The Cursed One
Ronda Thompson
St. Martin’s Press, Dec 2006, $6.99
ISBN: 0312935757

In 1821 England instead of making love in their Collingsworth Manor bedroom, Lady Amelia Collingsworth thinks her husband Robert, whom she just married, is about to kill her as he has his hands, make that his claws, around her neck. Not one to idly accept her fate, Amelia uses her nails to free herself and grabs a sharp object off the nearby desk and stabs him. Hearing the racket, Lord Gabriel Wulf, the object of Amelia’s fantasies, arrives; she calmly tells him she killed her spouse. However, a monster actually kills Robert and stabs Gabriel before fleeing.

Reluctantly Gabriel knows he must keep Amelia safe until he can return her to her family. He knows what the human beast is as he suffers from the same curse. However, instead of taking her to her kin, the Sinclairs, they are under siege as Collingsworth Manor is surrounded by a pack of werewolves. Already attracted to one another before the current perilous situation, Amelia and Gabriel fall in love, but he fears for her safety not from those trying to kill her, but from him, the beast.

The latest Wild Wulfs of London (see THE UNTAMED ONE and THE DARK ONE) is a superb werewolf Regency romantic suspense thriller that starts off as a five star howl and never slows down until the final confrontation between beauty and the beast. Gabriel is a hesitant champion because he fears he will not control the beast when it comes to his desire for Amelia; she is as courageous as a lioness not afraid to protect herself and her beloved though knowing the enemy is much more powerful than her. Fans will appreciate this wonderful paranormal historical romance.

Harriet Klausner

The Hounds of Ardagh
Laura J. Underwood
Five Star, Oct 2006, $25.95
ISBN: 1594143765

Mageborn Ginny Ni Cooley is content living alone in her little cottage in Tamhasg Woods as she offers her services to her neighbors. Her mentor, Manus MacGreeley, has died and come back to the world as a ghost and since he doesn’t have a body the Mastermage cannot use magic. He needs to connect every day to cairn where is body lies to rest.. One night Ginny’s peace is disturbed when a pack of demon hounds chase a boy with a tale and a mane of hair on his spine.

The lad informs Ginny and Manus that his name is Fafne MacArdagh and his clan was celebrating turning in a traitor who plotted to overthrow the king. The next thing they know a blood mage appeared and killed everyone but Fafne who hunts this mass murderer. The blood mage was working with the traitor and cast the spell that kept the clan from testifying by turning them into hounds. This evil also has the way to give the soul of her husband, the laird of Don Elyn to the demon Annwn in exchange for deven more years of eternal youth. When the villainess steals the essence of Manus, Ginny vows to stop her though it may be too late as the malevolent mage’s spouse committed suicide.

THE HOUNDS OF ARDAGH is filled with plenty of action and magical battle scenes. The conversations between the ghost and the mageborn are loaded with repartee that hides their deep regard for one another. The villain is reminiscent of Snow White’s evil stepmother while the heroine is a loyal courageous person willing to risk her life for those she cherishes. Hopefully Laura J. Underwood provides future fantasy epics in Tamhasg Woods.

Harriet Klausner

Silver Bough
Lisa Tuttle
Bantam, April 2006, $22.00, 325 pp.
ISBN 0553382977

On the coast of Scotland in the Highlands is the town of Appleton, a place that is connected to the mainland by one small road. When an earthquake hits, the townsfolk are cut off from the rest of civilization. Supplies will be brought in by a ferry and mail and medical supplies will be flown in.

Three American women are in Appleton. The town librarian Kathleen, the widow Nell who has bought Orchid House and one of her trees is a special golden apple that has not been seen for over fifty years. Visiting the town is Ashley whose grandmother was born there and left without telling anyone she was going. She refused to tell her family about that part of her life which makes Ashley all the more eager to get in touch with her roots. Another stranger in the town is Rhoan, a man in his twenties who looks exactly like the person in a photo that is over half century old. Much of the magic that lay hidden comes out in the cut off Appleton. It seems as if the place is moving into the Otherworld where the Apple Fairest that appeared in one of Nell’s trees changes the reality of our world and gives those deserving them their heart’s desire.

SILVER BOUGH is all about subtle magic that is part of Appleton, a place that many believe originated in another dimension. Readers gradually became aware of the power that is in the very land itself and that of Rhoan, who is part of that magic and wants to return to his father’s home. The characters are three dimensional and have a role in the upcoming events as Lisa Tuttle has written a spell binding Scottish Brigadoon like fantasy.

Harriet Klausner

Night Birds’ Reign
Holly Taylor
Medallion, Oct 2005, $14.99, 550 pp.
ISBN: 1932815538

Two times before in Lleu a High King surfaced during a crisis in which the country appears on the brink of ruin and will be eventually betrayed. In 265 Chadfwich is the third time and history repast as his wife and her lover betray him, ultimately killing him.

Over two centuries later, no High King has surfaced, but the Shining Ones task Gwydion the Dreamer of Kymru that the time has come to find the fourth Great One. Though believing he not ready for his quest, with the help of his aunt and his brother he sets forth to first find the lost sword possessed by the Lady of the Lake and only to be used by the High King who he thinks is the unborn son of his half-brother King Uthyr. However, he will soon learn the danger is not to his body as others try to stop him, it is to his heart and soul as he will soon learn the price of being this generation’s Dreamer.

NIGHT BIRDS REIGN is a strong fantasy with investigative and coming of age underpinnings though the hero is not a sleuth (amateur or professional) and is an adult. Instead Gwydion follows the clues mostly found in his dreams while slowly gaining confidence as he still grows into his power. The story line is action-packed and filled with adventure as there are some who prefer that no new High King surface as he would destroy the status quo power structure. Holly Taylor provides a stirring quest that fans will want to trek alongside of Gwydion.

Harriet Klausner

Underground
Craig Spector
Tor, Apr 2005, $23.95, 256 pp.
ISBN: 0765306603

In Stillson Beach, Virginia, Justin Van Slyke is on a tour of historical antebellum Custis Manor, a place where black slaves were slaughtered. A vandalism incident enables Justin to wander off on his own. He reaches his destination and dives through a large mirror though his right hand fails to make it through the portal. It is sliced off and left behind.

Josh Custis, whose family owns the mansion, sends word to the other three surviving members of the Underground to meet with him in the Church of the Open Door. Caroline Tabb Connolly accompanied by her spouse and daughter, addict Amy Kaplan, and Seth Bryant who left his pregnant wife at home heed Josh’s call. Josh explains that Justin went through the portal bringing home the nightmare of what happened in 1983 when seven suburban teens formed the Underground. One of them Simon Baxter tripping on acid tried to slice another Mia Cheever, but Justin stopped him. Mia fell through a mirror portal while Simon bled to death from cuts caused by chards of broken glass. Justin has forced them to act even while the medical examiner cannot understand how a severed hand can have a pulse.

This haunted house thriller grips the audience from the moment that Justin splits from the tour to enter the mirror and never slows down until the final altercation with the evil on the other side of the portal. The story line is fast-paced, filled with action, and constantly leave readers with goose bumps. Though the magnificent seven are labeled rather than fully developed with a couple of exceptions, ghost story fans will gladly journey through the portal with the UNDERGROUND.

Harriet Klausner