Time Spike
Eric Flint and Marilyn Kosmatka
Baen, May 2008,
ISBN: 9781416555384

Supervisor Captain Mark Stephens was observing the guard mount shift changing at Illinois’ maximum security prison when the ground rumbled. He and others assumed an earthquake occurred. However, looking outside, the geography has changed radically; The Mississippi river vanished and all evidence of human activity outside the prison like roads are gone. Instead they see strange looking flora and shockingly a dinosaur that uses the prison wall to scratch its skin.

Mark quickly concludes somehow they have been transported back in time to a pre-human era when dinosaurs ruled the planet. They are not alone as other people from various millennia have also gone back perhaps a million years. Some of those locked up are cold blooded killers and some from the other groups like conquistadores quickly prove human life is expendable. Mark and his staff know they have their backs against the wall as they deal with human killers and dinosaurs, but enforcing the law of thou shall not kill is critical for their survival.

The Assiti who relocated Grantville, West Virginia into seventeenth century Europe have stirred earth chronology again this time moving several periods into the dinosaur era although the displaced Illinois crowd is the prime focus. The story line will remind the audience of the first Ring of Fire tale as the story line is fast-paced and filled with action, but has not quite become overly complex with time paradoxes as later tales begin to have. Fans will appreciate this strong opening act of a new Assiti time experiment as humans continue to be their guinea pigs, but for Mark and his staff survival of the fittest means containing the violent prisoners and some as vicious other era travelers.

Harriet Klausner

One Foot in the Grave
Jeaniene Frost
Avon, May 2008, $5.99
ISBN: 9780061245091

In Manhasset, Virginia, FBI Special Agent Catrina “Red Reaper” Arthur puts a knife into the heart of vampire Liam Flannery; one twist and he will be gone forever. However she recognizes him as Ian a friend of Bones, who she still loves. For Bones, she lets him go and thinks back to her hometown in Ohio where she and her lover Bones the vampire killed the governor for selling girls to vampires; her grandparents died in the slaughter and she was considered a mass murderer. Don her current boss knew she was a half breed and placed her on his special top secret team to eliminate vampires. She left Bones a goodbye note.

Don informs the team of a graphic murder in the Ohio house that belonged to Cat’s grandparents; a note left behind states: “Here Kitty Kitty”. Someone knows of Cat. She and her team travel to Licking Falls to look at the crime scene. One corpse contains limestone from a nearby cave, which leads Cat to believe Bones is involved. She enters the cave alone. Seven vampires greet her with one explaining the bounty on the Red Reaper. They bring her beloved to her, but it is not Bones. Instead it is a creep she dated once as a teen. She kills the vampires, but not before a member of her team dies.

At her friend’s wedding Cat and Bones meet for the first time since she disappeared four years ago. She explains why she left and he tells her Ian wants her, but will not attack her; he will go after her loved ones. He promises to help her as he still loves her.

This is an action packed second chance at love romantic fantasy stars a solid lead couple and a strong support cast especially her team. The key though somewhat comic book in nature is that the government agency seems genuine. Although the good guys win each encounter too easily, readers will enjoy this exciting sequel to HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE.

Harriet Klausner

Damien
Jacquelyn Frank
Zebra, Jun 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780821780688

The Lycanthrope Princess Syreena can help but envy her sister Siena’s loving marriage to the Demon Elijah. Syreena is placed in charge of the guests who come to visit the newly discovered Library concerning all Nightwalker races. When Vampire Price Damien arrives, Syreena remembers her feelings for him, but assumes non reciprocity; she is unaware he feels the same way. Both know that interspecies mating is taboo.

While a taking a walk on the catacombs in the Russian steppes where the Library is buried, Syreena is abducted by Ruth, a mind Demon who practices black magic which is forbidden to all Nightwalker races. 6Damien follows the blood trail Syreena has left behind all the way to France. He helps her escape from Ruth, but she is dying so he takes her to Mistral Territory where that species can heal or harm with their unique voices. They help both of them, who return to their previous lives, but neither can forget the other. They break the taboo that forbids mating, but before then can straighten out the family, social and political ramifications, ruthless Ruth returns.

Readers who have followed the Nighwalker saga will thoroughly appreciate DAMIEN, a tale that reveals more secrets that the Ancients buried. Not everyone from either race is happy about a vampire-shapeshifter romance, but the people directly affected believe it can work because of the pair at the center of the controversy. Although newcomers will find it easier to understand the Frank mythos by reading precious tales, romantic fantasy fans will relish this latest entry.

Harriet Klausner

The Immortal Prince
Jennifer Fallon
Tor, May 2008, $27.95
ISBN 9780765316820

In Lebec, royal spymaster Declan Hawkes directs noted ancient Amyranthan lore historian Arkady “Ice Duchess” Desean to question mass murderer Lord Cayal, who miraculously somehow survived a hanging. Declan expects Arkday to prove the dangerous psychopath is delusional with his insane claims of immortality. Bored with his current life cycle and ergo seeking freshness Caval expected his head to be sliced off so that when a new one grew in he would have no memories of his previous life.

