Angelfire Review

Angelfire
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Angelfire was a unique story that was gripping and suspenseful, yet sweet and romantic as well. It was well rounded and kept my attention throughout. I really liked the storyline of a young girl being brought into her powers to fight these creatures, finding out she is someone who is helping in the ultimate battle of good verses evil.
Ellie was an interesting character. She was very vulnerable and flawed, yet she could turn into this amazing fighting machine with a single minded purpose that kicks major butt. There were times that she was slightly annoying, but those moments were definitely outweighed by the moments she was amazing me. Will was swoon-worthy and definitely made my heart skip a few beats. He was so loyal and strong and hot! YUM! I need a Will that is all my own!
The only thing I didn't love about the book was that I would have liked a little closure before the end of the book. I love series, and don't mind cliffhangers, but I still like at least part of a story, or some threads of the story, to be brought to a close each book. This one didn't really have an ending to any of the threads, it's just all kind of left in the open for future books in the series. That being said, I simply can't wait to find out where this series will go with book 2 and how the characters, relationships, and battle will develop.

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First there are nightmares.

Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.

When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.

Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.


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The President's Vampire Review

The President's Vampire
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I loved Blood Oath, the first book in this series (and recommended reading), but I could. not. put. The President's Vampire. down. If you enjoyed Blood Oath, TPV is a slam dunk/victory lap. And if you're jumping into the series here, you'll have an excellent time and will catch up quick.
Cade, our titular and uber top secret vampire, is a very scary and inhuman piece of work. But, my fellow Americans, he is *our* very scary and inhuman piece of work: fighting the supernatural bad guys and all manner of evildoers (including a bittersweet-yet-enjoyable gory demise for Osama Bin Laden which will have to tide me over for the time being). Reading Cade's sections of the book is a lot of fun, as he pretty beyond "good and bad" and just channels his inner demonic Jason Bourne. But...Cade was once human, and he possesses honor and some dim recollection of emotions, elevating the character beyond a simple badass, one-note hero.
The supporting cast is great, especially Cade's government-appointed "handler," Zach. Zach is very human: charming yet emotionally isolated, too smart for his own good, and perhaps considering himself a little too untouchable with the world's best bodyguard keeping an eye on him. I was Team Cade in Blood Oath but 100% Team Zach in TPV...the character has really grown and come into his own.
I love comic books, monster movies, vampires (gothic to Twilighty), twisty political thrillers, and just plain fun reads. TPV delivers on all levels. A great vacation/flying read when you want to lose yourself for a few uninterrupted hours...don't start this book at 10 at night as I did! Two thumbs up.


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Evercrossed (Kissed By An Angel) Review

Evercrossed (Kissed By An Angel)
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Here's the rapid-fire summary of books one through three (book three was published years ago, btw): angel-worshipping Ivy meets and falls in love with Tristan, who dies in suspicious car accident. He comes back to her as an angel because he has a mission to protect her, as it turns out from her super creepy step-brother Gregory who's in lust with her and tries to murder her when he realizes he can't have her. Tristan manages to save her (it's complicated), and completing his mission, says goodbye to Ivy, who moves on with her life with friend and new love Will.
When Evercrossed began, Ivy and Will and their friends Beth, Dhanya and Kelsey are in Cape Cod for summer vacation, working at the bed and breakfast owned by Kelsey and Beth's aunt. Ivy, her best friend (who's a little psychic) Beth and Will are all feeling a little uneasy and sad, since it's the one year anniversary of Tristan's death, but the other two are a little clueless and decide it'd be fun to break out a Ouija board on their first night there. Ivy and Beth reluctantly decide to go along with it, thinking the two couldn't possibly manage to do any damage, but almost as soon as they get started, things go wrong. Beth throws out some protection chants and eventually things calm down enough for everyone to get yelled at about letting bad stuff through portals.
One night when Beth and Ivy were trying to pick up a drunken Dhanya and Kelsey from a party, a car ran them off of the road - and Ivy was killed. She had a clear memory of her death, of being lifted up toward Tristan and then he tells her he'll always be with her. When Ivy wakes up, she's in the hospital and everyone's marveling over the fact that she came out of the accident almost completely unscathed. When she tries to tell Beth and Will that it was Tristan that saved her, they get angry and accuse her of not being able to move on. As she's moping, she hears another patient - named Guy, because they don't know who he is - who was brought in around the same time she was. He's young, handsome and has absolutely no memory before the moment he was pulled from the beach not far from where her accident happened.
Bells, they are a-ringing.
Ivy, of course, sees what she wants to believe - that Guy may have Tristan's soul. Beth is furious with her because she thinks Ivy just doesn't want to let Tristan go and will think of any excuse to keep him with her and Will is hurt and angry, especially when she starts blowing him off. The more time Ivy spends with Guy, the worse Beth gets, insisting that there's something evil stalking Ivy and that she thinks that portal the four of them opened when they got to Cape Cod may have let Gregory's spirit back through and she's in terrible danger because she is only seeing what she wants to.
Ivy's a difficult character to like. She's self-absorbed, thoughtless and a little bit of an airhead, to be perfectly blunt. She hurts everyone around her because she can't even keep from thinking about Guy when she's talking to them. Even when she warns herself to stop and be careful, she forgets five minutes later. I'm searching for a redeeming quality and I guess what I come up with is that she loves Tristan beyond measure. She'll do some crazy things for him. The rest of the gang is generally fine - Guy is what you'd expect in an amnesiac homeless hero (written with a smile, I assure you). He's a tad creepy at first, then nicely romantic and drops all the right hints about who he might be but leaves them open enough that by the end, there's room for doubt. Beth is a nice concerned best friend in the beginning who morphs into a nagging mother later; Will's the typical too-nice guy that Ivy walks all over and Dhanya and Kelsey are hilariously ditzy.
Take out the "my boyfriend may have come back from the dead," element and this could work as just a good summer love-triangle story. I liked Ivy's friends, I liked Ivy's love interests and I liked the setting. As a reader, what I don't like is being manipulated to the last three pages only to be left on a cliffhanger wondering if there's going to be another book and if so, am I going to have to wait several years for it. If I could go back in time and DNF this I would, but the story before the end was decent enough that I'm not going to wreak my vengeance on the grade.


