Damnation Books, September 2009 Trade Paper Back: 978-1-61572-032-3 $8.29
Ebook: 978-1-61572-033-0 $4.50
While Symptoms of a Broken Heart is a solid fit into the shape shifter category, the “change” in this book is a metaphor for many of the characters’ innermost desires, rather than a power or curse. It’s an interesting application that is almost a throwback to older werewolf tales where the monster represented the fear of giving into such desires.
Lisa and her soon-to-be-married sister attend a Full Moon party, meant to be one last hurrah before they settle down, but they get more than they expect when it turns out to be an actual full moon party thrown by actual shape shifters. Tragedy strikes, and one sister is left alive and seeking the power of the attendees in order to save her own rear and cover up the other sister’s death.
This is a fast, hard read with two strong female leads, neither of which are flat stereotypical female characters or stereotypical horror-fiction lesbians. Erotic, dark and spiked with a creepy aftertaste that will stick with readers, this is a novelette worth snatching up.
Contains: graphic sex
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Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Ace Fantasy, 2006
ISBN: 0441013813
Available: New and Used
Mercy Thompson is unconventional from the beginning. She’s a mechanic for a small town, not to mention a tattooed skinwalker who can become a coyote at will. Mercy was orphaned by a magical father before she was born, and fostered by werewolves, and although she doesn’t truly belong with them, Mercy feels a connection to the wolves, no matter how intense and violent they might become.
When a stray werewolf shows up at her shop begging for a temporary job, she gets sucked into a plot that threatens the lives of the area alpha as well as the werewolf Merrok (ruler) who helped raise Mercy. Mercy is not necessarily violent or intense. She is weaker than most of the supernatural creatures around her. But her calm, somewhat defiant persona makes her an easygoing viewpoint character surrounded by werewolves and vampires that are straight out of horror movies. Mercy is the calm point of the dark, violent world. She knows when to fight back, when to let strong characters handle things, and how to quietly defy the big bads without having their ire crash down on her.Something of a softer dark urban fantasy book, due to Mercy’s charm, the world is no less bloody, violent or horrific than most other werewolf books. This one is likely to catch the eye of readers who love dark fiction that’s not unrelenting in terror or gore.
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January
1. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher- Ghosts, vampires, Dresden getting beat up–a lot. 3 1/2 stars
2. Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher- Possessed animals, finally full visuals of the characters, nice teaser for the series, but on the expensive side. 3 1/2 stars
3. Sacred Book of the Werewolf- Long, very long, distracted, rambling, funny, great ending, if you can make it that far. 3 stars
4. Northlanders volume 1- A Viking revenge story? Gore, violence, sex, damn almost-moral ending! 3 1/2 stars
5. HellBlazer: Original Sins- Ugh, 80s comic art, fantastic stories, leaves off mid scene–boo! 4 Stars
6. Storm Front Comic #1 & #2- Oh look, it’s a cartoon version of the first book, not at all bad, nothing new though. 3 Stars.
7. Apex January 2009- Good stories, two great ones at the end (one with a monster house and one reprint from History is Dead) 4 stars.
8. Evil Penguins by Elia Anie- Hilarious, but no staying power, good gift for people you don’t know (like those secret gift exchanges). 3 stars
February
9. A Practical Guide to Faeries- D&D for kids–seriously– but it’s pretty, fun and kids and role players will love it. 4 stars
10. Murky Depths #6- One of my favorite mags. The stories won’t be soul-shattering, but they will be entertaining and deliciously cross genre. Great graphic strips in this issue. 4 stars.
11. HebrewPunk by Lavie Tidhar- Nazi werewolves, drugged out mystics, immortal Jews and blood banks run by angels, what’s not to love? 4 stars
12. The Lesser of Two Evils by Zoe Whitten- Strong, fun characters of negligible morality chasing down a serial child killer, science plus paranormal=rock! 4 stars
13. VAMPS by Nancy A. Collins- Mean Girls meets vampires. I hated Lilith, but like Cally. Will probably keep reading the series as a guilty pleasure. (sort of like watching a soap opera) 3.5 stars
14. Pride by Rachel Vincent-The continuing adventures of a female werecat trying to break the Old Boy’s Club and be valued as something other than the current and future contents of her uterus. I love this series, 5 stars!
