Married with Zombies
Jesse Petersen
Orbit, Sep 1 2010, $7.99
ISBN 9780316102865

Seattle based David and Sarah hope to salvage their faltering marriage as they love one another. When they go to their appointment with their marriage counselor, they find Dr. Erica Kelly dining on another couple. Shocked, they flee in spite of charges for a missed visit.

They manage to reach their home safely, but remain stunned with what they witnessed. After discussing what next, David and Sarah decide to visit his sister in nearby Longview to insure she is okay. Everywhere they go they are chased by a zombie horde. Having seen the Romero and Ron Zombie films and other sub-genre movies of the walking dead, they know how to fight the enemy. As they remain struggling first with seemingly irreconcilable differences, they team up as married slayers battling the dead while having each other’s back but also thinking of placing the knife elsewhere.

Based on the principle the “couple who slays together stays together”; Married with Zombies is a fun lighthearted horror thriller that never takes itself even remotely seriously. Fast-paced, but eventually repetitive with a ton of zombie tangos and dysfunctional marital discord, this remains an amusing lampooning of zombie fever.

Harriet Klausner

Kiss of the Rose
Kate Pearce
Signet, Aug 3 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451230942

In 1485 the Druids and King Henry Tudor made a pact in which the priests are to eradicate the vampire race while he becomes ruler of England and Wales. In 1529 at the Richmond Palace, home of the court of King Henry VIII, there have been a series of murders; the victims drained of all their blood. Obviously a serial killing vampire or multitude of the undead is making the palace unsafe for humans.

The Druids assign born vampire hunter Rosalind Llewellyn to kill the predator. However, before she can find the hidden beast, she must deal with vampire protector Sir Christopher Ellis the Druid slayer. Attracted to one another, both are stunned when their superiors order them to cooperate in finding and destroying a rogue. Neither is prepared to be soul mates fulfilling an ancient prophecy if they truly team up and if they survive the deadly mission.

The first Tudor Vampire Chronicles is a wonderful historical romantic fantasy. The mystery and the history take a back seat to the paranormal and the romance so that the background to a vampiric King Henry VIII castle never fully comes to fruition. Still this is an exciting early fifteenth century star-crossed lovers’ thriller as the immovable vampire hunter meets the irresistible Druid slayer.

Harriet Klausner

Rapture Untamed
Pamela Palmer
Avon, Jun 29 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780061794704

The draden drain the life force of the Therians when they can. Feral Warriors risk their lives to protect the Therians from the draden. In 1433 the draden attacked a Therian stronghold in the Scottish Highlands as the protective spell fails due to the Mage stealing it. A young girl Olivia is the only survivor of the attack; no draden survived either due to her being changed by being draden-kissed. Olivia now can siphon off the life force energy of others just like the draden but not kill her source unlike the draden. Her dad warns her to conceal her change from everyone as the Therians and the draden will kill her.

Centuries later, Jag the shapeshifting Feral Warrior who works alone is teamed up with Olivia to hunt daemons stalking the mortals. Both are unhappy with the attraction between them. He because he wants no one and she because she fears being outed and what she can do to someone even a loved one as she learned when she almost killed her father five centuries ago. Jag learns the secret of his courageous partner, but as she fears what he will do she wonders whether he will expose, kill, or protect the woman he loves.

The fourth Feral Warriors “untamed” romantic urban fantasy (see Passion Untamed, Desire Untamed and Obsession Untamed) is a fast-paced and exciting entry filled with plenty of action and passion. As with the previous tale in which Feral Warrior Paenther’s back-story was told, the audience obtains a bit of what happened to Olivia, her mom, other Therians and the dreaded Draden on that fateful lethal attack in the fifteenth century. Readers will, enjoy Jag’s dilemma wondering what he will choose.

Harriet Klausner

Black Dust Mambo
Adrian Phoenix
Pocket, Jun 29 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439167878

Kallie Riviere enjoys her time at the New Orleans Hecatean Alliance’s carnival where she and other Hoodoo practitioners and Voodoo witches have fun and share experiences. She enjoys even more sharing her bed with Gage the nomadic outlaw biker conjurer with Gypsy blood and a fine butt (and other body parts). However, her euphoria ends abruptly when she finds Gage dead and soulless in her bed; triggering the memory from almost a decade ago when Mama fired a bullet into Papa’s head and tried to kill her too back in Bayou Cypres Noir.

