Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton

My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me the Executioner. What I call them isn't repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folk with fangs. I know better. I've seen their victims. I carry the scars...

But now a serial killer is murdering vampires - and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer...

A vampire slayer. Were-creatures. Vampires that allure. We've been here before, right? TV shows. Books. A whole area of the bookshop now dedicated to paranormal romance.

But... Look inside the front cover of Guilty Pleasures and you see copyright Laurell K Hamilton 1993. That is four years before Buffy the Vampire Slayer strode onto our screens (IN THE TV SHOW. I am well aware that the film came out in 1992, a year before, so the concept wasn't exactly brand new - that of vampire slaying by a girl - but I think that Hamilton absolutely put her own spin on matters). That is years before Sookie Stackhouse became a star of page and screen. Ages before Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison started producing two of the best paranormal series out there.

Laurell K Hamilton came first. Her inspiration was still Anne Rice and Dracula, and people who wrote "proper" vampires, as opposed to those that sparkle. Nikolaos, the villain of the piece, is a child vampire - evil and chilling. These are proper vampires, that ruffle the hairs on your neck and whose daytime sleeping places have a scent that reminds you vaguely of graves and snakes.

Add into this a truly compelling idea of vampires "coming out" to the general populace of the States, and how that has affected law. Anita Blake might be a vampire slayer, but she needs a document of execution before she can kill them otherwise it counts as murder.

"It had only been two years since Addison v. Clark. The court case gave us a revised version of what life was, and what death wasn't. Vampirism was legal in the good ol' U S of A. [...] All sorts of questions were being fought out in court. Did heirs have to give back their inheritance? Were you widowed if your spouse became undead? Was it murder to slay a vampire?"

Linked to this, Hamilton explores how religion might be affected by the legalization of vampires. She gives us the idea that the Church of Eternal Life is run by vampires, who go door to door to recruit followers (much like Jehovah's Witnesses) but can actually promise eternal life. None of the speculation about what comes after life with this church!

Also, Anita Blake is, first and foremost, an animator - someone who can raise the dead. This voodoo-esque element of the story brings a lot to the table, and will become increasingly important in future books.

There is no overstating the imagination and speculation on show here. Laurell K Hamilton came FIRST - giving us a vampire slayer on retainer with the police, investigating supernatural crimes.

However, the story would be nothing without Anita Blake herself. This is a character with charisma in spades - a short woman who goes to the gym in the knowledge that she has to do *something* to turn over the odds in a fight. A good little Catholic girl with a real mouth on her, that gets her into trouble more times than she can count. She is blisteringly sarcastic and, at times, frighteningly vulnerable. I love her.

She is surrounded by other characters that simply spring from the page. Jean-Claude barely has any page time in Guilty Pleasures, and yet I was so intrigued by this master vampire - achingly beautiful and slightly mischievous in his behaviour towards Anita, and then the switch to something utterly deadly. And Edward - vampire killer, bounty hunter, the aspect of Death. Edward is a mysterious and enormously scary character that the reader will want to hear so much more about.

Guilty Pleasures is an absolute rollercoaster ride - beyond fast-paced. There is not a moment of downtime between killing ghouls, investigating the deaths of vampires and coming face to face with the vampire master of the city. For such a slight book, Laurell K Hamilton absolutely packs in the action.

I would say this is one of the faults. The reader only has time to reflect and take a breath once they reach the end of the novel. Before that, you are compulsively turning pages to find out what happens next. It means that we barely take notice of the clues that we've given about who might be committing the crime of killing vampires. It means that a key character death doesn't have the impact that it absolutely should do.

Another fault is one that Robert Jordan shares - Laurell K Hamilton does love describing clothes: the shorts and sneakers that Anita wears, with the blue piping down the sides; the fishnet shirt worn by Phillip, a vampire groupie; the lace on the shirt of Jean-Claude. Some erroneous details took up way too much page time.

Really, though, Guilty Pleasures is the start of an impressive series that carved the way where so many others have now followed. Laurell K Hamilton gives us the first sassy kick ass heroine in the form of Anita Blake - and I suspect she has never been bettered. Make sure you buy the second at the same time as the first, because you simply won't be able to resist diving into the rest of this series and gulping it down compulsively. Tremendous entertainment - and a little bit of literary history.

Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler

Tracking the Tempest is the second novel about half-selkie Jane True by Nicole Peeler. In this novel, Jane is visiting her gorgeous boyfriend Ryu in Boston for Valentine's Day when they are attacked by another halfling. A hugely powerful half-ifrit who has left a path of dead bodies in his wake, Conleth looks to be hunting down Jane and won't let anything get in his way. Jane - flaunting her newly-trained supernatural powers - and Ryu are joined by a number of others, including Ryu's big rival, Anyan, to find Conleth before he can kill again.

I've just turned into a fangirl. My one real complaint about the first novel in the Jane True series - Tempest Rising - was that it seemed to be all set-up and not a lot of plot. In Tracking the Tempest, Peeler hits the ground running and gives us a delicious plot with no filler. This is a taut murder mystery, as well as a look at the supernatural politics that dominate the world that Jane has been introduced to.

My very favourite part of Peeler's writing is the snarky, knowing humour that fills every page. Anyone who follows this author via Twitter or Facebook knows that she has a very similar sense of humour to her wonderful main character. We have a girl who creeps through a dark and empty warehouse, thinking on all of the horror movies she's watched where the vulnerable young girl is jumped on and murdered. We have a just wonderful scene late in the book where Jane has been rescued, but all she can contemplate is the fact she drank too much water and needs to pee:

"Jane, I don't even know where to begin. I'm trying to rescue you from a psychotic serial killer who is apparently intent on impregnating you. And you want to take a potty break."

See? Who else d'you know would include the fact that heroines do actually have to pee, especially in moments of high tension? *grins*

The shivering romantic tension between Jane and Anyan is also ramped up in this novel. In Tempest Rising I was intrigued by Anyan, but in Tracking the Tempest he becomes absolutely irresistible.

So, I loved the plot. I loved the characters. I loved the prose. I loved the wicked sense of humour. I loved the fact I COULD NOT put this book down from start to finish. Ms. Peeler, I salute you. You are my new favourite UF author!

Oh, and let's give some cover love to Sharon Tancredi, who has produced another vivid and utterly charming cover to grace the outside of such a brilliant story.

Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler

Jane True lives in Rockabill, working at the local bookstore, looking after her father and missing the mother who vanished when she was only young. She endures the vicious rumours about the death of her childhood sweetheart - many of Rockabill's inhabitants blame her. She hides the fact that she swims in the sea daily, despite weather and currents. She lives a lonely existence in the most part. Until she discovers the body of a man in the sea and is shown a whole new life. Jane True finds out that she is half selkie, and that she is part of a supernatural culture hidden beneath the life she has always known. However, she also discovers that someone is killing halflings, and her name is next on the list.

