Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne

Hi, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Andrew Mayne's Angel Killer.

A criminal who calls himself Warlock has hacked the FBI leaving behind a coded message that takes cryptanalysts seven days to decipher. The message leads authorities to a graveyard in Michigan and a disturbing discovery: the body of a girl who appears to have died clawing her way out of a grave. As if that weren't startling enough, the body appears to be that of a girl who was murdered some time ago. And yet she seems to have died just hours before being discovered. 

Jessica Blackwood, a forensic accountant, has no crime scene or homicide experience, but her background as a magician lands her a spot on the team investigating the crime. Her particular talent and training in illusion and misdirection could be exactly what they need to unravel the mystery of Warlock. But will it be enough or will Warlock prove to be smarter than the best the FBI has to offer?

This is a cool concept for a series and series lead! I don't think I've ever come across a magician investigator. Yes, in paranormal mysteries there've been wizards and witches, but I'm pretty sure that Andrew Mayne's Jessica Blackwood is a first. It's certainly the first I've seen, anyway!

I was a tad apprehensive with Angel Killer. With a twist like this I was afraid that the character and her background might overshadow the overall plot but that actually wasn't the case at all. Mayne struck a great balance between the "magic" theme, Jessica's background (which is nicely woven into the story), and the mystery.

And the mystery! Holy moly! I dare anyone to pick up this book and not be immediately sucked in. A body posed as though it's climbing out of a grave. And that's Warlock just getting started. Angel Killer is a dark one, but you know how much I like those!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Andrew Mayne you can visit his website here. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

The Summer of Long Knives by Jim Snowden

Hi, everyone! Today I'm a part of the TLC book tour for Jim Snowden's The Summer of Long Knives.

Kommisar Rolf Wundt is ready to leave Germany. His political views make him a potential target in spite of having made a name for himself in solving the Dresden Vampire case. To that end, he and his wife have been working to obtain a visa that will allow them to settle elsewhere when another murder shocks the local community. A young girl - a member of the League of German Girls - has been killed, her body carved with a message whose meaning so far eludes investigators. Rolf's boss has requested that he stay long enough to solve the case, but with things growing even more tense in the country Rolf knows staying could mean very real danger for his marriage and his life. 

Snowden's Summer of Long Knives was really an impressive historical thriller. In a lot of ways it brought to mind Tom Rob Smith's debut Child 44. Both deal with countries in the midst of political upheaval. And both deal with police whose jobs are hampered by their respective political atmospheres. While Rolf doesn't toe the party line the same way that Leo does, they do face similar emotional turmoil.

And like Child 44, Snowden's book relies heavily on believable (and hopefully accurate) history of the setting. Readers will recognize many famous names - Rolf and his wife mingle with the upper-crust a bit, which means that many of the BIG NAMES in WWII Germany have cameos. It sets the scene very nicely for both the overall read and the tension that plays such a huge role in the plot. As mentioned, Rolf and his wife are trying to leave the country. It's not a secret that they are at the mercy of those around them.

The case is quite interesting. The carvings on the body, for example, are such that other officers immediately want to turn an eye to a Jewish murderer (Germany in WWII, remember) but Rolf himself points out that the message can be interpreted many ways. It was interesting to see how Rolf's investigation evolved vs the expectations of others in authority. (I should note, too, that a fellow officer's obsession with phrenology is another nice nod to both the time and atmosphere in which the story is set.)

The Summer of Long Knives is a great read for mystery/thriller fans, especially those with a penchant for historical settings. 

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Jim and his work you can visit his website here. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

New Releases 10/14/14

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

Scent of Death by Andrew Taylor

Crooked River by Valerie Geary

War Dogs by Greg Bear

The Free by Brian Ruckley

The Lodger by Louisa Treger

Murder at Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

A Quilt for Christmas by Sandra Dallas

J: A Novel by Howard Jacobson

Riders on the Storm by Ed Gorman

First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander

Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville

Leaving Time by Jodi Piccoult

The Walking Dead: Descent by Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga

Clariel by Garth Nix

Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake

UnDivided by Neal Shusterman

New on DVD:
X-Men: Days of Future Past

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
The Last Town by Blake Crouch
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Pre Pub Book Buzz: One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

So the upcoming title I'm most excited about this week, One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis, also comes with a little announcement. Yes, the folks over at William Morrow are trying to generate a lot of advanced buzz on this one and to do that they're offering up 1,000 advanced reader editions! 