In the present Kallie concludes she was the target of the killing soul sucker. With her best friend Belladonna accompanying her and covering her back, she fears for her childhood buddy Dallas, as she assumes he may be on the hit list too. The two BFFs search for Dallas while eluding a deadly malevolent being who wants to suck Kallie’s soul from her; and has no compunctions about doing likewise to Bella while Gage’s clan brother Layne seeks vengeance at a time when Lord Augustine is determined to possess Layne’s body in order to avoid having to leave this plane. More frightening is the clues lead back to her Tante Gabrielle who took her in when she became an orphan and has mentored her and her cousin Jacks in Hoodoo.

This super opening gamut in the Riviere urban fantasy hooks readers from the opening scene of finding her lover in bed dead and never slows down as the heroine believing she was the intended target of the Black Dust Mambo magic begins her inquiry. The support cast is solid though this is clearly Kallie’s star as Adrian Phoenix starts her new saga with a strong magical mambo murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Cold Sight
Leslie Parrish
Signet, Jul 6 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451230744

Investigating a string of suspicious runaways, Granville Daily Sun reporter Lexie Nolan considers someone malevolent and sinister is behind the disappearances. As she digs deeper, her boss tells her to drop the story; stunning her as this has never happened before to the investigative journalist.

When another young girl Vonnie vanishes, Lexie knows she cannot live with herself if she quits. Instead she asks former Extrasensory Agent Aidan McConnell to help her find the latest missing person. Aidan informs Lexie he no longer searches for people after his last mission ended disastrously. However reluctantly he agrees to help as he finds himself unable to deny her anything. He has feelings he never allowed himself to have before he met sexy Lexie. They connect as they follow clues to Savannah.

This is an entertaining paranormal whodunit starring an intrepid reporter and a man with telemetric extrasensory psychometric abilities. The changing relationship between the pair is fun to follow as they investigate the abductions and murder. Although the villain is inane, fans will appreciate the first Extrasensory Agent urban fantasy romantic suspense due to the lead characters and Vonnie.

Harriet Klausner

Tracking the Tempest
Nicole Peeler
Orbit, Jul 1 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780316056571

In Rockabill, Maine hybrid Jane True struggles with learning she is half Selkie. She also tries to understand her new skill as a magic practitioner. However, Jane is also running out of time as purebreds detest Halflings; preferring the Selkie species to be perfectly pure. On the other hand Nell the gnome, Anyan the dog and Trill the kelpie train her on her new skills; though Jane thinks torture is a mire accurate description of their mentoring her.

Her beloved Ryu the vampire is on her side though he is in Boston on a homicide investigation. When she decides to visit her vampiric investigator, Jane never expected to become part of an inquiry he is making into Conleth the Halfling Ifrit, who escaped from a Dorchester lab that blew up right after he got out. Ryu thinks Conleth blew up the lab and has become a serial killer especially of Halflings, but Jane finds several other suspects who will not mind the murder of a nosy Halfling.

The latest Tempest urban fantasy (see Tempest Rising) is an excellent urban fantasy as the heat is on the heroine (and her lover) in Boston. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the heroine joins her “Impaler” lover in Boston and never slows down as the pair search for a paranormal serial killer. Readers will relish Tracking the Tempest as Jane seems truly to be in the eye of the perfect killer storm.

Harriet Klausner

Cheat The Grave
Vicki Pettersson
Eos, May 25 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780061456770

In Las Vegas Joanna Archer knew what she was giving up when she rescued a child to save the light. Her sacrifice is her superpowers and her allies.

Although she swears she would do it again Joanna has nagging doubts. Her destiny not only radically altered by her good deed, her friends deserted her; in fact they want to kill her. Feeling alone but forced by her revised destiny to act if the prophecy is to occur, Joanna travels through a nightmare in which everyone is her enemy, but one particular psychopathic predator plots to kill her. Joanna knows only her former foes give her a chance to survive and fulfill the prophecy.

The latest Sign of the Zodiac is a terrific entry that centers on Joanna in a twisting of the coming of age theme. Urban fantasy readers will enjoy the fast-paced thriller that wastes no time by moving out from the onset. Joanna is terrific as she struggles with a myriad of emotions with the changes to her. She makes Cheat the Grave a great novel and though the story line can stand by itself, it is enhanced by reading the previous books to see how far the metamorphosis occurred.