You know how some books can be rather po-faced and worthy, while other novels bring the fun and the humour and definitely don't take themselves too seriously? Tempest Rising is most certainly the latter. It bubbles along with fun and frivolity, giving us a wonderful heroine in the form of Jane True.

Peeler uses plenty of myths and fairytales to bring us the various supernaturals that make up her Otherworld, and I am a big fan of this - rather than vampires, we have baobhan sith; no werewolves here, instead there are nahuals and barghests. I absolutely love this, because it shows a care on Peeler's behalf and a genuine love of the fairytales that have imbued our own past.

As I say, Jane True is a wonderful heroine - snarky, and self-doubting, and cute, and quirky. She is strong and lovely, and has a very real sense of humour (i.e. thinking about her designer shoes as her windpipe is being crushed). She is well matched by a cast of mercurial, whimsical, unconventional and downright odd characters. And I'm not just talking about the supes at this point! Some of the humans are a little unorthodox as well. All the characters have effective personalities and help to drive the plot along - I particularly loved Anyan, and want to see WAY more of him!

Truly, the only downside to this novel is the fact that it is an "Origins" story, in that Jane True is being introduced to her new world. It means there is a great deal of explanation going on and not masses of plot. The tale of the halflings being killed is a little thin, but I find this acceptable because Peeler is establishing her world. I fully expect a much more immersive tale in the next volume of the series.

I would say that if you want a fluffy, fast and very fun read you should look no further than Tempest Rising! I already have the second novel in the series and am excited about getting started!

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is just a rookie cop in the Metropolitan Police Service when he discovers an aptitude for magic, and is taken on as an apprentice wizard. As he comes to realise the complicated supernatural life that infuses London, he is caught up in a case involving a malicious vengeful spirit. A spirit who is twisting the lives of ordinary Londoners and leaving a trail of nasty deaths in its wake. Peter has to learn the magic trade quickly before he and his colleagues becoming part of the game.

Anyone who has enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift novels, Mike Carey's Felix Castor series - anyone in those shoes will adore Rivers of London. This novel takes the very essence of London and distills it into book form - to the point where I was delighted at being able to picture exactly where Peter is performing his investigation. There is even a mention for Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue that made me literally go 'oooh!' as I was reading.

The language is clever and funny - Peter's narrative voice is full of wry asides and observations. I laughed a number of times, and smiled more, such as when Peter is practicing throwing fireballs: "We did an hour of practice, at the end of which I was capable of flinging a fireball down the range at the dizzying speed of a bumblebee who'd met his pollen quota and was taking a moment to enjoy the view."

Peter and his various colleagues and friends are exceptionally winning personalities, and I enjoyed reading about their mishaps and challenges. Favourite by far were the various Rivers of London, which, in this novel, take corporeal form. For instance, Beverley Brook is one of the daughters of Mother Thames, and is a capricious and mischievous teenager, looking for fun and attention.

I loved the way that Aaronovitch brought in folklore and explored much of the history of London without seeming to lecture. This includes the moment where Beverley reveals that the Fire Brigade are sailors: " 'Not now,' she said. 'But in the old days when they were looking for disciplined guys who knew about water, ropes, ladders and didn't freak out at altitude...' "

The villain of the piece is linked effectively into the folklore and old stories, and is suitably chilling, with vivid motivations. His ability to send his spirit into the various citizens of London means that no one can be trusted - and he sends most of his victims to a suitably hideous death. It made me shudder on a couple of occasions.

The only aspect of the novel that was dissatisfactory, truly, was the way Aaronovitch occasionally dumped information in the form of "lessons" - it came thick and fast at some points, and felt a little disjointed.

However, this is minor. Rivers of London is assured, witty and great fun to read. I was incredibly impressed and will definitely picking up the rest of the series.

Rivers of London is published 10th January in the UK by Gollancz.

City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

City of Ghosts is the third book about Chess Putnam, as she goes through the business of debunking hauntings. In this novel Chess is drawn into a Black Squad (government department) investigation, bound to silence about her doings. She struggles to work through the meagre clues of the case as danger tightens around her, throwing everyone she cares about into the gravest peril.

I’ll say straight out that I adore this series, but I find that most series tend to have a weaker book. In my opinion, City of Ghosts is that book for Downside Ghosts.

I still greatly love all of the encounters between Chess and Terrible, which are heartbreaking and blisteringly sexy by turn. However, the whole plot dealing with Lauren from the Black Squad and their investigation seems unnecessarily complicated. We have not only the Lamanu kicking up trouble again (after encountering them in the first novel of the series), but also bodies in the street, psychopomps going mad, and a strange character called Mcguinness creeping into the frame.

To handle all of those plot elements in a tale that also seeks to provide a conclusion to very difficult personal relationships is a step too far, in my opinion, and the novel feels too rushed.

Chess’ drug use also takes a massive back seat in City of Ghosts. We’ve seen her dependency increase, especially in the second novel where she found herself blackmailed thanks to the amount she was taking. But here we only see one real instance where it is key to the storyline. I feel like Kane wavered a little in how far to take this element.

With all that said, City of Ghosts is still a superior example of urban fantasy. Kane’s worldbuilding is without peer in this genre, presenting us with the Church and psychopomps, and then the scary Downside where Chess makes her life. The food, the markets, the characters all come to startling life.

I’m thrilled that Stacia Kane is writing further books in the Downside series. The adventures of Chess are deeply satisfying, leaving you feeling real emotion about the heroine. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to read more — I will be at the front of the queue.

Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane

In Stacia Kane’s second DOWNSIDE GHOSTS novel, Unholy Magic, Chess Putnam is pulled between two cases: the official Church investigation of the possible haunting of a celebrity, and the serial murders of prostitutes in Downside. She soon discovers that there is a dangerous sort of magic at work, and is forced to walk a fine line trying to balance all the elements of her life and work.

“Self-destruction was one thing, but she was turning into a one-woman wrecking ball.” In this book Chess is falling into an appalling addiction, but tries to convince herself that she is still merely a user. Her drug use compels her to keep visiting Lex, even though she knows she has to finish things with him to become a true part of Terrible’s life.

I found Unholy Magic desperately hard to read — at the same time as I wanted to shake Chess and try to force her to find help, I also wanted to sob with her as her life came crashing down around her. There was one particular graveyard scene between Chess, Lex and Terrible that I almost had to skip past, it was so powerfully written and haunting.

Kane succeeds admirably in writing a completely believable relationship between Chess and Terrible. It whispers into life as they begin trusting each other against all the odds, and grows as Chess realises that Terrible is much, much more than just the enforcer of drug lord Bump. This is not a relationship based on looks or immediate attraction; it grows and develops in an entirely realistic manner. Everything else in this novel takes second place to what is occurring between Chess and Terrible.