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Ivy and Tristan have both moved on—Tristan to the other side of the afterlife, and Ivy with sweet, dependable Will. But when another serious car accident injures Ivy to the point of near death, she meets up with Tristan at the place of "in between," and their bittersweet reunion culminates in one breathtaking kiss. Unbeknownst to both Ivy and Tristan, it was that one heartstopping kiss that brought Ivy back to life—and angels are prohibited from meddling in matters of life and death. Now fallen from heaven for saving the girl he loves, Tristan is in the body of a stranger, and he must find his way to Ivy once more....

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By Darkness Hid (Blood of Kings, book 1) Review

By Darkness Hid (Blood of Kings, book 1)
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The Story. Achan Cham wears the orange shirt that marks him as a stray, as does the brand he bears on his back. For as long as he can remember he's worked in Lord Nathak's kitchen under the watchful eye and heavy hand of the cook, but all that changes when Sir Gavin chooses to elevate the boy and make him his squire.
Vrell also wears the orange, but she does so of her own choosing and in the guise of a young boy because she has gone into hiding in order to avoid a marriage neither she nor her duchess mother wishes for her.
Through an unlikely turn of events, Achan's and Vrell's paths cross, and they become the targets of greedy, power-hungry men who wish to kidnap and exploit them.
Strengths. By Darkness Hid is a fresh old-style fantasy. The story is captivating and unpredictable, with numerous well-foreshadowed twists. The characters are likable. Their motivations are clear and believable which makes them all the more realistic. I especially thought Jill hit a homerun creating Vrell, a girl masquerading as a boy. The things Vrell did to protect herself, the conscious ways she tried to mimic male behavior and to check her own natural actions and reactions made the character quite engaging.
The fantasy world of Er'Rets comes to life, including the innovative concept of a land divided between light and darkness, literally.
Williamson's writing is strong. She paints scenes using vivid prose so that a reader is transported into the barn of Lord Nathak's manor or onto the trail through Nahar Forest. She provides lots of tension and suspense, so the story's pace is fairly fast. There is a good amount of internal as well as external conflict, which makes the story more intriguing.
Recommendation. I just may have a new favorite fantasy series. This is my kind of story. For those who are drawn to epic fantasy or classic fantasy, this is a must read. For everyone else, I highly recommend By Darkness Hid.

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Report from Engine Co. 82 Review

Report from Engine Co. 82
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I was in seventh grade in 1978 when I first read Report From Engine Co. 82, and no book I've read since has ever had as profound an effect on me. Dennis Smith and his brother firefighters on Intervale Ave. inspired me and, I'm sure, many others to become firefighters. The book is gripping and "in-your-face", taking you into some of the most dangerous and frustrating working conditions imaginable.
I just re-read the book, and doing so rekindled the respect and admiration for the heroes of the FDNY that it originally instilled in me 22 years ago. Recently a friend and I visited "The Big House" in the South Bronx, talked with the firemen, took pictures of the neighborhood, and brought Smith's book to life. The pull box at Charlotte St. & East 170th St. made infamous by Smith's book has been replaced by an ERS box; the crumbling, burning tenaments replaced by suburban looking homes. All that remains of the horrors that took place there in the seventies is the memories of daily heroism performed by the men of Engines 82, 85, Ladder 31 and 712 perpetuated by Smith's book.
Now a teacher, I'll be sharing Report From Engine Co. 82 with my class this year. I hope that with the use of this book, I can inspire the same respect, compassion, and concern for human life in my students that Smith inspired in me so long ago.
You don't have to be a firefighter or a "wanna-be" to love Report From Engine Co. 82. Treat yourself to it as soon as you can.

