For a Few Demons More (Rachel Morgan, Book 5)

Amazon.com

With her action-packed Hollows series, featuring former bounty hunter--and mistress of the dark arts--Rachel Morgan, Kim Harrison has become one of the hottest authors in the incredibly popular genre of sexy supernaturalism. In her latest Hollows tale, For a Few Dollars More, Rachel unleashes all kinds of undead fury on the greater Cincinnati area when she tries to track down a serial killer. To catch up on the Hollows series so far, and to see the music that has inspired the stories, see below.

Follow the Hollows

Dead Witch Walking (Book 1)
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Book 2)
Every Which Way but Dead (Book 3)
A Fistful of Charms (Book 4)

Music Is the Muse

For Kim Harrison, music inspires her stories, and especially her characters. In her exclusive Music Is the Muse list for us, she reveals some favorite records that have provided the source, and the soul, for Rachel, Ivy, Trent, and more of her passionate and powerful characters. Among her muses:

Bleed Like Me, Garbage
With Teeth, Nine Inch Nails
Fallen, Evanescence

Book Description

Despite dating one vampire and living with another, Rachel Morgan has always managed to stay just ahead of trouble . . . until now.

A fiendish serial killer stalks the Hollows, claiming victims across society, and the resulting terror ignites a vicious Inderland gang war. And while the ancient artifact Rachel is hiding may be the key to stopping the murderer, revealing it could also create a battle to the death among the numerous supernatural races that live in and around Cincinnati.

For every action has its price, and when the vampire master Piscary is set free and the demonic Algaliarept dares to walk openly under the sun, even Rachel Morgan can't hide forever.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!.......2007-10-02

I love this series immensely. The characters are believable and fun. Kim Harrison knows how to write a story. I've love all of her previous books and this one is no different. The plot is intense. It's the kind of book you can't put down. I love how Rachel is portrayed. I look foward to the next ones!

OMGOSH! Amazing!.......2007-09-17

Everytime I think a book cant get any better i get shocked and this book was awesome!! I love Rachel although im a HUGE fan of IVEY! she rocks. I love how this book plays out i think its the best in the series so far!

She is getting better and better.......2007-09-17

Ms Harrison is getting better with each installation. Can't wait for her next book!. The addition of a "few more demons" was brilliant and diversified the storyline nicely.

For a Few Demons More.......2007-09-05

This entire series rocks!!! Pick them up and you can't put them down. The cast of characters are memorable and believable. I had given up on urban fantasy, Laurel K Hamilton will do that to you. (that's called fair warning folks)

However Kim Harrison saved the day. I have all the Rachel Morgan books and have my calender marked as to when I can get the next one coming out. The plots MOVE.. and in unexpected ways at times. While relationships are there, Ms. Harrison doesn't let it become the whole story (thank the goddess for that!)

This books are a must read for all urban fantasy fans!!

Highly Recomended.......2007-08-23

I think this book is the best in the series so far. It seems like Kim Harrison books just get better and better. I love this series and I'm waiting feverishly for the next one. If the rest of the books in her series are any indication, then the next book will be even better than this one. I really liked this book because of the brilliant mix of humor, horror, fantasy, and characters that are so well described I feel like I know them. I've never read an author who could shock me, scare me, then make me laugh out loud so many times in the same book. Trust me, this one is worth several all-nighters.

Average customer rating:

Fresh Take on an Old Legend
Why the hype?
endless description, little to no plot
Skillful Riff on Dracula Legend
Great vampire story

The Historian
Elizabeth Kostova
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Rayovac Reading Light: Pillow Light (Colors May Vary)

ASIN: 0316011770
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Amazon.com

As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.

Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler

Book Description

If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller The Historian.The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor." When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive. The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also.As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler

Customer Reviews:

Fresh Take on an Old Legend.......2007-10-10

I have to come out and honestly say how much I enjoyed this novel. Which is not to say I consider it flawless, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth reading. Seems to have engendered some pretty polarized views, from what I read of the many, many reviews, some of which left me wondering if there is a portion of the reading public that reads as a subliminal means of getting really p.o.'d! But actually, I should be very grateful that literature and reading still evoke strong emotions,otherwise it would not be art worth having.

Personally, as someone who is better read than travelled, I very much enjoyed the "travelogue" part of the novel, especially since it dealt with a part of Europe I am little versed in. I thought all that was quite seamlessly woven into the larger tale. Also thought the use of the letter form (a dying art in itself!) served well to take a certain perspective, at once distant and intimate, to convey the pathos and heart of the story. Now then, yes, the multiple perspectives and the long reach of the details to be kept track of should surely have been edited some. The excellent novel _Mortal Love_ by Elizabeth Hand does a much better job of this.

