Tainted Luck by Cynthia Austin

The best word to describe Tainted Luck is “fun.” This book reads like a young adult novel, but isn't marketed as one. Perhaps that's because it's fun for adults to read, too.

It is a paranormal novel, but the paranormal aspects were not what I expected when I started reading. That isn’t the only twist in this story. There are other cases where the plot leads a reader in one direction then reveals something unexpected. I love surprises like that.

This is the story of Levi, a young, high school student who is infatuated with Stacy Klein, a “blonde bombshell.” But Levi’s interest in Stacy is thrown off track when Taylor James, a very forceful young lady, sits next to him in history class. This sounds like a plot we’ve all heard before, but it’s a mistake to think like that. Their infatuation triangle goes its own way.

The book is written from the point of view of Levi Kast. He has been blessed with exceptional athletic prowess, but is more interested in chess than sports. These dual skills affect his relationships with Taylor and Stacy, but are much more important to his relationship with his father. We get to watch Levi as the events around him push him to take charge of his own life.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys paranormal, high school novels.

The Devil in the Wide City by Justin Alcala

If you like novels with supernatural creatures then The Devil in the Wide City is for you. This book has warlocks, witches, ghosts, nosferatu (vampires), an archangel, monsters patterned after old rock stars, and devils (although one of the characters says, “...devil is really offensive. It implies a make-believe creature with horns and a pitchfork.”).

The novel is set in Chicago and takes the reader on a trip to some of the well known landmarks, including the Ancient Egyptian exhibit at the Field Museum. It also contains a number of intricately described battle scenes and some very funny lines. Here's one of my favorites:

Soon I was adorned in a plain grey t-shirt that simply read, “I may be crazy, but at least I have each other.”

I loved the relationship between Nedonius, an ex-corruptor from Hell who is trying to win his position back and Chelsea Zalenski, a woman who runs an occult bookstore. Although these two certainly show off their battle skills, their relationship is also filled with flirtations and snarky comments that make the couple seem real in this world of the unreal.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy supernatural stories with a good sense of humor.

SAFE HARBOR by Valerie Davisson

SAFE HARBOR: Logan Book 5 by Valerie Davisson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Safe Harbor is a wonderfully written crime novel with interesting characters and beautiful descriptions of the scenery along the Pacific coast of Oregon.

Logan, the main character in the novel, is on vacation with her boyfriend, her adult daughter, her son-in-law, and her grandson. They have traveled from California to go fishing and whale watching in the small town of Depoe Bay, Oregon. Unfortunately, a murder occurs in this normally peaceful town and Logan gets caught up in the investigation.

I was particularly impressed with the detail used to describe some of the minor characters such as a young homeless woman who witnessed the crime and also with the way the writer gave us an interesting subplot concerning Logan’s background that had nothing to do with the main issue, but helped make Logan a fascinating character. Valerie Davisson took the time to make her novel work on multiple levels.

Safe Harbor is book 5 in Davisson’s Logan McKenna Series, but it is the first of her novels I've read. She did a good job of giving me the background information I needed without interrupting the flow of the story. Still, I would recommend other readers start with the first book. If the others come even close to the quality of this one, the time would be well spent reading the entire series.



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The Weight of the Heart by Susana Aikin

The Weight of the Heart by Susana Aikin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Weight of the Heart is a beautifully written story of three sisters, their domineering father and the house in Madrid where the girls came of age. The novel is told from the point of view of the youngest sister, Anna and within a unique situation that makes the story fascinating.

The story of the three sisters is expressed with clarity, as Susana Aikin carefully explores their relationships with each other, with their lovers, and most importantly, with their overbearing father. But that said, there is also another soul that is explored, the soul of a house.

The time has come for the sisters to sell the home they inherited. They put the house on the market after their father has been gone for a couple of years, but they don't find a buyer. All three of the women believe this failure is due to the fall-out from the conflicts and tragedies that occurred within those walls. Julia, the middle child, finds someone she believes can solve this issue.

