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Mischief in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon is a another visit to Mudbug and it’s inhabitants. This time the story is featured on Sabine Leveche, the local self proclaimed (but not really) psychic. When she starts to hear Helena Henry, a local Matriarch recently dead and thought to be murdered, she knows that no good can come of her new “ability”. And she’s right. From the start trouble ensues. Sabine, reeling from the news of her cancer diagnosis pushes forward on her search for her parent’s families. There are no living relatives on her mother’s side, but her father’s, well, things become quite interesting and more than she expected when she hired Private Investigator Beau Villeneuve. Her family is located, but all is not as it seems in the polite high society family that Sabine finds herself meeting. Already suspicious, when accidents and burglary attempts begin to shadow Sabine and those she loves, she knows there is a troubling mystery ahead. With Helena’s antics and binge eating (Who knew ghosts could eat!) Sabine has no choice but to hold on to a wild ride of a time, while trying desperately to ignore the feelings Beau ignites in her. She’s so scared of dying, that she’s forgetting to live. Good thing Helena, and Beau are there to keep things wild and interesting.
I absolutely love this series. I find myself liking the prickly Helena who is no closer to finding her believed murderer. Her hijinks and crazy fashion experiments are at once hilarious and project moments where you realize that Helena is not all bad. Sabine is a likable character who is going through a horrible time and dealing well with it when she meets Beau. Instantly attracted she fights it believing that it wouldn’t be fair to Beau for him to care for her when she doesn’t have a secure future. There are also lovely visits with character from the first books in the series, Maryse and Mildred. It’s going to be very hard to wait for the next installment in this series, where some mysteries may have been solved, but a few more have been discovered. Please write quickly Ms. DeLeon!
More about this book (and others) and author may be found at: www.janadeleon.com
Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman is an alluring look at the battle between good and evil and whether there is a middle ground. Set in the bright lights of Las Vegas things aren’t always as they seem in the city of illusions and tricks.
Trixa Iktomi seems like a normal bar keep. One who sells information, and seeks it. She has taken a few strays in under her protection over the years and still has an eye on them and sometimes helps as they hunt and kill demons. But Trixa is searching, for her brother’s killer and the Light of Life, an artifact both Heaven and Hell will fight and kill to own. Trixa finds a lead and is threatened, by Angels and Demons to give one of them the Light of Life. However, Trixa has a few “tricks” up her sleeve, and family to avenge and protect. After all, this is Las Vegas, where almost everything has a price and illusions abound.
I truly enjoyed this book. Trixa is an unlikely heroine, with her grey view of the world. She is bad and good and very protective of those she considers her “family”. She is also a smart capable woman and I enjoyed her dark humor and self-depreciating vanity. I hope there are more books to come featuring Trixa, or even another like her.
*This review was based on an ARC of Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman.
*You may find more about this author and books at: www.robthurman.net
My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent is a fresh new addition to YA Paranormal. With an off-beat heroine in a reluctant Bean Sidhe, a Banshee, named Kaylee Cavanaugh who accidentally discovers what she is while still a teenager in High School. The only person willing to listen to her, and help her discover the truth, and the only person who can keep her calm, when she has the urge to scream,is her new boyfriend Nash Hudson. While Kaylee just wants to be a normal teenage girl, with a cute new boyfriend, she’s glad to know she’s not crazy!
However, she is curious as to why several teenage girls are dropping dead around town with no apparent cause of death. With Nash’s help, she’ll tackle talking to a Reaper (news flash- the sickle and scythe are bogus) and try to find an answer to the mystery of who is killing them, and why the girls were killed and their souls stolen. Add in her absentee father who shows up to answer questions from her past, she’ll need all the help she can get to not only find the answers she seeks, but for her family to survive.
I absolutely loved reading a book with a non-traditional paranormal story-line. Who needs witches, werewolves and vampires when you can read a story with a Banshee heroine! Rachel Vincent breathes new life into the paranormal genre with this fresh idea and brilliant and cheeky heroine. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in her Soul Screamers series, My Soul To Save, due for release January 1, 2010. I can only hope the rest of the Paranormal genre perks up and takes up new ideas such as this enjoyable read.
You can find more about this series and the author on her website: www.rachelvincent.com
