Born Wicked
Jessica Spotswood
Putnam, Feb 7 2012, $17.99
ISBN: 9780399257452

By 1896, The Brotherhood established a harsh Christian theocracy in which the prosecution of witches is a major endeavor. Practitioners are condemned to death or worse: the prisons ships and the asylums. Additionally when a female turns seventeen, they must marry or join the Sisterhood.

Cate Cahill’s mom died trying to produce a male offspring. Her mother made her make a death bed pledge to care for her two younger sisters, but Cate is running out of time as in six months she must choose. Adding to her dilemma is the three Cahill siblings are closet witches, which makes her courtship by Paul McLeod a going nowhere relationship and her dalliance with Finn Belastra possessing even less staying power. As Cate reads her mother’s missing diary, she realizes her time problem worsened with a terrible fate that dooms the trio; forcing her to peruse banned books in an attempt to keep her and her sisters safe while townsfolk suspect them of wickedness. Then Sister Elena arrives to help them.

Born Wicked is an exhilarating alternative New England historical fantasy starring a courageous but increasingly desperate heroine. Her sisters and Elena are top notch characters while their late mom comes across as full blooded also through her diaries and her daughters’ observations. Although the males seem thin, fans will enjoy Jessica Spotwood’s engaging witch hunt.

Harriet Klausner

Darkness Undone
Jessa Slade
Signet, Mar 6 2012, $7.99
ISBN 9780451236265

To earn his wings as a League of Talyan Bookkeeper, Sidney Westerbrook leaves London to study why Chicago contains an exorbitant level of otherworldly combat. Though he preferred research from a distance, he knows field work is an inconvenient truth of his mission. However, the Chicago League Chief Liam Niall refuses to allow him to join their night patrol on his first evening in the city; suggesting he adapt to the time change first.

Thus Sidney goes out on the town alone. However, Westerbrook realizes the stupidity of his actions when two feralis attack him. His shoulder injured, he expects to be a mangled corpse only a female talya warrior intercedes as Alyce Carver is not bound by strict League rules as a rogue battling evil ferales solo. They are attracted to one another, but Sid is a London based Bookkeeper and Alyce is a rogue unaffiliated talyan ,and is expected to mate with one of her kind.

The fourth Marked Souls romantic urban fantasy (see Seduced by the Shadows, Forged in Shadows and Vowed in Shadows) is an exciting paranormal with a fascinating unexpected but plausible twist. The story line is fast-paced with the well done gender spin of the heroine saving the helpless male in distress. Although Alyce garners much respect for her dedication and empathy for her loneliness, Sid fails to do likewise as understanding him comes late. Still this is another dynamic thriller in the super Slade mythos.

Harriet Klausner

Inked Magic
Jory Strong
Berkley, Feb 7 2012, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425245378

In San Francisco Etain the tattoo artist has the uncanny paranormal power of seeing what a person she touches with her palms has imprinted in their last recall memories. Ironically she uses her gift to help the police and the FBI solve crimes as that is part of her DNA make-up; but is somewhat distant from her father the police captain and her brother the Fed as neither understand the post-traumatic stress cost of touching skin.

Etain meets club owner Cathal Dunne, the son of a mob boss and Elf Lord Eamon the restauranteur. Cathal (and his dad) demands Etain use her skill to identify the punks who raped his cousin leaving her to die. Eamon demands the changeling Etain become his consort. At the same she struggles with the four males in her life (including the two family law enforcement officers) the FBI deploys Etain to help them catch the serial Harlequin Rapist, unaware that this psychopath becomes the fifth man in her life as she is his intended next victim.

The key to this super romantic investigative urban fantasy is that the males have different yet alpha personalities, which anchors the Strong San Francisco setting. The heroine is a brave person who knows first-hand the true nightmarish psychological meaning of the skin game on her mental state, but does what she can to bring justice to victims. Readers will enjoy the engaging Inked Magic.

Harriet Klausner

King Of Darkness
Elisabeth Staab
Sourcebooks, Feb 7 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9781402263156

Isabel Anthony lacked any power so she was ridiculed by her vampire peers as a nonentity freak until she left. She masquerades as a human; becoming the last shift DJ at Club Insomniac in Orlando. As she takes a bite out of Venus, Thad Morgan and his bodyguard Lee arrive seeking the female who will help the former meet the prophecy that will save his periled race from extinction. He realizes she has the mark of his destined mate as described by the oracle, but neither Thad nor Lee expected her to be in to females. However, instead of welcoming her king, Isabel flees.

