Pepper Martin does not want her current assignment.  It’s the 179th birthday of President James A. Garfield; there is a Garfield memorial at Cleveland’s Garden View Cemetery.  Of course, there will be some celebration of this anniversary.  Unfortunately for Pepper, she has to plan this celebration with Marjorie Klinker, a volunteer with an unpleasant personality and a major jones for Garfield.  Marjorie tends to assume that she is in charge and that she knows more than anyone else on any given topic, and very specifically about James Garfield.   Pepper tries to get out of this, but is not successful.

Somebody else isn’t happy with Marjorie.  Someone else pushes Marjorie off the balcony in the Garfield memorial and kills her.  Pepper has several reasons to track down this killer, and she can be as determined as Marjorie can, if not quite as unpleasant.  Her ex-boyfriend the police detective might disagree, but Pepper isn’t inclined to pay him any mind.

There are a surprising number of suspects, and as many motives.  Pepper has a lot to work with, although the ghost of Garfield is not as helpful as Pepper hoped he would be.  His chief concern seems to be having enough peace and quiet to run the government.

Daniels has quite a nice little series going with Pepper Martin and the ghosts in her life.  Pepper is young, smart, and adventurous.  This doesn’t mean she takes foolish chances, but she is willing to go out on a pretty sturdy limb once in a while.  The background on Garfield is interesting, and fed to the reader slowly and painlessly.  Tomb with a View is an enjoyable read that should hold one’s interest without demanding a great deal.  Take it to the beach, maybe?

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, June 2010.

Somehow, helping vampires catch a rogue of their own isn’t quite what Madison Rose had in mind when she left Boise for L.A.  Apparently, there is a lot more going on in L.A. than most people realize.  The vampire culture is more prevalent than we suspect, and that’s just how the vampires like it.  The vampires are quite happy that there is a large supply of wanna-bes, aching to serve on the off-chance a conversion will be their reward.  They just want people to be discreet.  This is becoming difficult, since someone is killing people in a way guaranteed to draw attention to the culture.

Madison is rescued from almost certain death by two vampires, and ends up working as their Renfield, helping them figure out who is killing people and why.  The Dedhams are cooperating with a policeman, who is working secretly because there is a confessed murderer in custody.  The Dedhams and the detective don’t believe this guy is the killer and they want to find the real one before things get really bad.

Murder in Vein is the first in a new series for Jaffarian; it should do well.  The characters are good, the plot is good, and the vampire theme is quite hot right now.  Madison Rose is a woman with a bit of a past, working on changing her life.  Working for vampires is a departure for her, and it should be interesting to see where this new life takes her.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, June 2010.

I am not certain if the following could be called a review of a book or a reaction to a book. Until opening this book, the assumption was, rather naively I now realize, that after over a half century of reading, I had read every genre of book ever published. However, nothing I had read prepared me for this book.

The story opens at Food Plus Mart, a convenience store where a bit of a disturbance is taking place. A Yeti, as in those mythical creatures associated with the Himalayas, is in the store’s freezer, eating ice cream, an entire carton at a time.

Judy and Dave, the two clerks on duty, debate what to do. Judy goes to the store’s office to call Animal Control. Dave goes back stocking shelves. After the phone call, Judy goes outside for a smoke break. She’s there when Monster arrives. He’s a free-lance contractor for the Cryptobiological Containment and Rescue Services. He’s looks normal, except that he has blue hair and skin. Both change every day, and Monster has no idea what color he will be until he wakes up each day.

Anyway, he walks into the store, brains the Yeti with a bat, draws a circle around the creature, and adds some strange looking letters around the circle. In minutes the Yeti disappears, leaving only a “small fluffy rock” inside the circle.

From this beginning, the story becomes…. My reaction is that I had read the script for a fantasy video game between good guys and bad guys, one that includes things, events, morphing creatures, and violence that make the opening scene as described above as tame and sane as a “Dick and Jane” reader.