Here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

The #1 international bestseller reminiscent of After I'm Gone, Sister, Before I Go to Sleep, and The Silent Wife--an intricately plotted, thoroughly addictive thriller that introduces a major new voice in suspense fiction--a mesmerizing and powerful novel that will keep you guessing to the very end.

No one has ever guessed Emily's secret.

Will you?

A happy marriage. A beautiful family. A lovely home. So what makes Emily Coleman get up one morning and walk right out of her life--to start again as someone new?

Now, Emily has become Cat, working at a hip advertising agency in London and living on the edge with her inseparable new friend, Angel. Cat's buried any trace of her old self so well, no one knows how to find her. But she can't bury the past--or her own memories.

And soon, she'll have to face the truth of what she's done--a shocking revelation that may push her one step too far.

Of course this one caught my attention immediately thanks to the comparison titles, but that also means that it has some big shoes to fill expectations wise. 

Seskis is another self-pub success story in that she did originally publish One Step Too Far on her own. After the amount of attention and accolades it generated, the book was picked up by multiple publishers worldwide and will soon be in our hot little hands here in the US.

As I mentioned above, William Morrow, who will be releasing the book in hardcover in January, is offering up a massive number of advanced reader copies. You can hit the image below to get to the sweepstakes entry. I'll be posting my own review around release time and may have some copies to giveaway at that point as well :)

 

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth + a Giveaway

Hi, everyone! I am super stoked to be part of the Bitter Greens blog tour today! You'll likely recall seeing this Rapunzel retelling in my Pre Pub Book Buzz post here, so you know it's been on my radar and is one I've been looking forward to for some time now. Well, now I get to tell you all about it and, thanks to the publisher, I get to offer up a copy to one of you lucky readers as well! (Be sure to read through to the bottom to enter.)

Charlotte-Rose's life at court comes to a quite abrupt end when she is exiled by the King. Forced to join the sisters at the Abbey of Gercy-en-Brie, the stubborn authoress hopes to gain back the King's favor and eventually return to Versailles. Until then, she must endure her punishment as best she can. Life at the abbey is miserable - it's cold, the work is often backbreaking, and Charlotte-Rose's comments and temperament are very unwelcome. Then one of the nuns begins to tell her a story. A story of a young girl with long and lustrous locks of hair. A girl who is stolen from her parents and imprisoned by a wicked sorceress. 

Kate Forsyth hasn't just created a wonderful fairy tale retelling here. Nope, Bitter Greens is also fabulous historical fiction. Before now, I knew "Rapunzel" only as one of the Grimm tales. Imagine my surprise then to learn that the Grimm brothers' story is actually a retelling itself, one based on a French story by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force. Forsyth heads up Bitter Greens with a note on the history of the tale, attributing the first appearance of "Rapunzel" to Giambattista Basile. The note goes on to explain that no one is quite sure how the story traveled from Giambattista to Charlotte-Rose - Bitter Greens is then Forsyth's imagining of that.

Charlotte-Rose has an interesting story on her own. She was a member of the French court. She was secretly married to a man much younger than herself. And she was banished to a nunnery by order of the King. Forsyth's version of the exile is none too pleasant but the story Sœr Seraphina shares with her does offer her something of a reprieve from abbey life. For someone who spent so much of her time writing, it's easy to see how this would be a welcome and fascinating distraction for the character. (Upon arriving at the abbey, she is relieved of all of her quills, ink, and paper, a punishment that seems to sting for Charlotte-Rose more than anything else.)

I don't know that I'll ever tire of these retellings! If, however, you think you might be nearing the end of your own fascination with the trend, I do highly suggest you make room in your TBR for Bitter Greens anyway. It's such a unique version of the story and, again, a wonderful blend of fantasy, fairy tale, and history!

You can see a full listing of the tour posts over at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours here.

And now for the giveaway. To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, October 27. US only and no PO boxes please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Betrayed by Heather Graham

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Heather Graham's latest Krewe of Hunters title, The Betrayed.

