Reaper’s Legacy
Tim Lebbon
PYR, Apr 9 2013, $17.95
ISBN 9781616147679

Several years have passed since the 2017 Doomsday terrorist attack left London an isolated Toxic City (see London Eye) surrounded by Chopper troops trying to keep survivors inside and other people outside as the rest of Britain believes no one lives within this wasteland. Unbeknownst to the outside world, government experiments on surviving Londoners have been conducted leading to humans morphing into beings with supernatural powers.

Lucy-Anne continues to have strange futuristic dreams. She and Rook head north in search of any of her family especially her brother who might have survived Doomsday and the aftermath. Her boyfriend Jack knows they are changing having been healed by Rosemary after true-believer Jenna stabbed him and was subsequently touched by Nomad. As his Irregulars teammates begin to die; he, his best friend Sparky and Jenna search for Jack’s father, Reaper and Lucy-Anne. At the same time researcher Miller knows of Nomad’s touch and wants to dissect Jack while the government no longer deploys the containment policy; instead the final solution countdown has begun.

Rotating between the two strong prime subplots, Reaper’s Legacy continues to build on the enigmatic conspiratorial events of London Eye. Loaded with action that moves forward the exciting storyline, this thriller also sets the stage for Contagion. Fans will appreciate this dark dystopian urban fantasy (with sci fi elements) as Tim Lebbon turns London into a Toxic City wasteland.

Harriet Klausner

Wolf With Benefits
Shelly Laurenston
Kensington Brava, Mar 26 2013, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758265227

Leaving his extended pack family home in Smithtown, Tennessee, wolf shifter Ricky Lee Reed obtains a job at his cousin’s security company in New York. He is assigned to protect jackal-shifter Toni Jean-Louis Parker, a member of the Carnivores hockey team.

After dealing with siblings and other pain in the butt family members, neither is in the mood for a serious relationship, but both feel the intense attraction as they tour the country together while she plays hockey. Ergo they agree to no strings benefits. However, as they fall in love, her pack’s latest woes place Toni Jean and Ricky Lee on center ice.

The latest Pride romantic urban fantasy (see Big Bad Beast and Bear Meets Girl) is the usual fast-paced and jocular yet complex storyline that grips readers from the first hip check to the final hat trick. Although over Rocky Top, series fans will enjoy this fun amusing shifter romance where females might beat you up as much over chocolate as a slur.

Harriet Klausner

Dark in the Woods
Rosemary Laurey
Samhain Publishing, Oct 9 2012, $4.24
Amazon ASIN: B008TR5AX8

Alan Harrington persuades his doubting wife Cassie to move from Boston to his hometown of Andrews Meadows, Virginia; she agrees to a six-month trial in the mountain town. However, his mom makes it clear Cassie is unwelcome; his brother Tate, the only family member from his side to attend the wedding, invites them to stay at his house. Cassie finds his kin of hunters detest her while the residents across the river in Silver Grove are wary of her.

Not long after their arrival, Alan dies in what appears to be an accident. The Harrington brood ignores his widow to include funeral plans. Thinking of her marriage vows “or worse”, Cassie sneaks into the funeral parlor only to be shocked by her discovery. Deputy Sheriff David Argon investigates Alan’s murder and the subsequent killing of his sister Sherry-Ann; while also trying to keep the newcomer safe. He struggles to adhere to the advice of his Aunt Morgaine’s marital prediction for him to remain patient as she proclaimed before the then married Cassie arrived in town she was his future wife.

From the opening Aunt Morgaine’s prediction until the final confrontation, readers will appreciate this taut paranormal police procedural romance. In some ways, the exciting storyline feels like a mountainous gothic starring a heroine in peril, a dangerous remote landscape (incredibly eerie yet feeling genuine), and a hero brooding over having to be patient. Fans will believe that in the remote Virginia Mountains live the paranormal, the hunters and the mundane as Rosemary Laurey escorts her appreciative fans deep into the deadly Dark in the Woods.

Harriet Klausner

Necessity’s Child
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Baen, Feb 5 2013, $25.00
ISBN: 9781451638875

Clan Korval moved to planet Surebleak though Liad will always be home in their hearts. However, in their settlement Jelaza Kazone, the youngest family member Syl Vor feels worthless with no responsibilities and no friends since his cousins left for other worlds as apprentices. He believes his only importance is as a token showing his clan’s support to the newly established school that he attends. With nothing to do, Syl Vor helps a neighbor with seed planting, but failed to tell the clan so is lectured as several rogue Department of Interior agents seek their deaths.

An assassin tries to kill lifemates Liaden Val Con yos’Phelium and Terran Miri Robertson. Clan Korval searches for this killer as no one gets away with killing any of them, but especially this pair as they together are the Delm. The Bedel clan bunkers down in their tunnels until young Kezzi sneaks out with her dog. A vendor catches her stealing food but Michael Golden the Terran pays her tab. A Kompani guardian brings a comatose body to healer Silain who tries to save the coma victim. Golden follows clues that lead to her and her granddaughter Kezzi who soon meets Syl Vor at school.