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From his bawdy and brave fellow firefighters to the hopeful, hateful, beautiful and beleaguered residents of the poverty-stricken district where he works, Dennis Smith tells the story of a brutalising yet rewarding profession.

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Acceptable Loss Review

Acceptable Loss
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A few weeks ago i read Acceptable Loss for the second time after first reading it several years ago. Over the last ten years ive read well over a 100 memoirs written by guys who served in WW2 and Vietnam and in my opinion this book ranks up there as one of the better ones. Its fast paced and interesting yet its not just a book of war stories, in comparison with my other fav vietnam memoirs like Chickenhawk, Ghosts and Shadows, Baptism, Killing Zone, Father Soldier Son and Hundred Miles it too delves a few layers deeper than your average memoir in describing the physical and psychological toll combat in an unpopular war has on a young man. After finsishing the book while down the jersey shore on vacation this past summer i made it a point to see for the first time the n.j. vietnam veterans memorial during my trip north on the garden state parkway and find the name of the ranger who was killed while on patrol with Kregg towards the begining of the book. .... As for the book i highly recommend it to military buffs and many others who may be thinking about reading a first person account of the war.

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The true-to-life story of a Ranger who volunteered to serve on a Blue Team in the Air Cavalry, racing to the aid of soldiers who faced the same dangers he had barely survived in the jungles of Vietnam. Whether enduring NVA sniper attacks, surviving "friendly" fire, or landing in hot LZs, Jorgenson discovered that in Vietnam you never knew whether you were paranoid or just painfully aware of the possibilities.

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Lost Voices (Lost Voices (Trilogy)) Review

Lost Voices (Lost Voices (Trilogy))
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Lost Voices is the first novel in a new series that is hauntingly reminiscent of Lord of the Flies and The Chocolate War. In this book, young girls find themselves transforming into mermaids during the most devastating and desolate times of their young lives. When overwhelmed with the horrors of humanity, these young girls from every walk of life release themselves to the power of the sea. Guided by the timahk--laws that govern mermaids--every mermaid joins a tribe and finds the love and family that they might have missed during their human days.
For Luce, one of the newest members of Catarina's tribe, joining the mermaids was the greatest thing that had happened to her in a long time. Luce was thrilled with her new life and the feelings of acceptance that she found in the other girls. But then Luce learns what it means to really be a mermaid. Sure, her voice is worthy of an angelic choir and her beauty surpasses anything on earth, but are these things really worth living with the guilt associated with being a siren? Luce is haunted by her eagerness to help the other mermaids sink ships and drown innocent humans. Then, Luce discovers a new power in her voice. She quickly learns that she can control the magic in her song, and change her death song into something more positive. Luce is overjoyed by her new knowledge, and wants to share her discovery with the other mermaids. This seems like a great idea, until Anais joins the tribe.
Anais is pure evil in the form of the most radiant mermaid Luce has ever seen. The other mermaids are quickly drawn to her and desire to please her malevolent whims. Despite her power over the other mermaids, Anais doesn't fool Luce. Luce can see the wickedness at the heart of the captivating mermaid and she wants to stop it. The timahk has always governed the behaviors of the mermaids, but not everyone is willing to follow the rules. Luce quickly learns that some rules have to be broken, and that she might have to stand alone. By the end of the novel, Luce is faced with a decision that will change the way mermaids conduct themselves forever. She is the key to restoring humanity to a race of beings that have been consumed with revenge for a long time.
Lost Voices is captivating from the first page! Sarah Porter's beautiful, descriptive language paints vivid pictures of beauty and pain. The sensuous descriptions of each character's emotion force the reader to bond with the girls in the book. As you read, you can feel Luce's pain in her memories, and the lust and greed of Anaise. The plot is fast paced, but perfectly developed; the tension that is building among the characters is felt on every page. As you read, you can't help but notice the struggles of humanity that are felt in some of the modern classics of our times (i.e. Lord of the Flies, The Chocolate War). This series will certainly be worthy of shelf space next to Mr. Cormier and Mr. Golding.


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