The Anatomy of Ghosts
Andrew Taylor
Hyperion, Jan 17 2012, $15.99
ISBN: 9781401310738

In 1786, Tim Turdman finds the body of young Georgie Holdsworth, who drowned in the Thames. His father John the bookseller is despondent but conceals his grief from his wife Maria whose depression frightens her spouse but is understandable as she helplessly watched her son drown in the river. She insists she speaks to her deceased offspring with the help of a medium. A fire destroys the bookstore that contains John’s investment leaving him broke. Angry and grieving John authors a book to prove to Maria that she cannot communicate with Georgie and her channel is a con artist. His effort leads to Maria committing suicide by jumping into the Thames near where she last saw her child.

Lady Anne Oldershaw hires a depressed John to catalog her late husband’s library that she is bequeathing to Cambridge University. Her son Frank, a Jerusalem College student, has a nervous breakdown following his assertion that he saw the ghost of murdered Sylvia Whichcote. Lady Anne asks John, as a paranormal fraud expert, to help her son realize how inane his assertion is. John knows first he must learn what the lad saw as he struggles through the nasty Holy Ghost Club and their Master Dr. Carbury only to find his haunting mission changed.

This is a great late Georgian thriller that will keep the audience wondering whether to believe in ghosts or something more sinisterly human. The storyline starts melancholy in the opening chapters, but changes tone when the bookseller comes to Cambridge as he gets involved with a murder mystery that has him reconsidering his contention that ghosts are delusions of the parasitic relationship between the desperate and the amoral who take advantage of these depressed souls.

Harriet Klausner

Doubletake
Rob Thurman
Roc, Mar 6 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451464446

After killing the monstrous Auphe race (see Blackout) who believed they belonged at the top of the food chain, half human/half Auphe Cal Leandros assumes his monstrous problems are gone. He is unaware that another hybrid beast lives and comes to him with a special purpose in mind. His brother Niko has family issues when his biological father, whom he never saw before, arrives in town to get help locating and disabling the “burden” in order for the siblings to return it to the Voyash Clan. The brother have no time for him as thy host a party for the Puck race (to include pal Goodfellow) who as Cupid look a-likes have lived for hundreds of thousands of years.They need a census to determine how man Pucks need to procreate.

Cal gatess Niko’s father to Central Park and after the gala, the burden JLanus the mechanical sentience being crosses through a gate and tries to kill anyone with Voyash blood. Another gate opens enabling Grimm to cross over to tell Cal he wants to join forces with him to get rid of the human race; he wants Cal to mate with a succabae so the progeny will one day take over the human world. To defeat his insane peer, Cal fights a mad god, several Cyclops and other creatures in an attempt to neutralize the Grimm.

The latest Cal and Niko dark urban fantasy (see Roadkill) is a fascinating entry that focuses on Cal who once again proves he is more human than Auphe as the heart of the series and this tale remains the powerful sibling relationship. Adding to the fun of Doubletake is meeting Niko’s scandalous biological father who is an absentee dad until he needs his son’s brother. The aurhor. Rob Thurmond provides another strong tale in a great saga.

Harriet Klausner

Leaves of Flame
Benjamin Tate
Daw, Jan 3 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780756407049

For several hundred years the three species have co-existed in a tentative peace by avoiding one another. The Alvritshai, Dwarren and Human races rarely have contact as none trust the others.

Much more than a human, Colin Harten notices the wraiths and their Shadow allies have increasingly posed a threat to the three races. Having mastered three of the five known magic’s while in the wilderness for decades (see Well of Sorrow), he has arranged for his friends the magical Trees to provide some protection to the separate but equal races. However, he knows that is not enough as he realizes he needs them to unite before it is too late; once the insidious enemy gains control of the magic nothing Alvritshai, Dwarren, Human, the Faelehgre spirits of light or even him will survive.

This is a terrific social-military-political fantasy but pales in comparison to the excellent thought provoking Well of Sorrows as the colonization theme of the first tale is replaced by a more standard genre scenario. Still fans will appreciate the exciting escapades in the Tate realm as an increasingly desperate but capable and cynical Colin (instead of the enthusiastic rookie) knows if he cannot motive all three species to unite, the dark Shadows will put out the light.

Harriet Klausner

Halo: Glasslands
Karen Traviss
Tor, Oct 25 2011, $15.99
ISBN: 9780765330406

By 2553, the war between the Sangheili Covenant and the Unified Earth left billions dead and planets destroyed, but the worst of the combat seems over. The Covenant stands on the brink of civil war between the purist rebels of the Servants of Abiding Truth fundamentalists and the leaders who led the race the Covenant to collapse. Unified Earth President Dr. Ruth Charet sends Office of Naval Intelligence Serin Osman accompanied by linguisitic Professor Evan Phillips to foster the internal hostilities of the enemy by dealing with the Sangheili insurrection leader the Arbiter Avu Med ‘Telcann.