I didn't chafe against the pace of this novel either, I approached it like a long train ride I could muse through, not bored a bit, but maybe this type of book just doesn't jive with the 21st century jeezles we all live with! Certainly felt the Dracula character to have been the most interesting I have ever encountered, because he felt so medieval, and so eastern European, not the suave and sinister Count we find in Stoker, but very a much a creature of his own time. Yes, I would've loved more insight into his motivations, his plans for his future, and how that may involve the rest of the unwitting world. Certainly by the end, there is a very unsettling sense that someone is not through plaguing the third generation of people to have suffered great loss from the machinations of this deadly Impaler Prince.

Lastly, I am beginning to feel some books and authors suffer from the publishing hype they receive, and are billed to the public as something they are not. I am glad I read the book after all that died down and I could just experience it for what I thought it was.

Why the hype?.......2007-10-10

This was an ambitious book that seemed at first to justify the breathless reviews. A third of the way through, I realized that it would a chore to finish. And it was. It devolved into another drawn out vampire story with all the improbable history and invevitable final show-down. I was looking for another book equal to the one I'd recently finished -- "The Shadow of the Wind." This wasn't it.

endless description, little to no plot.......2007-10-05

I borrowed this book, and I'm glad for that. Had I bought it I would have been quite upset. Essentially I had to put it down as its dragging inability to keep a plot going amidst the flowery descriptions of ruins and quaint European towns beat any ability to keep the story going into the ground. Once you think the story picks itself up, it's immediately lost again in the narrator's flighty attempt to recall back story, which itself gets lost among letters and other third party recounting that, naturally, gets pushed further and further off in favor of physical description. I couldn't make it to the halfway point in this book for that reason alone. If one is looking for a romantic travelogue, this just might be your book. If it's plot and storytelling you're looking for go elsewhere.

Skillful Riff on Dracula Legend.......2007-09-29

Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian" is long and discursive, but it's never dull. It's a sprawling, old-fashioned, epistolary novel told in the first person by several different narrators (maybe it's the last Victorian novel we'll ever see). It's a serious novel about the two Draculas--the historical figure and the fictional one--ostensibly compiled by an unnamed female narrator. The author cleverly weaves the historical passages within the more adventuresome parts, and both fascinate. The narrator, now in her mid-50s, is writing in the near future (about 24 seconds from now) about events that took place at three points in the last century--1930, 1954, and 1974. The narrators, in addition to herself, are her father, her father's dissertation adviser, and her mother. This puts the horror at some distance--the creeptastic parts seem to be taking place behind a gauzy scrim.

The author's premise is that the historical Dracula (actually, as the author tells us, the name is the Romanian for Son of the Dragon, or Devil) never died. Worse, he's growing stronger over time. The legend is based on the historical exploits of Vlad Tepes (the Impaler), a late-15th-century prince who ruled with extreme cruelty over the (present-day) Romanian province of Wallachia, which is located just south of Transylvania. His favorite method of execution was to impale his enemies--many of whom were Ottoman Turks who had conquered Constantinople in the middle of the century.

The events are set in motion when Professor Rossi, the narrator's father's dissertation adviser, discovers a bound volume that's empty except for the woodcut of a dragon in the center (several more of them will turn up). And, during the course of the tale, which turns into a hunt to find Dracula's burial place so he can be finished off with the traditional anti-vampire methods, the various characters (and there are many) spend time in Turkey, cold-war Hungary and Romania, and France. Ms. Kostova is brilliant at her descriptions of places (maybe you'll want to visit them after you read the book). And she's good at invoking the horror, too. When the undead Dracula finally turns up (at the book's nasty, brutish, and short conclusion), he's a more than serviceable villain, as well as an intellectual, given by Ms. Kostova the traditional Devil's best lines.

And he only says "good evening" once.

Great vampire story.......2007-09-28

Not as much about vampires as it is about the search for one, but it's great.

The Harlequin (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 15)

Average customer rating:

Return to the Anita of old
Small differences don't equal a good book
anita blake is at it again
reason to hope
Back to an actual story...mostly

The Harlequin (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 15)
Laurell K. Hamilton
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0425217248
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Book Description

Readers haven't seen anything yet-new in the "fabulously imagined series" (Publishers Weekly) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of her life. Into her world-a world already overflowing with power-have come creatures so feared that powerful, centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names. It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you've been contacted. And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.

Long-time rivals for Anita's affections, Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, and Richard, alpha-werewolf, will need to become allies. Shapeshifters Nathaniel and Micah will have to step up their support. And then there's Edward. In this situation, Anita knows that she needs to call the one man who has always been there for her...

Customer Reviews:

Return to the Anita of old.......2007-10-06

Great story line with interesting crime investigation. still the the occasional steamy sex scenes. I am was a little worried after the most recent Anita offerings but I am once again eagerly awaiting the next novel.

Small differences don't equal a good book.......2007-09-24

I have been a long time reader of Anita Blake books. I honestly had given up on the series and had stopped reading them completely until I read the reviews on this website. So I checked it out of the library and here is my review..

