Urban Books - Page 14

Once Upon Stilettos (Katie Chandler, Book 2)

Shanna Swendson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Click your heels three times and say,
“There’s no place like Bloomies!”

Katie Chandler’s life is pure magic–literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she’s seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but she’s a wiz at exposing “hokum” pocus, cloaked lies, and deceptive enchantments. And she’s fallen under the all-too-human spell of attraction to Owen, a hunky wizard and coworker. Owen, however, is preoccupied. Someone has broken into his office and disrupted top-secret files, and it reeks of an inside job. CEO Merlin (yes, the Merlin) and taps Katie and her special ability to uncover the magical mole.

Keeping her feelings in check while sleuthing alongside Owen, Katie is shocked to discover that her immunity to magic is waning, putting her in grave danger. Soon she’s surrendering to the charms and enchantments of everyone and everything around her, including a killer pair of red stilettos. Katie must now conjure up her natural instincts to get to the bottom of the break-in, regain her power, and win the wizard of her dreams.

Nightlife (Cal Leandros, Book 1)

Rob Thurman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 85 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very entertaining! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The series follows two brothers, one half human, on their adventures to help others and stay alive from those that wish them harm. Great series, lots of action and very dry humor. With lots of interesting characters from vampires, to trolls, to a puck, and even some aliens thrown in for good measure.

Human or monster? 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have to admit, it was the Jared Padalecki-lookalike on the cover (same model whom artist Chris McGrath uses for his "Dresden Files" covers) that caught my attention when I first spotted the second book of this series, Moonshine (Cal Leandros, Book 2), in a local Borders. I was in between Dresden Files books, so I picked it up to tide me over. I've seen it compared to the Dresden Files (there is a passing cosmetic resemblance: two half-brothers who work as preternatural detectives in a large American city, one of them is in fact a preternatural being, but that's where the similarities end), but I'd say it's more like a cross between Supernatural and White Wolf's World of Darkness RPGs.

Now, it was a bit of a rocky start when I read the second book (couldn't find the first till I did a little digging): Cal Leandros, the main character, is to say the least, an acidicly snarky, self-loathing, at times almost emo fellow. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked him or not, but now that I've read the first book, I've got a much better understanding of how he got that way. Having an abusive childhood, getting kidnapped by dark elf-like beings and spending two years of their time in their realm while two days go by in the human world, then finding out your father was one of those very creatures is *not* going to make you a happy camper. Especially when every preternatural thing that crosses your path can smell that you're not as human as you look and isn't above rubbing your face in this fact. And you're really going to get your pysche put through the wringer when a male banshee hijacks your mind and body to use you as a cats-paw for a race of dark elves bent on taking over the world.

I have a minor carp with some urban fantasy, or rather, it's something I need a break from once in a while, and that is the tendency of many authors to make their supernatural beings ultimately vulnerable and human. But Rob Thurman steps back from this trend and isn't afraid to make her monsters nightmarish and gruesome. But ultimately, she is also unafraid to show that sometimes, the worst monsters come from within, and it's oddly refreshing to see someone explore that dark side of the psyche.

Editorial Review:

In New York, there's a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Of course, most humans are oblivious to this, but Cal Leandros is only half-human. His father's dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares-and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal.

He and his half-brother Niko have managed to stay a step ahead for three years, but now Cal's dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him...for he is

Saint City Sinners (Dante Valentine, Book 4)

Lilith Saintcrow

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

More of the Same 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The "I love him but I can't trust him" has gotten pretty old by this book in the series, with not enough new to justify buying the book or its successors.

God Awful 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I loved the first two books in the series. So much so that as soon as I could I ran out and bought all the rest of the books in the series. I read the third and found myself not only bored and annoyed by her whining, complaining and general 7year old behavior I was appalled by the blatant way that the men in the book just suddenly took to disregarding her. Now to be fair it could be because she was so immature about everything.

It took me a while before I could bring myself to pick up book number 4 and god not only have I put it aside several times in favor of other things but still I hate to leave any book unfinished and tried yet again.

