Detecting is a Dirty Job

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great Harry Dresden adventure. I listened to the audiobook read by James Marsters (the actor who is famous for playing Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. He is a excellent voice actor as well as screen actor. I really like how he voices Harry and other characters, including Karrin Murphy, Harry's friend and oftimes client who leads the SI Unit of the Chicago Police Department. I listened to Death Masks and Side Jobs on audiobook and I think I'm now hooked on listening to the audiobooks, although this series is also great for reading.

The story reveals more about Harry's complicated life and sheds more light on his extremely complicated family background. I won't say more than that because it's a huge spoiler, if you are one of the folks like myself who is still working their way through the earlier books in this long-running series. Let's just say that Harry has more family than he even expected. Harry as a character is evolving, and yet he still has some character quirks that make him feel authentic in that if he was a real guy, you'd find yourself being annoyed with him even though you would also love him as a person. He is kind of a chauvinist, to be honest. That's why I think his relationship with Murphy is so good for him. She slaps him down and gets his mind right.

In this book, we learn more about the White Court, which are vampires who live on energy, sort of what we would think of as succubi and incubi (but not overtly demonic). There are also some nasty black magic practitioners in this book. Additionally, high tension moments in which Harry and Karrin and a couple of other pivotal characters have to infiltrate a vampire nest. That was a really intense scene, but there are several others as well. Harry is always in situations that puts his physical being in jeopardy. I think he gets injured the most out of almost all the urban fantasy novel series I follow.

I liked that the undercurrent romantic feelings between Harry and Murphy is apparent in this novel, and well it should be, as this book is about the spectrum between desire and love and the many ways those emotions intertwine with the heavy plotline about white court vampires. I do ship them together, quite frankly. I think they are good for each other.

The story is nicely plotted and I didn't find anything predictable, nor was the mystery easily solved. It functions as a very good mystery novel with some great supernatural elements. The ending was nicely climactic and it sets up future books in the series while ending in a satisfying manner.

I have the next book ready to listen to on Audible. :)



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Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Thomas E. Sniegoski

Mean Streets by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a collection of four longer novellas in the urban fantasy genre written by a quarter of well-regarded writers that showcases each of their characters in ongoing series. I have actually read two of these already: "The Warrior" by Jim Butcher and "What a Difference a Day Makes" by Simon R. Green. "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" by Kat Richardson and "Noah's Orphans" by Thomas E. Sniegoski are new reads for me. My favorites were "The Warrior" and "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog."

"Changes" is a Harry Dresden story that heavily features Harry's friend Michael Carpenter and his family. It's also about how being a hero is not just taking up a sword. It's a culmination of many small choices one makes everyday in how they interact with people around them. The lesson was really important and the plotting flawless. Short but substantial. 5 stars

"What a Difference a Day Makes" by Simon R. Green doesn't measure up to the other stories in this volume because it doesn't have the deep character development, pathos or growth of the other stories. I say this as a big admirer of Simon R. Green. His work is very good, and it works for what its doing, but his real brilliance shows in his longer work than his shorter work. Having said that, I enjoy Green's noir style and the just plain weirdness of his imagination. This story is good but not great. 3 stars.

"The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" by Kat Richardson is the first I've read by her and I'm a fan. I loved the intricate look into Mexican culture, specifically Dia de los Muertos. Most non-Mexicans don't really get what this is about. It's not a spooky holiday in the way we think about Halloween. It's a deeply meaningful holiday in which people remember and celebrate those they have lost to death. There are some folkloric underpinnings that may not make sense, and probably some aspects that might be a dealbreaker for some people. While the holiday is not spooky, this story is written to have some aspects of the macabre to it. Definitely a ghost story, and it's also about magic, dark and light. I really appreciated this story and I loved the narrator. She did a great job with the Spanish pronunciations and in distinguishing the different voices from one another. 5 stars.

"Noah's Orphans" by Thomas E. Sniegoski is thoughtful and sober storytelling. The concept behind it resonated with me as a Christian who grew up reading the Bible and is acquainted with the Noah's Ark tale. This book has a 'what if' aspect to it that got my mind spinning. Consistent for the rest of the series, but rather joyless. 4 stars.

Overall, a good book, and worth listening to on audiobook.