1) Laurell K. Hamilton did manage to tone down the sex, although her blatantly obvious "scolding" scenes where she's obviously referencing fans that are upset with where the sex has gone, having Anita "justify" her sex life for "right-wing conservatives" (aka "the mean fans"). I happen to be a liberal myself, and I enjoy some steamy sex scenes in my books. It's when the sex becomes more than the plot that I have an issue with it. That is when she should stop labeling it at fantasy, and start labeling it as erotica. Having said that, she did a good job of toning it down in this book, but the fact that she slaps the fans on the wrist several times within the content that almost negates my good feelings toward her for doing it.

2) The book was filled with the same old arguments that have been repeated and repeated and repeated in the past five or six books, and it's getting old. I don't want to hear Richard whine anymore. I don't want to hear Anita whine about Richard anymore. I don't want to read the same argument that Anita and Richard seem to have every five pages. Pick a way that these two are heading and STICK WITH IT. I don't expect the relationship to be perfect, to have no arguing at all, but PLEASE stop fighting about the same thing over and over! Fight over something new, or HEY! Don't fight at all for an entire book. NOT fighting also happens in relationships too.

3) There are too many men. I'm not talking about Anita and her sex life here, she can have as many lovers as she wants. But Ms. Hamilton should realize that after awhile, this becomes confusing. Ratio-wise, she just gains more men and not less every book. I can't remember them all or who they are or where they came from or what part they play in the book. Ms. Hamilton just spends time re-explaining every bit player and it just takes up more useless space where some real plot should be going.

I honestly feel like this series should have ended five or six books back. It makes me sad when authors continue to chug out books simply because it's making money for them and not for the integrity of the story. It seems like Ms. Hamilton has good ideas for plot, but not as many as she used to and now she's filling in between the spaces of the sparse concepts she does have. She has made comments before on her blog about how fans should just stop reading her books if we don't like them. How about she just stops publishing them publicly and writes them for herself then? Because she makes money off of them, but feels that she shouldn't have to listen to fans that pay her bills. Well, that's also the case with the story. It's been drawn out too long, and it's diluting what should have been intensely and purposefully ended a few books ago, with the strong ending it deserves.

anita blake is at it again.......2007-09-22

what do you say about a writer who you can't wait until the next book comes out. it was excellent. i always recommend laurell hamiltons books

reason to hope.......2007-09-21

I've been reading the Anita Blake series for years. It was the original confident and self-sufficient Anita who had me loving these books. She knew what she wanted and what she was about, and she went after it. I know that people/characters evolve. Stories stagnate if no one ever changes. Her changes, however, turned her into a shadow of her former self, and it was painful to see this persist over the course of several books. I was ready to throw in the towel and write Anita off. The last book that I truly enjoyed was book 9, Obsidian Butterfly, which also happened to feature another of my favorite characters, Edward. I slogged my way through the next 5, hoping to see Anita find her way out of her circle of self-doubt and endless sex. This book took a turn for the better. The plot was tighter and there was less of an emphasis on Anita needing sex to feed the ardeur. She's still agonizing over Richard though. UGH! Hamilton is at her best when she's crafting action scenes that have Anita tackling bad guys coming at her from all sides, and there was some good action in this one. The Harlequin will not rank among my favorites in the series, but it gives me hope. I'm not going to give up on Anita or LKH yet.

Back to an actual story...mostly.......2007-09-20

Finally, an Anita Blake novel with 15 chapters before actual sex! Of course, a lot of those 15 deal with talking about sex, but there does seem to be an actual story this time. After the last few I waited until now to get the book to see what other readers had to say...and for the most part I agree - the story is better and the sex less frequent and graphic. She's almost like the old Anita we knew and missed. Here's hoping for the future.

Into a Dark Realm (The Darkwar Saga, Book 2)

Average customer rating:

Most Original Feist Novel in Years . . . But Horribly Written
Into a Dark Realm
Into a Dark Realm (The Darkwar Saga, Book 2)
Overall not the best of his series...
The Story Continues

Into a Dark Realm (The Darkwar Saga, Book 2)
Raymond E. Feist
Manufacturer: Eos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060792809
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

The Conclave of Shadows has smashed the Nighthawks' dread plot to destroy the Empire of Great Kesh through civil war, putting an end to the murderous brotherhood's reign of terror. But there is no time for the victors to celebrate, for the mad sorcerer, Leso Varen, has taken refuge with the Magicians of the Assembly on the world of Kelewan, and is lost among the most powerful men and women of that empire. And a devastating new threat looms on the horizon: hordes of the Dasati—the most vicious warriors in the known universe—are massing to overrun both Kelewan and Midkemia.

The great sorcerer Pug knows of no power that will vanquish the invaders. And he realizes he must now enter another realm of reality if his world is to survive—and make his way to the poisonous heart of the Dasati Empire to find the answers he needs to defeat the fearsome enemy. Joining him on his quest into the dark unknown will be the brave Magnus and Nakor . . . and a disturbing young stranger named Bek, whose terrifying bloodlust and uncanny strength attest to a host of sinister secrets waiting to be revealed. But the champions of Midkemia will need every ally they can muster if their mission is to succeed in the most terrible place they have ever ventured—as they and all Midkemians prepare for battle against the encroaching doom that would swallow their world.