I am disturbed by the way she cringes from the Japh's every move afraid that once again he's going to hurt her. Its way too battered wife syndrome for my taste. What started as a great series has turned into a whine fest with domestic violence thrown in for the heck of it.

Wish i could give it no stars but it wont let me rate that low. heck i'd give negative stars if i could.

Editorial Review:

Saint City has always been Dante Valentine's home. It's where she grew up, it's where her dead are buried, and it's where she learned to hunt.

Now, one call from an old friend will bring her back to investigate a murder too close to home for anyone's comfort. But the one person she trusted has just betrayed her.

Sometimes revenge is best served demon-hot...

Valentine's Resolve (Vampire Earth, Book 6)

E.E. Knight

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Terrifying, Thrilling, Always Interesting 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
on 07/10/2008

Knight's post-apocalyptic science fiction series continues with this newest installment. David Valentine has left the Southern Command, one of the main sources of resistance against the Kur--the aliens who have invaded Earth. Knight's strength lies in his detailed and believable idea of how society could evolve after we've been taken over by intelligent but malevolent beings.

The opening chapter - and much of the book - is violently graphic, but that is the setting for the story. It is not gratuitous, but necessary to the plot and the development of the story. The character of Valentine undertakes a difficult mission to infiltrate the resistance in the Pacific Northwest, which he does. The story is about Valentine's struggles, but it is also about ourselves and how we would cope with invaders--and at what cost. Knight does this with a deft hand and amazing skill. His world building abilities are beyond scope.

I have to admit to not having read the other books in this series, but that is not an issue. This is an excellent stand-alone book. I read it and enjoyed it, and understood what was going on without feeling lost, like I often do with other series. I'm probably going to pick up the others to read just to find out what happened earlier. If I had any problems, it was possibly with the darkness of Valentine. He seemed almost too morose at times, though granted, with the story as it is, I'd be morose too. I also found I could not read the book in the evening as I became susceptible to frightening dreams, a weakness of mine that proves good story telling on the part of the author. The story stuck with me.

This is a terrifying, thrilling, at times graphically disgusting, but always interesting book that will not disappoint fans of the Vampire Earth series.

4.5 Books

Editorial Review:

After three years of exile from humanity's war against the Kurians, David Valentine returns to battle. The Lifeweavers, Earth's allies in the conflict, have all but vanished, and without them mankind cannot possibly stand against their alien enemies.

Many of the Lightweavers are held captive by a Kurian overlord. To free them, Valentine must convince the Marshal, a legendary resistance fighter with a grudge against the Kurians, to join his cause. But the Marshal is something of a dictator himself, ruling over his men with an iron fist-and giving Valentine a new enemy to fight.

The Traveler (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 1)

John Twelve Hawks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 272 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

I'm not afraid. I'm not very afraid. 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Stop. Don't look. I said don't look! Oh, now you've done it: now the closed circuit camera on the building behind you, and the secret government agent sitting at that cafe with the digital camera implanted in his left earlobe, have both taken your picture. Your image will be put through facial recognition software, which will encode your features into a string of numbers which will be entered into a database that the government maintains. Today they will record your height, your weight, the colors, styles, labels, and fit of your clothing, cross-referenced by material and country of origin (With a red flag attached for clothing from questionable countries -- told you not to wear your Iranian burqa. Why can't you wear a nice Mexican burqa like the rest of us?). They will compare your haircut to that of all the celebrities on file, to see who you subconsciously wish to resemble -- and it had better not be someone like Richard Gere or Jane Fonda, or any of those hippie stars. They will also get an image of that book under your arm, "28 Ways To Shingle Your House With Tortillas," and it will put you into the following categories in the file: book reader, homeowner, do-it-yourselfer, potential homemade bomb-maker, idiot. Your file, already several megabytes of data just like this, will be e-mailed to dozens of different functionaries, who sit smugly at their desks and sip imported coffee while they page through the pictures of citizens and think, "If they only knew just how much we invade their privacy. But they don't. Mwahaha."