Which is a shame, because the plot is unpredictable and gripping, pitting Chess against an extremely chilling magic user. After reading certain scenes in Unholy Magic, I almost wanted to leave the light on at night!

I did have a slight problem with the middle part of Unholy Magic, where the storyline seems to skip along a little in places and doesn’t flow. This does coincide with the part of the novel where Chess’ drug addiction grows and threatens to consume her, so I put it down to the increasing disorientation of the main character, rather than a downturn in the quality of Kane’s work. It can, however, be confusing to read and follow.

Stacia Kane is writing a series that transcends the urban fantasy genre and should be read more widely. Her prose is excellent, characterisation and dialogue superb. This novel is bleaker and darker than the first, with a climax that leaves me longing to read City of Ghosts. I can’t recommend the DOWNSIDE GHOSTS highly enough.

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

Janet Evanovich is the well-known author of the Stephanie Plum series of books, and here she begins another series that edges firmly into the paranormal arena. Elizabeth Tucker lives in Marblehead, just north of Boston, and makes cupcakes for a living while living in the house bequeathed to her by Great Aunt Ophelia. Her life is perfectly pleasant but very ordinary when two men walk into it and proceed to turn it upside down. One is Wulf and he is a Bad Man. The other is Diesel, our Alpha Male, who explains to Liz that she is an Unmentionable and has to help him search out the SALIGIA stones (so named because of taking the first initials for the Latin names of the Seven Deadly Sins). Wulf is also looking for the stones and so Liz is caught in a race against time to discover their whereabouts.

I was really looking forward to Wicked Appetite when I first heard about it – I thought it sounded amusing and exciting. Disappointingly, the reverse is true. It is very often extremely unfunny and there was not a hint of excitement to be found within the pages.

I enjoyed a few things in the book – principle amongst them the description of Liz’s cupcakes, mostly because it made me hungry to eat some of them. Another large benefit was the slightness of Wicked Appetite, which meant I didn’t have to endure it for too long.

There was very little other than that to enjoy. The plot was preposterous; the manner in which it was explained to Liz was paper-thin; the characters were barely two dimensional, let alone three. I couldn’t tell you anything about the motivations of Diesel, Liz, Glo, Wulf and any of the rest of the cast of characters. What’s more, thanks to the frivolous manner of writing, I couldn’t have cared either.

The “humour” was quite often tiresome, rather than funny – I use as an example the monkey Carl. Now, the first time he “gives someone the finger” I did find myself smiling at the idea, but on one page it happened no less than three times. At that point I just wanted to shake said monkey and throw Wicked Appetite across the room.

But I did persevere to the end, although it took all my patience: and I was not rewarded by the climax to this book. It was boring, there was no sense of tension or threat to any of the characters, and I realised (to my horror) that it left a set-up for more novels in this series.

Wicked Appetite can be equated to eating candy floss – seems like a good idea at the time, but leaves you unfulfilled and with a great sense of disappointment.

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Unholy Ghosts is the first book in the Downside Ghosts sequence and introduces us to Chess Putnam. She lives in a world where Church and religion has been pushed aside in favour of the Church of Real Truth, because of an uprising by the undead in the form of ghosts. Chess is in the employ of the new Church, helping to judge whether complaints about haunting are true or not, since it has become lucrative business to try and con the Church. When Chess picks up a new case, she finds much more than she bargained for — especially when she also finds herself dealing with rival drug gangs and her dangerous attraction to her dealer’s ruthless enforcer.

Stacia Kane has written a tautly-paced, gripping and, above all, unique urban fantasy novel. The idea of a new world where ghosts can kill and where having the wrong tattoos brings a death sentence is brought to life with delicate touches in a prose that drives the story along.

Her heroine, Chess, is far from the usual kick-ass know-it-all. She has many foibles, the main one being her drug dependency, which weakens her at key moments and puts her in dangerous situations. It could be all too easy to decry Chess for her stupidity, but instead Kane writes her in such a way that you are able to empathise, if not to understand. In a literary genre that is crowded with supernatural beings and heroines who are joining the monsters, Chess stands out as being all too human.

As noted, the pacing is perfect — the mystery of what is happening with the Chester Airport (where Chess is investigating a possible haunting) slides into place piece by piece. Moments of pulse-pounding terror and excitement are followed up by quieter periods where the characters are built up into living, breathing, three-dimensional entities.

The world-building is also very strong, from the descriptions of the drugs that Chess relies on to the back alleys of Downside to the wonderfully quirky dialect of the Downside residents. By the time you close the last page, Downside feels like a real place — albeit one you definitely wouldn’t choose to visit after dark!

In fact, the only parts of the world building that are a little underdone are the magical rituals and power words that Kane employs, although the use of psychopomps — dogs and birds that escort the souls of ghosts to the City where they are all kept — is especially intriguing.

I’d also like to give praise to the secondary characters in the novel, especially, of course, Terrible and Lex, the two men who Chess is attracted to. Lex suffers from having less screentime and seems a little less interesting than Terrible, but both definitely play their part in making this novel entertaining. Oh, and the moments of intimacy are sexy as opposed to cringeworthy, which is always a bonus with this sort of book!

Stacia Kane has upped the stakes for all those writing in the urban fantasy genre — Unholy Ghosts is gripping and brilliant. I can’t wait to read the next.

By Midnight - Mia James

April is deeply upset when her father takes a job at a small paper in London, and moves his wife and daughter from Edinburgh to do so. At first she is just miserable because she misses her friends and has to start a new school, Ravenwood, where many of the students are either stunningly beautiful or frighteningly clever. But then the deaths start, and April realises that she might be in danger as well. Suddenly there is no one she can trust — not even the beautiful and mysterious Gabriel, who April is drawn towards. Set against the backdrop of Highgate in London, By Midnight tells a tale of love, loss and quiet horror.

There are a lot of vampire stories around now, mostly thanks to the massive success of Twilight, and I have read a number of them. Some are definitely better than others. I regret to say that this is one of the worst that I have read, for various reasons which I will deal with at length shortly.

Firstly, I wanted to mention the few parts of By Midnight that I did enjoy. One of these was the ‘Clueless’ style of the school, involving cliques and bitchiness and makeovers. Tasmina Perry (one half of the writing team) draws on her particular expertise from the bonkbuster-style novels she usually writes to make this aspect exciting and fresh.

I also enjoyed the relationship between April and her father, William, which is heartfelt, warm and realistic. However, these facets of the novel are not enough to make it a compelling read.

One of the reasons for this is the pacing, which seemed snail-like for the most part. If I was feeling charitable, I would term it a slow burn mystery, as the different parts of the story reveal their secrets — but, really, I just found it incredibly boring. It takes forever for the meat of the tale to begin, and then it is just very dull. I ended up skipping passages to get to ‘the good bit,’ but it never materialised. The climax of By Midnight begins incredibly close to the end of the book and whips past with little tension.