Customer Reviews:

Most Original Feist Novel in Years . . . But Horribly Written.......2007-10-11

I feel a little bit like Jake Gyllenhal's character in 'Brokeback Mountain.' I've been reading novels of Midkemia for so long (my first grown-up chapter books in elementary school)that I just can't quit you, Raymond Feist, no matter how bad a writer you have become!

I went back to Feist's original Riftwar books to see if he was always such a bad writer. Nope. I re-read a few chapters of 'Magician,' and that book has tolerable prose, and the dialogue doesn't make me wince. Could it be that Feist didn't write the more recent novels of Midkemia? Could it be that he just jots down story ideas and hands them over to a high school Sophomore for fleshing out? The cheap, easy sentiment (Pug's son marrying an admirable young widow and adopting her impoverished-yet-cheerful sons into a life of privilege and opportunity) and teen-movie cliches (said sons going to boarding school, beating up the school bully, then becoming friends with the bully and the hero-worshipping nerd who ends up being the King's son) just ruin what could have been the best Feist book in years.

About a third of the novel is from the Dasati point of view.
When Feist first introduced the Dasati, it seemed a lame attempt to create new villains worse than the last villains the Midkemians overcame. But in this story, Feist takes us into the lives of the Dasati, and it is more engaging and unique than anything Feist has ever written. The author has really put some thought into what a culture of Evil would be and how such a culture in fact cannot really exist.

I was very happily surprised at the complexity of Feist's Dasati narrative, but it is not enough to save the book from the awful prose and paper-thin characters.

Into a Dark Realm.......2007-08-23

This is a good Feist piece of work. It does not live up the Riftwar Saga, but the Magician series was by far his finest works. However, Feist is beginning to introduce and utilize many new characters. For many this will be a welcome change. I enjoyed Feist's other series that leveraged new characters. The Tsurani series was great.

The Conclave is still at the heart of the book so those with attachment to Pug and Nakor will find them plenty to keep you interested.

All in all, I recommend this book.

Into a Dark Realm (The Darkwar Saga, Book 2).......2007-07-12

Feist did a wonderful job bringing his past and present works together in this book. I love the direction that the story line is progressing towards. He leaves you waiting with anticipation for the next book (as usual).

Overall not the best of his series..........2007-07-06

Quickly...there was not enough action or emotion in this book...I am an avid fan of Feist and own every one of his books...average...

The Story Continues.......2007-06-26

The Magician Pug, his family and friends continue in their fight to allow both worlds to survie free and not part of the dark realm. The story is well written and continues the saga of Pug over a very long life time and his war with the dark power which is trying to subvert both worlds in which Pug has a stake. Some friends and people, of course, will no longer been seen. At least it seems so, as they are eliminated by the dark power. Its tough fighting a god like force when you are mearly mortal, or near mortal. Pug also must face the time when all his family will pass on to the wheel and leave him behind and alone. But in order to stop this force he must face that reality and move forward in his fight.

The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail)

Average customer rating:

Vampire book
Great Book
Just fun!
Vampire
I wish I'd found this series earlier...

The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail)
Tanya Huff
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0756403871

Book Description

Vicki Nelson is an ex-homicide cop turned private detective. Mike Celluci, Vicki's former parter, is still on the force. Henry Fitzroy is an author of bodice rippers-and a vampire. Together, the trio find themselves caught up in mysteries with a supernatural slant-from demons to werewolves and every otherworldly creature in between.

Customer Reviews:

Vampire book.......2007-09-22

I am having a lot of trouble getting into this book. Not my cup of tea really. I think I prefer my vampires in a historical setting ala Dracula.

Great Book.......2007-09-06

This is a really great book and it was delivered to me in a timely manner.

Just fun!.......2007-08-31

Any time I describe the concept behind this series to someone(ex-cop with night blindness teams up with a vampire to help her with night work), they laugh and then go get a pencil and paper so they can write it down. I ate this first volume up in a couple of days and ran out to get the next two. These are interesting and engaging, and don't take themselves too seriously. If you like Laurell K. Hamilton and Karen Armstrong, you'll probably like Tanya Huff, too.

Vampire.......2007-07-03

These books are good if you like vampire books. These are the books that Lifetime TV are basing their new show Blood Ties on. I liked the show so I ordered the books to read.

I wish I'd found this series earlier..........2007-06-20

Like several other people, I bought this book because of the TV show "Blood Ties", which I enjoyed, but found cheesy upon occassion. I expected the books to be similar, but was pleasantly surprised.

These novel focus on the actual mystery/action/conflict. There is some sexual tension and little bit of sex, but it more alluded to than shoved in your face (no detailed sex scenes, YAY!!!). The characters of Vicki, Celluci, and Henry are 3-D and well thought out. There are snippits from Henry's past, which I love. It makes him more of a character than on the TV show where he just shows up, does the vampy thing, and goes on. Vicki is an amazing strong heroine who takes no crap from anyone.

