A nice entry point to an expansive saga.
A federal agent with the ability to read minds finds herself sucked into a world of vampires, immortals, and true love in the sixth installment of Duvall’s (On the Hunt, 2015, etc.) Immortal Guardians series.
Heather Lane is a gifted psychic who covertly uses her abilities to aid numerous government agencies. But for the past year, she's been haunted by dreams of an attractive immortal man locked in battle with a group of bloodthirsty vampires—dreams that soon become reality. Brandishing her Walther PPQ automatic pistol, she joins the battle and helps the darkly dressed hero, Ethan, defeat the bloodsuckers, opening herself up to the violent world of the superpowered Immortal Guardians, of which Ethan is a member. They boast impressive fighting skills and abilities such as healing, teleportation, and telekinesis; along with a network of human supporters, they protect humanity from vampires. Heather and Ethan fall quickly in love (and lust). Meanwhile, the Guardians’ greatest villain, the mad immortal Gershom, has been sending vampiric strike forces to attack American military bases. His motives are a mystery, but it’s not the only puzzle the Guardians must solve: everything they know about mind readers suggests that Heather should not have her gift of precognition. They must discover whether Gershom is manipulating her or if someone else is pulling their strings. This series boasts numerous characters, a deep back story, and extensive worldbuilding. Duvall cleverly uses Heather’s presence as a way to easily introduce new readers to the fictional world, as other characters explain things to her. She’s a capable protagonist, never falling into the tedious role of damsel in distress. Ethan will seem familiar to sci-fi and fantasy fans, as he boasts the glowing charms of Twilight’s Edward Cullen and the vicious durability of the X-Men’s Wolverine, but he lacks a personality of his own, other than an awkward possessiveness that the author never explores. This is a contrast to his fellow immortals, who establish their characters upon appearance and foster an amiable sense of family when they’re together. The story provides lots of nods to previous installments (involving aliens and angels) as it sets up a looming threat of a coming apocalypse, both of which are likely to make readers interested in further exploring the series.
A nice entry point to an expansive saga.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4201-2982-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Zebra
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
To her usual mix of love, mystery, and passion, Roberts (Sanctuary, 1997, etc.)—author of 115 romancers in some 17 years—adds Renaissance art and a decidedly Medici-like family: the Joneses of Maine. Dr. Miranda Jones, nearly six feet with flaming red hair and a glacial reserve, is an archeometrist who specializes in the analyzing and dating of Renaissance bronze sculpture. Miranda hopes to secure a world-class reputation for herself by authenticating a 15th-century statue of the Dark Lady, one of the mistresses of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the undiscovered work of a young Michelangelo. Miranda's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Standford-Jones, the emotionally remote director of the Standjo art lab in Florence, has summoned her daughter from the family's Victorian cliffside home in Jones Point, Maine, to test the statue. Meanwhile, Miranda's father, equally remote, is an archaeologist who spends more time at his digs than at home. In fact, no one in the Jones family has made a successful run at marriage, a failure that Miranda and her alcoholic brother Andrew call the Jones curse. As for the statue, when it's discovered to be a fake, Miranda sets out to prove that someone stole the original. In this she's helped by gorgeous art thief Ryan Boldari (half-Italian, half-Irish), who's come to Jones Point to steal yet another bronze, which also turns out to be a forgery. Ryan's plan had been to use Miranda as a pawn, but now, naturally, he finds himself falling hard for her. While the two search for bronzes, a standard-issue romance-novel psychotic is stalking them. Most readers will twig to the killer's identity: Here, as always, Roberts's sexual tension is more compelling than her suspense. Perhaps it's time to take a sabbatical from the pink sweatshop and turn her considerable wit and narrative skills to a more original piece of work.
Pub Date: March 23, 1998
ISBN: 0-399-14387-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
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