One Foot In The Grave, by Jeaniene Frost (Avon, 2008)

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Four years after faking her death in order to go work for the government as part of a new secret team dedicated to hunting rogue vampires, half-vampire Cat Crawfield has almost, but not quite, managed to put the spectre of her ex-lover and former mentor (and full vampire) Bones behind her. In fact, she’s managed to put most of her past behind her as well, moving on with her life. She has a crack team backing her up, the legend of the Red Reaper making many vampires lock their coffins at night, and she’s even considering the idea of dating again. And then someone starts targeting her, leaving taunting clues that make it quite clear that they know who and where she is. It seems that not only has someone put a bounty out on her head, but someone from her past may have sold her out. Is it Bones, toying with her in revenge for the way she ditched him, or something far worse?

The truth is, there’s a lot more going on than Cat expected, and the only one she -can- trust is Bones, who shows up unexpectedly, slipping right back into her life and her heart and driving her crazy. Now she has to choose between the handsome mortal veterinarian she’d been dating, and the vampire who sets her senses on fire. Of course, her team might think she was consorting with the enemy, and her mother would have a heart attack if she knew her daughter was once again spending time with a vampire… Bones’ involvement goes far beyond simply winning Cat back into his arms. He’s got an old score to settle with the vampire who sired him long ago, and a complicated plan to get that bounty off Cat’s head, and it’ll take some quick thinking and heavy action to pull it off. In the process, Cat will learn some painful truths about her family, which may cause her to reconsider her line of work, and her motivation. Luckily, Bones is there to give her all the encouragement she needs, if she can just keep Bones and her team from hurting one another to badly…

When I covered Halfway to the Grave, I saluted Jeaniene Frost for the way she was willing to shake up the status quo at the end of the book. Here, we see just what a shakeup it was, with a four year jump in the timeline, giving our heroes time to change and gain more experience, and discover just how much they really mean to one another. Cat’s thoroughly established herself as the leader of a secret government team, and Bones, well, he’s been taking care of business in his own way. Frost took something of a gamble, letting such a length of time pass between books, and luckily, it pays off quite nicely indeed. Cat’s confident, strong, fierce, and a leader in her own right, able to face Bones as an equal, as opposed to the mentor/student relationship they had when they first met. The emotional connections between the two would-be lovers is stronger than ever, with sparks flying at every turn, and when they get physical, it just about sets the page on fire. Apparently, the elapsed time, and Cat’s change of professions was good for them both.

The plot itself keeps moving at a breakneck pace, as they deal with one crisis after another, delving deeper into the murky world of the undead as they go. We learn a lot more about the power structure of the vampire society, as Bones puts a plan into motion that requires a pretty hefty commitment from Cat, as well as a major load of trust on everyone’s part. All I can say is that things will be even more interesting when the next book comes out, since once again, Frost throws some twists into the mix.

There’s a lot to love about this series. The heroine is strong and sympathetic, a vampire slayer that would give Buffy a run for her money, and Bones is ten times cooler than most of the whiny, brooding vampires one expects to see these days. Together, they’re an irreverent, asskicking couple to set fear into the hearts of their targets. (And one scene late in the book, where Bones reveals just why and how he convinced Cat to make a very unusual choice with regards to her choice of outfit while hunting, is laugh-out-loud hilarious. The sheer audacity of the man is beyond belief. Of course Cat’s just as bad in her own way, when she demonstrates a unique ability to grab a vampire’s attention in a club.) The action scenes are sharply-described, easy to visualize, and seem tailor-made for the big screen; this is one book that seems perfect for television. There’s action, humor, romance, intrigue, and of course a little bit of red-hot sex to really spice things up. In other words, it’s my idea of an excellent urban fantasy/paranormal romance, and an example of how to do vampires right.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the cover. Like the one for Halfway to the Grave, it’s a striking, gorgeous piece of art, leaping out at the viewer and catching the eye. I’ve seen a lot of covers I really liked, but very few that are so captivating. Tom Egner (or so my research tells me) has done a masterful job with the covers for this series. This goes on a very short list of ones I’d get as prints if I had the opportunity.