As someone else stated, the first novel follows the TV Pilot exactly. I already knew what was going to happen, so it was a little dull. Not because of the writing though. The second novel was very good, with a family of werewolves who are being killed systematically by silver bullets.

Another thing I like about these novels were the "villians". Instead of just pure evil people, like in so many other novels, these villians are fairly normal people who slowly are tempted into evil. Nice touch and more believable.

Danse Macabre (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 14)

Average customer rating:

danse macabre
Unreadable
It's ok but could be better.
Where's the plot?
Some positive comments

Danse Macabre (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 14)
Laurell K. Hamilton
Manufacturer: Jove
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0515142816

Book Description

These days, Anita Blake is less interested in vampire politics than in an ancient, ordinary dread she shares with women down the ages: she may be pregnant. And, if she is, whether the father is a vampire, werewolf, or something else entirely, it's clear that being a Federal Marshal known for raising the dead and being a vampire executioner is no way to bring up a baby.

Customer Reviews:

danse macabre.......2007-09-26

it was everything i had hoped for in the series of Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake Vampire Hunter . I have bought the whole series and I'm enjoying myself. Each character brings their own flavor to the plot but Jean-Claude ,Richard , Micah and Nathaniel are to die for.

Unreadable.......2007-09-18

Who knew sex and the supernatural could be so boring. I had to give up on it.

It's ok but could be better........2007-09-05

I love her first books more then her new ones but its still Anita Blake! So I just got to give it a 4.

Where's the plot?.......2007-08-24

The book was ok. It's just a different formula from what i've come to expect in this series. I guess Anita's just evolving with all her powers and all the men in her life. Changes were bound to happen. I'll still read any book Laurell writes that has Anita in it. She's just a good character. Not many liked this book but if you're a true fan of the series, you take the good with the not so good.

Some positive comments.......2007-08-23

I'm not a diehard Hamilton fan, but this series is fun, imaginative and often a roller coaster ride. This book is following the darker, more erotic elements of the newer books in the series, and is particularly different in that there are no corpses, no zombies, no police. Thankfully, no extensive gunwear descriptions. Just Anita, her men and the sticky politics of vampires and the Were folk.

New light is shed on the nature of the ardeur as Anita realizes that she is indeed a succubus. She has to grapple with what her body demands, and with the fact that managing the ardeur is a responsibilty that can cost her the lives of those who are metaphysically linked to her through the two triumverates: She, Richard and Jean-Claude, as well as the new triumverate linking her with wereleopard Nathanial and vampire Damian. The new triumverate demonstrates how powerful a healthy link can be; she, Nathanial and Damian are harmonious and interdependent. It also shows how disasterous a weak union can be when she doesn't feed, Damian, and then Nathanial suffer the consequences of her carelessness.

There also appears to be some blending of personalities, Richard is showing signs of Anita's temper, (scary thing!) submissive Nathanial is becoming more confident and assertive...and dominant. The omega leopard successfully faces down the alpha wolf Richard. Jean-Claude comes to the bittersweet realization that while Anita loves him, his human servant is more in love with, and completed by her housemates Micah and Nathanial. He is growing more sentimental.

Yes, its thin on plot, but high on the soapy drama. Anita's pregnancy scare, Nathanial's face-downs with those who demean him, Richard's elation over the pregnancy, (its gotta be his, right? He's so damn manly...) and his realization that he'll never get the white picket fences with Anita, the attempted high-jacking of the ardeur, and the ballet itself. The high drama ends with some truly high-risk sex and an understanding between Anita and Asher.

I can see why die hard fans are unhappy with the direction of the series, its a far cry from the tight, bleak horror/mystery that it began with. Characters are evolving, plot-lines are being introduced and new characters are emerging. Some are just waiting in the wings for their moment in the spotlight. I look forward to finding out more about London, Wicked and Truth, Claudia, Damian, Jessica Arnett and her unrequited crush on Nathanial.

Anita's changing and evolving as well, she's dropped a lot of her standards, some for the good, some for bad. Frankly, her job as a Marshal and dealing with humans seems to be making her more a monster than rubbing shoulders (and other body parts) with the fangs and the furries.

Magic Tree House Boxed Set 1, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon

Average customer rating:

I have not yet received this product
My daughter loves these books
Great for 1st-3rd Graders
my son loves these books!
Good starter book series

Magic Tree House Boxed Set 1, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon
Mary Pope Osborne
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375813659
Release Date: 2001-05-29

Book Description

Get ready for a world of adventure with the first four titles in the beloved Magic Tree House series!

Jack and his little sister Annie are just two regular kids from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. Then they discover a mysterious tree house packed with all sorts of books...and their lives are never the same! Soon they are traveling through time and space in the magic tree house and having amazing adventures. Whether it's watching baby dinosaurs hatch, finding a secret passage in a castle, helping a ghost queen in an Egyptian pyramid, or finding pirate treasure readers won't want to miss a single story!