Thad catches Isabel and explains they are destined mates who share a common mark that when they mate will release powers to save their species from the insidious wizards. In combat, she becomes a believer when her latent skills surface. As Isabel ponders her changing situation, she vanishes, which has her beloved mate and his subjects panicked that the vicious wizards have taken their queen.

This is a complex superb romantic urban fantasy in which the first venture into the Staab mythological universe seems genuine due to anchoring places like Orlando and the fact that innocent humans are collateral damage in the cross-species war. Filled with action from the moment a stunned Thad enters the late night human bar and never slowing down, readers will enjoy the vampire king seeking his soul mate in order to save his species from the wrath of the wizards.

Harriet Klausner

Article 5
Kristen Simmons
Tor, Feb 14 2012, $17.99
ISBN: 9780765329585

Following the latest war to end all wars, the Unites States revokes the outrageous Bill of Rights that interfered with law enforcement security and enabled deviant behavior; and replaced it with the strict Moral Statutes. The Bureau of Reformation enforces the laws in which soldiers brutally hunt down and arrest anyone who is in noncompliance of the strict Moral Statutes. Those rule breakers are taken away and never return.

Seventeen year old Ember Miller remembers that just a few years ago it was okay to read all sorts of books before the massive censorship and going out at night was acceptable before the curfew. Though Ember is intelligent and more important flexible in working her way around the new system, she will soon learn how naïve she truly is. Her odyssey starts when soldiers arrive and arrest her mother for violation of Article 5 as “compliance is mandatory” with no alibis accepted. One of the arresting thugs is Chase Jennings, the young man Ember loved. Feeling betrayed, Ember vows to rescue her mom. Her journey is dangerous as the legal enforcers hunt violators and predators stalk the seemingly helpless like a female teen. With her on her quest is Chase

This dark dystopian thriller will remind readers of Big Brother in Huxley’s 1984 and Firemen in Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Ember is a courageous protagonist while Chase goes from villain to hero. Action-packed, young adults (and us elders) readers will appreciate this timely cautionary tale as the fascinating Simmons world extrapolates from deployment of the Patriot Act (affirmed by the Defense spending bill) and other First Amendment “exceptions” enabling legal censorship and much worse.

Harriet Klausner

Everything Is Broken
John Shirley
Prime, Jan 17 2012, $14.95
www.prime-books.com
ISBN 9781607012924

Freedom, California libertarian Mayor Lon Ferrara, owner of a bar and barbeque, privatizes all local government services including first responder emergencies. He also rejected any help from the county, state or feds as he believes in government being the size of a bathtub.

Twenty years old Russ Haver comes to the pristine coastal town to visit his dad Drew. In Freedom Russ meets Pendra, a young woman who fascinates him. A tsunami hammers the West Coast turning Freedom into a wasteland. After being trapped on a rooftop that he defends with his brother from others joining them, the mayor remains adamant no FEMA in spite of the townsfolk in dire straits as services collapse and shelter is limited; instead he makes a deal with a gang leader. Making matters worse is the violence by some of the survivors like predatory drug dealing gangbanger Dickie Rockwell, who sees the chaos and lack of leadership as an opportunity to impose his brutal vision of civilization on others.

Although improbable, this powerful environmental thriller extrapolates the dual premises of those who want to eliminate government providing services as a corollary to paying no taxes into what happens when disaster strikes leading to Everything Is Broken inside of Freedom. Action-packed form the moment the immense tidal wave attacks the town and never slows down as the only “proactive” response comes from the gang leader, fans will enjoy this strong condemnation of political leaders vowing pledges rather than performing governance.

Harriet Klausner

Mindscan
Robert J. Sawyer
Tor, Dec 6 2011, $14.99
ISBN: 9780765329905

In 2018 in Port Credit near Tornado, brewery owner Cliff Sullivan is rushed to the hospital. Dr. Thanh explains to his wife and son that Cliff suffers from Katerinsky Syndrome, which leaves him a vegetable until he dies. Since this is hereditary, he suggests Jake take an MRI.

Jake knew he was dying so he chose Immortex to make a Mindscan copy of his brain placed inside an android. He relocates to the moon where he expects to die in High Eden, a pleasant assisted living facility.

In 2045, Jake the robot on earth has faced rejection from all of the human Jake’s loved ones. He is bored with nothing to do until he meets the mindscan Karen Bessarian. Her biological body had been that of an octogenarian children’s book author; but this model is in her thirties as opposed to Jake in his forties. As the two mindscans fall in love, the original Karen dies. Her son sues for ownership of his late mom’s estate insisting a mindscan has no rights; at the same time the original Jake finds a cure for his illness and demands his former life returned to him.