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Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Very good and very gritty.  Gin is absolutely lethal.  Killing someone is just a job to her. Not that she kills just anyone, but if you're on her radar for death, you get dead very quickly.   I found her character very credible.  I won't deny that I sort of have a fascination with fiction stories about assassins.  This is a good one.  Estep builds a three-dimensional character here with Gin. She's not evil, but she's not a a saintly person either. How can you be when you kill people for a living?

That's where the grays come in.  If you knew what some of the folks she's killed have done, then you might not count it as such a loss.  Ashland is a place full of dark souls, you see.  The whole place is corrupt to varying degrees, except for Donovan Caine. He truly is the only honest man in this place.  So imagine the dilemma when they discover an attraction between them. Between the cold-hearted (but warm-pantsed) assassin and the straight arrow cop.  Yeah, that makes for quite a conflict.

If you like magic noir, definitely check this book out.  If you like bad*ss women who know how to get the dirty jobs done, definitely check this out.  If you have a problem with women who are a bit callous about sex, you might have a problem with Gin.  I'm not big on that trait in a heroine (or a hero for that matter).  I did like how she does the pursuing when it comes to Donovan. That was kind of cute.  And she can be a bit of a bully when she wants to.  I can understand why her character is that way, having lost her family and lived on the streets. It's made her into a hard woman, one who doesn't let anyone make a victim out of her.  For all that, she does have a sense of honor.  At least someone does in this place.  As for Caine, he was a bit self-righteous at times.  I totally respect his sense of honor, but I think he needs to open his mind a little and ask the whys instead of just blindly following. I find it hard to believe he was completely oblivious to the corruption in his police department. I think he was just willfully ignoring it.  A bad tree cannot produce good fruit and vice versa. If his partner was doing that horrible stuff, why didn't he have a clue?  I like that Gin didn't try to defend herself to him. Why should she?  She was true to herself, and he had to accept her or leave her.  Either way.  I like that he can't put her into a box and forget about her either. Too bad Gin can't get this cop out of her mind either.  That relationship is fraught with issues.

The magic was cool. I liked the concept of elementals, and how many folks in Ashland had elemental magic.  I liked the use of runes to identify people, and how it was used to seal magic, if you will. The vampires felt sort of extraneous, but maybe that's because I'm jaded with vampires being in every single urban fantasy series!

Overall, this was a very good book. Gin is a very lethal, fascinating character. I didn't like everything about her, but I liked a lot. I loved that she was so bad*ss and capable.  She does a lot of the saving, but she also works together with others, so there was balance in that. Donovan is an interesting love interest.  It should be entertaining to see where things go with that angel.  I also liked the foodie aspects (being a big foodie myself), and the glimpses of Southern life and society. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy enjoy dark, gritty urban fantasy, and tough female leads. I will definitely continue this series!

Thanks for recommending this book off my tbr pile, Suzi!



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The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The tone of this novel is bleak, saturnine, and wry. Shades of horror and dark urban fantasy blended into a noir mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I love when a writer is able to pull all the elements together that he introduces to me, from beginning to end. And that's what Mike Carey does here. Tight plotting and subtle characterization. Even the characters that would seem stereotypical have depth and intensity.

Felix Castor gets added to my roster of male lead urban fantasy go-to characters. He is a cynical, flawed, morally unpredictable man who somehow shows a deep sense of right and wrong, even if his means don't exactly scream "Boy Scout." When he could have just walked away several times, or taken the easy road, saving his own skin and putting money in his pockets, he digs deeper, compelled to do the right, although not easy thing. That's what I like in a protagonist. Flawed, questionable, but in the end, someone I can root for.

The world-building and esoterical aspects of this story are distinctive and not at all easy to pin down. Here we have an self-declared atheist, who sees and exorcises ghosts and has had some very uneasy experiences with demons. I don't really see Castor so much as an atheist, but more of a hard-hearted agnostic. How could he not credit the existence of God and the devil if he sees it right in front of him? It's not a matter of belief when it's staring you in the face. Instead, he merely chooses not to look deeply into those aspects of the world he is confronted with, much like a stubborn person who refuses to look at the person who is in authority over him. Just my take, really.

Ghosts fascinate me. This book delves into the whys and wherefore of hauntings, asking the reader to ponder, even if Castor refuses to do so. He merely deals with them, sending them wherever they are supposed to go from this plane of existence in which they linger as melancholy shadows. Carey doesn't force the reader to draw conclusions, but leaves it up to those who care enough to come to their own understanding. This book fits into my view of hauntings at any rate, although I have my own opinions about what comes next, even as I question what forces keep a spirit here on this plane.