OSI Admiral Parangocky dispatches a Kilo Five unit to Onyx, a planet destroyed during the hostilities. The military want to capture scientist Dr. Catherine Halsey who broke the law when she created the Spartans. She, Chief Mendez, Spartans and Spartans III survive in a Forerunner slipspace. Meanwhile the threat to humanity comes from within the Unified Earth confederacy.

This is an exciting post Halo 3 science fiction thriller that grips fans of the game saga from start to finish. Although there are too many major subplots going on as Karen Traviss sets in motion the opening act of a trilogy, readers will enjoy seeing another aspect of the Spartans who were created for war, but must either die or adapt to potentially peace.

Harriet Klausner

Supervolcano: Eruption
Harry Turtledove
Roc, Dec 6 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9780451464200

In the Los Angeles suburb San Atanasio, livid police lieutenant Colin Ferguson needs to get over the fact that his wife divorced him for a younger man. Bitter and ready to erupt in a meltdown, Colin decides to take a trip to Yellowstone Park. There he meets geologist Kelly Birnbaum who is studying unusual seismic activity when an earthquake hits. She tells him the possibility of a Supervolcano: Eruption is high.

They exchange phone numbers and email addresses; as Colin intends to call her as he wants to date her. Her predictions prove correct when she is flying away from the area: the sky is dark and particles mess up the engines and everything on the ground. All the nearby states are devastated with Wyoming obliterated and the rest of the lower 48 impacted. As the skies remain perpetually dark, while the romance between Colin and Kelly heats up, he keeps track of his three adult children spread across the country. Rob and his band members Squirt Frog and the Evolving Tadpoles are stranded in Northern Maine where gas is unavailable. Vanessa got out of Nevada only to stop at a Kansas FEMA relief camp which she calls is another world for hell. Perpetual student Marshall, on the verge of a degree after a couple of almost a decade at school, is trapped at home in Southern California.

Although life dramatically changes due to the impact of a Supervolcano: Eruption, this engaging tale is not a post apocalyptic thriller at least in the grand scale. Instead the entertaining story line focuses on a family before and after the blast so that the reader feels they have been in several states across the nation. With a nod to Krakatoa but on a continental scale rather than an island, known for his alternate history sagas, Harry Turtledove writes a fabulous near future survival tale (of the Ferguson family).

Harriet Klausner

The Botticelli Affair
Traci L. Slatton
Telemachus Press, Jul 27 2011, $14.99
ISBN: 9781935670872

In 1483 John Bolingbroke became a vampire. On Christmas Day 1652, John changed when he followed a prostitute into a church leading to his valuing humans. Five decades ago, a capricious God thought it would be humorous to play with John by giving him a half soul so he can feel desire, regret and remorse like a human does.

In the basement of MOMA, John hides while listening to a powerful vampire coven needs Robert Cambridge to give them a lost Botticelli. To force his cooperation, they plan to kidnap his daughter former art forger Laila. Just before Robert vanished, John promised him he would protect the red haired amazon Laila whose paint strokes remind him of an old friend from centuries ago Buonnaroti. He meets her at MOMA when she conducts a tour he joins. He claims to be a collector who saw her dad. While vampires chase John and Laila in Europe, they search for Robert whose life is in danger and so is the missing Botticelli.

The Botticelli Affair is a superb romantic urban fantasy thriller that vividly takes readers on a tour of the Metropolitan, and museums and galleries in Europe. The protagonists are a fabulous pairing as he is attracted to her like no one in over five centuries and she is a kick butt Valkyrie on a mission to save her father, the painting, her beloved hybrid and her soul. Like Traci L. Slatton did with the entertaining complex Immortal, she paints a cerebral action-packed vampire tale of danger in the international world of art.

Harriet Klausner

The Night Eternal
Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Morrow, Oct 25 2011, $26.99
ISBN: 9780061558269

Two years ago the pandemic vampiric virus was deployed on an unsuspecting New York City (see The Strain). The toll turned devastatingly global as humanity fell from the top of the food chain with the vampires hunting mortals. Releasing a nuclear winter that turned the earth into almost total Night Eternal, the Master ancient vampire has his followers establish death camp ranches where his followers can breed humans in order to snack on the mortals.

