Intricately woven with “broads strands of historical truth,” prolific author P. C. Doherty’s fascinating new novel puts the resourceful Hugh Corbett, as agent of the King of England, on the trail of a missing treasure map that everyone thought had been lost long ago to thieves and pirates, in the path of a blood-thirsty avenger who is determined to eliminate his villainous brother’s killers, and in the midst of murderous mayhem that has nearly everyone in early 14th century Canterbury more than a little concerned.

By offering up a complex tale that focuses on radix malorum omnium (the root of all evils) as what seems to be the causa omni (the cause of everything), the always skillful Doherty gives devoted fans of medieval mysteries a richly entertaining historical adventure in which the unstoppable medieval sleuth adroitly reverses the break down of law and order in not-so-merry-old England.

(Special advice to word fanatics, like me, who are not medievalists: Have your hefty OED handy because you will have plenty of opportunities to entertain and educate yourself by seeking out definitions for the hundreds of medieval English words, phrases, and allusions. Great fun!)

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Review: The Waxman Murders

The seven-day event is designed to coincide with Centennial commemorations of the catastrophic 1910 hurricane-force forest fire that flattened and burned millions of acres in Montana and Idaho. MacGregor’s novel, named after the Gospel Mountain region south of Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene district, is also being released on August 17.

But can a novel be tweeted? Twitter is a social media platform notorious for limiting posted messages to 140 characters. “It’s certainly a different format, and not one I’m particularly used to,” says novelist and armchair historian MacGregor–who himself managed to avoid the Internet altogether up until a few short months ago. “But the idea is that several characters from the book—the supposed outlaw hero, sheriff’s deputies, key witnesses, and the story’s villain, such as he is–will report their activities as the story plays out in 1910.”

MacGregor is quick to point out that the novel itself is not being tweeted. The tweets will be real-time status reports covering the story from several unique points of view—many of which are not addressed by the first-person narratives of the novel. “The end result will not be a document you’ll want to read, in the conventional sense,” MacGregor advises. “For the Twitter and Facebook versions, the idea is that you’ll feed the story to your mobile device, whatever it is, and follow developments as they play out over a week.”

“Once readers get past the odd notion of Old West cowboys texting from horseback,” adds publisher Greg Wright, “I think they’ll find following these characters quite gripping.” The approach guarantees to take suspension of disbelief to new levels as readers squint at cell phones and laptop screens for a peek into long-past events. But Wright suspects that many latecoming followers of the Fewkes Legacy story might even come to think that the fictional tale is actually playing out in 2010.

“It could be important to get the word out about this,” cautions Wright. “If 911 centers start getting calls about a desperate killer making his way into Libby, Montana, we might have to pull the plug.

“Orson Welles would be proud of Mac for coming up with this,” Wright adds in a reference to the notorious Mercury Theatre radio production of War of the Worlds which convinced East Coast citizenry that aliens had invaded Earth.

But conquering the Internet is not the only item on the ambitious MacGregor’s agenda. He has also authorized his publisher to begin developing West of the Gospel for big-screen treatment in cooperation with Moonlit Pictures. “This is a story that has generated a lot of buzz in the publishing and movie industries,” says MacGregor. “I’ve been pretty surprised, on one level. But on another I haven’t at all. Don’t we all love a good mystery?”

MacGregor is not at all worried about having the story overexposed, curiously. “140 characters doesn’t allow for a lot exposition, or for fancy prose,” he notes. “The Twitterization of the novel will be its own unique experience.”

Wright cuts in at this point. “We hope, of course, that followers will want to know more. Still, in one sense we are indeed giving the novel away, as one skeptic has put it.”

But MacGregor winks. “It’s still a mystery. I won’t be giving too much away.”

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Forget eBooks: Historical Fiction Author Tweets New Novel Live for Big Burn Centennial

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Review at Mystery Scene Magazine

The Swan Thieves: A Novel

By Elizabeth Kostova

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism. Kostova’s masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, history’s losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

Customer Reviews:

Past Lives / Enduring Love
Robert Oliver, a distinguished, yet troubled painter, has attacked a painting at the National Gallery of Art–an action which has landed him in a mental institution under the care of psychiatrist, Andrew Marlowe. Marlowe, an art enthusiast and painter himself, becomes deeply fascinated with his patient and the history behind Robert Oliver’s strange behavior. As he attempts to heal his patient, the doctor is met with obstinence and silence; Oliver will not share his story. Determined to find answers, Marlowe not only becomes involved in his patient’s life and relationships, but also with the life of Beatrice de Cleval, and her mentor, artist Olivier Vignot, forbidden lovers from the 19th century. Who is Robert Oliver and what is his passionate connection to the painting and the two lovers? Why is Robert so obsessed with the love letters between Olivier Vignot and Beatrice? Why does he cling to them and read them over and over? Is it mental illness, or something else? This book kept me guessing, right up to the finale. It left me pondering the concept of past lives and loves. I felt a hint of Somewhere In Time, and wanted to believe.