15. The Monster Within Idea by R. Thomas Riley- A bunch of supernatural horror stories. Either they hit or miss completely, 4 stars.
March
16. Unspeakable Horror- A mix of horror types from high brow to more action and horror”ish”. All well written, but not all a single fan’s style. 4 stars
17. Watchmen-I missed the bus on this one. 3 stars
18. Dead Witness by Joylene Butler- Not ready for prime time. 2.5 stars.
19. Something Wicked #9- An average mix of horror and dark SF. 3 stars.
20. Apex Magazine, February 2009- Two thumbs up. Go read it. 4 Stars.
21. Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre- A unique, Mexican and 90s police movie flavored urban fantasy. 4 stars
April
22. Apex Magazine, March 2009- Very Nicely done. Bravo! 5 stars
23. The Black Act by Louise Bohmer- Pretty and sensory, but not fast paced. 3 Stars
24. The Blue Mirror by Kathe Koja- Wow, Like Twilight, but good. Real good, and no vampires. 5 stars
25. Hollow-Eyed Mary by Andre Duza- Excellent on every level. Brutal, beautiful and engaging, but very horror. 4 stars.
26. Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews- So awesome. Kick ass urban fantasy without too much romance or angst or super powered vaginas. 5 stars.
27. Bestial by William D. Carl- More than campy werewolf fun, there’s some clever writing here too. 4 stars
28. Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster by Mark McLaughlin & Michael McCarty- Excellent! Love it, srsly could not stop reading it. 5 Stars.
29. Afraid by Jack Kilborn- Strong thriller, tighter than Stephen King, less amped up than David Morrell. Very readable. 4.5 stars
30. Skin Tight by Ann Aguirre- There’s an under appreciated segment of the romance community who are going to love this when it comes out…next year. 4.5 stars
31. Splattered Beauty by Brandon Ford- An homage to scream queens and B-movies 5 stars for what it is, 3 stars as a book in the larger picture of the horror literature
May
32. A Dangerous Climate by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro- Excellent, smooth and detail, more historical fiction than horror. 4 stars
33. Black Jack Derringer Book 1: The Ace of Spades-If you like weird SF westerns you should buy this. 4.5 Stars.
34. Apex Magazine, April 2009- Excellent show by guest editor Michael A. Burstein 4.5 stars.
35. The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey- An excellent dark fantasy w/ steampunk elements, but not long enough. 4 stars
36. Thin Them Out by Kim Paffenroth, Julia Sevin & R.J. Sevin-Very pretty in places, too short, more suggestion than story, but well written. 3.5 stars
37. Dying to Live: Life Sentence by Kim Paffenroth- Excellent intelligent zombie horror. Give me more horror like this! 4.5 stars
38. Blood Bar by Norm Applegate- DNF
39. An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris- Dark mystery with the touch of supernatural. Another great book in this series. 4 stars
40. Buffy: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon- I didn’t realize how much I missed Buffy until I picked this one up. Now I can’t wait until volume two arrives. 4.5 stars.
41. Tales From the Crypt #3: Zombilicious- No zombies 🙁 Slick packaging, cheesy product, 3 stars (if you like that kind of thing).
42. Killing Kiss by Sam Stone- A fine traditional vampire book. No “vampire porn” here, 4 stars
June
43. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs- A nice paranormal with action and plot, but not mega drama. 4 stars.
44. Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn- Ugh, whiny MC, jolting pace, a lot of uncomfortable emotional abuse. 1 star
45. Apex Magazine, May 2009- Another more-fantasy issue, lyrical stories but last issue for who knows how long. 4 stars
46. Tales from the Crypt #4: Crypt-Keeping it Real- This is the best the Crypt series gets. 4 stars
47. The Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot- Awesome, awesome! Five stars and go watch the cartoon on YouTube!
48. Symptoms of a Broken Heart by Cory Cramer-A nice read with two strong, not cliché female horror leads that aren’t lesbians! 4.5 stars.
49. Escape of the Living Dead- Solid sex, violence and zombie fun graphic novel. Not much new though 4 stars.
50. Heaven’s Bones by Samantha Henderson- Lovely writing, loosely Ravenloft rich details. 4 stars
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com‘s Werewolf Month 2009
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