Necessity’s Child is an intriguing Liaden thriller that appears to be a transition to the next generation as much of the somewhat limited action focuses on Kezzi and Syl Vor. The overarching theme fails to move at all yet the plot sets up the future with an insightful look at their new planet, another culture and the young of Korval and Kompani. Series fans will have mixed feelings on Necessity’s Child, but will agree this is a clever perceptive entry.

Harriet Klausner

Kalimpura
Jay Lake
Tor, Jan 29 2013, $27.99
ISBN 9780765326775

In Copper Downs, sixteen year old Green realizes her pregnancy especially the last month was a dull affair having been a courtesan, an assassin, a God creator and the killer of an Immortal. Breaking custom by delaying the naming ceremony for one week after giving birth to twins, Green and the sire of her babies Speto complete the rite praying for a long life under the protection of Endurance for their children Marya and Federo.

Feeling guilty for the changes she wrought to her friends in Copper Downs, Green feels strongly she must sail across the Storm Sea to Kalimpura in search of the kidnapped child of Ilona stolen by Bittern Court diplomats (see Endurance). However, she knows the voyage is too dangerous for her babies but fears leaving them behind as they will be vulnerable to the Copper Downs’ deities who would claim them (and her) as theirs or sacrifice them and even distrusts Ilona to keep them safe. Making matters more difficult for her is Green knows the Kalimpura Gods and the Bittern Court likewise demand the blood of her and her newborns.

Green’s latest awesome adventures showcase how far she has come since Endurance as she returns to Kalimpura, the Bittern Court and the Lily Goddess in search of the abducted child. The storyline is much more reflective (and consequently less action) than in Green and Endurance (even with the latter’s overly long soliloquys). Fans will enjoy the heroine’s struggle to keep her twins safe and keep a promise to Ilona but must breach yet avoid capture by the Bittern Court who she knows has plans for the slayer of the Immortal Duke.

Harriet Klausner

Immortal Burden
Paul Lewis
BlackWyrm, Oct 31 2011, $11.95
www.blackwyrm.com
ISBN: 9781613181157

Late in the eleventh century Darien the Viking met Rachel when she was a passenger on his ship. They fell in love, but she was already sold to Julian the vampire in exchange for the undead granting immortality to Rachel’s sire Stephen. Julian captured the pair, but Sophia freed them. Darien became a monster to save Rachel, but buried her and his reason for living, a depressing state for an immortal (see Immortal Betrayal).

In 1492 Joshua the first vampire tells Darien he needs his help to kill his father Torin the first werewolf. He tells his tale of nine millennia as one of drinking magical water and slaughtering countless innocents for pleasure and some sustenance until ten thousand years ago Tobias the angel cursed him and his sire. Whereas Joshua heeded the warning, Torin did not. Over the millennia father and son unsuccessfully tried to kill one another. Now the first vampire believes that Darien enhanced by Joshua’s blood can do the deed. In exchange Joshua will bring back to life Rachel whose body he has preserved for centuries with his blood.

This is an exhilarating historical romantic fantasy that expands on the Lewis Immortal mythos. The exciting storyline feels a bit disjoined at first when Joshua tells his autobiography to Darien and his companion Krista. I would have preferred a short opening novella in which readers learn how he became the first vampire followed up by Darien’s adventures to bring his beloved back to him. Still readers will relish Immortal Burden as love never dies even when ultimate evil tries to destroy it. This reviewer additionally suggests Paul Lewis consider an anthology starring the fascinating father and son pair.

Harriet Klausner

The Circle
Bentley Little
Cemetery Dance, Dec 2012, $19.99
ISBN: 9781587673009

“Helen” answers the knock at her door to find a strange child oddly dressed. The boy enters her house and goes to the bathroom where he releases a dump in the toilet. However, his excretion turns out to be diamonds. He enters her garage where he continues to drop gems from his butt to the exhilaration of his hostess and her spouse; until he begins releasing a horde beetles.

“Frank” is an eighth grader whose family lives near Helen. He and his friend visit the backyard dump of a neighbor rumored to be a witch as allegedly her altar is there. They plan to make a request not understanding that the witch will demand remittance.

“Gil” is Frank’s father. A hysterical teen who accompanied Frank on their adventure tells him what happened. He goes to confront the obese lady professor who many believe is a witch.

This is a reprint of a dark graphic (never look at poop in the same way) horror thriller told in three related stories that flow in a Circle starting with the middle tale before shifting to how it began and ultimately climaxed.

Harriet Klausner
Cemetery Dance, Dec 2012, $19.99
ISBN: 9781587673009

“Helen” answers the knock at her door to find a strange child oddly dressed. The boy enters her house and goes to the bathroom where he releases a dump in the toilet. However, his excretion turns out to be diamonds. He enters her garage where he continues to drop gems from his butt to the exhilaration of his hostess and her spouse; until he begins releasing a horde beetles.