Zombies and werebeasts also have a presence in Castor's world of London. I never thought of weres the way that Carey explains them, and I appreciate the novel elements here. Zombies are merely reanimated bodies inhibited by spirits. In fact, Nick, one of Castor's contacts is a reanimated corpse who has a serious case of conspiracy theoriaisis. Which makes him good, very good at finding out information. Clearly zombies (although not called by that name) exist, but they are just another aspect that Carey doesn't explain to death. He merely puts this oddness out there in a real world context, and lets the reader do what they like with the information.

This is a dark read. Surprisingly the supernatural elements aren't what lends the darkest flavor. It's the glimpse at very human evil at the depths that made me shudder as I read. And I think Castor and I are in the same boat on that.

I really want to give this fire stars. I can't say that there was anything lacking in the execution. Carey is a very good writer. For a 500 page novel, my attention didn't wander, and I was drawn fully into this world. His characterization is very good, he sets atmosphere with a deft, expert hand, and he imparts a sophisticated flavor to this noir urban fantasy that I found very seductive. There were more than a few words that I didn't know, and wanted to look up, but I was too busy reading to be bothered, and I was able to figure out through context. He clearly appreciates London in all his flavors, and I appreciated the opportunity to pay this ancient city a visit, even though there was a dark, gritty cast to this venerable metropolis, which is altogether real, I have no doubt.

I was very impressed with this novel. It captures what I like very well in my urban fantasy. The dark and gritty, the wry humor, the intriguing supernatural elements, and in a way that doesn't make me cry same old same. Definitely one for this reader's keeper shelf, and a series that I will happily follow.



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Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Midnight Riot is the kind of book that people like me, absolute anglophile and devoted BBC lover, couldn’t help but like. The humor and the texture to the narrative in this book reads delightfully British, but in a fashion that suggests that England isn’t just Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. It’s also Doctor Who, Blake’s Seven, Being Human, Law and Order: UK, and Luther. It’s upper crust and working class. It’s a mix of past and present. Even deeper, it’s the everyday lives of Britons, not all Northern European either.

It was so refreshing to have a hero who is mixed-race, but seen as black by some; and to others, ethnically uncertain. He couldn’t get on the tube without getting nervous looks from some people who had made up their mind what his place in their world was, without asking him about it. On any given day, due to how much sun he gets, some might think he’s African, or some might think he’s Arab. Peter is unselfconscious about his ethnicity, although very aware that not everyone is comfortable with it. His mother is Sierra Leonan, and her culture infuses him, from her attitude towards hard work, to her frugality, and her penchant for making food so spicy that he has to drink a liter of water to douse its fire. His father is a white former musician with a thirty year heroin habit, and that colors the narrative just as much, for we are not in a small degree who our parents make us. That is either due to rebelling against our parents or through a childhood of being shaped by their rearing. As a reader of black heritage, I have to say that it’s good to see stories that feature characters of black ethnicity. There are a lot of our stories to tell, and they don’t seem to see the light of day, and not in the diversity that reflects the black African disapora. I hope that more leads in urban fantasy novels in the future are of color, because it adds something to a read to see someone who is like you, at least in some small way.

I enjoyed Peter’s character. He’s an insightful narrator, and full of wit. I liked seeing London through his perceptive gaze.

The police procedural aspects were great. Better than watching an episode of a BBC cop show, because Peter explains the ins and out of the Metropolitan Police to a degree I have never caught onto in my varied viewing pleasures. Peter’s acceptance of the workings of enormous wheels of bureaucracy turning in the Met makes what might have been boring, very fascinating, especially with his deadpan humor delivery (classic British wit). As I read this novel, I felt as though I had learned a lot more about the police in the UK, which is similar but different to the US.

The paranormal aspects were good and rather unique. I like how magic is presented here. The way it leaves an essence (called a vestigium that has a taste, feel, and smell) that Peter is able to pick up. When he’s recruited as an assistant and apprentice wizard to Thomas Nightingale, for a part of the Met that deals with the odd and magical crimes, he finds the niche he’d been searching for, with this inquisitive mind, and his insight into science. He doesn’t take things at face value, but he’s open-minded enough to accept that London has denizens that are not human, such as vampires, trolls, and malevolent ghosts who draw energy from those they possess, leading to their gruesome and violent deaths. It was interesting to watch Peter and Nightingale use a mix of police investigative techniques and magic to solve the inexplicable attacks of violence that seemingly normal London citizens are perpetrating against each other. He also comes to realize that the rivers of London are alive, gods and goddesses, if you will. And Peter needs their help to keep the peace in London, but also to resolve the territorial disputes between The Old Man of the River and Mama Thames, who both believe that they have a right to rule the Thames, and their tributaries.