Customer Reviews:

I have not yet received this product.......2007-09-23

I was accidently sent another book in my mailing package. I sent that one back with a note that it was the wrong product. i have not yet received the Magic Tree House book set.

My daughter loves these books.......2007-08-09

My daugther just could not put down these books after she had received them. She finished 12 books in less than a week! I am going to get the rest of this series for her soon.

Great for 1st-3rd Graders.......2007-07-28

While the writing isn't great, the stories are certainly entertaining, and are great reading for 1st-3rd Graders. The stories follow two siblings, Jack and Annie, who are magically transported to various places, and the various settings set the stage for some very fascinating, to the young reader, tales they will come to treasure.

my son loves these books!.......2007-07-07

I've been reading to my son since he was two weeks old. He just had his fourth birthday, and I gave him this Magic Tree House box set. I thought he'd get bored pretty quick since there aren't illustrations on every page, but I was wrong. We read the first book in an afternoon, and he wanted to move straight on to the next one. We've since finished the first four and I've ordered the next box set, and while we wait we're re-reading the first four. Fantastic books!

Good starter book series.......2007-05-12

Good books to help me and my grandchildren communicate. We started a book discussion club. Great quality time.

Average customer rating:

Not that great.
From one Izod lover to another....LOVED IT!
A fantastic read for anyone who remembers (?!) the 70's
Disappointed
I DEMAND A SEQUEL!

Dark at the Roots: A Memoir
Sarah Thyre
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1582433593

Amazon.com

When it came time to select a Guest Reviewer for Sarah Thyre's Dark at the Roots, a debut memoir laced with plenty of dark humor, Haven Kimmel was at the top of our list. Her own debut, the groundbreaking memoir A Girl Named Zippy, offered readers an unforgettable coming-of-age story that sparkled with originality, heralding the arrival of a writer to watch. Check out Haven Kimmel's review below of Sarah Thyre's Dark at the Roots.

Guest Reviewer: Haven Kimmel

Haven Kimmel is the author of the bestselling memoir A Girl Named Zippy, and its sequel, She Got Up Off the Couch. Her novels include The Solace of Leaving Early and Something Rising (Light and Swift), and she is the author of the children's book, Orville: A Dog Story. Her next novel, The Used World, will be published in September 2007.

So much has been written, said, and expectorated about the memoir genre in the past five years there remains little to say. And it's true, the memoirs worth reading are rare--the ones that jolt or enlighten or delight with craft. Sarah Thyer's Dark At The Roots is a stand-out for countless reasons. Her sentences compel like electricity: the reader moves from one to the next as if being shocked, but pleasantly, or with the pathological love of the tongue for the toothache. Thank God I have this toothache, you think, because otherwise my life would be a pit of stupid. Her dialogue is dead-on (and having lived in both Mississippi and Louisiana I can tell you it isn't easy to replicate and virtually everyone gets it wrong). She is shameless and unembarassable and she makes a foreign world so concrete you can feel the shag carpeting and smell the extinct shampoo. Thyer handles a shadowy relationship with her father with a grace that both reveals and conceals, simultaneously. Most of all, from beginning to end she remains as consistent a character as one looks for in fiction: she is the best friend you wish you'd had, and the girl your mother warned you about (as if those two things don't always go hand in hand). My own sister recently said to me, as we were having a swinging contest at the park--I am 41 and she is 51--"I swing higher, I'm smarter and funnier than you, and people like me better." I can think of no better description for Sarah Thyer, or for her memoir, which was crafted with an edge razor-fine. She's gifted enough to write anything: fiction, another memoir, pamphlets about the dangers of hitting electric lines with your Rototiller. I can't wait for whatever comes next. --Haven Kimmel

Book Description

The story of one girl's heroic struggle to overcome the lower-middle class obstacles that stood between her and the world she knew she could call her oyster, Dark at the Roots limns the absurdities of growing up funny in the deep south.

When Sarah Thyre was barely out of diapers, her father started referring to her as the "family liar," though no particular incident had provoked this designation. Undaunted by her label, Sarah started referring to herself as Renee and creating scenarios that would help her assimilate up from her chaotic family into a higher social calling. But even as she was clipping an alligator logo off of one shirt to sew onto another, her place in the middle - of her family, her neighborhood, her school, her country - kept humbling her back to just plain Sarah.

In Dark at the Roots, Sarah is catapulted from the relative safety of a nuclear family, through the years of her mother going it alone with five mouths to feed with a steady diet of pasta and fried eggs, to the teenage years where wearing a school uniform was a godsend to a girl unable to afford the latest fashions ... if only she would have admitted it. In this telling, Sarah's inimitable sense of humor and resolve are both honed to a fine, sharp point. And though it is occasionally young Sarah who is skewered, she manages to turn her pain into punch lines, leaving little room for doubt that this is how a true humorist is built.

