Tempting Danger - Eileen Wilks

Tempting Danger takes place in a alternate reality where magic is a fact of life and werewolves are legal citizens. Lily Yu is a homicide detective who draws a murder that seems to be a werewolf kill. The main suspect is Rule Turner, the local werewolf prince. If only it was that simple. Lily and Rule have a connection neither anticipated and the evil they end up fighting puts them in deadly danger. This book is based on a short story that I'd read some time ago so reading this felt like déjà vu for a while. Since this book is the first in a series I look forward to reading the rest of them. Highly recommended.

U is for Undertow - Sue Grafton

U is for Undertow is the latest Kinsey Millhone detective mystery. Reading a new Grafton novel is like putting on an old sweater that you've worn to the comfort zone. You can't anticipate the twists and turns she gives to the plot. You can't see the end until you've traveled the length of the tale. You can look forward to some old friends and a story that will keep you reading late into the night. This time Grafton provides Kinsey with a cold case murder/kidnapping and some interesting revelations about family past and present. Very highly recommended.

Frostbitten - Kelley Armstrong

Frostbitten is a story that follows the North American werewolf pack. Elena and Clay, alpha in training and enforcer respectively, are off to Alaska to chase down a mutt when they run into some big trouble. There are more mutts than they thought and some old legends come to life and complicate things. The story keeps you turning pages way into the night. Highly recommended.

Cravings - Laurell K. Hamilton, MaryJanice Davidson, Eileen Wilks, Rebecca York

Cravings is a collection of four stories by Hamilton, Davidson, Wilks, and York. Hamilton's offering is pretty much female angst and soft porn with a little surprise at the end. I really liked Hamilton's early stuff but it's clear she's obsessed with sex at this point. I have to read her books because she hooked me on her characters while she was still writing about vampire, weres, and fairies with a real story included. I have to know what's happening to Anita and Meredith.

The other three stories are much better. Davidson's typical tongue in cheek vampire tale is great. Wilks presents the reader with a succubus who has a mystery man to save, and York writes of a werewolf in search of revenge who finds much more. All three tales are well worth the read. Highly recommended.

The Devil's Punchbowl - Greg Iles

The Devil's Punchbowl is the third book in Iles' series featuring Penn Cage and the town of Natchez Mississippi. This book was like an extension of the first two. Each story almost stole you away from the real world with the need to find out what's happening next. I finally finished The Devil's Punchbowl after 3:00 this morning. This time the villain is more diabolical and the danger is more intense. Vicious dogs, gambling, torture, rape, and murder keep you reeling right up to the end. Start with The Quite Game and read the whole series. Very highly recommended.

Turning Angel - Greg Iles

Turning Angel is the sequel to Quiet Game. Iles wrote three books in a series that tie together, and I liked Quiet Game so much I decided to read them in order. Turning Angel is just as much a barn burner as Quite Game. Same good guys, some different bad guys, and a totally different kind of trouble. Natchez may seem like a sleepy Mississippi River town, but that is a thin veneer indeed. This time Penn seems to have bitten off more than he can chew, or maybe his friend Drew stuffed it down his throat. Either way he's going to have to handle it and how he does is a story I could hardly put down. Very highly recommended.

Quiet Game - Greg Iles

Quiet Game has everything you could want in a mystery thriller. It pulls you in and won't let you go until the last page. Murder, blackmail, politics, sex, and an author who weaves them into an amazing story. It's rare when a book is so good, so engaging, that I page back through and reread sections just to get the emotional punch they provide. This is one of those books. Very highly recommended.

The Breach - Patrick Lee

The Breach keeps surprising you every step of the way. The end almost gave me a brain cramp from the twist it took. There's plenty of action, a little romance, and some amazing things to discover. How do you disarm a nuclear device? How do you become invisible? How do you send yourself a message from the future? It's all in there. Patrick Lee is going on my "authors to watch" list. Very highly recommended.

MAX - James Patterson

MAX is the fifth in the Maximum Ride series. The earlier books were less preachy about the environment and I liked them better. This is still a good book and I have to keep reading the series now. I'm hooked! This time around romance blooms in multiple places and the flock experience some new evolutionary changes. Max's Mom is kidnapped and the flock has to partner with the navy to get her back. There is almost more swimming than flying. And it's clear there will be a book six. Highly recommended.

The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan

The Strain is not just another vampire book. It's the first in a trilogy of stories that shred the glamorous seductive image vampires have enjoyed lately and turns them back into evil ugly enemies of humanity. Doctors from the CDC, a pest control professional, and an old man who's devoted his life to fighting vampires band together to fight the epidemic — the virus that is vampire. They may be humanities last hope. The action is constant and the characters engaging. The war is on and it's not clear who or what is going to win. Very highly recommended.