There are few free humans who remain outside the cattle captivity; most of those hide in remote holes. A small defiant cell continues to rebel against the Master and his bloody horde. Doctors Eph Goodweather and Nora Martinez, Vasiliy Fet, and the Master’s hybrid offspring Mr. Quinlan have different motivations accentuated by the death of their spiritual leader Abraham Setrakian (see The Fall) in spite of the same goal to rid the planet of the bloodsuckers. One of the rebels has the answer to end the genocide killing of the Master and his species in what would be a suicide mission, but whose side is this individual on as the ancient vampire masterly manipulates his enemies into betraying their kind.

The final Strain post-apocalyptic urban fantasy is an exciting ending to an entertaining fresh modern spin to the mythos. Action-packed throughout the trilogy, readers will enjoy what looks like the final extermination of humanity except for those in the camps. Although the climax will not shock the audience and too much personal demons defang the human resistance (and slows the plot), fans will appreciate getting there; as before they become bloodless fodder Nora and others must discover man’s most beloved weapon against an amoral more powerful predator.

Harriet Klausner

Werewolf In The North Woods
Vickie Lewis Thompson
Signet, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451234988

Seemingly forever to his family Grandpa Earl Dooley has searched for Bigfoot in the Oregon wilderness not far from Portland. Ten days ago Earl claims to have seen two big furry and smelly creatures, but his photo lacks conclusive clarity. His family in Arizona agrees with his wealthy neighbors the Gentry family that Earl is nuts.

The Gentry couple brings in NYU Anthropology Professor Roark Wallace to prove Earl’s claim was a fake. His granddaughter Insurance Claims Adjuster Abby Winchell arrives from Phoenix to persuade her Grandpa Earl to sell to the Gentrys and move closer to her home. To convince her beloved relative, she must get Professor Wallace to back down. She shows him pictures to force him to assist her quest for the truth. He is attracted to the Arizonian, but hides that he knows what her grandfather found from her while the werewolf pack fears the professor is betraying them.

The second Wild About You urban romantic fantasy (see A Werewolf in Manhattan) is amusing tale of between star-crossed species. The story line is filled with a strong cast as the support characters bring plenty to the hunt for Bigfoot. The Gentry want Earl’s land and him away from the Pacific northwest for fear of exposure by the persistent obstinate old coot; Bigfoot fanatic Donald Smurtz wants to prove he is right at any cost; finally there is Grandpa Earl who refuses to cede his contention. With that mix and the Oregonian North Woods, fans will enjoy the taboo romance between the anthropologist and the insurance adjuster.

Harriet Klausner

Blood Eternal
Marie Treanor
Signet, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451234728

Dr. Elizabeth “The Awakener” Silk is hesitant as to what she should do. She has a job offer that she wants to accept in Budapest; but at the same time she lacks confidence in her relationship with Saloman, the king of the vampires and a resident of the Hungarian capital.

Much of her doubts come from her beloved’s machinations in the human and vampire worlds as he works on strengthening his powerful position. As Saloman tries to forge an alliance with hunters, the awakening of his vampire blood relative Luk and a related rebellion has him rushing to prevent a calamity while Elizabeth realizes the inevitable is coming with vampires coming out of the coffins.

The third Awakened by Blood urban fantasy (see Blood Sin and Blood on Silk) moves forward the overarching political and social theme and the relationship between the lead couple. Although the changing points of view slow down the pace, sub-genre fans will enjoy entering the bloody realm of Marie Treanor as Saloman tries to consolidate his power in two worlds but also hoping not at the cost of the woman he cherishes.

Harriet Klausner

Frail
Joan Frances Turner
Ace, Oct 4 2011, $24.95
ISBN: 9780441020706

Zombie was always a part of the population, but unless there was a significant outbreak, normal humans assumed these creatures were a George Romero Pittsburgh myth. These reanimated corpses exist filled with maggots and rotting leaking flesh. One bite of a living human changes the victim into a zombie.

The Feeding Plague turned America to Dust changing humans and zombies into something else. Amy is one of the humans in post-apocalyptic America who did not catch the Feeding Plague. In fact in her small-town, Amy is the only pure Frail human left. She befriends an Ex, Lisa, who like all of her species is invulnerable; as the Ex populace is stronger, faster, and deadlier than the two groups they evolved from. The pair is kidnapped and taken to a community run by Exs who enslave the Frail. Lisa protects and constantly saves Amy from the masters until she is brought to a scientific lab run by an Ex. There she learns about the Frails and Humans, a place where both groups are treated equally.

Frail is an incredible horror thriller that contains plenty of post-apocalyptic action while also asking what makes a sentient being human as readers will consider Descartes: “I think therefore I am.” and Sartre’s “I am, therefore I think.” Amy is a courageous human who is very afraid but uses her fears to escape from essences who want to harm her. Her relationship with Lisa affirms that diverse beings can become friends. Joan Frances Turner provides a tense thriller that readers will devour.

Harriet Klausner