Then they will eat a danish. And skip to the next file.

If that description terrified you, then this book is the one for you. If you read it and thought, "Yeah, so?" then don't read The Traveler. Sadly, I fall into the "Yeah, so?" category, and so there was a fundamental disconnect all the way through this book. It's about an evil conspiracy, who call themselves the Brethren and who others call the Tabula -- because we couldn't decide on a name, could we, Mr. Twelve Hawks? -- who seek to turn the whole world into a Panopticon. This was a prison designed by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham a few hundred years ago, and the way the prison works, the prisoners can never know when they're being observed by guards, so they have to assume they're being watched all the time. Once you teach the prisoners that they always have to act as if the guards are watching, and that punishment for misbehavior is immediate and severe, then you don't actually need to watch them: they will make it a part of their natural behavior. Using the millions of cameras, and national ID tags and GPS chips in cars and phones and such, and the electronic trail we all leave, the Tabula are slowly teaching the world that we are always being watched.

And that would be frightening, except the Tabula doesn't plan to do anything but watch. Oh, they have a vague plan of making everybody the same and using mass entertainment to distract them and keep them docile while the Brethren rule, but they aren't going to do anything with their power except -- rule. And watch. Always watching. The author failed to take this evil world-dominating group to the next level: when they use their evil knowledge of everyone's habits and such to do evil things to them. The Tabula never do that, not even in the scenes when they use their evil knowledge to track people down. Sure, these guys are hard to hide from, but I'm not a Traveler or a Harlequin. Oh yeah, that's the rest of the book's plot: the greatest threat to the Tabula's control are people called Travelers, who can astrally project into alternate universes, and who use the perspective they gain to show people a better way to live. These Travelers, who conveniently include every major prophet and every influential person throughout history, are protected by cold-hearted killing machines called Harlequins. That's right, Harlequins. No, there's no reason for the name -- it just sounds really cool. Not true: there's a reason. But it's stupid, and the real reason for the name is, quite obviously, because it sounds really cool. The book's about the last two Travelers and the Tabula's attempts to find them, while one of the last Harlequins tries to protect them.

See, here's the issue. You can't actually control people by watching them. You also need to remove all influences that get people to act in ways that are counter to your uber-society's purpose. Because there will always be those people who are willing to be subversive, or just perverse, and fight against the machine. Even if they're being watched -- maybe sometimes because they're being watched, which is an even harder tendency to control in this watching world; how do you intimidate attention seekers by watching them? -- they will still do things you don't want, even if they get punished for them. Because our culture values rebellion and individuality, even now, even today. Our media-created images of what makes an individual are pretty screwed up, but we recognize them as screwed up, and we cherish those few individuals, either in public life or of our personal acquaintance, who seem to us like the real thing.

If you want to control people's hearts and minds, you need to do one of the three things laid out by the Big Three Dystopias: divide and conquer them through fear and double think as in 1984; control them with gene therapy and lots and lots of drugs as in Brave New World, or encourage them to drown in their own stupidity as in Fahrenheit 451. This book doesn't do any of those, though it has hints of all three. But the only thing it takes to a proper dystopian extreme is the invasiveness of cameras and electronic information tracking. And again, if all they're doing is watching us and writing down everything we do, a la Harriet the Spy, who cares? People have watched each other since the dawn of time: privacy has always been something of an illusion. How many books have described the small town atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone else's business? Or the crowding of big city life, where you're never really alone? So now the watchers have cameras and computers: so what? We're already being watched by our bosses, our neighbors, our families, our pets. A fear of that shows a level of paranoia that is more harmful than helpful -- and, might I add, feeds in to the real means used to control our populace, to whatever extent we are controlled: fear. This book gives a description of people living Off The Grid out of the watchers' view, and it sounds like an inordinate amount of hassle. And as the Harlequins in this book show us, when you put your effort into living Off The Grid, you don't really get to do anything useful, nor do you get to fight in the most subversive way: by having a happy life. The parts of the book that rang truest for me were the moments when the Harlequin character longed to give up the eternal struggle and just -- live. Happily, even if blissfully unaware of the people who are watching you and not doing anything to you. She should have done it: happiness is the true rebellion.

