few years a few struggling colonies settled mostly by religious fanatics are formed within the extraterrestrial forests.

In 1920 American creationist scientist Preston Finch leads an expedition to chart the New World. Boston photographer Guilford Law leaves wife Caroline and daughter Lily in New London as he joins the quest. However, the journey proves dangerous as outlaws and the strange alien wildlife attack them. However, it is the dreams and odd occurrences that frighten the participants. Guilford the photographer meets Guilford the dead WW I soldier before leaving Darwinia. In New London he learns that his family thought he died so they left to grieve in Australia. The other Guilford explains to the bewildered photographer that they are expendable military fodder protecting humanity in a universal war through time against demon controlled humans. When Darwinia came to earth to protect the enigmatic Archive from the Great War; hostility came with it to this time and place.

This extremely complex and convoluted alternate history thriller is a difficult tale to follow as the story line is not always linear especially when the scope widens laterally. Guilford the photographer is a fascinating lead character as his problems with his wife that seemed monumental before the expedition now appear molehill as he begins to understand what is happening on a global scale. Fans who prefer deep thought provoking thrillers will want to read this intricate tale as Guilford learns nothing is quite what it seems, not even demons.

Harriet Klausner

Patrimony
Alan Dean Foster
Berkley Nov 2007, $23.95 288 pp.
ISBN 9780345485076

For years Flinx has searched the galaxy for his father, a man who sympathized with the goals and experiments of the Meliorare society, a group involved in evil eugenics. Flinx is experiment 12A of the society, the only experiment not mind wiped. He has powerful empathy abilities and is unable to die. When he comes close to death an unknown trigger arranges a rescue for him so that he can find the Tar-Aiym weapons platform disguised as a brown dwarf that only he can use.

The weapon system is the only hope to stop the malevolence that is advancing beyond the Great Emptiness into Commonwealth space. Once it passes, everything in its path will be gone. Knowing all this Flinx and his minidrag Pip travel to Gestalt, a cold planet where his father might be staying. Avoiding a hitman and surviving near death experiences, he hopes to get the answers he has all his life tried to find.

After a couple of lateral tales, PATRIMONY, the thirteenth Pip and Flinx thriller moves the prime quest forward, answering one of the key questions that has haunted the protagonist for years and it sets the stage for the final countdown in this mind blowing science fiction series. The native society on Gestalt, the Tlels are one of the nicest species Flinx has ever met; as they co-exist peacefully with the humans on that planet. However, this entry belongs to Flinx as his saga takes a major leap forward.

Harriet Klausner