When local politician Richard Highsmith disappears while campaigning in Sleepy Hollow, friend and FBI agent Aiden Mahoney is sent to investigate. Highsmith is soon discovered, the victim of a macabre and brutal murder. His head is found on a Headless Horseman statue and his body later discovered laid out in a nearby mausoleum. Were it Highsmith alone some might theorize the killing was politically motivated but when a second headless body and decapitated head - this time an unidentified woman - are discovered, investigators must assume the worst: there's a killer stalking their historic town. The murderer's motive and identity are a complete mystery and would be bad news anywhere, but for a town that thrives on tourism at the height of the Halloween season nothing could be worse. 

Having read this one so close on the heels of The Hexed I found the overall structure of the story to be just a tad bit on the formulaic side. We're introduced to Aiden with his hearing the voice of his friend (similar in a way to our meeting Rocky). Aiden and Mo meeting is kind of similar as well (she falls into him during a hunt for a body while Devin literally runs into Rocky after discovering one). The pairing off of the characters and the evolution of the romance is quite similar too.

All of that said, I still enjoyed this latest from Graham. The characters are by no means cookie cutter copies of Rocky and Devin. And who can resist any story featuring Sleepy Hollow and the legend of the Headless Horseman as elements? The fact that Mo is friendly with Irving's "essence" is a fun bonus and her ghostly pals are amusing (even if they too are reminiscent of Devin's great aunt).

Where Graham really excels in my opinion is in capturing the feel of her setting. As in The Hexed, the attention to detail and the incorporation of history into The Betrayed give it a really excellent context and atmosphere.

The Betrayed is the fourteenth installment in the Krewe of Hunters series. As with The Hexed it can easily be read on its own or as a starting point for readers who may be new to the series.

Rating: 3/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. 

For more on Heather Graham and the Krewe of Hunters, you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Britt and Korbie's spring break trip is going to be epic. Britt's been training for it for months and has plans to hike the 40-mile Teton Crest Trail. Korbie plans to spend much of her time lounging in the family cabin making out with her boyfriend. And it's the boyfriend's attendance that prompts Korbie's parents to have her older brother, Calvin, tag along as chaperone. Britt is none too pleased about having her ex along on the trip but won't let it put a damper in her plans. Not even rumors of a killer stalking the woods near where they're staying can do that!

With everything packed and ready to go the two girls take off, planning to meet the boys there. Unfortunately, though the forecast was for clear skies, they're soon trapped in a freak snowstorm and unable to drive any further. Britt convinces her friend that they need to seek shelter and they're lucky enough to stumble upon a nearby cabin. But the two men they find in the cabin are anything but heroes. 

It's clear the men are hiding something and they plan to force Britt to help them trek their way to the highway. Are they the ones behind the recent murder everyone's been talking about? And will they really let Britt go once they make it out of the woods?

Becca Fitzpatrick's latest is a big deviation from her debut, Hush, Hush. Black Ice is a pretty straightforward teen thriller. No paranormal stuff here, just good old chills and thrills. 

It begins with a murder but the official story on this particular girl is that she's gone missing. The only hint the reader is given as to the identity of the killer is that he's a man with a crooked nose and a black stetson hat - the same details given on the person this girl was seen leaving a bar with before her disappearance. And so when Britt and Korbie come across Mason and Shaun in the cabin in the woods, Shaun sporting a distinctly crooked nose and a black stetson, it's understandable that they'd pretty immediately be concerned. 

I'll admit it was a bit too coincidental for me that Mason just happened to be passing through Idaho and the neighborhood gas station while Britt was getting her Slurpee fix and then just happened to be hiding out in this cabin in the Wyoming woods when the girls break down. I kind of wished that had been worked in a bit more fluidly (last chance for gas before heading up the mountain pass, maybe?). I got over that pretty quickly. 

Britt's ordeal is a harrowing one and the book is an intense read. I believed that her training would allow her to survive in the conditions she faced and I was completely convinced this character would face the challenges the way she did. With all the various bits and pieces it might seem like the story is a mish mash of plot elements but I really found that Fitzpatrick wove all the various story lines together in a way that made sense. There is a romance aspect that I thought played out quite well and I really loved the extra wrinkle of the serial killer. 

Black Ice has all the makings of a great teen read. It's a bit horror, a bit mystery, and a lot of action-packed suspense.

Rating: 4/5