Kostova brings, once again, something wonderful to the written page–something that will enthrall readers from start to finish. It is well-written, multi-layered, containing all the elements of a great story: desire, passion, obsession, forbidden love, mystery, historical romance, and the determination of the human spirit. It is an extraordinary book that I believe, not only mystery lovers will like, but artists and lovers of art will enjoy, as well. I found it to be an elegant, tender, highly psychological read, with insight into the world of art and the human condition.

“We are never really alert to our destinies, are we?”
The central figure of Kostova’s impressive novel is a gifted artist, Robert Oliver, who is arrested when he attacks a painting hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, “Leda”. In the painting a mortal woman is ravished by Zeus in the form of a swan, a theme that is woven through the novel, a mystery begun in the days of the French Impressionists. Thus does the author join the stories of two centuries, the late 19th and 20th, the characters as entwined as their paths through life. When psychiatrist Andrew Marlow accepts Robert Oliver as a patient in Goldengrove, the larger-than-life, enigmatic painter utters only a few sentences before he refuses to speak at all. Both intrigued and frustrated, Marlow makes it his particular mission to learn what has brought this talented man to this state, discovering along the way not only the circumstances of the heartbreaking world of genius but the limitations of his calling.

Kostova succeeds on so many levels in this layered, passionate novel, a study of human failings and the price of true art, from Oliver’s own painful journey to the women who have known and loved him, as well as a female artist of great promise, a contemporary of the Impressionists, Beatrice de Cleval, and her mentor, artist Olivier Vignot. From one century to another, Kostova explores the unique and tortuous landscape of the dedicated artist, the power and beauty of creativity and the emotional devastation in its wake. She allows the reader to fall in love with an unattainable genius on an impossible quest, to feel the pain of a wife who isn’t enough and a lover who cannot keep what she does not own. Then there is Beatrice de Cleval, one of the few women to be embraced by the great Salon of Paris and the inspiration for her powerful last painting, a seminal work that contains the heart of the mystery.

From one century to another, Kostova never loses focus, her characters beautifully rendered, their hopes and flaws, dreams and failures. A great love story fuels a mystery in 1877 that reaches into the 20th century and the world of an artist consumed by his particular obsession. From the windswept coast in Normandy to the predawn hours as Oliver paints furiously in his attic, the smell of turpentine is pungent, the pain of creativity tactile. Blending Impressionist France with more modern day Washington, DC, this is a sweeping novel of love and its costs, of artistic genius and its demands, a grand tale that is both revelatory and shocking, where spirit escapes the boundaries of daily life. Luan Gaines/2010. 

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Copyright © 2009 Good Books

The Swan Thieves

“Even with the slower economy, ardent authors and small publishers continue to give voice to their muse in print,” said PNW editor Christopher Laird Simmons. “And, thanks to breakout products like Amazon’s Kindle, e-book versions – which were a gimmick a few years ago – are swiftly becoming ubiquitous.” Simmons has been a working journalist for 25 years, and has written widely on the topic of publishing, marketing, and e-books.

The following list of books are provided as “worth a look” for media and booksellers, as well as avid readers of new and unique literary content. To learn more about these and other books, in detail, visit: http://www.publishersnewswire.com/

 Rock Star’s Rainbow – They Threw Him Out A Plane, But They Couldn’t Throw Out His Story

“Rock Star’s Rainbow,” by author Kevin Glavin (ISBN-13: 978-0982546604, Kevin Glavin Publishing, 500 pp., paperback), is a new novel chronicling a recent and mysterious scandal involving one of the nation’s most cherished “icons.” The far-fetched story begins in August 2009, when a renowned entertainment reporter is thrown out of a plane over Los Angeles. At the time of his unfortunate death, he was completing a manuscript detailing the strange personal life of the most secretive mega star of our time – “Rook.” The quixotic adventure journeys from L.A. to Amsterdam, to India, and back. Along the way, Rook struggles with celebrity excess, re-ignites with his old flame, gets mixed up with the mafia, and must rescue the daughter he never knew he had. From the heights of hedonism to the depths of despair, this topical parody explores the “beast of fame.”