This book is the sixth one written by Martinez, a native Texan who is described as a fantasy and science fiction author. If asked, I would have said that I had read books that could be described as fantasies or science fiction. However, this book took this reader through things that I never conceived could exist, and truly hope that they do not exist, outside the mind of the author.

Reviewed by Bo Parker, June 2010.

I wept bitter tears when I realized we were losing Terry Pratchett.  While no one author could replace him, A. Lee Martinez is shaping up to be one of the funniest young men in fantasy literature.

His latest book, Divine Misfortune takes place in an alternative world where the mythological gods exist and are still worshipped. They even have a match-up service similar to eHarmony where browsers can find a compatible god.

When Phil misses yet another promotion, he’s thinking it’s time he swore himself to a god.  After all, the guy who got the job he wanted admits he got the job because of his patron god’s favor.  Phil’s wife, Teri, isn’t so sure.  Gods are a lot of work.  They involve sacrifice and an altar. But, when Teri sees a cat that’d been struck by a car brought back to life, she relents.

Phil and Teri select the fortune god, Lucky, a raccoon.  Lucky doesn’t demand much of his followers, so they think.  But, when a Hawaiian shirt clad raccoon shows up at their door with multicolored luggage, they are considering re-considering their oaths.  Lucky’s okay about them reneging.  It’s a lot of responsibility.  He goes away–and the next day is the day from Hell for both of them.

Phil and Teri think all is well when Lucky returns, but the little god hasn’t told them everything.  There’s his ex-girlfriend, the former goddess of love and a blood feud with a blood-path god.  Talk about Divine Misfortune!

A. Lee Martinez will keep you laughing all the way through the book.  If you liked Small Gods and Good Omens from Pratchett, odds are you’re going to get lucky reading this book, too.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kyle.

If you enjoy comic urban fantasies, such as Christopher Moore and Jasper Fforde, you need to also check out A. Lee Martinez.  This Dallas-based author will keep you laughing way past your bedtime with his absurd situations and likable characters.

“Monster” is no exception.  Monster Dionysius looks human, mostly.  Depending on the day, he can be anything from gray to orange with powers to match.  He uses those powers for good, specifically for removing yeti and other such creatures from our mortal realm.

No worries.  For the most part, mortals he encounters forget about him and the pests he eradicates fairly quickly.  That is, until he runs into Judy.  This girl draws non-human trouble like honey draws flies.  And, Judy doesn’t want to forget.  Monster does want to forget her, but he can’t.  If he doesn’t help Judy escape what on first blush appears to be just another crazy cat lady, the whole universe might just collapse.

I started reading Martinez with his first book, “Gil’s All Fright Diner” and I’ve not been disappointed with his progression as an author to date.  He’s never stopped honing his craft and keeping us laughing.

Link to A. Lee’s website including his blog:

http://www.aleemartinez.com/

Reviewed by Rebecca Kyle.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour had me hooked on Kitty Norville and Carrie Vaughn from page one. Instead of your usual vampire hunter or detective, this urban fantasy heroine was a Denver-based werewolf with a late-night talk radio show for the supernaturals.  Since then, Kitty’s gone to Washington to help increase national awareness of lycanthropes, gotten married to attorney Ben and established her own pack.

Of course, someone would have to approach Kitty and her supernatural friends to do a reality television show.  Kitty’s reluctant, but when she learns magician Odysseus Grant and Tina, a psychic, have signed up, she’s committed.  Soon after the group is taken to a remote hunting lodge in Montana, they discover the power cut and much of the show’s crew killed.  The show was a setup and Kitty’s going to have to let her wolf out in order to help herself and her friends survive.

The story’s a popular theme and Vaughn even lightly jokes the story’s been done before.  Savvy readers know the outcome and yet for a diehard Kitty fan, the book’s still a fast and fun read.  I’m not sure I’d recommend this book as an intro to the Kitty series–start at the beginning and if the reality television show is not your bag, skip this particular book.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kyle.