Mia James (a nom de plume for a husband/wife writing team of John and Tasmina Perry) uses lengthy exposition in a clumsy manner to convey much of the back story: the use of dry textbooks to explain away the Highgate mystery; the long conversations between Gabriel and April, where he talks without any passion about vampires; a final discussion involving Miss Holden towards the end of the novel where an entirely new concept is dropped into the story in a dull paragraph of discourse. I appreciate that it can be difficult to convey history to the reader without long sections of explanation, but other authors have managed to do this successfully.

In addition to this, Mia James employed another clumsy method of passing across information to the reader: that of two people being familiar with something discussing it for the benefit of the person reading By Midnight. In this case, April and her grandfather Thomas discuss a picture hanging in his house — a picture she has seen many, many times before, showing a portrait of one of her ancestors. Thomas reveals it is Alexander Hamilton, something April would have known. I find this unloading of information very frustrating and amateur.

The dialogue does not read smoothly, often jarring the reader out of his or her immersion in By Midnight. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason for a character to say what they do. For instance:

“I think you might be right,” she said. “No one laughs when you say Stonehenge has a certain feel to it, or even that a wedding ring does.”

Umm, what now? What is the connection between Stonehenge and wedding rings? Who says that a wedding ring has a certain feel to it?

I also felt extremely uncomfortable at Mia James’ fairly obvious ‘lifting’ of ideas from other, more popular, vampire stories. As an example, we have a section of dialogue in By Midnight that felt like blatant stealing from Twilight:

“You’re a honey trap for vampires. Everything about you is designed to draw them in: the way you look, the sound of your voice, even your smell.”

Edward says something extremely similar to Bella. In addition to this, the concept of Furies — girls born to hunt vampires, three a generation, destined to have super strength to combat vampires — sounds remarkably like another vampire slayer we all know and love. I don’t know whether Mia James was popping these in as an homage to the source material, but it made the novel feel like a rushed mish-mash of other vampire stories.

The last point I want to make concerns the nature of the relationship between Gabriel and April. I found myself unable to accept it, because there seems to be no basis for their mutual attraction. I mean, I know teenagers do sometimes involve themselves with people purely based on looks (as do grown men and women) but I want to see more from my literary relationships! I want to see the characters connect with each other and talk, learn about each other and find things in common. Instead we have April mooning over Gabriel and saying things to herself like:

"No, if she was honest, she was hoping that Gabriel Swift would decide he wanted to marry her, sweep her off to the Bahamas for a beautiful beach ceremony, and then, after a bout of amazing lovemaking, reveal that he was stupendously rich and personal friends with Justin Timberlake."

At this point she has had a brief conversation with him, hasn’t even kissed him, and yet is thinking about marriage!

In conclusion, I found this novel dull and unimaginative, with very few redeeming features. At my most cynical, I would say it is a blatant cash-in on the success of the Twilight novels, and that it fails on every level. There is plenty of very good YA fiction out there, some of which includes vampires. Please try something else rather than spend any time on By Midnight.

This review has already been posted to FanLit

If you would like a positive review of this book as a comparison, check out My Favourite Books

The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall by L J Smith

Elena Gilbert has returned from the Other Side, and has to relearn how to live amongst humans. She is helped by the love of her life — Stefan Salvatore, a vampire — and her three closest friends. However, evil forces are gathering around Fell’s Church, drawn by the beacon of a returned soul, and Stefan is snatched away from Elena when she needs him most. She has to turn to his dark brother, Damon, for help — never knowing for certain what motivates Damon or whether he has been possessed by the dark forces that want to steal Elena for themselves.

Unfortunately, The Return: Nightfall is a horrific mess of a story. It is a long rambling book — almost 500 pages, which is a great deal longer than any of L.J. Smith’s previous novels — and seems to leap from event to event without any obvious connection. Some of the writing is terrible, and disappointed me greatly because usually Smith’s prose is so very good. I just didn’t understand some of the descriptions Smith used, such as in the following passage:

"Tears pooled in Bonnie’s brown eyes. “I didn’t mean-”
But she didn’t get to finish. Meredith and Elena drew in protectively around her in the solid phalanx of what they called ‘velociraptor sisterhood.’ It meant that anybody messing with one of them was messing with them all."

I honestly didn’t get this reference, and it was mentioned a couple of times through the book — why would anybody refer to themselves as a velociraptor sisterhood? What does that even mean?

There is also a quote from the book which seemed to indicate the way in which L J Smith wrote this novel:

"The knowledge seemed to come moment by moment as she needed it."

It felt as though Smith was never in control of this story — that she was throwing ideas at the pages and hoping they would stick to create a coherent whole. None of her characters are consistent with how they are written in the four previous novels. Sure, on the surface Bonnie is still impetuous and fiery, Meredith cool and collected; but at times they would do something so wildly out of character that it jarred me from the story horrendously.

What made this so disappointing is the fact that during brief periods, the prose still soared in the way I have come to expect from L.J. Smith. When she is on form, I genuinely believe that there is no other YA author who can touch her, but sadly there is very little of that in Nightfall, the below excerpt being a rare exception:

"She had seen him when she was a human girl, and she had defied him and desired him in equal measure, and he had seemed to love her best when she was defying him.

She had seen him when she was a vampire and had been drawn to him with all her being, and he had cared for her as if she were a child.

He was a womaniser, he could be callous, he drifted through his victims’ lives like a chimera, like a catalyst, changing other people while he himself remained unchanging and unchanged..."

In all honesty, I was never sure why Smith revisited The Vampire Diaries after the first three books, which presented an excellent tale with a very natural and moving ending. I could sort of accept book 4, since there was clearly a decent story in place. Book 5 is a step too far, and ensures that I shall not be picking up any further novels in the world of Elena and Stefan. Some authors need to learn to quit while they’re ahead. I recommend pretending that this book doesn’t exist.

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury & The Reunion by L J Smith

This is the second bind-up for THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. The Fury and The Reunion were originally published as two separate books; in fact, The Reunion was published some time after The Fury, which effectively closes the trilogy begun with The Awakening and The Struggle). In The Fury Elena, alongside her friends Bonnie and Meredith, struggles to control her nature and discover the source of the evil Power that is haunting Fell’s Church. She knows that the only way it can be defeated is if the two vampire brothers Stefan and Damon can put alongside their lifelong enmity and work together. In The Reunion Fell’s Church is once again being terrorised by an ancient evil. Damon and Stefan are summoned by Bonnie, Meredith and Matt to face down a powerful villain, who is determined to have Elena for his own.