New Book: Murder Mystery Solved on Montana Forest after 175 Years

In his latest book titled, “Saving Eden” (ISBN-13: 978-0979129391, EnDeavours Publishing, 386 pp., paperback; editor: Nathan Condron), set in the Tobacco Valley, Montana author David C. Deavours shares a message of environmental awareness through a fictional story full of mystery, adventure, romance and tragedy. Deavours relocates his main character, Nate Stone, from his Southern Appalachian home and plunges him into the wilds of Montana’s Kootenai National Forest, where Nate suddenly finds himself enveloped in an unsolved murder mystery dating in the early 1800s.

Falling Apart: Newly Released Book Depicts ‘Anti’ Bernie Madoff Character

The media is saturated with real-life accounts of financial scoundrels such as Madoff, Sanford, and Rothstein making people sadly aware of men who strive to cheat their clients through alleged criminal schemes and outright theft. Such is the story line of husband and wife co-authors Ken and Tammy Brown’s “Falling Apart” (ISBN-13: 978-1605943954, Llumina Press, 224 pp., paperback; also available in hardcover). However, the man in this book is innocent. Set in today’s world of financial disintegration, “Falling Apart” is a timely book that depicts the horrors one man faces as his life crumbles to dust and ashes.

New Book Helps Women Find Peace and Happiness after Abusive Male Relationship

A Step Beyond Publishing announces its first non-fiction, and potentially controversial book: “I Apologize to All Women in the World – From Man” (ISBN-13: 978-0979972409). The author, Billy Prowell, inspires women to accept their roles as dignified creations of God and to reject the assumed role, imposed by men, of indentured servant. This new book provides readers with a process to heal and inspires the wounded to rebuild their lives without harboring hatred in their hearts. Through thought-provoking letters and 11 different relationship examples, readers will gain insight into the egotistic behaviors of men and the gullibility of women.

New Book Exonerates Thomas Jefferson in DNA Controversy over Slaves and Sally Hemings

In this startling and revelatory new book, William G. Hyland Jr. shows not only that the evidence against Jefferson is lacking, but that in fact he is entirely innocent of the charge of having sexual relations with Hemings. “In Defense Of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemings Sex Scandal” (ISBN-13: 978-0312561000, Thomas Dunne Books, 320 pp., hardcover; also in Kindle edition – ASIN: B002UL3392), has just been published by St. Martins Press and concerns the major historical controversy surrounding Mr. Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. “In Defense” claims to definitively destroy the cultural myth that Jefferson had any relationship with Ms. Hemings.

‘Party Line’ May Touch the Very Dreams of its Readers

Sageous Press has announced the release of “Party Line” (ISBN-13: 978-0578035932, Sageous Press, 328 pp., paperback). a new novel by Peter A. Luber. This, Luber’s second foray into the realm of dreams, establishes a unique vision which serves not only to entertain but to enlighten the reader as to the depths of his or her own consciousness. His first work, “Oneironauticus,” was published in 2008 by Sageous. The narrative of “Party Line” consists of the dreams of seven troubled, doomed, or inspired individuals. Each dreamer’s personality and experience form both the content and style of their respective chapters. This creates a reading environment that truly portrays, rather than simply describes, the nocturnes and relationships of the major characters.

The Unbearable Sadness of Zilch – New Novel Exposes Hollywood Hyper-reality in Intimate Private Investigation

No one is innocent … not in this town. In this town, the apocalypse has come and gone, lifting the veil of innocence like a great velvet curtain in an old movie house, where the only victims that don’t return for the sequel are the gods themselves, struck out long ago by the big blue pencil. In this town, every man, woman, and child takes the limits of his or her own field of vision to be the limits of the world. In his latest novel, “The Unbearable Sadness of Zilch” (ISBN-13: 978-1440158261, iUniverse, 160pp., hardcover; also available in paperback), Konrad Ventana explodes the myths behind the so-called Star Machine with a whole new level of intimate private investigation.

Unique Booklet Helps Readers to Discover in Thirty Minutes or Less How to Accomplish Everything One Desires

A new booklet by author, motivational speaker, and business expert Marty Niedelman, “Rx For Success” (no ISBN), is a clear concise manuscript to help anyone achieve their goals and aspirations. Many people work hard and struggle to survive. Others do things in a certain way and have all the wealth and fame. Marty has combined the knowledge of many motivational books, tapes, courses, and lectures. He feels in essence, everyone is saying the same thing in different ways. By reading his booklet in thirty minutes or less, people will reap the benefit of reading many books which could amount to thousands of pages. Available in eBook and print editions.