Whether it is a scene where small Sarah accidentally goes "poddy" in the garage during a game of hide-and-seek or medium-sized Sarah survives a fishing trip with her volatile father, or full-sized Sarah wrestles with a tooth she calls "Uncle Wiggly" and all he represents, grown-up Sarah tells her story with self-effacing sincerity and a seemingly invincible sense of humor. With its spare, razor-sharp prose and precision timing, Dark at the Roots emerges as not just a humorous memoir, but a powerful, universal testament to surviving one's rearing and living to laugh in the face of it all.

Customer Reviews:

Not that great........2007-09-11

The only thing I liked about this book was the picture on the cover. I thought this was a boring book.

From one Izod lover to another....LOVED IT!.......2007-08-15

Loved this book! I wanted a book for my book club that was going to make everyone laugh...and I think it will. We meet this Thursday night to discuss the 70's and this hilarouus book. I could relate so much to the trendy must have's of the 70's...I had one Izod shirt and a pair of Calvin Klein pants that I wore whenever they were clean. I thought I was so cool!
Thanks Sarah for the memories...

A fantastic read for anyone who remembers (?!) the 70's.......2007-08-08

I've often pondered in amazement myself at what I know now was the "hands off" parenting style of the 70's. I went through it and still sometimes can't believe how we managed to survive... my sisters and I would go out early in the morning and not come back until all the mothers in the neighborhood yelled "DINNER" or well after dark. It was exciting, fun, funny, scary and joyous all at the same time. I didn't experience the South that Sarah writes about, unless you count Southern California the south. I loved all the references to the pop culture of the time, the TV shows, the music. It's a thoroughly entertaining, disturbing and funny account of a spunky, funny kid who manages to thrive in spite of her upbringing. I loved all the references to Catholic schools, priests (I know nothing of these things but they fascinate me anyway), and Disneyworld. It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend it!

Disappointed.......2007-06-28

I really enjoyed Thyre in Strangers with Candy, was raised Catholic myself, and lived a few years in the dirty South, so I was looking forward to reading this book. I was hoping to find her tales observant, amusing, and slightly touching.

Instead, I found the novel to be wholly unentertaining. It was definitely dark, but in the Welcome to the Dollhouse sorta way, and not very funny. To be honest, I didn't think her writing was very good or "compelling." Most of the stories were centered from her POV as a child, not as an adult looking back at the events.

The situations she reminiscences about not only make her seem like a jerk as a child, but not even a loveable jerk. The executions of each story lack oomph in the chapter endings and are very anti-climatic. I had no desire to finish it.

I DEMAND A SEQUEL!.......2007-06-12

I finished reading this lovely tome set in my illustrious home state of Louisiana last night and sat straight up in bed and shouted, "I DEMAND A SEQUEL!" As it was 2 a.m., my husband sat straight up in bed, too, and said "WTF?" Even the dog barked! LOL!

This is one of THE best memoirs I've read in years. Sarah Thyre is a born comedian and a fantastic writer. She captures the essence of the Coonass culture and the hidden joys of a dysFUNctional Louisiana childhood like no one else I've ever read. (I was born in south Louisiana and have lived here most of my life, so I know a good story when I read one.) Ahem...

My only regret was that she ended the book too soon. I'm dying to know what happened to her after high school (and the convenience store job so deliciously described) and if she really did go to LSU. So, Sarah, if you read this, please, please, please consider a sequel to this hilarious, touching, bittersweet story of your childhood.

I think it deserves ten stars after some of the dry, boring memoirs I've recently read. Buy this book if you need a good laugh and a summer read that you won't soon forget.

Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1)

Average customer rating:

Its better on the dark side
Definately a Keeper!!!! One of my Absolute Favorites!
AMAZING!!!
BEST in paranormal romance
Oh heck yeah!

Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1)
J.R. Ward
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0451216954

Book Description

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Customer Reviews:

Its better on the dark side.......2007-10-09

This book is the first in an excellent series. It is technically in the romance aisle (and let me tell you it is VERY explicit) but it leads with the vampire fantasy world and doesn't deviate an inch the whole way through. You will get sucked into the world of the brotherhood and wont be able to turn it down. I read the book straight through in a day and a half and then immediately went out and bought the rest. There is a solid story line and graphic-no-holds-barred sex that could be a cameo in basic instinct. I loved this book and I know you will too. J. R . Ward has the skills to draw you in with well defined characters that make you care about them, then blows your mind and makes you tingly with what goes on behind closed doors!

Definately a Keeper!!!! One of my Absolute Favorites!.......2007-09-20

I have three words for you.....OH. MY. GOD!!!!!!I could not turn the pages fast enough. What an amazing series...amazing story....amazing book! I highly recommend this for anyone who likes Kenyon or Knight the writing and character development in this is a step above. If your thinking twice about buying this series, just buy it, you won't be disappointed.