I enjoyed Volume 1 of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES well enough, my biggest complaint being that the heroine Elena was very hard to take to. I had little sympathy for her plight, feeling that she brought a great deal of her troubles on herself. In The Fury and The Reunion, Elena is a far more well-rounded character — someone I delighted in spending time with. Her remorse for her previous actions is genuine and made me warm to her greatly, especially a very sweet and necessary scene with Matt:

“OK, so you’re here. You’re alive,” he said roughly. “So what do you want?”
Elena was dumbfounded.
“Come on, there must be something. What is it?”
New tears welled up, but Elena gulped them back. “I guess I deserve that. I know I do. But for once, Matt, I want absolutely nothing. I came to apologise, to say that I’m sorry for using you — not just that one night, but always...”

In fact, all of the characters are stronger and more developed in these two novels, particularly Damon, who changed from more of a pantomime villain who did evil because he is evil to a man who is conflicted over his relationship with Stefan and seems to want to do the right thing.

L.J. Smith evokes chilling situations with her flowing and very readable prose. We learn along with the characters the nature of the threat, and fear of the unknown creates plenty of spine-tingling moments.

In these two novels, my only complaint was that at times Smith employed deus ex machina to solve her characters’ problems or ensure that they understood what was going on. It smacked as slightly lazy, but could be forgiven when the actual story was so gripping.

Elena and Stefan remain an extremely likable couple in the world of YA vampire fiction. I think anyone who has tried and enjoyed Twilight will gain a great measure of satisfaction from the writing of L.J. Smith and her version of the vampire with the tortured soul. Readable.

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Teenager Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is renowned. But his whole world is suddenly turned upside down on the night his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters - immortal vampire-slayers who risk everything to save humanity - and he quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one that's filled with all kinds of evil. However, before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students start turning into flesh-eating members of the undead. Nick knows he's in real danger and he soon has a lot more to deal with than starting high school: he's under pressure to hide his new friends from his mother and his chainsaw from the principal while trying to impress the girl he has a crush on - all without getting grounded, suspended...or killed.

I didn't like Infinity. There were parts of it that I quite enjoyed, but the majority I found tedious and vaguely confusing.

By far the strongest part of the book is the character of Nick. His dialogue, both internal and towards other characters, is sarcastic and funny. He cares deeply about his mother; and shows the usual inclination of teenage boys of wanting to date girls, but doesn't know where to start. He's pretty realistic in the way he's written, and I enjoyed how Kenyon represented him.

"His mother hesitated before she continued grilling him. 'Is he a good boy?'

'No, Mom, he's Satan incarnate. In face, once it's over, we're going to get liquored up and tattooed, then find some cheap hos and have a good time with his trust fund.' "

However, I found Nick's attitude towards his situation baffling. He accepts Acharon without batting an eye, and yet thinks Bubba and Mark are freaks for believing in werewolves and zombies despite the evidence of his own eyes.

Speaking of zombies, the whole plot involving the zombies being created from a videogame might have been intriguing if that had been the central plot in a YA tale about zombies. Here it became a complete mess that went on for far too long around which Kenyon tried to shoehorn in hints about Nick's future.

I was of the belief that this YA series about Nick would lead handily into the Dark Hunter adult series written by Kenyon, and that you didn't need to have read any of the Dark Hunter novels to pick up what was going on here. Either I was wrong or I am pretty dense, because I had no real idea what kind of demon Caleb was and whether he was good or bad. I didn't know what the hell was going on with Simi, and that deal with the BBQ sauce was humour that went very awry for me. Maybe it makes more sense having read some of the Dark Hunter novels, but here Simi was just an unexplained oddity that came out of left-field.

I also don't understand if Nick is going to be a Dark Hunter or if he is a whole other type of mystical being. The way the gods interact with the immortals was never handily explained. In fact, I spent half of the novel going 'huh?' which I don't believe is the desired effect.

I found some of the curse words used: 'Oh Dusseldorf' very quaint and unrealistic. As though teenagers would say something like that as a curse! Certainly the teenagers I know have real potty mouths...

I just want to make mention of a small extract towards the end of the novel:

" 'To infinity then.'

Nick frowned at Bubba's words. 'What's that mean?'

'It's something my dad used to say when I was a kid. To infinity, meaning you'd see something through to the end.' "

Seriously, is it just me who now has Buzz Lightyear in their head? *grin*

So, ultimately, I found this book a disappointing mess of different themes and subplots that required a stronger hand to sort it into a book that would have been fun to read. I doubt I'll be following any more of Nick's adventures. What is sadder is that I probably won't try the Dark Hunter series either, thanks to this poorly-written novel.

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He can't even recall the last time he took a shower. The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can't refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him - and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen's right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen's name. It seems simple enough, but Harry knows better than to get caught in the middle of faerie politics. Until he finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case. No pressure or anything...

It's so strange. My review of Grave Peril complained about the fact that I was having vampire politics inflicted on me. Yet in Summer Knight the fae politics were tremendous. The idea of having two courts - a Summer and Winter court - combined with the idea of Maiden, Mother and Crone which comes from various points in mythology, helped to lend this novel a sense of something both familiar yet unique at the same time.

I did feel as though the Stone Table was more than a little inspired by The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe!

But enough of these idle ruminations...

Summer Knight opens with Dresden in a dark place - he might be fine physically, but his soul has been damaged by a succession of tough cases, finishing up with Susan's predicament. Once again, I deeply appreciated the fact that Dresden is a realistic character, struggling to do the right thing, but finding it hard to cope with the situations that have swept him up. In other long-running urban fantasy series, the author does not seem to realise that the events their character suffers through will have a deep and lasting psychological effect that needs to be dealt with.

In fact, the scene where Dresden meets the Summer Lady of the fae and she takes his pain away for a few brief moments is one of the most powerful and emotional in the series to date:

"Aurora gave me a small, sad smile. 'I'll show you. Here.'

Her palm pressed a bit closer to me, and somewhere inside me a dam broke open. Emotions welled up like a riotous rainbow. Scarlet rage, indigo fear, pale blue sadness, aching yellow loneliness, putrid green guilt. The tide flooded through me, coursed over me like a bolt of lightning, searing and painful and beautiful all at once.

And after the tide receded, a deep, quiet stillness followed. A sensation of warmth suffused me, gently easing away my aches and bruises. It spread over my skin, like sunlight on a lazy afternoon outside, and with the warmth my cares began to evaporate."

I also liked the fact that Dresden's relationships with recurring characters is changing and adjusting according to what has happened in previous books. There is never any idea that the Dresden universe is static and no one develops. For instance, here Dresden finally decides to trust Murphy, which is a complete about face compared to Storm Front, where he cannot bear the idea of putting Murphy in danger with the knowledge that he gives her.

