Blood Sins

Okay, so before now (and excluding the Thief Series), Kay Hooper has written books that are supernatural stand-alones. I mean, they're all about the in the same vein, but you don't need to read one before the other. Some times they mention the same people, but it's different.

Well, this time, it's not like that. I'm assuming that the third book in this set is going to be...well, more complete, but this one was kinda...weird.

It's shorter. It seems more like an outline than a the real book.

The storyline was fine, but underdeveloped. We never really find out what it is that Cody can do, but it's good. And what's up with the romance thing? Tessa and Sawyer never really get together. They just kind of skirt around it.

But I'm glad they took Samuel out. I'm really hoping that she fleshes that out more next book.

Which won't come out for a year.

I was disappointed. But it was okay.

Working Stiff

Tori Carrington is a husband and wife team who get together and write mystery novels starring Sophie Metropolis. Working Stiff is the 4th of this series.

Sophie is a Greek-American living in Queens. Specifically, she lives in Astoria, which (at least in the book) is like New York's own Little Greece.

Sophie is a private investigator, and she's had her share of odd cases. She mostly finds lost pets (see Sophie Metro for the reasons why...) and cheating spouses cases. She has a loud family who's always in her business, an office manager who is afraid of a lot of things and Puerto Rican, and having trouble deciding between two men.

Does this sound like any other fictional PI to anyone?

Anyway, in this book, Sophie has two major cases. The first is to find a missing body that disappeared from her aunt's mortuary. The second is to prove the innocence of a kid who's about to go on trial for killing his girlfriend.

As usual, she stumbles around, finally figuring things out...in an odd, round-about way. She and Dino (her Greek boyfriend who has great husband potential) get into a big fight, and she finally hooks up with Jake (a man of mystery who's not really husband material, but for one night he's pretty amazing. Oh, and he frequently gets her out of trouble).

And, she solves the mystery. Thankfully. Both of them.

I like these books. They're Stephanie Plum meets "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

I'm serious. She even has an annoying dog.

Oh, and she and Rosie (her office manager) believe that there is a vampire family.

And she is continually having run-ins with the Mob (where she was actually fitted for cement shoes in Dirty Laundry).

Bitten

Okay, so I was looking at the Amazon 4-for-3 lists the other day, and came across this series by Kelley Armstrong. The first was Bitten, so I decided to read it. I requested it from work, and it came in yesterday.

Of course, yesterday I was in the middle of Hunting Fear, so it had to wait.

Oh my gosh. I really liked this novel. It's about a woman (Elena). When we first meet her, she's living in Toronto with Philip. And she sneaks out in the middle of the night, changes into a werewolf, and runs to a ravine.

Then Jeremy calls. And she has to go back to New York, see her old "family."

Including her old fiancee, Clay.

Poor girl. She's put through an absolute emotional wringer, but finally figures out who she is. And who she loves.

Let's just say, she moves out of Toronto in the end (Which, of course, made me really, really happy. I like her and Clay together).

I was sad to lose Logan though, even though I don't know him at all.

This was her first novel, it became a series. One that Elena doesn't narrate the whole time (which makes me sad...I like Elena!).

Anyway...I'm going to see if anyone near me has the second one... I like Kelley Armstrong.

Oh, and I want to mention that it's a little graphic. The killing scenes are a little graphic, it includes references to torture and child sexual abuse. Just a warning.

Hunting Fear

Hunting Fear is another Kay Hooper Bishop/SCU novel.

I like this one. Like the others, it takes place in a small town, stars a psychic (or two...), and revolves around a serial killer. Bonus--about a couple who had been together before and are getting back together. And you wonder why I love these books.

Anyway, in this one, Lucas Jordan is our FBI agent (though Quentin has a secondary role...I love Quentin. He stars in Chill of Fear), and he can sense fear. Samantha Burke tells fortunes in a carnival. But when they find themselves in the same city again (Golden...what kind of city name is that? Probably a real one...), and a kidnapper/murderer on their hands, they have to work together to hunt him down.

Lucas is a little distant...until you find out why (at the almost-very end). Sam is really out there with her feelings, no matter how much she pretends not to be. Jaylene has a terrible name, but they usually call her Jay (Oh...she's Lucas's partner).

