Erak’s Ransom by John Flanagan

Erak’s Ransom is the seventh book in John Flanagan’s RANGER’S APPRENTICE series, but chronologically its story occurs after the events of book four, The Battle for Skandia. I would recommend reading Erak’s Ransom after book four and before you read books five and six (The Sorcerer of the North and The Siege of Macindaw). Since I had already read those stories and knew what happened to the characters, it reduced some of the tension. This review will contain spoilers for books one through four.

Will, Halt, Horace and Princess Cassandra are back from overseas after helping Skandia, their former enemy, defeat a common foe. They help broker a peace with Erak, Skandia’s new Oberj... Read More

The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard

In The Seventh Witch (2010), Ophelia and Abby travel to the Appalachians to visit family, and learn that events of decades ago continue to echo through the present. Along the way, Ophelia learns a lot about herself and the future she wants to build.

Unlike previous Ophelia and Abby books, The Seventh Witch is not primarily focused on the “whodunit” aspect. There’s a murder, but the question is not so much who committed the crime but how and why. The question of “how” comes about because there are no obvious signs of foul play, leading Ophelia to wonder whether curses might be more powerful than she realized. Investigating “why” opens up a Pandora’s Box of secrets from the past. Ophelia must discover the truth behind a rift within the family and a feud between her family and another.

Ophelia a... Read More

Kitty’s House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty’s House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn is a solid addition to the story of radio talk-show host Kitty the werewolf that began with Kitty and the Midnight Hour. I’ve enjoyed the entire Kitty series and House of Horrors was no exception.

In Kitty’s House of Horrors, Kitty and her friends, including several fun new characters, are trapped in an isolated cabin and hunted down one by one. They must determine who has betrayed them and how to get away. The greatest strength of House of Horrors may have been the suspense, which I thought exceeded that of Vaughn’s previous novels.

What’s not to like? Well, if you read for romance, there was little in this book. And there was less development of the overall series arc than I’d hoped ... Read More