“This time, though, Julia has gone over the top. She’s been hammering me [Anna] about bringing in this woman to cleanse our haunted house. And insisting that this person whom she calls a santera, an energy healer of sorts, and whom, mark you, she is picking up from a nursing home this morning, has supernatural powers capable of overcoming today’s conked-out real estate market and propitiating a sale. What word did she use? A limpieza?”

Anna, Julia, and the oldest sister, Marion, meet at the house with Delia, the santera, and her assistant, Constantine. Delia and Constantine begin the process of cleansing, while the sisters are left to ponder the memories the house contains. The most important of these are the ways their father affected their lives.

“His love was in his fight to provide for us: food, a beautiful house, a bountiful education. His gifts, money and things money could buy. But his passion could only be channeled through jealousy, through possession. And loving him back was difficult, a balancing act between standoffish devotion and a terror of disappointing him. Even as girls we knew that we had a wounded animal for a father.”

Although The Weight of the Heart explores Anna's dysfunctional family in a captivating manner, there is more to Susana Aikin's novel. The calm, dedication of Delia, the santera, to her spiritual mission is riveting. So are the relationships of the sisters with their lovers, each unique, yet sharing a common tragedy. And, as with Aikin's first novel, We Shall See the Sky Sparkling, her poetic prose is a joy to read.


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The Incident by John Montesano

The Incident by John Montesano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you enjoy crime novels with lots of action and suspense The Incident is for you. The characters in this well-written novel are complex and fascinating, especially its main protagonist. This is a hard book to put down with enough tension in the plot to keep the pages turning.

The story is about Chase Barnes, a police officer who has an incident in his background that has affected him psychologically. His inability to get his act together is so extreme, the upper echelon of the Paterson, NJ police force has decided to let him go. But his captain, who is also his friend, suggests that he go out on his own. Chase can become a private detective and the force will help him with resources as well as by throwing cases his way. This plan seems like something he's well-suited for and, since he doesn't have any other options, that's what he does.

Chase's wife, who is a public school teacher, asks him to look into one of her students, a twelve-year-old boy whom she feels is getting into trouble. Coincidentally, Captain Fitzgerald asks Chase to look into the same boy, who has now gone missing. The book takes off from there, covering the case he's working on as well as slowly revealing the specifics of the incident in his background. John Montesano clearly knows the politics of the public school system in Paterson New Jersey and has thoroughly researched the politics in that city's police department. The book has enough facts to give it a realistic feel.

Although there is some graphically written violence, that is to be expected in this genre. I recommend this book to anyone who likes action packed thrillers.



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Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs

Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summer at Willow Lake is a fun romance novel that touches some serious themes. The story is set at Camp Kioga in the Catskills. The camp has been owned and operated by the Bellamy family for multiple generations, but it has been shut down for the past nine years. When the novel begins, Olivia Bellamy, a twenty-seven-year-old business woman who owns a company that prepares (or fluffs) homes to be put on the market, is approached by her grandmother, Jane Bellamy. Jane's plan is to hire Olivia to renovate the camp so that she and her husband, Charles, can hold their golden anniversary party there.

Olivia is good at her work, so her business is very successful. However, she's not very good at her relationships with men. Something always goes wrong. Shortly before Olivia's Nana approaches her, Olivia suffers her latest breakup. Although renovating a camp that's been shuttered for so long is a project that will be challenging, an opportunity to get out of the city for the summer is just what she needs. She agrees to handle the project.

One of the first things Olivia needs to do when she arrives at the camp is to hire a contractor. Of course, there's only one contractor in the small town and he turns out to be the person who broke her heart one summer when they were both counselors at the camp.

The plot of Summer at Willow Lake is centered around Olivia's relationship through what is happening in the present as well as flashbacks to her time as a teenager. Yet the story also branches off to touch other romances, including events that happened to Olivia's father back when he was at the camp. I liked way these other stories were woven into the main narrative.

Although the book has some very humorous sections, it also deals with some serious topics such as alcohol addiction and the effects of divorce on children.


