Harvest Moon
Mercedes Lackey, Michelle Sagara, Cameron Haley
Luna, Oct 1 2010, $17.95
ISBN: 9780373803224

“A Tangled Web” by Mercedes Lackey. At. Mt Olympus, Thanatos kidnaps Brunnhilde in the opening ploy of a scheme to enable his master Hades to capture Persephone. Ever since he met her (see The Sleeping Beauty) Leopold is not one to sit idly by when Brunnhilde is in danger.

“Cast in Moonlight” by Michelle Sagara. In Elantra, teenage Kaylin Neya joins the hawks as she works her first case.

“Retribution” by Cameron Haley. Enforcer Domino Riley killed her rival for the position she now holds in accordance with Mob Rules, but an otherworldly hit man is coming after her also in accordance with Mob Rules.

These are three fine fantasies that fans of the respective authors especially will enjoy as Mercedes Lackey provides a Five Hundred Kingdom’s entry; Michelle Sagara contributes an Elantra saga; and Cameron Haley an Underworld tale.

Harriet Klausner

Poison Kissed
Erica Hayes
St. Martin’s, Sep 28 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312624705

Kick-butt Mina the blue-haired banshee with a deadly siren’s tune works as an enforcer for snakeshifting mob boss Joey DiLuca because she owes him for saving her life. Currently Joey and his gang are at war with a rival mob. Joey and Mina are attracted to one another, but each has a million reasons not to form a romantic entanglement between them.

Mina vowed a long time ago to avenge her mother’s murder, but has made no progress until now as to who the culprit is. She obtains evidence that shakes her to her bone marrow as what she learns implies Joey was somehow mixed up in her mother’s homicide.

The third entry in the Shadowfae Chronicles (see Shadowfae and Shadowglass) is an intriguing dark urban fantasy starring two paranormal beings who trust one another with their respective soul until now. The story line has too much going on with a myriad of subplots, but readers will appreciate the main theme wondering what Mina will do next. Alternate Melbourne has not looked darker or more entertaining than Erica Hayes exhilarating take on the Australian mobs.

Harriet Klausner

Memories of Envy
Barb Hendee
Roc, Oct 5 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451463531

There are very few vampires in existence today because they failed to abide by the laws of the elders such as not killing humans. Instead they should use their powers to insure the mortal they drank blood from forgets the incident. Eleisha Clevon lives by that rule and the other laws. She has gathered two vampires Rose and her protector Philip to the Portland underground, an abandoned church set up as vampire headquarters. Wade Shelfield is the investigator who has located vampires so that Eleisha can reason with them to diligently stick to the old laws and offer them sanctuary in her Oregon home.

Standing in their way is Julian who has no telepathy, but he likes power and ignores the ancient laws. He has killed vampires before and uses, without their knowledge, Eleisha and her group to take him into the hiding place of other vampires so he can kill them too. Eleisha learns about the dead vampire Maggie’s progeny Simone Stratford and is determined to bring this Roaring Twenties ingénue to her home. She fails to realize that cute innocent looking Simone enjoys the hunt and plans a deadly game with her wannabe savior and Philip who she is attracted to.

Urban fantasy vampire readers will thoroughly enjoy the latest Vampire Memories thriller (see Hunting Memories). Eleisha is a good individual who lives by the moral code of the elders. Her vulnerability is being a Good Samaritan trying to help her peers see the light as she hopes to forge a law-abiding community. She is naive as her faith in her species is strong with her only picturing Julian as evil. Her protector was a predator for years, but now is there for her by trying to abide by her rules. However, it is Simone who makes the tale entertaining as she teaches Eleisha a lesson not to judge a book by its cover.

Harriet Klausner

The Native Star
M. K. Hobson
Bantam, Aug 31 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780553592658

In 1876 in Lost Pines high in the Sierras Mountains local witch Emily Edwards struggles with a failing business as technology has changed and her neighbors mo longer purchase spells from her as they can mail order them. She decides to cast a love spell to catch a man she has adored since she was a child. She mouths the rhyme while dancing nude and applying lavender.