If you want good vampire urban fantasy, with a strong, kickass heroine, then One Foot In The Grave is definitely one I’d reccomend without hesitation. Frost is clearly on a role with this series, and I hope she keeps it up.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy and Another One Bites The Dust, by Jennifer Rardin (Orbit, 2007)

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Meet Jaz Parks. Though she doesn’t look the part, she’s secretly a CIA assassin, working for a top-secret department to take out assorted deadly threats around the world. Partnered with Vayl, a centuries-old vampire who requested her specifically for the assignment, Jaz tries to make the world a better place for mortal and other alike. Unfortunately, ever since the deaths of just about everyone on her former combat team (slaughtered by a nest of vampires), she’s been suffering odd brownouts and minor amnesia, and occasionally does things that baffle even her. Luckily, she’s got some good friends watching over her and aiding her in the missions, including Miles Bergman, a freelance technical genius who can build just about anything, given time and workspace. Then there’s Cassandra, a witch and Seer whose visions of the future are rarely wrong, and Cole Bemont, a gum-chewing private investigator with a refreshingly annoying sense of humor. As teams go, it’s an eclectic mix, and one that can hopefully meet and deal with any problem. Which is good, because Jaz and Vayl get some pretty hairy assignments.

In Once Bitten, Twice Shy Jaz and Vayl get sent to take out a plastic surgeon who’s been giving terrorists and other undesirables new faces. As they go undercover, they meet Cole for the first time, discover the possibility of a traitor back in the home office, and run into Vayl’s ex-wife, a vampire who blames him for the death of their sons, hundreds of years ago. Toss into that the fact that Jaz has been developing some strange new abilities of her own, such as the power to sense vampires and other supernatural oddities, and the existence of a deadly cult trying to bring great evil into the world, and you have a recipe for huge disaster.

Obviously, Jaz and friends survive the first book (though HOW is a long story), since they’re back and working as a full-fledged team in Another One Bites The Dust. This time, they’re going undercover at the Corpus Christi Winter Festival. Their mission: to retrieve a unique piece of technology (one of Bergman’s inventions) which renders the wearer nigh-invulnerable and overwhelmingly deadly in battle. The current owner? A dragon-obsessed Chinese vampire with a private army and plans to spark a war. Oh, and did we mention the reavers, body-stealing, soul-eating monsters who hide in plain sight and are nearly impossible to kill under normal circumstances? Jaz, Vayl, Cole, Cassandra and Bergman have their work cut out for them if they want to get through this assignment alive and intact. Will personality conflicts between the members of the team sink them before any one of their many enemies gets the chance? Because waiting in the wings is the unseen architect of many of their woes, Edward Samos, a vampire terrorist also known as the Raptor. And if he gets his way, there’ll be nothing but trouble. But hey, that’s all part of the job for our intrepid band of heroes.

So far, I’ve loved this series. Jennifer Rardin has a knack for giving her characters distinctive voices, and her point-of-view protagonist, Jaz herself, is a delightfully refreshing change of pace. She’s snarky, up on her pop culture, appealing and memorable, and best of all, she doesn’t wallow in her romantic entanglements. (She occasionally indulges in self-pity, but she gets over it quickly enough.) Her interactions with the rest of her team are a great deal of fun, and there’s a satisfying amount of chemistry, be it professional, platonic, or emotional, between just about everyone. From the unusual bonds shared by Jaz and Vayl, to the incessant bickering of Bergman and Cassandra, to the little brotheresque obnoxiousness of Cole (he’s awful when bored), it all seems to fit together quite nicely.

This series has a lot going for it, with a blend of humor, action, adventure, intrigue, mystery, and supernatural mayhem, highly reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer during the height of its popularity. As urban fantasy, it’s got a strong voice, and a nicely flexible premise, and a great setup, and it’s just fun in general. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the world fleshed out more in books to come, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see how the characters continue to grow and develop. I’d have to give the Jaz Parks books high grades all around. They’re entertaining and humorous without being fluffy or frothy, and I’m absolutely delighted that despite the hint of sexual tension between Jaz and Vayl, they haven’t leapt into bed, nor does Jaz pine for him. Heck, she delights in giving him grief and teasing him whenever the subject even starts to rear its head. For once, we have a strong female heroine who doesn’t need regular doses of sex in order to function properly. (Perhaps an overstatement and an unfair generalization, but celibate heroines do seem to be in the minority these days.) Fans of urban fantasy won’t want to miss out on this hot new series. As an added bonus, Orbit’s set the release dates of the first four books fairly close together, so new fans won’t have long to wait for the next few installments.