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Dim Fairy Tales by Justin Alcala

Dim Fairy Tales by Justin Alcala
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dim Fairy Tales is the story of Sean, a half human, half sidhe (or fairy) boy with a passion for comic books. With a main character like Sean it's no surprise that this extremely creative novel reads a bit like a mix of The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man. The story captured me. When my schedule forced me to set the book to the side, I always looked forward to picking it up again.

Justin Alcala has created a world in The Land of Change (where the sidhe exist) that is ruled by an oligarchy composed of the heads of the leaders of four royal families: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. In many ways the oligarchs have personalities that reflect the traits of their seasons. Sean has royal blood on his sidhe side, from the Autumn Monarchy, but is not treated well by his grandmother, Queen Aveline. The scenes in the Firbolg lands (where the humans exist) occur primarily in Ireland and Chicago and are also populated with strange characters.

The book is filled with battles, enchantments, hatred, love and a sense of humor that reflects the comic-book influence. Overall, it is a fun read.

I could not find any reference to Dim Fairy Tales being the first part of a series, but the ending left me wanting more. I hope a sequel is in the works.





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Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love and Other Consolation Prizes is set mostly in Seattle, but the international backgrounds of the main characters are part of what makes this story so fascinating. The book tells the tale of Ernest Young, the illegitimate son of an American missionary and a Chinese woman who was too poor to take care of her children. Ernest's mother had no choice but to send him to America, hoping he'd have a better life there.

The novel starts in 1962, after Ernest has spent the vast majority of his life in Seattle, married to Gracie, a woman he met when he was a child. Gracie is suffering from dementia, so when Juju, one of their two daughters, who is also a reporter, decides to write a story about their lives, Juju goes to Ernest to learn about her parents' experiences. The story moves back and forth between Ernest's present life and his memories of the past.

The 1962 World's Fair (The Century 21 Exposition) in Seattle is generating much curiosity about the 1909 World's Fair in the same city (The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition). One of the events at the 1909 fair was the raffling of a half Chinese boy, supposedly to a “good home.” Juju believes this bit of history has something to do with her father, which is part of the motivation behind the article she's working on. She's right, but there's more to the story than what she can imagine and Ernest is worried about the reaction of his neighbors and friends if the entire story comes out.

Back in 1909, Ernest ends up as a houseboy at an upscale brothel where he meets two girls his own age, Maisie, the daughter of the brothel's madam, and Fahn, one of the maids. As these three young people grow, a love triangle develops, but one with a strong friendship between all. Part of the fun of this story comes with learning what happened in the past through clues presented in the present.

Jamie Ford is an excellent writer. I recommend this book and I will be reading more of his work.



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Bum Lambs and Red Tractors by Virginia Babcock

Bum Lambs and Red Tractors by Virginia Babcock
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The beauty of Bum Lambs and Red Tractors is its slow, easygoing pace. It makes you feel as if you've been transported to rural Utah, where you get to watch the lives of some interesting and very real, people. It is a love story, but it's also packed with information about farm life and a world among some members of the Mormon church.

I enjoyed standing beside Leon and Marion, watching them fall in love. Leon was attracted to Marion as soon as he saw her and knew he wanted to get to know her better. But Marion reacted differently. She had been spending much of her life evaluating her situation. Did she want to stay on a farm like the one she'd been raised on? Did she want to go back to school? She had a been an engineering major, but hadn't finished her degree. What would she have to sacrifice if she tied her life to someone else's plans? And what would she give up if she didn't? Their romance was real, because they both recognized their needs and desires as separate people.

My father grew up on a Kansas farm and spent his college days working hard to get off that farm, but in his final years he seemed to miss the life he'd left. I saw some of him in both Marion and Leon, which meant a lot to me. I also enjoyed the way their lives were shaped by their church. I don't want to give the wrong impression here. Bum Lambs and Red Tractors is NOT a preachy novel, but it does show how a strong church family can affect someone's life. I loved that, too.