Under the Dome - Stephen King

Under the Dome is classic King. You have to read this one. Of course we're in Maine, and just down the road from Castle Rock in the little town of Chester's Mill. I'm not going to spoil any of King's surprises, but when an invisible dome cuts Chester's Mill off from the rest of the world you know there's going to be some trouble brewing. It turns out Chester's Mill had plenty of trouble before the dome and now things are really going to heat up. King has one endearing quality that most other authors don't — he's not afraid to kill 'em all and let God sort it out. Read this one and find out how it ends. You won't be disappointed. Very highly recommended.

Witch & Wizard - James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

Witch & Wizard is another young adult novel by Patterson and someone else. He's been doing a lot of "with someone else" books lately. The story starts out great. By the end, which really isn't the end, I was very disappointed. I try not to miss one of Patterson's books and I really like witch and wizard stories. This was just too juvenile for me to enjoy. After the Maximum Ride series I thought Patterson had young adult fiction mastered. From now on I'll wait to see some reviews, and probably believe them, before I try another kid's book from Patterson. Not recommended.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an amazing book. It's got all the elements a story needs. A girl with tattoos and piercings, computer hackers, injustice, a missing person mystery, and many more. I'm truly sorry that the author, Larsson, died in 2004. He was a great story teller. There are two more books in this series and I'll definitely get around to reading them. This book literally kept me up nights. You never knew what was going to happen next. Very highly recommended.

Throne of Jade - Naomi Novik

Throne of Jade is the sequel to His Majesty's Dragon. Captain Laurence and Temeraire are off to China where a celestial dragon is real royalty. The Chinese ambassador insists that Temeraire be returned to China, but allows Captain Laurence to come along since Temeraire insists. It's months by sea with battles along the way. Then in the Chinese court the two are pulled into intrigues that threatens to ruin their chances to return to England and possibly end their lives. There's a lot of detail to this second story and it's very interesting to see how dragons are treated in China compared to England and the rest of the world. Very highly recommended.

True Blue - David Baldacci

True Blue is a cop story with a twist. Mace is getting out of prison after two years. She was in for a frame job that she can't prove. She used to be an undercover cop and her goal is find out who set her up and get her job back. Her sister Beth is the chief of the Washington D.C. metro police force, but whether that will help or hinder her isn't clear. Throw in some FBI and CIA involvement in a new case Beth let Mace ride along on and it gets real interesting. Baldacci never fails to please. Very highly recommended.

Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton

Pirate Latitudes was a pleasant surprise. Michael Crichton passed over a year ago and was mourned by the millions who looked forward to his books. This book was found on his computer. It's a rousing pirate tale with all the adventure and suspense you could ask for. I'm sorry this may be Crichton's last book, but very glad I got a chance to read it. Very highly recommended.

Daniel X: Watch the Skies - James Patterson

Daniel X: Watch the Skies is the sequel to The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. The sequel is more of the same. Super hero Daniel X is now after #5 on the list of evil aliens, and his right hand alien #21. They're taking over a town and turning it into a galactic reality show with humans as the actors and the buffet. This is definitely more geared to kids then adults. It was a little too juvenile for me in places, if you can believe that. Almost too Douglas Adams like at times. I don't like Douglas Adams. Recommended.

Breathless - Dean Koontz

Breathless seems like three or four separate stories at first. All the tales are compelling. Finally the threads come together, united by the one event that it seems will unite the whole world. Koontz never disappoints. And yes there is a dog. Lots of dogs in fact. Very highly recommended.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X - James Patterson

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is the first novel in a new series by Patterson. Daniel X is an alien hunter. Not the kind of aliens that come across the border from the north and south. Daniel hunts the kind of aliens from outer space. The kind that killed his parents when he was only 3 years old. Daniel has super powers that enable him to hunt down evil aliens, and he uses them somewhat childishly since he's still in high school and feeling his hormones. This is a book intended for young adults, but like the Maximum Ride series, still something an older adult can enjoy. Highly recommended.

So Long Been Dreaming - Nalo Hopkinson & Uppinder Mehan

The full title of this book is So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy. This is an anthology edited by Hopkinson and Mehan. The authors of some stories in this collection seemed to have a chip on their shoulder. Others were pretty amazing. My two favorites were Delhi by Vandana Singh and Necahual by Tobias Buckell.

This anthology was focused on stories about societies after they'd been colonized. This seems to mean subjugated for most authors in the collection. Maybe that's a valid point of view, but some authors spread it on pretty thick. The stories weren't limited to space colonization, as one might assume for a collection with science fiction in the title. My favorite, Delhi, was very down to earth. Necahual was more traditional space opera, but still with overtones of how colonialism made an impact on earth. Necahual also illustrated how one good old science fiction standard could provide some valuable lessons. I really enjoyed this book. Highly recommended.