Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Yellow Moon

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

A creature rises from the ocean depths, drawn by music to attack victims, draining the blood. With each victim, it becomes more substantial, leaving a trail of bloodless bodies. Police detective, Daniel Parks brings the first victim to Dr. Marie Laveau to examine, hoping to use her special expertise to help him solve the crime. Now she is being follow by a growing string of ghosts begging her for help.

Marie is the descendant of the great voodoo priestess of New Orleans. She is a
modern doctor, a single mother, and a fledgling voodoo priestess. Along with the cop, Daniel Parks, she follows the creature’s trail, learning what it is, a wazimamoto, a vampire of Colonial Africa, and hopefully how to destroy it.

New Orleans, voodoo, music are an exotic mix and should be exciting, but I found it a slow read, maybe too much religion and philosophy. What on the surface should fit into the formula Urban Fantasy, steps outside into the mainstream, a literary vampire story. Perhaps all the deaths bothered me. The author has managed to kill off almost every character that Marie had connections to, her best friends, even her dog, along with the assorted other victims.

YELLOW MOON is the third book in a trilogy, and the only one dealing with a vampire. The series starts with VOODOO DREAMS which tells the story of the historic Marie Laveau, and is followed by VOODOO SEASON, which described the modern Marie Laveau discovering her ancestry and her powers.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, May 15, 2009, www.midnightblood.com

YELLOW MOON
by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Atria (August 19, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416537104
ISBN-13: 978-1416537106
Vampires, Voodoo, New Orleans

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Tandem Tryst



by Ralph E. Horner

TANDEM TRYST wasn’t what I expected, but then I’m not quite sure what I did expect
from my first time traveling romance. Let’s be clear, this is a SWEET romance, almost as straight laced as the Victorians portrayed. Jeff travels back in time 100 years to meet his deceased wife’s Marcy ancestor Melody, Marcy’s reincarnation or was Marcy Melody’s reincarnation? Confusing isn’t it. Whichever, Melody looks, speaks, and acts like Marcy, but as Jeff learns, is her own person molded by the world she lives in.

I’ll warn you if you are one of those who likes everything tied up neatly at the end, all questions answered, then you’ll be disappointed. After all time travel is paradoxical in nature and Ralph Horner has left a lot for the reader to wonder at. He also assures me that there is a sequel in the offing, so perhaps he will be forgiven.

The setting is the 1893 Chicago Fair and the author has managed to cram in an
enormous amount of history without making you feel as though you are reading a
travelogue or a dull history tome. Rich with detail describes it, TANDEM TRYST brings the 1890's to life.

The mystery grows slowly as someone stalks Jeff, trying to steal the magic ring which allows him to travel to the past. Gradually the mystery consumes the story until the dramatic conclusion. Again, I warn you if you are looking for a detective novel, you will be disappointed, there is no detective working hard to solve the crime, rather things just keep happening, involving Jeff and Melody in the mystery.

This is a mellow, slow paced book, well written, full of vivid details. The highlight is the fair and its multitude of attractions. For the people of that time, it was an experience of a lifetime, a marvel, from the world’s largest Ferris wheel, a ice roller coaster, a moving walkway over the lake, dancers, musicians, and entertainers from around the world, exotic cuisines, and some not so exotic appeared for the first time, such as the hamburger. Art and electric lights. This is a book for those who like history, especially those who like their history with a touch of romance. And the use of the time traveler as a protagonist allows the author to compare the two worlds. I suspect that is why time travel stories have always been popular and continue to do so with writers and
audiences.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane May 13, 2009 www.midnightblood.com

TANDEM TRYST
By Ralph E. Horner
# Paperback
# Publisher: Wings ePress (2009)
# ISBN-10: 1597056227
# ISBN-13: 978-1597056229

Saturday, May 2, 2009

DEAD WRECKONING


By Sylvia Dickey Smith

Pirates, smugglers, and murder in Texas

Texas has swamps and bayous? Who knew? Kind of goes against my image of dusty, dry Texas, with the tumbling, tumbling weeds. But I suppose along the coast you would find swamps and bayous. Author Sylvia Dickey Smith has made the area come vividly alive for me, complete with mosquitos, crocodiles or is it alligators, and Spanish moss.

DEAD WRECKONING is an unusual mystery combining the paranormal, a dog, and an older female sleuth, but Sid Smart is no Miss Marple. She is plagued by doubts and insecurities. She left her abusive husband, and the confining world of being a minister’s wife, to build a new life as a private detective. Insecure in her new romantic relationship with Ben and unsure of her abilities as a newly licensed PI, she struggles to save her client from being convicted of murder. Boo, an old woman, claims to have found Jean Lafitte’s schooner, Hotspur, out in the bayou, but when she and her cousin, Sasha, return the next day the schooner is gone. Instead they find Sasha’s husband’s body. Since Boo shot at Zeke the day before, Sasha blames Boo and she is arrested. Sid is on the case, uncovering old pirates, modern smugglers, and ruthless treasure hunters. Visiting the scene of the crime she sees a ghost ship, with a beautiful and buxom lady pirate. Later a gentleman out of the 19th century visits her with a cryptic message. Are they ghosts? Real or just illusions? Sid isn’t sure and neither are we.

I really liked Sid Smart and all her baggage as she struggles to break free of the old confining church life where her husband demanded that she be the perfect minister’s wife. As a former minister’s wife myself, I could relate to her hang-ups and. And her relationship with her dog, almost supernatural. Then there are all the colorful, and I do mean colorful, characters. The writing is good, descriptions vivid. It is well edited, grammar and spelling, but I found myself having to re-read passages to comprehend them a few times.

The solution to why Sasha’s husband was killed was rather obvious, and surprisingly Sid nor the cops never seemed to consider it as a possibility. But the unraveling of the mystery moved along nicely, going in some interesting directions, and coming to a rousing conclusion. DEAD WRECKONING is a delightful mystery, well worth your time and attention, if you like mysteries with a touch of Southern charm. I certainly hope Sid Smart gets her detective agency rebuilt and there will be many more cases in the future.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane April 26, 2009 www.midnightblood.com

DEAD WRECKONING
By Sylvia Dickey Smith
Paperback: 252 pages
Publisher: L & L Dreamspell (March 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603181385
ISBN-13: 978-1603181389