Bishop also makes his special appearance, both at the beginning (recruiting Lucas, trying to find Miranda), and at the end (see, our fearless leader really does have everything under control!). Miranda's there at the very very end too.

Anyway, as they're trying to find the victims (the 3 that get kidnapped in this part of the story...apparently the kidnapper has been doing this for 18 months before we come into the picture), Sam and Lucas are also coming to terms with each other...again.

Oh, I did mention that they met 3 years previously on another case, right? Right.

I'm a fan.

Out of the Shadows

Out of the Shadows is a paranormal romance/thriller by Kay Hooper. It's part of the FBI/Bishop Special Agent group.

Actually, this is the one starring Bishop, making it one of my favorites.

Anyway, Sheriff Miranda Knight lives in a small town where teens are being murdered. After the third teen has gone missing, she calls in the FBI's new department, one that's a little...unorthodox.

Noah Bishop, Tony Harte, and Dr. Sharon Edwards all come.

The trick? The new department is all psychics, and Bishop is the one in charge.

Of course, Bishop and Miranda have a past...one that makes Miranda the only person left for her little sister Bonnie.

And while a madman is trying to clean-up after his mistakes in this town, Bishop and Miranda are not only trying to find him, but trying to protect Bonnie from him, dealing with a creepy and angry spirit that's haunting all the local Ouija boards, and trying to figure out their relationship (I still think it's creepy when Bishop calls her "love." He's not that kind of guy.)

You can pick up any of these novels and not be too lost (I started with the latest one published at the time, Sleeping With Fear, which continues to be my favorite), though apparently the newest trilogy actually have an overarching story line. So there you go.

Obsidian Butterfly

We all know that I love vampire books, right? At least, vampire books that aren't full of stupid, overly friendly, too nice vampires (don't get me started...it's a soapbox I wrote a paper on once).

Anyway, Laurell K. Hamilton writes the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. It started out Anita hunting vampires, at some point turned into that and her crazy love life, and went on and on like that. Just when it's getting too much about her love live, there's a great one like this.

In this, Anita goes to help Edward (not Cullen) in Santa Fe. Edward is a sociopath (but an oddly lovable one) that is a friend of Anita's (we've met him before). He needs help finding something (some preternatural creepy-crawly), and that's Anita's speciality.

There is almost no annoying emotional crap, but lots and lots of violence. Lots and lots and lots. Shooting and killing and bloody crime scenes.

Let me warn you-- don't read these books if you don't like the following: vampires, werewolves, sex, blood, violence, guns, magic...okay, you really have to be an odd duck to read these. But given the fact they're being bought (and read), means that there are a lot of odd ducks out there.

But what can I say. Of all the Anita Blake books, this is one of my favorites.

Heart Sick

So, I'm in Utah, just about to finish To Kill a Mockingbird and realizing that the last book I have with me (Janet Evanovich's Ten Big Ones) isn't one I'm anxious to read. Re-read. Whatever.

So I have an hour between flights, and I wander out, looking for a magazine shop or whatever to pick up some random bestseller that I'll think is okay, and will forever remind me of the day of too many airports.

Instead, I find a (mini) bookstore. So much better.

And there, I pick up Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain. With a tag line of "Love hurts. Sometimes it's torture." and a positive comparison to Hannibal Lecter on the cover, I just can't help myself.

Archie Sheridan is a cop in Portland, OR who has been on medical leave for the last two years. When 4 girls go missing, and are found dead, he gets called in back to work. He also calls Susan, a reporter at the Portland Herald (guess where Cain works?). Archie wants Susan to follow him around this investigation, and she's all too happy to follow along.

The story goes back and forth between the investigation, bits and pieces of Susan's life, and what happened to Archie as he was held in a basement and tortured by Gretchen Lowell, the serial killer that put him on medical leave. She fed him pills, removed his spleen, and carved up his chest, to just mention a few things.

The story is amazingly well written. Though you're constantly being pulled into different story lines and view points, it really works. You can feel Archie's desperation to keep seeing Gretchen, to keep getting bodies out of her. But you can also see how it's tearing him apart, and how it makes him want to kill himself (quiet literally).

My favorite lines? Anne (the profiler who missed Gretchen, but came back for the kidnapper/murder) : "She's a psychopath." Archie: "Yeah, but she's my psychopath."

I'm a huge fan...but then again, I love serial killer novels. They're so much fun.