The nitty-gritty: A unique and action-packed start to a new series full of fascinating magic, complex characters, and even some unexpected humor. A struck match sounds like a kiss in the dark, sometimes. She remembered thinking that, watching the flame crack to life and then flutter down to the pools of alcohol running across the […]
The nitty-gritty: Bursting with complex magic, populated with fascinating and lovable characters, and written in sparkling prose, The Last Sun can’t possibly be a debut. And yet. Pyr is knocking it out of the park lately, folks. And I mean you need to start paying attention if you aren’t already. After I was bowled over […]
The nitty-gritty: Another winning story from Andrew Mayne, with non-stop thrills, fascinating details about scientific and forensic investigation, and a smart main character who can solve just about any puzzle. Andrew Mayne’s stories are just so damn fun! This is the second in The Naturalist series, starring Dr. Theo Cray, a brilliant computational scientist who […]
The nitty-gritty: Violent, action-packed and filled with cool world-building details, this is an amped up, supernatural Pulp Fiction on steroids! I listened to the jangled murmur of traffic on the freeway—all day, all night—it was the constant rhythm of this city. Sirens punctuated by horns, the bone-vibrating thud of bass from car radios below me. […]
The nitty-gritty: Dark, complex and terrifying, The Hunger fuses historical events with a creeping, supernatural horror, making this a standout book of 2018. A quick note for those who might be sensitive to the use of the word “Indian” when talking about Native Americans: Please note that during the timeframe of these events, Native Americans […]
The nitty-gritty: A big, bold, and chaotic futuristic story where the absurd is commonplace, dragons patrol the skies, and everyone has a chance at redemption. Grub and Morsel told me on another occasion that one day soon, Duluth will take them to touch a dragon–it seems this is a coming-of-age ritual in this savage locale. […]
The nitty-gritty: A strange, dangerous and magical glimpse into a future world, told in stunningly beautiful prose. Now, too, patterns began to emerge. There were people who seemed to just disappear, and the city had no answer for this except rumors—murmurs of an invisible killer from the tattered remnants of Wick’s contacts and my contact […]
The nitty-gritty: A complex and unique story that delivers on all levels. Simply brilliant! I was initially drawn to The Nine because of it’s brightly colored cover, but believe me when I say the cover pales in comparison to the story that’s inside. This is one of my best, happiest surprises of the year, and […]
The nitty-gritty: Luminous and magical, The Rules of Magic is Alice Hoffman at her best. Today everything smelled earthy, the rich scent of mulch and decaying leaves and roots. It was an ending and a beginning, for the month itself was like a gate. October began as a golden hour and ended with Samhain, the […]
The nitty-gritty: As twisty and complex as Shakespeare, this story surprised me in every way possible. This is definitely one of 2017’s “must reads!” When Curtis Craddock asked me if I’d like a copy of his debut to read and review, I didn’t know much about it at the time. But I’m ecstatic that I […]