THE CORAL THIEF by Rebecca Stott
Book Quote:
“ Although I was beginning to question everything I had ever known, even the definition of species, the full implications of transformism still alarmed me. Without belief in order and structure and providence, where would we be? The imagined godlessness of such a world frightened me.”
Book Review:
Review by Poornima Apte (NOV 01, 2009)
Well before Charles Darwin presented the theory of evolution in 1859, there were scientists who thought along similar lines—who believed that species “were mutable and that Nature was on the move.” Much like scientists who came even earlier and set forth what were considered equally radical ideas, these people too—many of whom were in France—were labeled godless heretics.
When Daniel Connor, a freshly minted medical student, travels to Paris in July 1815, his professor in Edinburgh had already warned him about these “heretics”—also known as transformists. “Paris is riddled with infidels, Professor Jameson had warned me back in Edingburgh. ‘They are poets, those French transformists, not men of science,’” Connor recalls.
November 1, 2009
Tags: 1800s, Heist, Paris, Sciences Posted in: France, Time Period Fiction 
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VICIOUS CIRCLE by Mike Carey
Book Quote:
“If I could save the child, then I would save her, but I can’t and won’t allow her soul to become the mechanism through which hell’s mightiest general is unleashed upon the world.”
Book Review:
Review by Jana L. Perskie (OCT 31, 2009)
Vicious Circle is a wonderfully entertaining, fantasy thriller a la noir. The novel abounds with otherworldly creatures – demons, ghosts, zombies, a succubus, lycanthropes, (loup-garous) and one of the Devil’s highest ranking minions. What makes the novel really unique, however, is the humor. Felix, (”Fix”), Castor is one of the wittiest protagonists I have come across in a long while. And many of Mike Carey’s other characters are real originals. Some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud while shaking in my proverbial boots.
October 31, 2009
Tags: Gothic, Humorous, London, Mike Carey, Noir, Sleuth Posted in: Gothic, Humorous, Noir, Sleuths Series, Speculative (Beyond Reality), United Kingdom No Comments
FROM DEAD TO WORSE by Charlaine Harris
Book Quote:
“I was making a neat arrangement of liquor bottles on the folding table behind the portable bar when Halleigh Robinson rushed up, her normally sweet face flushed and tear-streaked. Since she was supposed to be getting married within an hour and was still wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, she got my immediate attention.
‘Sookie!’ she said, rounding the bar to grab my arm. ‘You have to help me.’
I’d already helped her by putting on my bartending clothes instead of the pretty dress I’d planned on wearing. ‘ Sure,’ I said, imagining Halleigh wanted me to make her a special drink– though if I’d listened in to her thoughts, I’d have known differently already.”
Book Review:
Review by Jana L. Perskie (OCT 31, 2009)
Hey! Sookie fans – she’s back in her 8th adventure(s) with all the supernaturals – weres, vamps, shapshifters, faes, witches, and more!
Yep! Sookie, the 26 year-old telepathic barmaid extraordinaire from Bon Temps, Louisiana, has returned in From Dead To Worse. Faced with new “challenges,” Sookie seems to mature in this novel. She acquires more of a sense of self and becomes, at the book’s end, a more confident and cautious person.
October 31, 2009
Tags: scifi, Sleuth, Vampire Posted in: Gothic, New Orleans, Sleuths Series, Speculative (Beyond Reality) No Comments
THE DEVIL’S COMPANY by David Liss
Book Quote:
“I doubted the soul-saving qualities of the comptor, for a sodomite sent to spend the night in that fetid prison could well expect endless hours of abuse. In such places, the time-honored tradition required that the most hardened criminals force the sodomites to consume large quantities of human waste.”
Book Review:
Review by Lynn Harnett (OCT 30, 2009)
Benjamin Weaver, Jew, thieftaker, and former pugilist, enjoys a certain notoriety and standing in 1722 London. As a Jew he is accustomed to derision and discrimination and has only in recent years come to bask in a sense of family and community. As a champion boxer he is a bit of a celebrity; feared and admired – a natural for the freewheeling, dubious profession of thieftaker, the 18th century private eye.
October 30, 2009
Tags: 1700s, Historical, London Posted in: Award Winning Author, Time Period Fiction, United Kingdom No Comments
THE VOWS OF SILENCE by Susan Hill
Book Quote:
“Love? He was bewildered. Something which had begun in a half-hearted way, something he had dared himself to do, had turned him inside out and he had no experience, no knowledge, no emotional resources to draw on for help. He felt churned up, with anxiety, confusion, regret even at having started this in the first place.”
Book Review:
Review by Eleanor Bukowsky (OCT 29, 2009)
In The Vows of Silence, the fourth Simon Serrailler mystery, Susan Hill picks up where she left off in The Risk of Darkness. Detective Chief Superintendent Serrailler remains a loner who relishes his job and enjoys his passion for drawing. His warm and compassionate sister, Dr. Cat Deerbon, her husband, Chris, and their three small children return from their nine-month stay in Australia, and Simon resumes his old habit of dropping by to hang out with Cat and her family. However, there are changes in store for the residents of the cathedral town of Lafferton, and not all of them are pleasant.
October 29, 2009
Tags: Foreign Detective, Risk, Serial Killer, Sleuth Posted in: Award Winning Author, Sleuths Series, United Kingdom No Comments
THE SPIRITUALIST by Megan Chance
Book Quote:
“Peter looked shamefaced. I supposed he had no wish to tell her that he’d refused to tell me much at all since he confessed that he’d been speaking to the spirit of his dead mother. It chagrined me still to think of how I’d laughed, how certain I’d been that he was teasing me. What I knew of spirit circles came from the articles in the newspaper about the New York Conference’s Sunday meetings in Dodsworth Hall, where spirit rappings and table tiltings were all the fashion; and the summaries given of lectures by the infamous Fox sisters, who had brought spiritualism to the world’s attention. I had no patience for such things, and I don’t suppose I could be blamed for mocking him, but I’d spent the weeks since trying to apologize. I was thankful Peter had forgiven me enough to bring me here tonight, though I was still uncertain why.”
Book Review:
Review by Lori Lamothe (OCT 28, 2009)
Megan Chance’s The Spiritualist is one of those books that exerts a strange hypnotic power over its readers (or at least this reader). Set in New York City in 1857, the novel offers a bit of everything: gothic thrills, mysterious deaths, paranormal experiences, rich historical detail, and even a dose of erotically charged romance. Chance, who is also the author of An Inconvenient Wife and Susannah Morrow, is a skilled writer who deftly manages to create a convincing historical backdrop, interesting characters and an engaging plot. Though the novel languished on my shelf forever, once I finally picked it up I found it difficult to put down.
October 28, 2009
Tags: Gothic, Historical, murder mystery Posted in: Gothic, New York City, Time Period Fiction No Comments
