Bright, fizzy, sexy and amusing—the perfect antidote to an attack of post-summer blues.
First entry in an urban fantasy series, from newcomer Grimes.
Ciel Halligan is an “aura adaptor,” meaning she can take on the exact appearance and demeanor of another person. Professionally, this ability enables her, with a little research, to undetectably replace her clients in situations where the clients find it inconvenient to be themselves. The fat paychecks don’t come amiss either. The only blot on the horizon is the smothering, overprotective attitude of cousin Billy (being adopted, he’s not actually related) and CIA operative Mark; both share her talent, and neither thinks anything of snooping through her files. Ciel also has a huge and longstanding crush on Mark, which makes for amatory complications. Ciel’s current assignment is a plum: masquerading as Mina, a stunningly attractive society girl, so Mina can take care of other business while Trey, her gorgeous hunk of an about-to-be fiance, pops the question in a luxury bungalow on a tropical resort island. Fun stuff, not to mention the prospect of hopping into the sack with Trey—until Trey suddenly vanishes and the bungalow explodes into flinders. Whodunit, and why? Well, a bunch of modern-day Vikings who, it turns out, have designs other than just adopting manly postures and dressing their womenfolk in early medieval garb. Ciel, despite the strictures imposed by Billy and Mark, refuses to be sidelined and gets on with her own investigation. Despite Mark’s continuing allure, Ciel—in between getting half-drowned and shot at—notices that Billy, beneath all his teasing and banter, is pretty hot, too. But can she convince them that she is, in fact, competent to run her own life?
Bright, fizzy, sexy and amusing—the perfect antidote to an attack of post-summer blues.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3180-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and knotty merger of horror, fantasy, and realism.
A tragedy thrusts a mourning father into peculiar, otherworldly corners of New York City.
When Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian, it feels like both reward and challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth (in a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly after. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian’s murder. LaValle has a knack for blending social realism with genre tropes (The Ballad of Black Tom, 2012, etc.), and this blend of horror story and fatherhood fable is surprising and admirably controlled. Though the plot is labyrinthine, it ultimately connects that first edition (“It’s just a story about a good father, right?”), Emma’s motivations, and the fate of their son, with enough room to contemplate everyday racism, the perils of personal technology, and the bookselling business as well. Built on brief, punchy chapters, the novel frames Apollo’s travels as a New York adventure tale, taking him from the basements of the Bronx to a small island in the East River that’s become a haven for misfit families to a seemingly sleepy neighborhood in Queens that’s the center of the story’s malevolence. But though the narrative takes Apollo to “magical places, where the rules of the world are different,” he’s fully absorbed the notion that fairy tales are manifestations of our deepest real-world anxieties. In that regard, LaValle has successfully delivered a tale of wonder and thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a parent.
A smart and knotty merger of horror, fantasy, and realism.Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8129-9594-7
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Simply brilliant.
Cat and Griffin continue their quest to bring just leadership to the three realms but must navigate hostile landscapes, magical creatures, and even a gladiator-style to-the-death battle before they can overcome the malevolent ruler of Tarva to unite it with Sinta.
Bouchet’s sophomore title (A Promise of Fire, 2016), the second in a planned trilogy, is as consummately crafted as the first. Cat has found happiness with her love, Griffin—the warrior who overcame the vicious, greedy Sinta royalty, winning his family the right to rule the kingdom—yet has hidden her true identity as the Lost Princess of Fisa, one of the other two realms of Thalyria. But Cat is more than a princess or warrior; more even than the legendary Kingmaker foretold in prophecies. In fact, as the blood heir to Fisa, she is a demigoddess. In Griffin’s mind she is the key to bringing the three realms together under their combined rule. In her mind, she’s the “harbinger of the end. Destroyer of realms.” Cat blames herself for the deaths of her siblings and is unable to see herself as a hero in any way, but when Griffin and his small band of warriors decide to take her advice and travel to find a magical race of creatures to help protect their borders, she refuses to stay behind. The quest leads them to the Chaos Wizard, a world of snow and ice, a maze navigated with magic thread, a classic riddle, and a battle with a Cyclops—with unexpected allies and a few jaw-dropping moments of true deus ex machina that make it clear Cat has some extraordinarily powerful friends in high places and that it looks like the gods are smiling on Cat and Griffin’s plans for a new world order. With breathtaking storytelling, high-octane action and adventure, intense romance, and threads to ancient Greek mythology that both ground the worldbuilding and spin it in new, imaginative directions, Bouchet sets the bar for high-concept fantasy romance.
Simply brilliant.Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-2604-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
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