I enjoyed this book mostly because everything that I enjoyed greatly in the previous three books was bigger and better this time round: the action scenes were superlative, with a real sense of tension, and the knowledge (thanks to Susan) that peripheral characters really aren't safe at all); the humour and snark was ever-present, with one of the best lines coming not from Dresden, but from Meryl, a character that I grew to love despite her short cameo in this book:

"Meryl said, 'Someone broke into the apartment. It looked like there had been a struggle.'

I let out a sigh. 'Have you contacted the police?'

She eyed me. 'Oh yeah, of course. I called them and told them that a mortal champion of the fae came and spirited away a half-mortal, half-nixie professional nude model to Faerieland. They were all over it.' "

I just have to mention my enjoyment of Billy and the Alphas (which does sound like some oddball punk band...) I adore the fact that they are so young, and enthusiastic, and have pizza/gaming parties after beating the bad guys. They are rapidly becoming one of my favourite parts of the Dresden series.

I do wonder how valid my reviews are going to be of this series, as I progress through the books! People who have never picked up the Dresden novels are unlikely to be swayed by my review of book four or five or six in the series, while those who have started the series and reach book four are more than likely to move onto the subsequent books with little encouragement from me... I feel a little as though these reviews will be only for those people who have already tackled the books, so that they might think 'oh yeah, I concur with her point' (if anyone actually does use the word 'concur' in their own thoughts!) or 'this girl has no idea what she is talking about!' But I shall continue to review them as I read them, so that I have a decent record of what each book was about, and what I liked about them.

Having now read four of the Dresden books, I can see a little unevenness in quality: some books have definitely been better than others. Happily, this is by far the best of the novels so far. The conflict between the Winter and Summer Courts played out against the backdrop of a murder mystery, with Harry racing against time to try and ensure that no imbalance of power exists in the world of the Fae. The tense and exciting events were matched well with some introspective moments, where the character of Dresden is explored in a deeper fashion. All I can say now is bring on the fifth book!

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden's faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book. But in all Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone loco. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble - and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone - or something - is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself...

I was rather partial to the second book (Fool Moon) in the Dresden series, and started Grave Peril with great eagerness, but found myself somewhat underwhelmed. I think this was for a number of reasons, which I shall endeavour to explain below.

The first reason is no doubt the hype and expectation. Everyone I know universally loves this series (in fact, I genuinely don't know a single person who has found it boring or insipid - a danger with a lot of urban fantasy) and states categorically that each book improves on the last. Because I loved Fool Moon, I was expecting Grave Peril to blow me away - but it didn't.

The second reason is no real fault of the book or the author, but I feel it bears mentioning. When you join a long-running series so late, and there are so many books ahead of you, there is no real tension about whether the hero will live or die. Sure, the peripheral figures might be in some danger (depending on the author - some never kill of any people, despite an ever-expanding cast; LKH, I'm looking at you!) but your main dude isn't going to die, no matter what gets thrown at him. So, despite ever-escalating levels of danger in this novel, I felt comfortable that Harry would survive.

My third reason is a matter of writing: after three books, I can confidently state that I don't like the pacing that Jim Butcher employs. For the first hundred and fifty pages of each book, I've found it very easy to put them aside. The last hundred pages is usually barn-storming, tension-filled and extremely gripping - so I guess they all finish with a bang! - but I wouldn't mind a more evenly-spread level of excitement.

Reason the fourth: bloody vampire politics. I am so sick of vampire courts, with back-stabbing and covenants and home advantage and things like that. They pop up all over the place in urban fantasy, and seem so generic. Although Butcher's vampires present a couple of surprises (in appearance, mostly), in other areas they are tiresomely generic. Which is quite unlike the werewolves from the previous book, which felt quite refreshing to me.

Lastly, I didn't like Dresden's faerie godmother. I think the fae in the Dresden series have the potential to be chilling and unique, but I don't feel they're well represented by Lea. The reason I didn't like her is the way she popped up in a "plot device" moment usually. She felt tacked onto the main thrust of the storyline.

This is all making it sound as though I have nothing but gripes - but I did enjoy the book! Just not as much as the previous book!

The main reason for enjoying this book and loving the series as a whole is Harry Dresden. In Grave Peril Harry gains a lot more emotional depth and throws around some bad ass magic. His sense of honour and inability to leave a woman in peril is a facet of his character that I adore, no matter how chauvinistic it may appear. It sort of reminds me of Marty McFly in Back to the Future who is unable to be called 'chicken' without taking a person up on a stupid challenge!

" 'For the sake of one soul. For one loved one. For one life.' I called power into my blasting rod, and its tip glowed incandescent white. 'The way I see it, there's nothing else worth fighting a war for.' "

His resigned sense of humour when it comes to landing himself in dangerous situations is alive and well in Grave Peril as well, and some of his dialogue with both friends and enemies fairly snaps along:

" 'Hell's bells, Kravos,' I muttered, sitting up again. 'Do they produce a Cliched Lines Textbook for Villains or something? Go for broke. Tell me that since you're going to kill me anyway, you might as well reveal your secret plan.' "

Since we're talking about characters, Butcher introduced some really vibrant new cast members this time around. Michael, in particular, is a very powerful character - providing morality and an abiding faith to Harry over the course of Grave Peril. His quiet gravity and admonitions towards Harry for his swearing lend a calm centre to this novel that I felt was missing in prior instalments. I also *loved* Ferrovax - I demand to see more of this Dragon. His brief appearance in Grave Peril lit up the pages.

Another part of the novel I really liked were the references to the fact that life continued in between the end of Fool Moon and the start of Grave Peril - in other long running series you feel as though the characters are frozen in time until you return to their universe. Here we are aware that Harry has taken a number of jobs and his relationship with Susan has deepened - and it all happened off-screen, as it were.

In conclusion, this was not the strongest novel in the Dresden series for me and I am hoping for better from the next. Harry Dresden is still entertaining and I adore the little details of the world that Butcher is weaving into the tales; even though I was slightly disappointed with Grave Peril, I would still be happy to recommend the Dresden series.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher is the second of the Dresden Files. In this novel we follow Harry Dresden as he becomes embroiled in a mystery involving werewolves, and comes face to face again with the Gentleman Johnny Marcone. "Business has been slow lately for Harry Dresden. Okay, business has been dead. Not undead - just dead. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work - magical or mundane. Just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon..."

This book feels almost as though it was written by two different people. The first half of Fool Moon was written by the same person who wrote Storm Front - generic urban fantasy, with an intriguing central character and some entertaining magical rules and creatures filling the pages. A page turner that I enjoyed but found a mite disposable. Halfway through Fool Moon this other writer took over - and I *really* love his work. I found myself snorting with laughter at some of the startling humour in truly desperate situations. I was chilled by the monstrous form of the loup-garou, and its casual ability to tear apart hordes of people intent on destroying it. I was warmed by the oddball relationships between Harry and those who surround him. By the end of this book - yes, you can count me a Dresden fan.

