The Dark Ones
Anthony Izzo
Pinnacle, Jun 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780786018765

An abandoned brewery in Buffalo is planned for demolition, but Charles Pennington goes to extraordinary lenghts to prevent that from happening. Charles is a Guardian battling the forces of darkness with his ability to shine light on those who can only live in the dark. Sixteen years ago Charles defeated Satan’s demon Engle and buried him in the brewery with the Everlight that keeps this evil from rising.

However, the machine operators dig up Engle separating him from the Everlight. Sara, who just learned that her mother Laura Pennington, Charles’ granddaughter, is alive is heading to Buffalo while the father of her heart follows her because he loves her; he fears Engel being on the loose will come after her. She is the most powerful Guardian walking the earth today and knows she is the only one who can stop Engel if she can recover the Everlight. Failure means hell on earth.

Initially no one believes demons exist except for the Guardians, but hideous clues pile up that prove the DARK ONES walk the earth continuing an eternal war as Engel sends his evil horde out to spread death. The story line is creepy yet an excitng horror thriller filled with plenty of gory action scenes that are critical to the characterization of how malevolent the Dark Ones are. Told from the viewpoint of multiple characters, the audience feels for those brave souls risking more than just their lives knowing some will die battling the Dark Ones.

Harriet Klausner

Being With Him
Jessica Inclan
Zebra, Feb 2008, $13.00
ISBN 9781420101126

Garrick McClellan is at an art exhibit alone in the crowd because he can never let down his guard and reveal who he is and what he can do. He can read the minds of everyone around him and travel back in time. He sees a painting by Mila Adams and it stirs a memory in him. By coincidence his aunt and her mother set them up on a blind date.

Mila also feels alone as she too can read minds and move forward in time. She has memories of her as young child in a black shape escaping from somewhere with her brother, other children and adults. When Garrick and Mila meet they recognize that they are one half of a whole. They start asking questions who and what they are but their inquiry puts them in danger from a force not of this world.

Jessica Inclan has written a memorable and evocative tale of two people who are so much more together than they are apart. Readers will like both protagonists because they are open about their feelings and their need to find others since Garrick knows he was adopted and Mila learns she was too shortly after she meets him. Some books are so memorable and unique that one can’t forget them; BEING WITH HIM is one of them.

Harriet Klausner

Parasyte
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Del Rey, May 2007, $12.95
ISBN: 0345496248

They came from space at night; aliens falling planet-side while people sleep. These slugs crawl like snakes as they seek human hosts to feed on from within. One by one they easily nestle into the brains of those humans they find. These hosts are no longer who they were as the space slugs take over thoughts and their body, but conceal themselves and their master plan by pretending their human host remains in control.

However, one failed to cuddle inside the brain when high school student Shinichi sneezes as the slug enters his nostril. He grabs the creature that he thinks is a snake, but it escapes. When it soars at his face, he instinctively puts his hand up; the parasite enters him there. Shinichi still controls his brain and can communicate with Migi as he calls the creature residing in his right hand. As Migi studies the host population, mass kings and serial murders become frequent. It appears man’s reign is through with Shin the last hope although first he must defeat Migi over just whose body is it before he can try to save the world.

Mindful of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this gritty grim apocalyptic manga thriller is a reprint of a tale released in the United States in 1990. The plot holds up quite nicely as a terrific coming of age tale with several twists all inside a sneaky invasion by what would seem a whimper but is a pandemic big bang. However, it is the manga art that grips the audience as the simplistic dark and grainy pictures means not to eat while reading or just afterward as the gloomy vividness will stay inside your brain like a lingering PARASYTE long after this first book is finished.

Harriet Klausner

Down the Road: On the Last Day
Bowie Ibarra
Permuted Press, Jan 2007
ISBN: 0978970721

Nobody knows where or how it started, but people suddenly became ill from a plague and died only to be reanimated as zombies. These born again creatures have lostthe ability to logically plan with their only objective to eat the living. Anyone butchered by them turned. The plague spread exponentially around the country although some small human enclaves like Beauxville were able to close their borders after removing the zombies from within.

Desperate the United States invites UN troops onto its soil to help Homeland Security and local law enforcement cope with the crisis. People were ordered to go to FEMA camps and leave behind safe towns. Those who refused the marital law order were killed. Red La Rue and Alex Rich team up and head to Beeville, which they heard remains a safe independent town. However, near the outskirts of the town, they observe a UN unit preparing to mount a deadly assault.