Authoritative Guide to Long Term Care Insurance Now Available in Electronic Editions

Almost for sure, you or a family member will need expensive long term care someday. How will you pay for it? What public or private insurance options are available to you? Now you can get those through “Dignity for Life: Five Things You Should Know Before Considering Long Term Care Insurance” (ISBN-13: 978-0615142531; also Kindle Edition – ASIN: B0030GFC4K) by Cameron Truesdell, CEO of LTC Financial Partners, LLC (LTCFP), one of America’s most experienced long term care insurance agencies. The latest edition is also available for iPhone, using the Kindle for iPhone App.

More Information:
For more information on these and other books and entertainment publishing you likely have never heard of, visit: publishersnewswire.com/news/publishing-news/book-news.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Publishers Newswire Announces its Latest List of ‘Books to Bookmark’ for Q4 2009

A Garden of Vipers by Jack Kerley

Dutton, June 2006

ISBN 0-525-94952-6

Hardcover

When we join the taut, cinematic action and vividly portrayed characters of Jack Kerley’s powerful new novel, veteran police detective Carson Ryder of Mobile, Alabama, is about to embark on his most challenging case. As a member of the southern city’s two-man Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team, Ryder joins with his longtime partner Harry Nautilus in an attempt at solving the particularly sadistic murder of Taneesha Franklin, a talented young reporter for one of the city’s smaller radio stations.

Soon, however, several other women—apparently victimized by the same psychopathic assailant—are discovered in Mobile, and suddenly the Franklin case becomes even more complicated and critical. One of the victims had been restrained with handcuffs, her body had been savagely mutilated, and her badly charred body was discovered by firemen in the smoldering ashes of a burned out building. Another young woman had been physically and emotionally tortured and sexually abused but had been more fortunate than the others because she survived and now recovers in a hospital.

Ryder and Nautilus have very few, apparently isolated clues—a witness at the Franklin crime scene, the surprising identity of the incinerated victim, and some unusual sensory observations by the visually impaired third victim. Now the two detectives more urgently continue tracking a person who seems well on his way to becoming the city’s most dangerous predator of all times.

Then, when Ryder and Nautilus hear about yet another victim—very similarly brutalized and mutilated four years earlier in another jurisdiction—they are finally able to put the disconnected pieces together and close in on a possible suspect. As Nautilus points out to Ryder, “It’s all the same case—find out something about one, we find out something about the other.”

Ryder and Nautilus, however, are about to discover that evidence and appearances can be deceiving, and they will soon discover that finding a way to more clearly focus the blurred lines between innocence and guilt can produce some surprising results.

And there you have the framework for a most praiseworthy crime novel. A Garden of Vipers is a compelling tale of shameful manipulation, deadly deceit, murderous insanity, amoral greed, and festering corruption. Through some very gritty characterizations and plenty of slice-of-life verisimilitude, Jack Kerley’s intricately plotted novel takes readers on a harrowing trip into the nightmarish world of a malignant psychopath—a world that is overflowing with disturbing action and chilling surprises.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Revisited Book Review Friday – A Garden of Vipers

The Lost Symbol

By Dan Brown
Average customer review:

In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world’s most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling–a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object–artfully encoded with five symbols–is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon–a prominent Mason and philanthropist–is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations–all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown’s novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown’s fans have been waiting for . . . his most thrilling novel yet.

Customer Reviews:

A decent followup to The Da Vinci Code
I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s books, and while I’m not a huge fan, I do enjoy his stories and the fantastical idea that there could be some huge conspiracy or esoterica out there that only a few people know about. Dan Brown’s writing could use some work, and he’s not crafting great literature here, but the content of his stories usually makes up for that, and his latest novel, The Lost Symbol, is no exception. This is the third book to follow Robert Langdon, a Harvard Symbologist who previously showed up in Angels & Demons: A Novel (Robert Langdon), and The Da Vinci Code.

The Lost Symbol is very similar to his previous books, in that it has the same formulaic plot, structure, and theme, only this time it takes place in Washington, D.C. and involves the Freemasons instead of the Knights Templar. Just like in the Da Vinci Code, Langdon is called to Washington at a friend’s request, only to find him missing, and spends the rest of the book chasing clues throughout the city and trying to outwit a new villain who is seemingly as smart as he is.