It still had its faults, but these were more clumsy plotting or deus ex machina in nature - for example, the fact that Bob explained the existence of four different types of werewolves, and we happened to encounter every single one of them over the course of the book.

Butcher also doesn't have complete faith in his readers yet, since a lot of the characters and concepts were re-introduced all over again in this second book after encountering them in Storm Front. It is forgivable, since this is only the second in the series, but I have a horrible suspicion that this is habit-forming and will run into subsequent books in the Dresden sequence. If I am still being told what Murphy and Susan look like in book eight, I shall be disappointed.

With that said, apart from a frustrating desire to tell us exactly what every character looks like, Butcher's ability to produce characters that we care deeply about is second-to-none. Dresden remains a wonderfully sarcastic and irascible individual - take this quote for example: "So there I was being strangled by a ranting, half-naked madman in the middle of the woods, with a she-werewolf dangling from a rope snare somewhere nearby. My gunshot wound hurt horribly, and my jaw throbbed from where my buddy the cop had brutalized it the night before. I've had worse days."

Butcher's gentle observational humour makes the book a pleasure to read as well. I do believe that he might well be a cat owner, going by this quote: "I found him in a dumpster one day when he was a kitten and he promptly adopted me. Despite my struggles, Mister had been an understanding soul, and I eventually came to realise that I was a part of his little family, and by his gracious consent was allowed to remain in his apartment." Only someone familiar with the true fact that people belong to cats, and not vice versa, could write something like that!

Everything that made Storm Front enjoyable is present in Fool Moon, but Butcher has improved the plotting, the writing and the sense that we are reading something unique rather than yet another generic never-ending urban fantasy series. I was happy enough to read Fool Moon after trying Storm Front. Now that I've finished Fool Moon, I am ready to stampede to my bookshelves to find the third book. Butcher has created a fantastic character in the form of Harry Dresden - complicated, chauvinistic, and compelling - and I can't wait to read more of his adventures.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Storm Front is the first book in the long-running Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, introducing us to Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the only wizard with an entry in the phone book in Chicago. The plot is a fast-paced magical murder mystery, which lends itself well to showing some of the no-doubt recurring characters and the "magic system" that Dresden wields. We also learn a little about the White Council, the ruling body behind practising wizards.

What interested me most about Storm Front was not so much the book itself, but the manner in which it should be read. For the first 120 pages or so, I kept picking it up and putting it down for various reasons (short public transport journeys, around making food, on brief lunch breaks) and never really settled to an extended stint. And I ended up wondering a little bit what all the fuss was about this series!

And then I sat down with a couple of hours on my hands and ended up sweeping through it, thinking 'Just one more chapter, just one more' which, as far as I am concerned, is how you should respond when reading something as action-packed and punchy as this. I equate Storm Front with an action movie - you wouldn't watch ten minutes of an action movie and then turn it off while making a cup of tea or heading out to see friends, and then watch another ten minutes a few hours later. An action movie would suffer from watching it in that way, and I think the Dresden books too. You definitely need to dedicate a couple of hours and then will find it incredibly good fun.

I thought the prose was incredibly effective - Jim Butcher presents Dresden in a first person perspective, which gives immediacy to the story. We know everything Dresden is thinking, and his uniquely sarcastic rejoinders to the events occurring in the book really added to my empathy for his character. I mean, when faced by a weird scorpion talisman that is becoming a little life threatening, I think a number of us would have something snarky to say!

The writing was also descriptive and atmospheric at key moments, rather than just business-like, which I expected it to be. I enjoyed the potion making scene between Harry and Bob, in particular.

The secondary characters were incredibly well-rounded, considering we didn't spend a great deal of time with them in this first tale (although I'm pretty sure they'll feature in future books). I particularly liked Murphy and her uneasy relationship with Dresden - I feel sure that this will develop in an interesting manner in the future. I also don't think I'm alone in liking Bob best!

One factor I found almost irritating, though, is the way that Butcher faithfully documented all the facial features and hair colour of each new character as they were introduced. It is something that I enjoy knowing about my characters, but I prefer it to be presented more naturally, rather than as a ticklist.

Certainly, this was very minor and might be a matter of taste, rather than an issue that other readers will experience as well.

To conclude, Storm Front was incredibly entertaining, with some great action set pieces and genuine tension. I think the highest praise I can offer is that I'll definitely be embarking further on this series!

The Power by L J Smith

The Power is the third and final book in The Secret Circle trilogy by L J Smith. In this story, the Circle are shattered by Faye's revelations at a time when they need to be at their strongest. Black John is back, and Cassie is horrified when it is revealed why she feels such a strong connection with him. He has returned to claim the Master Tools and become the leader of the coven of twelve that he had such a hand in creating - which means that one member of the Circle must die...

I think that L J Smith writes perfect teenage escapist fiction - as long as you suspend your disbelief and don't look for the plot holes. Although the first two books in the trilogy (The Initiation and The Captive) are pretty strong and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them, this third one did not captivate me in the same way.

My main problem was the sudden switch in focus between Nick and Adam, the two men that Cassie is attracted to. Because Adam is with Diana, and forbidden to Cassie, she looks to Nick for a relationship - and that relationship is written in a very sweet manner. Nick becomes a character that I really enjoyed reading about - the gradual unthawing of his cold manner and the way he becomes so protective of Cassie are extremely well-written. So it was a disappointment to discover the way that L J Smith chose to resolve the situation, and this coloured my reading experience.

I also didn't feel that there was enough book for the plot development that L J Smith added concerning the change in attitudes of the 'outsider' school children, and then the switch to something approaching truce. It all rattled through at a breakneck pace, which felt a little too fast. In the first two books the pace was balanced well with the plot development and the strong characterisations, but here it felt like Smith was trying to pack in too much.

As with The Initiation and The Power, I did love the way Smith wrote these characters. Over the course of all three books she has managed effectively to juggle twelve personalities, depicting their different attitudes, abilities and emotions with rare skill. There was never a moment when a name was mentioned and I thought 'Who is this one again?'

I read this trilogy with great nostalgia and fondness for characters that I first discovered in my teens, and I was pleasantly surprised to realise that the books stand up to both adult eyes and a second read. They give a lesson to any YA authors who wish to write strong female characters and genuinely gorgeous male characters. Recommended as a trilogy, despite the fact that the third book is not as strong.

The Captive by L J Smith

The Captive is the second book in the Secret Circle trilogy by L J Smith. In this book Faye tightens her hold around Cassie - blackmailing her over her love for Adam and forcing her to betray Diana. At the same time the Circle learns that a dark power is on the loose and killing, and Cassie begins to suspect that the crystal skull recovered from Black John's articles is behind the deaths.