Bowie Ibarra writes an intelligent paranormal thriller loaded with blood, and gore that enables the reader to understand fully how dangerous the zombies, the government, and human marauders have become in a world filled with malice and mayhem. The outside forces have their plans for America while those besieged by a power hungry government and hungry zombies struggle to stay free and live. DOWN THE ROAD: ON THE LAST DAY is a great Zombie saga that will have George Romero reconsider his epics

Harriet Klausner

Reason to Believe
Jessica Inclan
Zebra, Oct 2006, $13.00
ISBN: 0821780824

There are two types of humans. The Moyenne are ordinary with no magical ability while Les Croyants possess magic and know how to use it. In the Les Croyant camp are two subgroups with differing visions. One wants to integrate their species with the Mayenne to the benefit of both races; their opponents insist they are superior and either want to rule or kill the mundane Mayenne, who during the dark ages murdered them. Once Caderyn Macara tried to create ties between the two worlds, but he vanished and later joined s with Quain who wants the Moyenne destroyed.

Croyant Fabia Fair is assigned to track down Macara, which is an obsession for the powerful magician as she believes that the two races can live in harmony. One day she helps an amnesiac; she later learns he is a Croyant, who lost his memory due to a spell. Fabia is attracted to the man and says at his side as he slowly recalls who he is and what one of the minions of yhr sorcerer Macara did to him. When Fabia’s twin brother is kidnapped, she, Rufus, and their allies mount a dangerous rescue.

This urban fantasy romance is a beautiful charmer that describes a secret group of magicians who have their own laws and customs while living within a wider mundane world. Rufus and Fabia are believable lovers who know what they want, but are unsure how to make it happen. Readers will enjoy this strong bold couple who challenge more powerful enemies in their quest to be together. Jessica Inclan has written a wonderful adult fairy tale.

Harriet Klausner

The Eunuch’s Heir
Elaine Isaak
Eos, Oct 2006, $14.95
ISBN: 0060782552

His father the late King Kattanan duRhys is a legend for his fair, just and strong rule; some would say a saint. Most of residents of the Kingdom of Lochalyn believe the deceased revered monarch made one mistake, his heir. Knowing he could never live up to his sire’s accomplishments Prince Wolfram spends much of his time partying with women.

That changes when someone tries to assassinate Wolfram, which shakes him out of his hedonistic lifestyle at the same time his ascension to the throne is challenged by doubts that he is the true offspring of the good King Kattanan. Needing time to regroup while remaining safe, Wolfram flees with his eighteen year old foster sister Princess Melody; he leaves his mother Queen Brianna and the Lord Protector Fionvar duNormand in charge of the monarchy. The two royal travelers reach the mystical Hemijrai where the Prince falls in love with virginal Priestess Dieshima while her mentor Priestess Faedara wants the male infidel dead and his female companion to join them in a sacrificial rebirth that could lead to a flowing of blood in Lochalyn.

The sequel to THE SINGER’S CROWN (Kattanan’s tale) is a solid romantic fantasy starring a spoiled prince whose late father gave him everything he wanted as a reaction to the murders of those he loved when he was the heir. Thus in many ways Wolfram is the more fascinating character than his sire whose “mission” was established by his uncle’s killings. The story line is filled with action and a sort of comparative analysis between the two nations that are polar opposites in outlook. Still to fully understand the goings-on, readers should first peruse THE SINGER’S CROWN as that not only provides explanations to the exiled heir’s personality; it gives insight to referenced events. Elaine Isaak provides a solid second story to her saga.

Harriet Klausner

Down The Road
Bowie Ibarra
Permuted Press, May 2006, 168 pp.
ISBN 0976555980

The illness struck New York City first then quickly spread to the entire country. Everyone who contracted it died but latest rose up as undead zombies eating human flesh and spreading the disease through bites. George Zaragosa is determined to leave Austin and return to his hometown of San Uvalde to be with his family, but getting out of town isn’t easy as he has to avoid and kill the zombies by smashing their brains in; that’s the only guarantee that they don’t rise again.

In addition to avoiding the criminals who add to the chaos, George must also avoid Homeland Security and FEMA who are forcibly putting the disease free people in camps where rape, murder and enforced segregation is the norm. He is caught and put in a camp but he escapes when the zombies break through. He finds refuge in a makeshift shelter run by a drug lord and his police allies. Escaping means more killing but when George finds out what the leader of the group did, he feels it is his mission to take him out. In a world gone mad, it is not only zombies that are killers but humans exterminating one other.