As mentioned above, the formula in The Lost Symbol is almost exactly the same. After only a few chapters into the book, I started drawing immediate comparisons to National Treasure (Widescreen Edition), and I could see some readers making that claim if it weren’t for a few exceptions: Langdon is more likable than Ben Gates, the mysteries are much more involved and well-researched, and there is noticeably more action and suspense. This time, rather than trying to ignore some rather large plot holes, as contained in the Da Vinci Code, you will have to suspend your disbelief that a Harvard professor is physically capable of so many close calls. It almost reads more like an Ian Fleming novel than a book about a mid-50s professor trying to solve a centuries-old scavenger hunt. That works out well because a lot of books of this genre can get weighed down by the scientific or historical aspects and bore you to death.

That’s not to say that The Lost Symbol doesn’t have it’s faults. The first is most notably the writing. While it has certainly improved since The Da Vinci Code, it still seems rather sophomoric, and not on par with someone who is one of the biggest-selling authors in the last twenty years. Even though it’s fiction, some of the characters’ actions really made me wonder if Brown has had much human contact while writing the book. There are other annoyances that he continually repeats in the book, but I won’t bring them up for fear that mentioning them may cause future readers to have their attention constantly drawn to them. Overall though, the writing is not terrible and the plot is suspenseful enough that I can overlook it. Another theme that Brown plays around with is the concept of “mind over matter.” He provides a great deal of research on the subject (too much in some chapters), but I still found it a little too out there, and wish he had chosen a different angle.

I think this book will appeal not only to Dan Brown fans, but to fans of Douglas Preston and Lee Child (Langdon is almost a clone of the Agent Pendergast character), James Rollins, Michael Crichton (there are certainly a lot of influences here as far as research into a book goes), and with this book, Clive Cussler (the action is on par with anything Dirk Pitt would see).

If I had to rank it, I would put The Lost Symbol below Angels and Demons, and above Da Vinci Code. While I don’t think it’s worth of 5 stars, it was certainly an enjoyable read and enough to satiate me until the next book comes out (provided he doesn’t wait as long as he did for this one).

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Copyright © 2009 Good Books

The Lost Symbol

A Garden of Vipers by Jack Kerley

Dutton, June 2006

ISBN 0-525-94952-6

Hardcover

When we join the taut, cinematic action and vividly portrayed characters of Jack Kerley’s powerful new novel, veteran police detective Carson Ryder of Mobile, Alabama, is about to embark on his most challenging case. As a member of the southern city’s two-man Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team, Ryder joins with his longtime partner Harry Nautilus in an attempt at solving the particularly sadistic murder of Taneesha Franklin, a talented young reporter for one of the city’s smaller radio stations.

Soon, however, several other women—apparently victimized by the same psychopathic assailant—are discovered in Mobile, and suddenly the Franklin case becomes even more complicated and critical. One of the victims had been restrained with handcuffs, her body had been savagely mutilated, and her badly charred body was discovered by firemen in the smoldering ashes of a burned out building. Another young woman had been physically and emotionally tortured and sexually abused but had been more fortunate than the others because she survived and now recovers in a hospital.

Ryder and Nautilus have very few, apparently isolated clues—a witness at the Franklin crime scene, the surprising identity of the incinerated victim, and some unusual sensory observations by the visually impaired third victim. Now the two detectives more urgently continue tracking a person who seems well on his way to becoming the city’s most dangerous predator of all times.

Then, when Ryder and Nautilus hear about yet another victim—very similarly brutalized and mutilated four years earlier in another jurisdiction—they are finally able to put the disconnected pieces together and close in on a possible suspect. As Nautilus points out to Ryder, “It’s all the same case—find out something about one, we find out something about the other.”

Ryder and Nautilus, however, are about to discover that evidence and appearances can be deceiving, and they will soon discover that finding a way to more clearly focus the blurred lines between innocence and guilt can produce some surprising results.

And there you have the framework for one of this year’s most praiseworthy crime novels. A Garden of Vipers is a compelling tale of shameful manipulation, deadly deceit, murderous insanity, amoral greed, and festering corruption. Through some very gritty characterizations and plenty of slice-of-life verisimilitude, Jack Kerley’s intricately plotted novel takes readers on a harrowing trip into the nightmarish world of a malignant psychopath—a world that is overflowing with disturbing action and chilling surprises.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Revisited Book Review Friday – A Garden of Vipers

Dark Slayer

By Christine Feehan
Average customer review:

The brand new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author features the rarest of Carpathians-a female.