However, success proves a failure as she has her man adoring her, but she realizes it is not the real thing. Making her feel worse about her error is the exiled wizard from the East Coast Dreadnought Stanton who snottily enjoys telling her she is a snafu. However, Emily has a bigger issue to contend with as minors are turning into hungry berserker zombies and raccoons as large as whales due to ill advised magic appear. Finally, after finding an artifact Emily eludes witch hunters, mindless assassins and evil blood sorcerers. She figures if she flees California for New York, all will be right in her out of balanced world; Dreadnought accompanies her.

This is an entertaining alternate historical fantasy as M.K. Hobson does a great job setting up a United States in which the government uses magic to enhance national patriotism and magic can be bought through the mail. The story line is fun as Emily struggles to undo her error while Dreadnought smirks at her until both are running, riding, and railing for their lives. Sub-genre fans will appreciate The Native Star as alternate Reconstruction Era America comes vividly alive.

Harriet Klausner

The Fall
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Morrow, Sep 21 2010, $26.99
ISBN: 9780061558221

The strigori virus that started in New York City (see The Strain) has started to spread pandemically around the globe. Nothing seems to prevent the Vamps from owning the planet with small futile pockets of resistance remaining. Elderly ultra wealthy Eldritch Palmer continues his quisling support of the Master by abetting the strigori undead as the vampires intensify their control of earth. The Master of the seven Ancients also has decided to eliminate his peers so that he and his horde dominate the world with humans as their cattle.

One resistance group that caused problems in Manhattan for the Master still remains in spite of his minion’s efforts to dine on them. CDC epidemiologists Ephraim Goodweather and Nora Martinez, Holocaust survivor Professor Abraham Setrakian, and NYC Bureau of Pest Control Services worker Vasiliy Fet have forged a resistance insurgency. The team’s prime advisor, Setrakian is a veteran vampire slayer who killed his wife when she was turned; he insists their only hope rests with a Renaissance vampiric Genesis tome. Eph believes that to end the epidemic they must assassinate the Master who has converted his wife and she wants to change their son Zack. Finally Fet adapts easily from rodent pest exterminator to vampire pest exterminator.

The middle book of the Strain urban fantasy is an interesting thriller that never takes a respite from start to finish. The heroes are fully developed with each understanding the horror they face using self-mocking jocularity to lighten their mental burden. Loaded with action and fast-paced as a lot occurs in under a month, readers will be spellbound to follow what is going on and where Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan is leading the audience to in this grim saga.

Harriet Klausner

The Truth of Valor
Tanya Huff
Daw, Sep 2010, $24.95
ISBN: 9780756406202

The war between the Confederacy and the Others has been going on for a long time. Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr was proud of serving as a Confederacy marine because she believed in the cause. She eventually learns that both fighting forces were part of a scientific experiment by sentient plastic beings, who hide in plain sight amidst the abundance of plastic products. These insidious beings are exposed, but Torin leaves the marines anyway to become a salvage operator with her lover Craig Ryder.

The end of the war left a power vacuum especially in the outer reaches of space. Pirates filled the void; stealing and pillaging ships, Cho captured an armory that is code locked by the CSO officer and when he kidnapped someone who could open it, he used too much force on the mperson who died from the torture. Now Cho abducts Ryder; Torin vows to find and rescue him. Ryder knows what his beloved will do so will not abet Cho with the armor he wants to deploy. He waits for her to come and get him.

Having left the Confederation military, The Truth of Valor is Torin’s first civilian adventure and though no longer a powerful military science fiction, the heroine’s enthusiasm and diligence remains as strong as ever in this veteran outer space thriller. The spin from marine to vet refreshes the Valor Confederation series as Torin and Ryder begin a new phase in their lives together. Fans of the series will appreciate Tanya Huff’s talent as she uses the frightening premise of a rogue killer obtaining a nuke as the underlying premise of her heroine’s rescue attempt of her beloved while a psychopath pirate possesses weapons of mass destruction

Harriet Klausner

Will Power
A.J. Hartley
Tor, Sep 14 2010, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765321251

The Diamond Empire guards have Will Hawthorne and his gang of thieves at the Waterman, he knows they are lost as the doors crash open. However, they escape as they scatter across the city. Will owes his life to Mithos. At the Fisherman’s Arms, they meet Ambassador Linassi who manages to get them out of the city.

When Linassi’s coach stops, Will or Mithos has no idea where they are as this land is different than anything he has ever seen. He and his comrade are welcomed by the Fair Folk who are at war with the Goblins. Since the fair Folk are very nice to them and look human while the enemy looks like a horror version of Goblins, the outsiders assume they are on the side of the good guys. However, Will begins to doubt what he initially accepted as gospel although the beer is quite good.