I recommend Bum Lambs and Red Tractors for anyone who enjoys books with lots of detail and well written characters.


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R.S.V.P.: A Novel by Ruchira Khanna

R.S.V.P.: A Novel by Ruchira Khanna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

R.S.V.P. is a novel about forgiveness and understanding, with an emphasis on the latter. Jay is a young man, originally from India, who runs a tea cafe in California. He's a tight-fisted business man, proud of the ka-ching sound of his cash register and of the way he can make money from special events at his shop.

Jay has buried himself in his work because of two emotionally damaging events in his past, the loss of his father, who left their family when Jay was a teenager and the end of a relationship with a woman he loved. When the novel begins, Jay has found meaning and purpose in success, which he measures in dollars and cents. Gina, Jay's cousin, shows up and takes note of Jay's mercenary tendencies. But it isn't until Jay experiences an unexpected event and meets some unusual people that his life finally begins to change.

Ruchira Khanna's language is somewhat formal. For example she might say “...keeps inquiring about my welfare...” instead of “...keeps asking how I am doing...” It took me a while to get used to her style, but once I did the book read well. I liked the way each chapter begins with a quote from a different well-known person: writers, singers, philosophers, etc. The quotes appear to be carefully chosen and did a fine job of focusing my attention on what the author wants to say about life. But what I liked the most about the novel is what it says about the need to understand someone's actions before forgiveness can be achieved. There's also a subtext about finding balance between personal needs and family obligations. I'm not sure the author intended that message, but it was there for me.

R.S.V.P. is a good read for people who like a book with a message.


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The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Flight Attendant is another well-written book by Chris Bohjalian. This time he's chosen to write a thriller, focused on a woman whose self destructive behavior has put her in a dangerous position. Cassandra Bowden wakes up in a Dubai hotel room next to a murdered man after an alcohol fueled one night stand. She experienced a black-out during the previous night, can't recall exactly what happened and doesn't trust the local police. The only thing she's got going for her is the fact that her flight back to the states is scheduled for that day. So Cassandra cleans up as well as she can and leaves the scene. The novel takes off from there.

The Flight Attendant is written primarily from two points of view: Cassandra and another woman, Elena Orlov, who had been tracking the victim before he met Cassandra. Both these women have self destructive aspects to their characters, but also have aspects to their personalities that draw a reader to them. I found Cassandra to be particularly well-written and interesting. She uses alcohol and sex to forget her self loathing, but it is those two failings which cause her to hate herself. I found myself rooting for this flawed woman, which is why the thriller worked so well.

I thought the ending was somewhat contrived, but it worked and the book still deserves a five star rating.


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Consumed by Justin Alcala

Consumed by Justin Alcala
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love novels with characters who change over the course of the book. The character of Detective Sergeant Nathaniel Brannick in Consumed fits that bill well. He has changed significantly prior to the start of the story, due to the long illness and death of his wife, Catherine. He continues to change as the pages turn and he is forced to respond to situations he never imagined possible. However, Consumed goes a step further. The novel itself changes. It begins as a detective novel set in nineteenth century London, with a number of similarities to the Sherlock Holmes stories, but ends reading more like Dracula. The process is a slow one with various paranormal elements added along the way. I liked this unusual style.

Brannick is a wonderful character. The depth of his love for his departed wife is clearly shown through her death's effect on his relationships with others, especially with his partner, Detective Sergeant James Davis. Davis and Brannick are friends, but they have very different work styles and personal ethics. Davis is often unfaithful to his wife, which is particularly irritating to Brannick who would give anything to have his wife back. Davis is also crude and often jumps to conclusions.

Consumed is very well written, with a good amount of attention to detail. Here's an example when Justin Alcala introduces Davis:

A pink-faced fellow with a long mustache, jolly grin and a yellowed porkpie hat bobbed his bushy brow farcically at me.

There's a lot of graphic blood and guts throughout the book, which is to be expected in both detective and vampire novels.

I recommend Consumed to people who enjoy paranormal mysteries.


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