Wow, that's a whole lot more rant than it needed to be. But then, so was the book. In the end, the action scenes were okay, and the astral projection/Traveler scenes were better, but the characters were bad, the plot was shallow and silly, and the message was something I just don't buy -- the only thing it has going for it is the vague guilt I feel from imagining that I'm a tool of the system teaching people to scoff at the Vast Machine's control over us rather than helping them fight against it by following the wisdom of this book. But I won't give in to the mass-marketed subliminal influence of this book! You can't brainwash me into toeing your line, Twelve Hawks, can't use emotional control to get me to do as you think I should do, can't use your manipulative language and innuendo to make me believe you when you tell me who my enemy is! I will think for myself. And I think: meh.

Editorial Review:

In London, Maya, a young woman trained to fight by her powerful father, uses the latest technology to elude detection when walking past the thousands of surveillance cameras that watch the city. In New York, a secret shadow organization uses a victim’s own GPS to hunt him down and kill him. In Los Angeles, Gabriel, a motorcycle messenger with a haunted past, takes pains to live "off the grid" — free of credit cards and
government IDs. Welcome to the world of The Traveler — a world frighteningly like our own.

In this compelling novel, Maya fights to save Gabriel, the only man who can stand against the forces that attempt to monitor and control society. From the back streets of Prague to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, The Traveler portrays an epic struggle between tyranny and freedom. Not since 1984 have readers witnessed a Big Brother so terrifying in its implications and in a story that so closely reflects our lives.

The Devil's Right Hand (Dante Valentine, Book 3)

Lilith Saintcrow

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Stating to get a bit whiney 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Dante Valentine series has not lacked for action so far and this book delivers. It's a bit whiney w/ more stupid, obvious mistakes but still a good read.

Such a whiner!!! 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What happened to the Dante from the first two books? Now she just acts like a petulant child. I love the other characters but Dante is beginning to annoy me.

Editorial Review:

Dante Valentine, Necromancer and bounty hunter, just wants to be left alone. But the Devil has other ideas.

The Prince wants Dante. And he wants her now. And Dante and her lover, Japhrimel, have no choice but to answer the Prince's summons. And to fulfill a seemingly simple task: become the Devil's Right Hand, hunt down four demons that have escaped from Hell, and earn His gratitude.

It's a shame that nothing is ever easy when it comes to the Devil. Because of course, he doesn't tell Dante the whole truth: there is a rebellion brewing in Hell. And there is a good chance that Lucifer is about to be pushed off the throne.

But Dante is getting really tired of being pushed around. And this time, she might be angry enough to take on the Devil himself...

Thin Air (Weather Warden, Book 6)

Rachel Caine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Weather Warden Baldwin is Back on Track 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a much better book than its predecessor! The story moves along at breakneck speed and there are lots of unexpected twists and turns along the way. The memory-aspect of the book is done well, and Rachel Caine's method of revealing bits of Joanne's past by delving memories out of other characters' minds let's us see Joanne Baldwin in a new light, as others in the cast see her.

Good action, strong story line, and believable dialogue make this a winner.

Should be named Hot Air..... 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book was a bit of a disappointment to me. It just seemed repetitive. Sought of like a replay book for those who haven't read the previous books. The book picks up from the end of Windfall where Jo has lost her memory or rather someone is trying to erase her existence; starting with whipping out her memory. Next, comes the long recap, which I hate! (I know I'm not the most patient person in the world but I do hate repeats) Somehow Lewis and Dave catch-up to Jo before she freezes to death; from being lost and naked in some forest. The adult demon we met in Windfall, coincidentally now wants to become Jo and is hell-bent on taking Jo's place. Jo's sister Sarah and Eamon are a match made in hell. I hate to see Sarah not have progressed and is still as pathetic since we first met her in Windfall. I am so disappointed about the situation with Imara. Why did they bother to introduce us to her in the first place? After we barely get to know her, now she's some oracle? What a waste of a good character. I pretty much sped through this book. Hopefully the next in the series, Gale Force will not disappoint. Anymore installments like Thin Air and I'd have to stop reading the series. Very few series are 100% perfect but this book was a total let down.