“Frank” is an eighth grader whose family lives near Helen. He and his friend visit the backyard dump of a neighbor rumored to be a witch as allegedly her altar is there. They plan to make a request not understanding that the witch will demand remittance.

“Gil” is Frank’s father. A hysterical teen who accompanied Frank on their adventure tells him what happened. He goes to confront the obese lady professor who many believe is a witch.

This is a reprint of a dark graphic (never look at poop in the same way) horror thriller told in three related stories that flow in a Circle starting with the middle tale before shifting to how it began and ultimately climaxed.

Harriet Klausner

Bleeding Edge: Cyberpunk Short Stories
Ramsey Lundock
BlackWyrm, Oct 31 2011, $11.95
www.blackwyrm.com
ISBN: 9781613181041

“Information Super Highway.” Rachael is a driver on the police force. She seeks the only other driver in the city as this rogue breaks the law while apparently working for the hacker the Code Master.

“Captain’s Quarters.” Pirate Captain Lopez captures Navy Ensign Spearman whose father owns a major ship yard. She demands a ransom accordingly.

“Binary Angel.” When Cybernetic Research Institute security guard Yawako is near death after an assault on the facility, Cyan the cyborg demands they save the life of the female he loves.

“Dead Zone.” Near Jacksonville, Loki enters Green Oak, a dead zone area where no signal occurs. He meets with bank owner Slim who hires him to investigate a bank robbery.

“Children and Emperors.” In twenty second century Japan, Tenriki demands the long vacant emperor’s throne as a 49. Four 3s children challenge his claim.

“Fable of the Fox and the Crow, Version 2.0.” On Mars, Raven and Vixen are a team of bounty hunters with her being the brawn while he is the face. Stritous Pen captures and crucifies Vixen. Though Raven knows his Vixen could easily kill him which means Stritous is even deadlier, he confronts the enemy as he risks death to save the female he loves.

These are six exciting violent entries in realms in which society has no heart but individuals prove they do. Filled with action and solid protagonists, fans will enjoy this entertaining twisting anthology as Ramsey Lundock’s Cyberpunk realm will remind readers of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone.

Harriet Klausner

The Thieves of Genesis
William I. Levy
BlackWyrm, Sep 15 2012, $11.95
www.blackwyrm.com
ISBN: 9781613181348

Irv is driving in Iowa when distracted by boring Heartland music; he fails to see the Hole. In Nexus the Crossroads of the Universe, City Father Timez and his apprentice Calla worry about disappearing humans who are coming home minus a heart. As the pair fight Zarthok “the Merciless” and his gang, Irv and his car drops through a Hole landing on Timez. Calla, after slicing Merciless’ hands, attacks Irv who shocks himself when he uses magic to stop her. Timez comes out of the rubble and assigns Calla and her protector Bumper the assassin to escort Irv to a safe-house.

On their journey, the trio travels through a Hole but fail to reach their destination as someone with power changed the Hole. Instead they land in Post Tarnum earth where the two males become prisoners while Callas is left behind. That changes when a tormentor threatens to capture and torture Calla, which leads Irv into a rage induced magical attack that injures his hands but frees the pair. When they catch up to Calla, she likes her skinny hero being protective of her, but Bumper wonder why this nobody seems be the most powerful mage in the land even if her Irv cannot control his magic.

William I. Levy’s exciting romantic fantasy stars an unlikely hero and a kick butt female warrior. The action-packed storyline is fast-paced throughout while Weng Shu’s words of wisdom at the start of each chapter adds humorous commentary. Although the extremely short chapters (averaging just over four pages per chapter) keeps the cast thin (even Rubensque Calla), readers will have a great time following the misadventures of The Thieves of Genesis.

Harriet Klausner

Body and Sold
William Levy
BlackWyrm, Jul 23 2011, $11.95
www.blackwyrm.com
ISBN: 9781613181140

They arrived on Pree, an earth-like planet sixty light years from their home world. Their message to the technologically inferior cat-morphs is that we are from earth and come to help. When one of the aliens Barret and native Paum met, they fell in love. The Star-crossed pair found the road to a loving relationship devastated by their respective races proclaiming their mating taboo; even her loving older sister Col loathed having an earthling as a brother-in-law. Along the way they also confronted zombies, his military peers, vampiress, other ilk and his imprisonment to stay together.

Now Paum and Barret are on trial for crimes against nature. The Prosecuting Examiner goes for the jugular while in space feral invaders target Pree, earth and points in between as these deadly plundering warriors have done so before. Meanwhile mad geneticists crave time to study Paum and her cat-morph people as the trial goes badly for the dependents with increasingly the kept-apart star-crossed lovers realizing they have no hope to be together unless a miracle occurs.

The sequel to The Starcrossed is an exciting Pythonesque thriller in which a Romeo and Juliet couple confronts racism in a science fiction-fantasy stew. The action-packed storyline is fast-paced from the opening courtroom drama until the final clever denouement. Readers will enjoy Body And Sold as Paum and Barret face the most lethal species in the universe, lawyers.

Harriet Klausner