Ben Aaronovitch has already secured his place in pop culture as the writer of Doctor Who novels. It’s great to see him put the fruits of his imagination to the page with this first in the Peter Grant series. After falling for Peter Grant, and his unforgettable narrative of London, he is going on my must read list.





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Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've been a fan of Nalini Singh for several years now. I started reading her with the Silhouette Desires she published, and I liked the way she wrote intense love stories with magnetic heroes and heroines I liked. I waffled for a year or so before deciding to try her book Slave to Sensation. I was just getting into paranormal, and I wasn't sure about the sci-fi elements. Finally, I read it, and I was hooked from that point on.



When I heard that Nalini Singh was venturing into urban fantasy, of course I was going to buy Angels' Blood. She's autobuy for me, and urban fantasy is one of my absolute favorite genres. It also helps that I have this unhealthy love for angels. I'll read most books with an angel theme. Let me tell you, I was so impressed with this book.



Nalini Singh took the theme of angels and made it her own. She captured the essential elements of angelhood (except for the messengers of God part), and gave it some dark and sinister aspects. In Singh's world, Angels are very carnal, sexual beings who involve themselves with the human world, exploit the fact that humans are drawn to, adore them, and sometimes worship them, and have put themselves at the top of the hierarchy. Basically, angels run things. They even Make vampires to be their servants. Of course, absolute power has a way of corrupting. In this case, there is an archangel (the most powerful type of angel) who has gone beserk and is on a killing spree. A scary thought there, an absolutely beautiful, pretty much invicible being on a killing spree. Who's going to stop him? Raphael, the Archangel of New York, has appointed himself to do that. But he needs the help of the best Hunter (vampires) in New York, Elena. And, he decides that he wants to have more than a business relationship with this powerful warrior woman (that's his type, you see).



Raphael was some kind of character. He defines the 'gamma' hero. Not gamma as in the mix of alpha and beta. Gamma in the sense of mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Raphael is utterly ruthless. He knows just how powerful he is, and he's not afraid to use that power to achieve his goals. He is not controlled by human morals. He follows a higher law, the laws set by himself and the Cadre, the group of ten archangels who pretty much rule the world. This guy was one of those heroes that sends a chill down your spine, but also has you gaga over him because he was so gorgeous and just had that masculine appeal that turns your bones into water. He thought about killing Elena several times, because human life has no value for beings that are essentially immortal. I was like, "Okay?" I admit, I like that dark/edgy hero, but I could see how that would be chilling for some readers. But, somehow, Elena found the small aspect of this scary dude that could love. He was drawn to her for the essence of who she was, the fierce hunter, the vulnerable woman beneath the tough facade. She made him more humanlike just by reaching that core of him that yearned to be truly loved and to love someone. Even more than a millenia of having whatever lovers he wanted didn't leave this archangel satisfied. But Elena had to power to give him what he yearned for.



Elena was a very likeable character. She was tough, a survivor, but also very humane. She had a great sense of humor, and didn't let anyone push her around. She takes her job very seriously, and is determined to find this archangel who is leaving a grisly pile of bodies in his wake. She has no idea how to react to Raphael. He's gorgeous, because all angels are. But he is moreso than any others to her. She's attracted to his strength, and the unearthly beauty and functionality of his wings, and the intrinsic deadly appeal of him, with his volcanic sex appeal. At the same time, she's not signing up to be anyone's toy, seeing the way angels manipulate vampires and people like puppets. She's got to get this job done and somehow try to keep Raphael from killing her or seducing her into his bed until he gets bored and casts her aside.



Ms. Singh managed to capture the razor edge of the attraction, unfolding relationship between Elena and Raphael and pair it to a very dark, very noir murder mystery. I was actually surprised at how grisly the murders are in this book. It was well done, and Ms. Singh didn't flinch away from those aspects, so I couldn't either. Uram, the angel that went blood-thirsty, was one scary, despicable creature, all the more so for his unearthly angelic beauty.