L J Smith has written a number of trilogies in the YA paranormal arena, and excels at the format. The middle book of her trilogies draws upon and builds the characters introduced in the first novel, while laying the groundwork for the main thrust of the plot that will be delivered in the final book. There was little overall resolution to any of the plotlines in this novel - in fact, it ends on rather a cliffhanger, so you might like to have the third book to hand prior to starting otherwise risk frustration at wanting to know what happens!

Here, we see Cassie grow and develop as a character. She begins to use her power more, and interact with all the members of the Secret Circle - which, in turn, brings some of them to the fore who were merely brush-stroked in the first book. For instance, Deborah becomes a girl that we are able to relate to more.

The reason I like this book and, indeed, the whole trilogy is that the writing is simple yet flowing. It is very easy to read - I swept through it in a single sitting, in fact. The main strength in the writing, as pointed out with the first book, is the excellent characterisation. You *want* to read about these characters, you care about what happens to them.

One negative point for me is that the magic is very simplistic - candles, crystals, herbs, that sort of thing. There is no real evidence of the magic that these teenagers are supposed to have within them, and suspension of disbelief is a little hard.

Regardless, the whole trilogy is worth picking up - if only to see how paranormal fantasy for young adults should be written! Recommended for anyone who is currently enjoying the explosion of fiction in the YA arena on the back of the Twilight craze.

The Initiation by L J Smith

Cassie Blake is distraught when her mother decides to uproot to the small town of New Salem, in order to take care of a grandmother that Cassie had never even met before. But that is only the start of her problems. Starting a new school, trying to make new friends - and discovering that some of the people she would most like to befriend are all part of some secret Club that Cassie is not permitted to join. Then a girl dies, and Cassie is finally initiated into the Secret Circle, learning that magic is more than just a folktale.

These days the YA market for books is flooded with paranormal activity - witches amongst them. But in 1992 when L J Smith first wrote The Secret Circle trilogy it was something fresh and new - and should be reviewed with that in mind. L J Smith was producing well-written compulsive novels about teenagers in love LONG before Edward Cullen was even a glint in Meyer's eye.

The Initiation reads at a breakneck speed. Smith does not linger on too many opening details, just sets the scene so that Cassie is placed in New Salem ready for the main action to begin. This as far as I am concerned is a positive, because Cassie's life prior to her move is not of interest and therefore should not be lovingly expanded.

For me, the biggest strength of Smith's writing is the characters. Here she handles a main cast of twelve, with some peripheral characters who will play a further role in the subsequent two novels of the trilogy. To sufficiently flesh them out and give them strong characteristics that ensure you want to read more about them in such a slight novel (my edition, only 287 pages) takes real skill. And her physical descriptions are just wonderful:

"It occurred to her, quite incidentally, that these were probably the three most beautiful girls she'd ever seen. It wasn't just that each had perfect skin, free of the slightest trace of teenage blemishes. It wasn't their gorgeous hair: Deborah's dark disordered curls, Faye's pitch-black mane, and Suzan's cloud of reddish gold. It wasn't even the way they set each other off, each one's distinctive type enhancing the others' instead of detracting from them. It was something else...A kind of confidence and self-possession...An inner strength, an energy..."

Cassie is a very strong main character - by her own admission, she is shy and not very outgoing. However, these traits never become the absolute focus of Cassie - rather, they are just a part of who she was. There is also evidence that she has massive potential for growth and character development in future novels, which I am looking forward to exploring. In fact, most of the characters feel very real - they have foibles, and both good and bad qualities. The Henderson brothers and Sean suffer a little from not gaining much 'screen time', but I feel sure this will be remedied.

I also love the innocence of the romance - this is definitely YA from early 90s in content. Kissing is as far as these teens are prepared to go, and I for one love this. Too often in YA books I read that have been published more recently there is far too much focus on young girls going further than they perhaps should, and The Initiation harks back to a more chaste time.

The only real problem with this novel is it is very much the opening book in a trilogy, so we are really only getting to know the characters and touching on the main gist of the plot, which will be fleshed out in The Captive.

In conclusion, anyone who has come to the YA paranormal romance genre recently should definitely check out this opening novel in a classic trilogy. I adore all three books beyond reason and very nostalgically. L J Smith has a fine ability to write characters you will end up caring deeply about, and her prose is magnificent. Highly recommended.

Blood Debt - Tanya Huff

Blood Debt is the fifth and last book in the series by Tanya Huff about Vicki Nelson, Henry Fitzroy and Mike Celluci. We pick up the tale as Henry finds himself haunted by a tormented ghost and realises he needs the specialist help of Vicki.

It is hard to review this book completely without spoiling the events at the end of Blood Pact, but I shall attempt it!

Although there is a ghost involved, the mystery itself is the most mundane out of the five books - concerning an organisation set up to profit from the harvesting of organs. Since Huff persists in signposting her villains, making identifying them extremely easy, these books are not whodunnits and so Huff has to rely on ramping up the tension from supernatural elements. Here there are just human foes - when you have humans one side and vampire the other, you already know who will win (or who should do!), which means the central mystery has no real tension or ambiguity over the resolution.

Instead Huff concentrates on writing tension into the relationships between the three main characters, who have been involved in a love triangle from the second book in the series. I liked the way Huff dealt with Vicki and Henry in this book - it was both heart-breakingly sad and yet hopeful at the same time.

Mike remains a fabulous character. He is by far my favourite character of the series. I love his nobility and his desire to see justice done - but within the parameters of the law. Henry describes Mike best with this:

"Henry had done what he could, but he hadn't been strong enough to finish; he needed more blood. Michael Celluci had offered his, even though he believed that it meant he'd lose everything.

In over four hundred and fifty years of living as an observer in humanity's midst, it had been the most amazing thing Henry Fitzroy had ever seen."

Mike is snarky, clever, exasperated; I love the way he deals with Vicki, alternating between tenderness and arguments - the only thing I wish is that he would get a damn haircut so that Vicki doesn't need to constantly brush that curl of hair back off his face!

Tony comes to the fore here as well. His desire to extricate himself from Henry; his desperation to do the right thing but not hurt others is admirable and written in a realistic way.

I enjoyed the snappy pacing and dialogue-heavy writing. Huff also does a fine job with descriptive passages - bringing places and situations to life with a few efficient words.

I'll make a brief comment on how dated these books sometimes feel - here Tony works in a video store and spends time rewinding the tapes; and one of the characters expresses surprise at the use of a cellphone. Having said that, I shall also say that these books stand up well to the test of thirteen years passing. They still sound fresh and engaging. In a genre now crowded, Huff was one of the first to pair detecting with supernatural forces - and, when reading about Vicki and Henry, you still gain a sense of how exciting and *new* they must have seemed when first released.