Allie Gale is wallowing in gloom after her job ended and there are no prospects of friendship or employment forthcoming. Her multi-member family of witches is about to take some action when Allie receives a letter from her Grandmother which opens with:

If you are reading this, I am dead…

The Enchantment Emporium

Grandma’s left her Calgary-based shop to Allie and says it’s essential that she care for the emporium because it’s critical to the local residents.  Allie quickly comes to realize caring for the shop includes stewardship over some pretty dangerous artifacts including a monkey’s paw as well as non-human residents including a leprechaun who’s hiding out from an assassin.

If the situation wasn’t interesting enough, there’s a new man in her life and dragons are invading the town. Allie and her family are going to have to fight it out to keep Calgary safe.

“Enchantment Emporium” is an interesting entrance into a new world and family for Huff, who does a splendid job of serial urban fantasies.  This story is not as action-packed as the “Blood” books or as witty as the “Keeper” stories, but the foundation is laid for a lot of strong characters to emerge.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kyle.

Grave Secret

Grave Secret
Charlaine Harris
Berkley, 2009
ISBN 0425230155
Hardcover

Harper Connelly and Tolliver Lang are going back home to Texas to salve a rich rancher’s curiosity. Harper is to read Rich Joyce’s remains to tell his granddaughter how he really died. What she discovers is nothing the family actually wanted to know.

Someone Rich knew greeted him on the road and flung a rattler at him. The shock caused his death.

But, while doing that job, Harper also uncovers that a household servant died in childbirth rather than complications from peritonitis from an infected appendix as they all believed. This sets the family looking for the child, who Harper thinks must be alive since she can only locate and read the dead–and there is no child in the cemetery.

Oddly, while Harper and Tolliver are there, a call comes in to the Texarkana police that their sister Cameron has been sighted at a local mall. The pair has never given up looking for their sister all the eight years she’s been gone and this whets their curiosity anew.

Not such good news–Tolliver’s father Matthew is finally out of jail. Matthew wants to reconnect with his kids and he certainly does not approve of Harper and Tolliver being together.

Thus begins the latest and most complicated of the Harper Connelly stories. Harper and Tolliver not only have to deal with the newness of their romance and their family’s reaction to what they consider incest (The pair was raised together but are not blood kin), they may have new leads on Cameron’s death, and someone’s trying to kill Harper and actually does manage to shoot Tolliver.

If you enjoy mysteries with a good supernatural twist, this story is going to be one you will want to pick up. I have enjoyed the Harper Connelly stories since the beginning, you do not have to start with the first book to comprehend what is going on here.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kyle.

Thirty years ago, at 4:30 PM all over the world everything changed. Technology stopped working and magic began. Creatures like unicorns, centaurs, and werewolves walked the world.

And the old cities fell apart as looters ‘libbed’ what they needed to survive from business establishments and homes.

Fred is an apprentice ‘caster’, the son of a man who lived through the Change and doesn’t want to talk about it. He’s impatient with his master Paypay’s instructions and takes on a pupil of his own, Yan, the son of a local doctor. When Paypay learns that Fred is learning elsewhere, he turns Fred away.

Fred and Yan go rogue and begin applying the concepts of computer programming to magic, creating a programmed system with delays and other facets. When Fred realizes Yan’s burned down Paypay’s shop in retaliation, he kicks his lifelong friend out.

The wizard’s battle is thus joined. Yan is not going to slink away. Instead, he uses his rebel magic to enlist the centaurs to help him get a unicorn horn–the deepest of the realm’s magic. When Fred’s approached by Ariel, the unicorn’s angry mate, he realizes he has to go face Yan. His father and Yan’s join him in this quest.

I don’t generally read post-apocalyptic dystopics, but Boyett’s “Elegy Beach” drew me in with the title and the first chapter. The characters are engaging and the storyline kept me reading save for some slow portions in the middle. In some places, the story was predictable, but definitely more than just a ‘beach’ read for me.

Reviewed by Becky Kyle.