AMAZING!!!.......2007-09-16

This is one of my all time favorite romance novels. Before meeting the Black Dagger Brotherhood, I had absolutely no interest in paranormal romance. I'd always seen the characters in other books of this genre as being creepy, to say the least. My sister forced me to read this book while on vacation.
WoW!! J D Ward's protagonists are so well-written, so engaging and have such gut-wrenching appeal, I was hooked after chapter 2. She has created a completely unique vampire culture - complete with language (each book has a "glossary of terms"), social traditions and even anatomical/biochemical details unique to her brand of vampire.
If you have never been a fan of this genre...please give this book and the others in the series a try. You will NOT regret it!!

BEST in paranormal romance.......2007-09-13

J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series knocks everything else in the paranormal romance subgenre out of the water. Her characters are, hands down, the most rounded, most complex, most magnetic out there. Ward is concise and well-written where Sherrilyn Kenyon rambles and falters. Her plotline is amazingly intricate, original, and well-executed. Tales of the brothers are always fun and funny, easy to fall into. Where Angela Knight's style can be too technical and too slow, not quite self-confident enough, J.R. Ward's books are easy to read and fast-paced, giving you plenty without giving you too much. Even Kresley Cole, my second-favorite author, doesn't do the world-building and character exploration J.R. Ward does. The one down spot, for me anyway, is the lessers. I have trouble making myself read those parts, but then again, I can at times be a lazyish reader who won't deviate from the main characters' storyline. Overall, I'd give this an A+.

Oh heck yeah!.......2007-09-11

Great series - totally worthy of my time and money. Absolutely could not put them down.

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)

Average customer rating:

definately dead
Sookie
THE BEST!
DEFINITELY READ THIS!!!!
Sookie's Backkkkkk

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)
Charlaine Harris
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441014917

Book Description

Sixth in the Anthony Award-winning Southern Vampire series.

Spiked with a frothy fusion of romance, mystery, and fantasy, this bestselling series sends the supernaturally gifted cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse to New Orleans, where she has to deal with the legacy of one of her own family and a host of potentially dangerous characters.

Customer Reviews:

definately dead.......2007-09-12

Definitely dead does not describe her books! Try laugh out loud fun, sex, humor and surprise as elements that makes Charlaine Harris one of my favorites in the chick lit fantasy and supernatural realm.

Sookie.......2007-08-27

If you are already a Sookie and Bill fan, this book will blow you away! It is fast paced, and you see a side of Sookie and a side of Bill you would never believe. If you are new to the Southern Vampire series, you definitely need to start with "Dead Until Dark." Ms. Harris has such a way of pulling you into the world of the supernatural, you don't realize you have left the "real world." Believable characters are what makes this series one that you will want to read over and over again. I cannot wait to see what Sookie and her friends have gotten themselves into next.

THE BEST!.......2007-08-23

OMG! I can't wait until the next in the series comes out! I love them all!! Sookie is the best!

DEFINITELY READ THIS!!!!.......2007-08-19

In another delightful Sookie whodunit, Sookie is given the sad news that cousin Hadley, also a member of the undead, has actually died again (permanently) in New Orleans. Being the only heir, Sookie realizes that she has to go to New Orleans and clean out her cousin's apartment. Sookie soon finds out that Hadley was actually the consort of the Queen of New Orleans--who is soon set to marry.
It doesn't take Sookie long to discover that her cousin had a lot of secrets--hiding, literally, in closets and other places. But there is someone lurking who would rather that Hadley's secrets stay just that--secret. In addition to the mysteries concerning her cousin, there are revelations regarding Sookie's own personal life. And could there be a new romantic interest?
In another installment sure to keep readers turning the pages, this is another delightful paranormal whodunit from the author of this wonderful genre mix.

DYB

Sookie's Backkkkkk.......2007-07-27

Sookie Stackhouse, barmaid and telepath, is back in this sixth installment of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, and things are, as usual, tense in Sookie's corner of the world. Contacted by Louisiana's vampire queen, Sookie discovers that her estranged cousin, Hadley, has been murdered and Sookie needs to come to New Orleans to deal with her estate. Of course, this is Sookie Stackhouse we're discussing, so things are not as simple as they seem. Add in some demons, the vampire king of Arkansas (why does that make me laugh?), weres of every shape and size, witches, fairies, Sookie' regular stable of friends and acquaintances, and the three hot guys currently vying for her affections, and we've got a standard, fun-filled addition to the series.

Definitely Dead is definitely delightful; Sookie discovers some things about herself and her family tree, and she assists in locating a missing child, thus putting her skills as a telepath to use in an arena besides the magical world. Upon reflection, however, I'm still not sure why that episode was added, though it was interesting. Otherwise, the action is almost non-stop, and Sookie once again is in mortal danger more than once. She's begun a new relationship with Quinn, the sexy weretiger, but she finds out devastating information about Bill, her former vampire lover. What's a telepath to do?

This is a worthy installment in this laugh out loud, engaging series, if a few minor questions still need answering. Sookie is managing herself well, and the set-up is there for the next book when Sookie will be accompanying the queen to a conference. Personally, I miss Sookie's sexy relationship with Eric, and hope to see more of him in book 7. Light reading but fun, this one's just left me wanting more.

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