Horror fans who want a real zombie killer thriller that pulls no punches, is full of action scenes, blood and gore, and violence that fits easily into the plot will want to get a copy of DOWN THE ROAD. The FEMA Camps are not so far fetched as many victims of Hurricane Katrina who stayed behind know first hand. The protagonist is a passive young man who reacts to events but never really takes charge and that character trait leads him into more trouble.

Harriet Klausner

When You Believe
Jessica Inclan
Zebra, Jun 2006, $13.00
ISBN: 0821780808

On a warm San Franciscan night, Zaps poet contributor Miranda Stead heads to the lot where her car is parked, but neither are where they should be; in fact nothing is right. Instead some testosterone types chase after her until she rushes through a door, falls, and probably breaks her ankle with people yelling at her demanding who she is and how she got here as none of them know how she did it. The group accuses her of being a lousy Moyenne spy; she thinks they are crazy.

Telepathic healer Sariel Valasay agrees to escort Miranda home as she has inadvertently dropped through a portal to the world of Les Croyant des Trois. He plans to erase her memory of their meeting and her trek into his realm as he fears for her and her world if the dark forces learn of a Moyenne penetrating the barrier. As they journey together, they are attracted to one another. However, he erases her memory of him, or at least he thinks he did. She refuses to forget, but unbeknownst to Sariel his memory of her is gone even as Miranda hunts for her soul mate.

Though romantic fantasy fans will need to give this complex tale time to provide the background on the Inclan universe, readers will appreciate the wait once they grasp the nuances as this is a superb tale. Fans will root for Miranda who refuses to allow her memory of meeting her beloved to die and hope she and Sariel find a way to be with one another. Readers will believe that Jessica Inclan provides an entertaining deep thriller in which is the ultimate weapon.

Harriet Klausner

The Singer’s Crown
Elaine Isaak
Eos, Oct 2005, $14.95, 480 pp.
ISBN: 0060782536

In 1215 in the Kingdom of Lochalyn, Thorgir murders his brother the king, kills his nephews except the youngest prince Rhys, and when his sister in law Queen Caitrin refuses to cooperate, he slays her too; none are buried properly. He completes his dastardly coup by having a surgeon insure that Rhys would never have whelps and he would qualify as a singer with the Virgins of the Goddess.

In 1229 Rhys knows he cannot fight for the throne since he cannot produce heirs. Instead he makes a living as a singer; his current patron Baron Eadmund gives him as a courting gift to seventeen years old Princess Melisande. Normally avoiding anything that stirs the testicles, Rhys the eunuch finds he wants Melisande as his. However, he knows that cannot be, but will die to keep her safe. He will soon test his fortitude when the Baron is killed, Melisande’s hounds murdered and her father bewitched by the wizard who enabled Rhys’ uncle to kill his family so easily.

THE SINGER’S CROWN is a terrific romantic fantasy starring a wonderful hero, a fabulous princess, and a dastardly killing villain. The story line is action-packed, but character driven from the moment that Caitrin tries to save her only living child from his uncle and never slows down as he must choose between his beloved song and the dreaded consequences of love. Though readers will wonder why Thorgir allowed Rhys to live though removing a future threat, fans will take immense pleasure in this powerful tale of betrayal and love in a realm in which wizardry seems so real that the audience is beguiled.

Harriet Klausner

The Narrows
Alexander C. Irvine
Del Rey, Oct 2005, $13.95 352 pp.
ISBN 0345466985

During WWII in Detroit, Jared Cleaves is unable to serve in the military due to a hand injury he suffered as a child that leaves him 4-F. Jared is embarrassed to stay behind among mostly women and children as he feels healthy enough to fight in spite of his hand and wants to help his home country in the war.

The Office of Esoteric Investigation selects Jared to work on the Top Secret Ford golem project aptly dubbed “Frankenline”. However, he still remains depressed that he cannot enter the war zone as he desperately wants to share the dangerous load most males and the golems must bear. Pushing to become deeper involved, Jared soon realizes he may have leaned too hard on a weird door when he becomes a key player in a scheme to tap into the supernatural power of imps that “live” underneath the Motor City. However, he soon concludes that these supernatural creatures are impossible to control and will run rampant throughout Detroit unless Jared can stop them.

THE NARROWS is a fabulous alternate historical fantasy that provides a wild ride through 1943 Detroit as the Nazis look like kindergarten students when compared to the imp storm troopers. The story line is action-packed from start to finish, but driving the plot is the wonderful Jared who just feels he must do more than he is doing. When he gets his wish and meets up with the underground and some weird Feds, he learns plenty of lessons about receiving what you ask for. The supernatural creatures seem natural adding to a fine thriller, but the besieged Jared keeps the fabulous tale together.

Harriet Klausner