Ivory-a rare Carpathian female-has been protected by her brothers for most of her life. But once she frees the mage Razvan from his prison cave, they must flee together, enemies of Carpathian hunters as well as vampires. Ivory senses that Razvan is more than he appears to be, and she vows to go against the entire Carpathian race to help him, risking both their lives in order to save their love.

Customer Reviews

Dark Slayer twists the series’ formula into Something different but something good – -
Deviating a bit from the normal formula of her other ‘Dark’ Carpathian books, Feehan’s Dark Slayer was a unique entry into the popular long running series and ended up being one of my favorites of Feehan’s more recent offerings. Though fans who live for Feehan’s uber alpha males may be disappointed, I really liked the hero Razvan (former long time series villain) – unlike many of the other arrogant domineering former leading men, Razvan is non-neanderthal-like, supportive and more than willing to let his vampire Slaying mate, Ivory Malinov, take the lead (maybe because he’s a `turned’ as opposed to a `born’ Carpathian). Both of the starring pair have had enough pain and suffering in their interesting backstories, and in their experiences with family members turning to the darkside, to make them empathetic to the other’s struggles and to make them both cherish the gift of a Lifemate.

Other things I really liked: Lots of cameos of old starring pairs are worked in thoughout the story and there are some really cool aspects to Ivory’s wolf pack and her magical connection to the wolves. I also liked that Feehan waited longer to consumate the physical part of Razvan and Ivory’s pairing, allowing Razvan and Ivory to work through some issues instead of forcing it – and, after a gazillion other books in this series, I had been starting to feel I feel like I had read all of the love scenes many times before, so having less of them here than normal worked better for me and in them Feehan uses a lighter touch with Razvan which made them feel fresher too.

My nits: Yet another chauvinistic stubborn effort to `protect’ a `helpless’ woman by Gregori. I found his attempt to force Ivory’s acceptance of the Carpathians’ aid frustrating – though once Gregori comes to understand Ivory’s power, he does give her the respect she deserves. I realise that some readers enjoy them, but there are way too many spell-poems for me( I mostly skipped over these and the Carpathian dialog too, I just had to find out what happened next). It also bothered me that Ivory seems a bit diminished when she discovers her feminity – she starts out as a really strong independant character, a true survivor and she is more than competent at slaying ancient vampires and unraveling the evil mega-villain Xavier’s spells – and I didn’t like that she ends up doubting herself with Razvan. But even with that nit, she is still a great heroine.

So is anyone besides me wondering how long is Feehan going to be able keep this series going? There still several stories I’ve been waiting for, in this book even more potential leading men hunters are introduced, and I really don’t see the overall story arc building up to a big finish. But hey, I’m not the only one still shelling out the big bucks and preordering the hardbacks, so who knows – maybe this series will be as immortal as Feehan’s Carpathians themselves.

Dark slayer lost in translation
I am still reading the book and about halfway there. It’s OK but not my favorite. I’m losing patience with Ms. Feehan’s tendancy to delve so extensively into the carpathian language. I find that more of a distraction than anything else. I enjoyed her books more when she didn’t do that. She seems to delve deeper and deeper with each book she writes in the dark series. Why does she feel this is so important to the story line…it isn’t to me. In this book over 30 pages are used at the end for the Carpathian language index. That was a total waste, I’m not bothering to read that. I feel at some point she just may write an entire dark series book in the carpathian language and expect her readers to learn the language to decifer the book. This book has less romance and more violence and gore with a lot of pages wasted with reading lines first in carpathian language and then in English. Are these just page fillers? I think she should have edited this out. Who cares? Just stick with the story and stop trying to introduce a new language to the readers. I’m not interested in learning carpathian language, I just want to enjoy a good story written by her without having to learn the language to do it. I was a bit disappointed in this book but I’m still a big fan and I like her a lot. I’ll be glad when dimitri and skyler get together, I’ve been waiting on that storyline for a long time.

Totally enjoyable
I picked up the book today and finished it in one sitting, in all previous books Razvan was evil and only in Dark Curse were we told that maybe he was being used as a pawn by Xavier. Well all is revealed and it was well worth the price of the book, Ms Feehan also introduced a few more ancients but no character development to them yet. Dimitri made a guest appearance. I will not give away the story line, suffice to say enjoy!

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Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Dark Slayer