Harriet Klausner

A Certain Wolfish Charm
Lydia Dare
Sourcebooks, Apr 6 2010, $6.99
ISBN 9781402236945

In 1816 Lily Rutledge worries about the radical change in behavior of her twelve year old ward Lord Oliver Westfield. She has sent letters to the lad’s guardian Duke Simon Westfield demanding he get involved in his nephew’s life, but she doubts the wastrel reads her missives as he only sends her money and besides he is too busy chasing skirts.

Lily decides the time for confrontation with the womanizing duke has passed. She goes to his home Blackmoor, but is stunned when Simon, realizing what is happening to his nephew, orders her to leave while he takes Oliver into his home. Simon plans to mentor Oliver on what it means to be a Westfield as puberty is bringing out the werewolf gene. Lily refuses to leave because she loves Oliver who calls Her “Aunt Lily” while she thinks of him as her son; nor will she abandon Oliver to a beast who failed to recognize him as blood. However, as Simon and Lily fight their attraction to one another, they fall in love, but he conceals his wolfish tendencies while she becomes more concerned over the physical and emotional changes to Oliver.

This is an entertaining werewolf Regency romantic cozy starring two seemingly cross-starred lead characters who share in common the belief that Oliver comes before their needs. The story line is emotional intense at times but only when Oliver struggles to cope with his hormonal changes especially the monthly need that seems like a werewolf’s PMS. Fans will enjoy this fine historical romance as the author daringly combines the paranormal within an amiable story line.

Harriet Klausner

Twice Dead
Kalayna Price
Bell Bridge Books, Feb 2010, $14.95
www.bellbridgebooks.com
ISBN: 9780984325672

Shapeshifter Kita Nekai has not adapted to her new diet very well as a Bloody Mary can only go so far. She remains irate with Nathanial for changing her need to that of liquid ever since he sank two fangs into her and dined. The worst of being Once Bitten is stuck in one crappy shape though her shifting was slightly less formidable than her peers; she used to turn into a cute kitty while most of those she grew up with were lions, tigers, and oh my.

During a gala for a visiting Vampire Council VIP that she is directed to attend, Kita stumbles upon a headless dancer corpse. Apparently several more powerful vampires than her “sire” covet her. As more headless bodies and bodiless heads have her tripping, the local master decides to rid himself of the competition by simply killing Nathaniel; she offers herself willingly if the Master allows an irate jealous Nathanial to live. Finally there is the ancient Collector who wants like Barnum to add the oddity of a shapeshifter turned vampiress to his collection. Life as an undead is so complex living.

The second Kitty Kat blood-lit tale is a fun urban fantasy starring a likable heroine who wants to purr over a chocolate shake not suck someone’s blood. Ironically she needed protection as a Were and she needs protection as a vamp; cute just does not cut it in either community. Readers will enjoy her survival techniques in an entertaining lighthearted frolic.

Harriet Klausner

Invisible Fences
Norman Prentiss
Cemetery Dance, May 2010, $30.00
ISBN: 9781587671845

Nathan had an ordinary childhood until his half sister died; which plunged his mother into a depression that made her a recluse who could not leave the house nor throw anything out. Their home was covered with piles everywhere making it impossible to walk. Both his parents told him and his sister Pam cautionary tales that made each fear even crossing the street.

Nathan and Pam were in the woods near his best friend Aaron’s home. An accident occurs and Aaron falls into the overflowing creek and cannot get out. Neither of his two companions can swim, but both refuse to give up on rescuing Aaron. They come up with an idea, but as they leave the woods with their friend still in the water Aaron curses them. Later Nathan goes to visit Aaron; his friend’s brother beats him up.

Nathan and his family move to another state; where he grows up into a male “spinster”, afraid to take even the slightest chance. However, after his parents die, something from their warnings surfaces to challenge Nathan’s Invisible fences that allow no risks.

The child is the adult as the impressionable boy is frightened by his parents by their stories into fearing life. Nathan faces a supernatural essence that is a horror from his childhood; leaving readers to wonder if he psychologically created his demon. This is a chilling tale as Norman Prentiss provides a profound look at the child inside the adult whose fear is palpable while the audience wonders if it is externally real or internal psychosomatically real.

Harriet Klausner