Editorial Review:

After preventing Mother Earth from destroying the planet, Joanne Baldwin lost her memories thanks to Ashan the djinn-and they will remain lost forever unless Joanne can recover her identity-and destroy the demon who is impersonating her, fabulous shoes and all...

Strange Candy

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Fanstasy With No "Dumb Bunnies" 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I really enjoyed reading this collection, especially because it is different from Hamilton's Anita Blake or Merry Gentry series. I am really surprised that a book like this would be considered bad erotica since the content is more sensual, than actually erotic. No, there aren't any gratuitous sex scenes (no real sex at all, come to think of it), but that is what makes it pretty great. I was able to read the book uninterrupted by someone trying to get in someone else's pants. Not that there is a problem with erotic scenes, but Hamilton covers that many times over with her other novels. I was happy to say that the purchase was worth it, especially the cupid story, which was fun to read because it was light, and breezy.

Editorial Review:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author's short story collection-including an all-new Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter story-now in paperback.

From a woman who marries into a family of volatile wizards to a couple fleeing a gang of love-hungry cupids, from a girl who seeks sanctuary in the form of a graceful goose to the disgruntled superhero Captain Housework, readers will revel in the many twists and turns of fortune in these fantastical fairy tales and lush parables. Even hardened vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake gets blindsided by the disturbing motives of her clients in the new "Those Who Seek Forgiveness" and in "The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death."

Dead End Dating: A Novel of Vampire Love (Dead End Dating, Book 1)

Kimberly Raye

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

BITING IS SO LAST SEASON.

A vivacious vampire with a flair for accessorizing, Lil Marchette is unlike most of her kind. She prefers lively shades of pink to dismal black (soo not her color), plus she’s a hopeless romantic. In need of a steady paycheck to support a compulsive cosmetics habit, Lil starts Dead End Dating (DED), a Manhattan-based matchmaking service that helps smart, sophisticated singles like herself find eternity mates–and may even help her stake a claim to her very own Count Right!

When Lil meets geeky vampire Francis Deville, she knows he’s the perfect first client. If she can hook up Francis–after a little revamping, of course–she will prove her skills to the vampire community and turn DED into the hottest dating service in the Big Apple. But just as her business takes off, Lil meets the (literally) drop-dead gorgeous bounty hunter Ty Bonner, who is hot on the chase of a serial killer. Instantly drawn to the luscious vamp stud, Lil really wants a taste. But as a made vampire, Ty can’t procreate–and Lil will settle for nothing less. Luckily, between “vampifying” Francis and helping Ty solve his murder mystery, Lil has no time for silly romantic entanglements . . . even if Ty is all that and a Bloody Mary chaser!

The Good Fairies of New York

Martin Millar

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Barely intelligible 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book under the impression that I might be reading an intelligent fantasy novel. As a great fan of literary fantasy, I try very hard to discover and support books of this genre. With a foreword by Neil Gaiman, I thought I couldn't lose. I'm not sure Gaiman even read the book when he wrote the foreword.

This is one of the worst books I've ever tried to read. I'll admit to being a literary snob, but I've read romance novels more engaging. This novel has no depth to it--or if it does, it's in the second half of the book that I didn't bother to read. The narration is completely straightfoward and unenthusiastic with a seemingly limited knowledge of the variety of English words and sentence structure available. It reads like a comic book without the pictures. If you're looking for something like Jonathan Strange or Stardust, don't bother.

Editorial Review:

The Good Fairies of New York tells the fish-out-of-water story of two Scottish thistle fairies who find themselves in Manhattan. The fairies hook up with two humans, Kerry (complete with colostomy bag) and Dinnie (antisocial in the extreme), finding time to help both get their acts together. A book that brings together race riots and Scottish folklore, The Good Fairies of New York is anything but a typical fairy fantasy.