This discerning exciting look at future ethics questions asking what a human is and what rights does a mindscan have. The story line is fast-paced while the setting plays a key role as Americans flee their fundamentalist Christian kingdom homeland to reside in tolerant Canada; enhancing the rights argument. Readers will relish this profound extrapolation of current medical technology in which Robert J. Sawyer argues that medical advances are way ahead of legal advances.

Harriet Klausner

Switchblade Goddess
Lucy A. Snyder
Del Rey, Dec 27 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345512116

Miko the Switchblade Goddess takes immense pleasure in trapping and sexually torturing the innocent souls. Jessie Shimmer the mage, who went to hell to rescue her beloved Cooper Marron (see Spellbent), liberates the townsfolk of Cuchillo from Miko.

However, the deranged demigoddess still holds captive the souls of this town. Jessie knows she must confront the psychopath, but her familiar Palimpst of the eight legs is acting monstrous so does not appear to have her back. She also is not up to her top game suffering from PTSD as she is mentally exhausted. Even more difficult is she must face Miko alone as Cooper and his brother Wizard are tied in knots.

The latest Spellbent urban fantasy (see Shotgun Sorceress) is an extremely dark psychological thriller in which Miko is a master of torturing the soul, the mind and the body as the ultimate dominatrix who gets people to beg her to harm them. Jessie knows she is emotionally bone weary but feels obligated to confront the lunatic. Fans will look forward to their High Noon to the death battle as the book opens with Jessie and Cooper prisoners of the switchblade queen.

Harriet Klausner

The Thirteen Hallows
Michael Scott and Colette Freedman
Tor, Dec 6 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765328526

Twentyish Londoner, Sarah Miller hates her life. Her tedious job goes nowhere, but she cannot afford to quit as Sarah supports her widowed mom while living together.

Having heard of the murder of her long time friend Millie and an apparent Good Samaritan, septuagenarian Judith Walker fears what the old man warned them seven decades ago not to bring the Hallows together is happening. Millie, Tommy, Georgie, Nina and Bea have been tortured and murdered for the artifacts they protected as Keepers. She expects to be next as she possesses Dyrnwyn, the broken sword of Rhydderch. She proves right when Skinner assaults her. However, Sarah intervenes and between them they batter her mugger. She pleads with Sarah to deliver her Hallow sword to her American nephew, Owen. The Dark Man is furious with his first setback, but takes his fight to Sarah with a gas leak explosion. He will soon realize she is not just a minor irritant as an angry Sarah with Owen at her side prepare to fight the evil Dark Man and his malevolent mistress while the cops seek her and the Yank for questioning in a string of murders.

As Nicholas Flamel takes a deserving respite, Michael Scott and Colette Freedman provide a strong exhilarating urban fantasy. This tale is fast-paced from the moment Judith defends herself and never slows down and fans will enjoy the adventures of the newly drafted Keepers against an amoral psychopath with paranormal powers and no compunctions to use them. Filled with twists and a vile villain, readers will enjoy touring London with Sarah and Owen as their guides.

Harriet Klausner

Dreaming of the Wolf
Terry Spear
Sourcebooks, Dec 1 2011, $6.99
ISBN: 9781402245558

In Breckenridge, Colorado, pack sub leader (to his older brother) Jake Silver stops at Cliffside Art Gallery to leave his latest popular photographs. However, the gallery is closed until later in the morning due to a family emergency. With time to waste, he notices a beautiful woman acting suspiciously before entering a restaurant. Jake follows her inside as she piqued his wolf. However, a brute accosts her and other brutes are outside. Unable to sit idly by, Jake enters the fray. He extracts her from the mess without a fight for now.

Alicia Greiston explains she is a bounty hunter after Danny Massaro and Mario Constantine as this case involves the mobsters who arranged the murder of her mother. Attracted to one another, Jake joins Alicia’s quest. As they fall in love, they face the mob. At the same time the lovers wonder if they survive the gauntlet will their love endure too.

The latest exhilarating urban romantic werewolf thriller (see heart of the Highland Wolf) is a great entry starring a fabulous duet battling against mob goons. Filled with an intriguing paranormal twist, the queen of werewolf dramas Terry Spear provides a powerful tale as she makes her mythos seem real due to the author’s blending of wolf pack culture into a great tale of love and war.

Harriet Klausner