Night Life, by Caitlin Kittredge (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2008)

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Detective Luna Wilder isn’t just a werewolf, she’s an Insoli, one who exists outside the normal pack structure. It grants her the freedom she craves to do her job as one of Nocturne City’s finest, but at the same time, it means she doesn’t have the same rights and protections those in a pack can expect. Of course, that’s not usually a problem for her. A temper threatening to run wild, and a growing lack of control over her ability to prevent the change into her werewolf form -is-, however. It couldn’t come at a worse time, either. She’s battling prejudice and harassment from other members of the Nocturne City Police, and a newly-begun murder investigation has her looking for a serial killer with demonic leanings … and someone in City Hall has just decided they don’t like her on the case at all. Luna’s investigation brings her into contact with Dmitri Sandovsky, a tough, sexy Redback werewolf pack leader, who gives her a run for her money straight off the bat.

Refusing to back down from the case, Luna risks life and job in order to find justice for the poor women who’ve been killed, a quest which seems linked to one of Nocturne Citys darkest, nastiest moments from decades past. Like it or not, she’ll have to work with, and even trust, Dmitri, who’s gone from murder suspect to unlikely ally in search of a little justice of his own. But Luna Wilder doesn’t play nice with packs. In fact, she’s discovering strengths and powers she never thought possible. But will it all be enough to stop a demon-summoning killer, and see this case through to the end?

Night Life is a strong debut from newcomer Caitlin Kittredge. It’s a good story, fast-paced and filled with twists and a suitably intriguing mystery at its heart. The protagonists are memorable and likeable, with some genuine chemistry, which makes for some fun scenes between the two as they jockey for dominance and take one another’s measure. The setting is interesting, and I look forward to seeing more of Nocturne City, its history and secrets and hotspots, in books to come. I really enjoyed reading Night Life. And yet, for all its minor differences and unique points, I can’t help but feel that there’s something vaguely paint-by-numbers about the larger structure. Maybe it’s a sign that I’ve been reading too much urban fantasy/paranormal romance of late, but the werewolf cop who finds emotional sparks flaring between her and her initial suspect, as they team up against all enemies to solve a case that no one wants solved … well, Kittredge hits all the standard beats, right down to Luna risking her job to solve the case against pressure from higher up, the sort of thing that’s a standard in cop stories. She hits these beats well, telling the story in a thoroughly enjoyable manner, but still, but it still feels just the tiniest bit stale, which is a shame, because I strongly suspect Kittredge is going to blow people out of the water once she truly hits her stride. Nocturne City has a -lot- to offer in further exploration. Night Life is a great start, and I look forward to seeing Kittredge reach her potential in future installments. Luna Wilder is a great character, especially when paired up with Dmitri Sandovsky, and I expect the two to go far together. I’ll be back for the next book in the series, and don’t let my minor gripings stop you from picking this one up.

Night Child, by Jes Battis (Ace, 2008)

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When the body of a dead (for real) vampire is discovered in an alley, Tess Corday, Occult Special Investigator for the Vancouver office of CORE – Central Occult Regulation Enterprise – is called into action, to determine just who this vampire was, and how and why he ended up dead in a back alley. Already on thin ice with her superiors due to her sometimes loose interpretation of her duties, Tess is told in no uncertain terms that if she screws this case up, she’s gone from CORE for good, and there’s just not that much work for mages who wash out under such circumstances. Her initial investigation brings her into contact with Mia Polansky, a teenage girl with massive untapped magical potential, and soon afterwards, things get ugly. Mercenary demons attack Tess and her partner, more people end up dead, and Tess herself is soon taken off the case.