Intrigued by the scholar’s energy, he provides her with fascinating information on the legendary Tide Lords who supposedly created the human-animal half-breeds Crasii slaves. The Tide Lords ebb and flow in power reaching their apex every thousand years only to self destruct into squabbles and ultimately myth until the cycle renews. The last time they were at the pinnacle of power was a millennium ago when the great Cataclysm devastated the ancient world and the Tide Lords. Meanwhile Declan also serendipitously abets the rebel halfbreed engineered Crasii while also insuring the secret Cabal remains diligent to defeat the Tide Lords when they return.

The first Tide Lords tale, THE IMMORTAL PRINCE is a fascinating fantasy due to the strong cast in which readers get inside their heads. Fans know Cayal desired decapitation because he believed a new head would grow in containing a blank slate to refresh him; Arkday realizes the ruler expects her pregant but her spouse is gay and she is from the lower class; Caval is Machiavellan working behind the scnes to keep humans safe from when the next high tide occurs; finally the Cassii represented by an imprisoned canine-human is outraged and angry by their inhuman treatment. Although much of the novel is introducing the players and the newest Fallon realm, fans of the author will enjoy the opening of a new fantasy saga.

Harriet Klausner

Avenging Fury
John Farris
Forge, May 2008, $25.95
ISBN 9780312877323

Although mortals see her as a freak even when she saves their lives and has the FBI psychopath assassins after her, Eden Waring proves time after time she is a caring Avatar; she uses her mental skills to keep people safe. Her recent efforts brought her into war against Mordaunt the evil one from another plane, who thought he could manipulate the twenty-something female as his pawn to bring chaos to this realm. He thought wrong as Eden defeated him and incarcerated his physical form inside molten glass (see THE FURY AND THE POWER).

However, Eden makes one key mistake caused by her inexperience as an avatar fighting non-human malevolencies. Part of Mordaunt’s soul escaped the imprisonment just prior to the glass melting. Thus his female persona Delilah is not just out there; she goes to 1926 Georgia waiting to possess Eden’s doppelganger Gwen when the latter arrives. Near Vegas just after the Mordant meltdown, in Eden’s present, Delilah inside Gwen confronts the kindhearted Avatar with both using Dark Energy that will change the Universe.

The final “Fury” tale may have taken three decades to arrive, but fans will fully appreciate this strong horror suspense thriller as the climatic good vs. evil showdown occurs. The story line is hyper fast-paced from the onset and never takes a breather even when Gwen goes back in time as John Farris accelerates the velocity of his plot. Fans of the saga will appreciate the invigorating finish to an exhilarating epic quartet.

Harriet Klausner

Blood Ties
Pamela Freeman
Orbit, Apr 2008, $12.99
ISBN: 9780316033466

Over a millennium ago the Northern invaders displaced the locals throughout the Eleven Domains. The conquerors became brutal warlords and the conquered Travellers; nomads with no place to call home or a haven from their abusive rulers. Men watch their women of all ages raped and can do nothing but eat their rage for that is the lot of the Travellers to keep on shuffling from one place to another unwelcome by any warlord.

In this world Travellers flee from one atrocity to another. However several have taken differing approaches. Bramble a young villager has tasted the taking of a life but feels no remorse as she flees from soldiers wanting to rape her. Apprentice Ash has been trained by street wizard Doronit as a safeguarder assassin who has killed, but feels regret with ghosts of his victims visiting him; he knows he is no better than the butcher Acton the warlord. However it is Saker the enchanter who considers using black magic to destroy his people’s enemies and return what he believes is rightfully his. Their actions and that of other Travellers and the warlords impact the ordinary people who just want to survive.

The first tale of the Castings trilogy is an insightful fantasy in which an event has repercussions that have further repercussions; nothing is isolated. In some ways it will remind readers of Palestine. When the prime Travellers Ash and Bramble act, readers see their actions and the consequences on others, but not just warlords as communities are impacted. This brings a deep sense of reality, but can detract from the prime theme of the warlords vs. the outcasts. Still few fantasy sagas make the villages seems so genuine. BLOOD TIES is a strong opening gamut to the Freeman fantasy realm.

Harriet Klausner

Possession
Mathilde Madden, Madelynne Ellis & Anne Tourney
Black Lace, Feb 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780352341648

“The Silver Chains” by Mathilde Madden. Alfie desperately needs sex, but when he tries to make it with a woman he changes into a wolf. At Wonderland, his pack member Misty introduces him to Caroline. After he changes in front of her, she tells him her sister the witch predicted an unstable werewolf would visit her and gave her notes to give him. He, Misty, and his other pack member Leon head to Brazil to find the legendary Silver Chains that will enable him to have sex as a human. They are captured by an Amazon tribe whose queen binds Alfie to her.