This is a superb tale as the antihero manages to land in one misadventure after another. The story line is incredibly fast-paced and the incidents purposely exaggerated. With the jocular escapades, fans will toast (with beer of course) as A.J. Hartley cleverly weaves throughout the strong saga a warning to never judge a book by its cover as Will begins to wonder who the monsters truly are

Harriet Klausner

The Evolutionary Void
Peter F. Hamilton
Del Rey, Aug 24 2010, $28.00
ISBN 9780345496577

Having become known as the Second Dreamer, Araminta fears everyone hunts her for their own purpose. She believes some want her dead and others want to use her; both for the same reason; her ability to provide a path into the timeless Void where many believe Eden exists while other think pandemic destruction will occur.

Ilanthe of the Accelerator Faction and the Living Dream cult want to control the gateway, which is Araminta so they can enter the Void. Others like Government Agent Myo search for Araminta fearing what she might unleash as the Void demands incredible energy from outside to feed it. Meanwhile Edeard the Waterwalker has fooled with time judiciously (in his mind that is) for his people, but his dreams that connect to the First Dreamer Inigo turn darker as he grieves loss caused by his maneuvers. Inigo via Edeard and Araminta via herself must make choices that will determine much of what is to come inside and outside the Void.

This is an extremely complex and somewhat convoluted science fiction thriller as the intensity and tautness mount towards a showdown that could alter the universe. With an underlying concept that even when the monumental universe is at stake, the fully developed key cast members bring personal agendas and plenty of baggage whether they are heroic or malevolent. Although, one must read the previous two books in the Void trilogy (see The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void) to dive into the Void finale entry, fans of the saga will relish the entertaining ending.

Harriet Klausner

Mob Rules
Cameron Haley
Luna, Sep 1 2010, $14.95 paper
ISBN 9780373803200

Street smart and kick butt tough Domino Riley serves as the lieutenant to six millennia old Sumerian gang boss Shanar Rashan. When a low bottom rung mage Jamal is gruesomely murdered with his magic siphoned away, LAPD and the mobs assume a rival gang took the victim out with a strong-arm declaration of war.

Domino investigates starting with talking to Jamal’s ghost. The dead graffiti artist mage informs the mob lieutenant that his homicide has roots with a magical practitioner outside of their gang and not with the usual mundane competitors. Evidence mounts towards Rashan’s son Adan doing the hit, but Domino knows he lacks the ability to steal the magic. She tries to keep him safe as she is seeing him, but to do so Domino breaks the rules between the mobs. Her actions place her in danger from mortal gangsters and sorcerer killers.

Although the story line is obviously a first book in a series as establishing magical Los Angeles is the prime plot, Cameron Haley provides an enjoyable opening urban fantasy noir. The cast is strong as the support players make magical L.A. seem genuine. However besides the city, this is Domino’s tale as she investigates and keeps her boss’ son her lover safe. Sub-genre fans will be looking forward to sequels hopefully with a more robust plot.

Harriet Klausner

Almost To Die For
Tate Hallaway
NAL, Aug 3 2010, $9.99
ISBN: 9780451230577

In St. Paul, Anastasija Parker has known for a long time that her mom is a witch; she has doubts about being a chip off the mother block. On her sweet sixteenth birthday she learns the truth about her dad; whom Ana thought was a deadbeat loser.

As she now knows the first part of the compound word deadbeat sort of applies to her father. He visits her demanding she join him in her rightful spot next to the king of the vampires, dead undead dad. Her mom pleads with her to inherit only her bewitching half while her dad claims her blood flows royally albeit tainted. As she struggles with high school, two boys sort of want her. One is a witch; the other is a vampire.

Mindful of the Jennifer Scales series by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi, the first Vampire Princess urban fantasy is a great young adult thriller. Ana is wonderful holding the opening tale together as she learns the truth about her DNA and the war between the vampires and the witches in an up front and personal way as her parents are preparing for open combat as are two male teens who want her as their respective girlfriend. With an amusing tongue in cheek biting story line, readers will enjoy Almost To Die For as the beleaguered heroine muses high school was hard enough before learning she is wanted as a royal hybrid.

Harriet Klausner