However, it’s become personal to Tess, especially since Mia uncomfortably reminds her of someone from her past, a tragedy Tess has never quite gotten over. Despite common sense and job regulations and her superiors coming down on her like a ton of bricks, she continues to pursue the ever-more-complicated case, made all the more confusing with the addition of Lucian Agrado, a sexy necromancer whose very touch makes Tess think unprofessional thoughts, mixing fear with desire. Before it’s all over and Tess has gotten to the very heart of this mystery, she’ll contend with assassins, vampires, demons, betrayal, and the unhealed wounds of her own past.

Night Child, the first book starring Tess Corday, is a compelling new urban fantasy which mixes equal parts forensic investigation, modern science, and down-and-dirty magic to create something new and different, sure to appeal to the CSI fans in the crowd. Jes Battis has done a lovely job of working up a genuine murder mystery that snowballs into a dark conspiracy, and his characters use a combination of actual forensics techniques and magical skills to make the crucial breakthroughs at each stage of the investigation. While CSI-style stories aren’t normally my cup of tea, I can certainly see the appeal. Tess and her telepathic partner, Derrick, may take the lead in this story, but Battis has fleshed out the rest of the Mystical Crime Lab with an appropriate bunch of technogeeks, trivia-hoarding misfits, and obsessive weirdoes, which would likely be at home in any of the various television shows that focus on such things.

Also, Battis has set up an interesting scenario, where vampires, demons, mages and necromancers exist in their own little hidden enclaves and societies alongside the mundane world. Admittedly, that part’s nothing new for urban fantasy, but Battis goes the extra distance to apply science to some of the details, making for a blend of science and magic, rational and irrational, technology and spells, allowing this particular setting to stand out in its own way. It’s just plausible enough to work under the circumstances.

Night Child is a great start to a new series, and now that we’ve got the obligatory introduction to the characters and their various quirks and hangups out of the way, I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next for Tess and her friends. There’s just enough shakeup with the status quo at the end to make it anyone’s guess as to just what’s in store for the characters, and I’m hoping we’ll see more of Tess Corday soon.

Midnight's Daughter, by Karen Chance (Onyx, 2008)

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Meet Dorina “Dory” Basarab. A 500-year old dhampir (half-vampire) subject to rage-driven blackouts, she works as a vampire hunter and occasional troubleshooter for her father, one of the most powerful vampires in North America. Her housemate and best friend Claire, one of the only people capable of keeping those rage episodes under control, has gone missing, and Dory is in the middle of searching for her when a summons comes from her father. It seems her uncle, the famed Dracula of legend, is out and about after his most recent period of confinement, and looking to get some long-delayed revenge upon the family. Guess who’s been tasked to deal with this problem? That’s right. Dory’s given a partner she definitely doesn’t want – the enigmatic vampire Louis-Cesare – and a mission she doesn’t like, and off she goes into the seedy underbelly of the supernatural world, thus leading into a series of violent and messy adventures.

Unfortunately, Uncle Drac’s got some nasty allies, and before Dory and Louis-Cesare can even stop squabbling long enough to decide who’s in charge, they’re mixed up in the middle of a war between vampires and mages, and hunted by some of the merciless Fae for reasons they don’t understand. As the body count rises and the property damage escalates, Dory and her allies will have to get creative if they want to deal with Dracula’s threat, find Claire, thwart the evil plots of the mages, and sort out some Fae politics. Assuming Dory and Louis-Cesare don’t kill each other first.

Midnight’s Daughter is actually a spinoff from Chance’s other ongoing series, featuring the psychic Cassandra Palmer, but it stands up quite nicely under its own power, sharing the same setting and a few overlapping characters. (Mircea, Dory’s father, is Cassie Palmer’s love interest.) This is a rip-roaring, action-packed, no-holds-barred story, which hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the very end, leaving behind a high body count and no shortage of explosions and burned-down buildings, like a summer blockbuster gone awry. Dory’s an asskicking, leather-wearing heroine with a wry sense of humor, a love of weapons (much of the story seems to revolve around her trying to get the weapons she needs to level the field against Dracula), and a tendancy to defy authority. Louis-Cesare’s a prissy, semi-tormented, no-nonsense vampire who plays off her quirks in an opposites-attract sort of way. Together, they make a great team, and it’s entirely understandable that the sparks between them grow into a surprised attraction.