I thought this story had such an appeal. I could see very vividly the physical loveliness and allure of the angels and the vampires, and how they could turn deadly in a split second. Ms. Singh captured the appeal of these beings so very well, along with the inherent menace and danger they represented to humans and hunters. In my estimation this story represented the underlying theme of how society is set up to favor the powerful and endowed, whether it's with money, sex-appeal, or beauty. And the rest of us have to struggle to keep our heads above water if we lack any of the above. But, we don't give up. We keep fighting. Elena represents the everyday person who is fighting that battle against the system and the 'big fishes'. I admired Elena for having the guts to immerse herself in this world, knowing that her hunter-born strength only gave her a slight edge over the average human.



Because this is the start of an urban fantasy series, Ms. Singh is somewhat stingy with some details. She tantalized me with the romance elements, giving me enough to be somewhat satiated, but knowing there was more to be told about Raphael and Elena's relationship. I wanted to know more and see more of this world she created, and all the fascinating characters she has introduced. I am already invested in this series, because I crave more of this world of alluring and lethal creatures. This was a book that grabbed me and did not let go.



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Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre

Blue Diablo


This was a very interesting and unique foray into the world of magic noir, or noir occult detective fantasy fiction. Corine Solomon is a fairly conflicted, and troubled character. Her mother was a practicing witch who was essentially burned to death by the suspicious and intolerant townspeople in Kilmer, Georgia. Before she died, her mom endowed her with her power, in the form of the ability to read objects. However, it comes at signficant cost to Corine. She bears the scars of the readings on her hands and fingers. Scars to match those deep in her soul.

After she almost died on one of their cases, Corine cut out in the middle of the night, leaving her boyfriend and business partner, Chance behind. She left because she didn't believe he loved her, and that he was just using her for her abilities. She left because she let him in and paid the price. In her life, Corine learned that caring for others is a losing proposition. And Chance messed her up too much inside. So she fled to Mexico, running a pawn shop, and living as close to a normal life as was possible for her.

But, eighteen months later, Chance shows up. His mother has been kidnapped, and he needs her special gift to find her. Chance has a special gift of his own, incredible luck. Unfortunately, his luck isn't so good for those around him. That, and Chance is just way too self-controlled and distant for her, despite being gorgeous and her weakness emotionally. They strike a deal, she helps him find his mother, he helps her get revenge against the people who killed her mother. And, it's just business. Their relationship is over, or so Corine says.

This story twists and turns, and shows a side of Texas very familiar to me. The aspects of Mexican culture ring very true to someone who's spent a fair amount of time in that environment, and add to this story like the spice of chili powder. Corine is a narrator who is not always nice and kind and neat, but she sneaks in on you, so well that you end up liking her for all her flaws. Chance is delicious--dapper, half-Korean, completely intriguing, and very much in love with Corine, but unsure how to show it. He's the enigmatic guy who sounds great on paper, but probably isn't the best boyfriend. But what in life is perfect? I wanted Corine to forgive him, even seeing his flaws. There's also interesting secondary characters, such as Chance's friend Chucho, and his wife, Eva, who help this couple in many important ways; Jesse, who's a cop in Laredo with a gift for empathy. He appoints himself as Corine's mentor in the world of the gifted, but he wants to be more. Maybe, Corine wants more too. Sex is not an issue, but falling in love is. Can she have all the wild, crazy sex with Jesse, and avoid falling into the trap of loving Chance? And there's a killer who considers himself the hand of God. Is he going to help or hinder Corine and Chance in their search for his mother?

Normally, I don't like my noir urban fantasy too filled with romantic angst, but it was well done and fitting in this story. After all, Corine's life is very turbulent, and that's a big part of her life. I have to say it really added to this story. I have a feeling her future will always be entwined with Chance, and that's not such a bad thing to me.

The magic and occult aspects were very intriguing. There were some parts that were borderline scary. I think Ms. Aguirre told a great story of dark magic being used to further the criminal enterprises of those who prey on the strange entity that is the border of Mexico and Texas. I had little trouble believing that the cartels would hire witches and warlocks to employ sorcerous magic to keep business going.

If I had a complaint, I think that the tension could have been sustained in some of the suspenseful moments. The execution tended to be somewhat anti-climatic. Otherwise, this was a great foray into the dark world of bordertown Texas and Mexico, where magic is alive and well. Corine is a character I got invested in, and I definitely want to read more stories with her. And I hope that Chance stays in the picture. He's quite a character, himself.