“Broken Angel” by Madelynne Ellis. Both the Youkai demons and the Talon hunters want Blaze Makaresh after he steals an ancient manuscript. The Talon catches him after a Youkai poisons him. Asha the Talon saves his life by sucking out the poison. Soon they make love, but the Youkai still want him, which confuses the Talon as Blaze is just a nobody; shockingly Talon himself demands to meet this Blaze.

“Falling Dancer” by Anne Tourney. Lia the dancer fell from a height that should have left her battered body dead. Instead she walked away without a scratch. Her boyfriend Brendan the musician worries about her and is sent to Kelda the bartender for assistance. Kelda knows that a Fallen One switched places with Lia who is now in the cold void on nothingness. Now with two males wanting her, Brendan and the doctor who was with Lia in ER, Kelda reluctantly plans to exorcise the Fallen One out of Lia’s body using a sexual encounter.

These are three heated paranormal erotic tales in which the sex is not just interwoven into each plot, but enhances these strong fantasies. The lead and secondary cast are solid in each thriller and the storyline entertaining. Fans will want to follow the further adventures of each of the heroes as these are eroticas at their best.

Harriet Klausner

The Shadow Year
Jeffrey Ford
Morrow, March 2008, $25.95, 304 pp.
ISBN: 9780061231520

In a small town on Long Island in the sixties, a family is going through some tough times. Jim, his brother and their sister watched their father work himself to death doing three jobs and their mother drink her self into a stupor. They escaped to the basement where Jim and his brother built “Butch Town”; a cardboard representation of their neighborhood populated with action figures and match box cars.

Their sis Mary who is in class X in school because they are not sure if she is very bright or simpleminded changes things in “Butch Town” and those things she alters come true. She removes the figure of a boy and the next day people discover he is missing; nobody finds him. A neighbor Mr. Baritzar is found in snow with his neck broken by a snow plow; Mary took his figure off the board earlier. The boys believe a stranger “Mr. White” is behind the disappearances and Mary traces him on Butch town. A former resident now eighteen years old returns to deal with Mr. White and he is willing to help the three siblings.

This interesting fiction is an amalgamation of mysticism, imagination and mystery. The twelve-year old narrator keeps a chronicle of the goings on in the town for the year and since the story is told in his first person, readers get into the heart of an adolescent young boy. The atmosphere is gothic in which reality and the supernatural meet to form a book well worth reading.

Harriet Klausner

Sins of the Assassin
Robert Ferrigno
Scribner, Feb 2008, $24.95
ISBN 9781416537656

Following the nuclear suitcase bombs in 2015 that devastated Mecca, New York City and Washington D.C., Americans lost their fortitude; most assume Israel caused the pandemic destruction leading to many people converting to Islam in most of the states except the Deep South that remained fundamentalist Christian. The forty-eight states split into two nations, the Islamic Republic and the Bible Belt; both are led by fanatics.

By 2043, the two theocracies remain hostile towards each other. In that environs, Bible belt leader the rabid Colonel wants to gain control of a weapon of mass destruction that he will probably use to bring hell to the Islamic Republic. Assassin Rakkim Epps is to prevent him from obtaining the weapon using whatever means he must including killing the Colonel.

The second Assassin tale (see PRAYERS OF THE ASSASSIN) is an action-packed exciting adrenalin post apocalypse thriller as H. Raps Brown’s muse “violence is as American as cherry pie” is the theme of SINS OF THE ASSASSIN. Those fans who appreciate mano vs. mano exponential blood counts will enjoy Robert Ferrigno’s explosive futuristic saga. Those readers who prefer more exploration into two extreme theocracies whose loathing for one another make the Middle East look like a friendly book club choir will need to turn elsewhere.

Harriet Klausner

One Wish
Calista Fox
Red Sage, 2007
ISBN: 9781603101394

In Sedona, Arizona, Jillian Anderson, owner of the Old Age Saloon, accidentally knocks over an ancient clay pot containing a dark blue powder. She also drops a jar of her tequila spied pickles called wickles onto the powder. Soon afterward, her beloved photographer Luke Parsons arrives at the bar after being out of town on assignment. She refuses to have sex with him as he always leaves her before morning.

After closing Jillian goes to clean up the mess, but finds it already done and sees an underage girl Serafina drunk from eating the wickles .She insists she is a genie. When Sera proves she is a real albeit intoxicated genie by vanishing in this air, Jillian faints. Sera calls Luke who rushes over, but she is all right. As they make love, Luke realizes that his beloved fears commitment because everyone close to her dies. With that knowledge, their lovemaking seems different, but will he stay with her in the morning and what about those two wishes Sera promised Jillian?

This is an entertaining fantasy romantic short that works because Jillian, as the prime player holding the story line together, is fully developed. Readers will learn her fears, flaws, and desires especially through her interaction with the genie and with Luke. ONE WISH is an enjoyable short tale (see eRedSage.com).

Harriet Klausner