Order [book in series=yearoffirstbook.book# (eg 2014.01), stand-alone or one-author collection=3333.pubyear, multi-author anthology=5555.pubyear, SFM/MM=5000, interview=1111]: 2009.01

Never Cry Werewolf: Short, cute, entertaining

Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis

Shelby’s been caught one too many times breaking curfew with a boy. And this time her awful stepmother means business: she decides, and convinces Shelby’s dad, to send Shelby to a summer camp for moneyed but rebellious teens. Brat camp, that is. At least it’s woodsy Camp Crescent and not Red Canyon Ranch — where the kids have to do military boot camp in the desert — but she’s still none too thrilled. At camp she meets Austin Bridges III, who wants her help with something that’s strictly against the rules.

April 19th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Heather Davis | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Secondhand Spirits: A cozy mystery with a magical twist

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell

Secondhand Spirits (2009) is the first in the WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES series by Juliet Blackwell. The series centers on Lily Ivory, a natural witch who has traveled the world looking for a place to belong, and finds it in the eccentric Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco. She owns a vintage clothing shop, and her magical abilities help her in her business by allowing her to sense something of the history of a garment and thereby match it with the right customer.

Hush, Hush: Would have made a better horror story

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush would be better as a horror novel. It’s the story of Nora, who is sexually harassed in school while her teacher stands by and allows it to happen. Then she learns that several supernatural beings are trying to kill her. There’s no one she can trust, not even her best friend. Becca Fitzpatrick sets all of this against a gloomy, rainy Maine backdrop. Spooky stuff, right? The problem is, it’s not intended primarily as horror but as paranormal romance — and Nora’s love interest,

The Dark Divine: Dull

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Grace Divine has a nice stable life. She’s the daughter of the local Protestant pastor, her parents are supportive and loving, and she adores her big brother Jude. She’s got a great best friend and she loves studying art at her high school.

Everything is going well until Daniel, Grace’s childhood friend and first crush, moves back to town. Last time she saw him, three years ago, he’d had a fight with Jude, who was his best friend. Jude was badly hurt when Grace found him covered in blood in the front yard.

Sixty-One Nails: There is a fine novella hiding inside

Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon

You know it’s going to be a bad day when, first thing, someone steps in front of a moving subway train right next to you; and next, when you have a major fight with your ex-wife about your daughter, it’s hard to believe things will get any better. When the third thing that happens is you have a heart attack and die, it can’t really get any worse, can it?

But maybe it can get better. Maybe you can come back to life with the aid of a passerby.

January 24th, 2012. Terry Weyna´s rating: 2.5 | Mike Shevdon | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

I Am Not A Serial Killer: This one sticks with you

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells

First novels by new authors are like surprise packages that come in the mail: you don’t know what you’ll find inside, not really, even if there was advance hype. Sometimes you find something so unappealing you wonder that anyone could have thought it was for you. Other times you get a teenaged sociopath who’s fighting hard not to become a serial killer despite his deep-seated wish to create dead bodies, and then you know you’ve got Dan Wells’s I Am Not A Serial Killer.

Child of Fire: Urban fantasies of a different flavor

Child of Fire by Harry Connolly

Ray Lilly works for Annalise Powliss, a sort of enforcer among sorcerers, and he’s terrified of her. She wants to kill him, but she’s been forbidden to, and so is forced to settle for using him as a chauffeur and hired hand in all things magical and mundane.

On their first outing, they work together to help a family whose child has just spontaneously combusted before their eyes, ultimately dissolving into a mass of fat, wriggling, silver-gray worms. But the family doesn’t want their help;

January 6th, 2012. Terry Weyna´s rating: 3.5 | Harry Connolly | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |

Indigo Springs: A different approach to fantasy

Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica

Indigo Springs is the first novel by A.M. Dellamonica, who has been publishing short fiction for nearly two decades. It shows the skill of someone who has long practiced in making words do what she wants them to do, and also the inexperience of a first-time novelist who has a great idea but doesn’t exactly know how to execute it. It’s a terrific story with new ideas and a unique magic system that works. With a stronger structure and a more coherent ending,

October 2nd, 2011. Terry Weyna, Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3, 4 | A.M. Dellamonica | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Nekropolis: Mildly enjoyable

Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner

At first blush, Tim Waggoner’s Nekropolis seems derivative. A dark city where the sun never shines? Check. A central bar with an enigmatic bartender? Check. Predatory traffic and a strange sentient vehicle? Check. Vampires, ghouls, zombies and demons? Check. An outsider detective? Check again. Surely I’m reading one of Simon R. Green’s NIGHTSIDE books — oh, no, wait. This is something else.

Waggoner may just be the victim of bad timing. In his Afterword,

September 28th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Tim Waggoner | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Fallen: For teens who don’t worry too much about plot

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Lucinda (Luce) Price has always been a little strange. She sees malevolent shadows that other people can’t see. After a mysterious fire in which the boy she was with died, she is sent to a reform school in Savannah. On her first day she falls for a gorgeous but aloof boy who seems to want nothing to do with her. His name is Daniel Grigori (no kidding). But Cam, the other gorgeous (and very popular) guy at school, immediately starts pursuing her. Luce is confused by her feelings toward Daniel and alarmed that the shadows are appearing more frequently.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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