Chance populates her world with a wide variety of creatures, from vampires and mages, to ghosts and Fae, to trolls and demons, making for a rich tapestry of the bizarre, conjuring up resemblances to the Dresden Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There’s a sly sense of humor threaded throughout the book, courtesy both of Dory’s own unique outlook and of circumstances, and it keeps things from getting overly serious. I can tell I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this series. Midnight’s Daughter is a strong start, and you don’t need to have read the Cassie Palmer books to appreciate what’s going on here. There may be a number of leather-wearing, asskicking heroines on the market today, but there’s plenty of room for Dory Basarab.

Magic Bites and Magic Burns, by Ilona Andrews (Ace, 2007/2008)

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In the semi-near future, Atlanta has become a strange and dangerous place to live. Waves of magic sweep over the world with unpredictable frequency, cancelling out all things technological for the length of their duration. The supernatural is in full force during these times, with shapeshifters, mages, vampires, and far stranger things coming out to play. But for all the chaos that accompanies these shists between technology and magic and vice versa, there is still order, in the form of various organizations, from the Paranormal Activity Police Division, to the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid. And then there’s Kate Daniels, a mercenary who will clean up leftover magical problems as necessary. She’s tough, no-nonsense, and capable, and it’s a living, even if it doesn’t pay the bills as well as it should.

And then her mentor is killed, and her resultant investigation leads her into an intense power struggle between the Masters of the Dead, necromancers who use vampires like unliving weapons, and the Pack, Atlanta’s resident shapeshifters. Someone seems to be playing both sides against one another courtesy of a string of murders, and Kate’s own involvement sets her up as the perfect person to get to the heart of things. All she has to do now is convince the Beast Lord, Atlanta’s most powerful shapeshifter, a werelion named Curran, to cooperate with her while she braves the treacherous streets of Atlanta. Should she fail, it’s likely that the necromancers and shapeshifters will go to war, destroying everything in their path. But who stands to benefit from such an event? Kate won’t quit until she’s seen it through to the end, and avenged her slain mentor.

Surviving that mess, Kate takes on a role as liason between the Order of Merciful Aid and the Mercenary Guild, and business continues as usual. That is, until a flare threatens to hit. A thousand times more powerful than an ordinary wave of magic, a flare is a once-every-seven-years occurrence, a time when magic runs wild and anything is possible. A job to retrieve a set of stolen maps from the Pack leads Kate deep into the strangest parts of Atlanta, where mythical creatures prowl and the city itself seems alive and hungry. The arrival of a teleporting, crossbow-wielding stranger clues Kate into the fact that someone is playing a deadly game, and the stolen maps are just a tiny piece of something much larger. And when Kate takes on the protection of a teenage girl with untapped magical abilities, she takes on all of that girl’s unseen enemies, those who’d use her for their own nefarious means. A flare is coming, and gods are on the rise. Once again, Kate Daniels and her unlikely allies among the Masters of the Dead and the Pack are all that stands between success and disaster.

In Magic Bites and Magic Burns, Ilona Andrews has created a uniquely interesting setting, where magic and science coexist uneasily and anything is possible. Her world, Atlanta in particular, has an oddly not-so-post Apocalyptic feel to it, where time has clearly passed, and the alternating waves of magic and science have had very distinct effects upon society and civilization and how it all fits together, and yet it’s still relatively familiar at its heart. There are a lot of great elements to be found in this series, unusual takes on the old and familiar tropes that make up urban fantasy, even urban fantasy like this, and Andrews has done an excellent job of making it all work. Vampires aren’t the dark and alluring undead of most series here, they’re piloted by necromancers as servants and weapons, making them all the more terrifying for their vicious, barely-controlled, mindless savagery. There’s no shortage of werecreatures to be found here, and it’s both intriguing and amusing that Andrews doesn’t restrict herself to the standard wolf, cat, rat types. No, she throws in hyenas, minks, bears, and other less common types, all united under the powerful, charismatic, Curran.

Kate is a wonderful protagonist. Tough, stubborn, resourceful, and adaptable, she handles every situation thrown her way as best she can, learning from her mistakes even as she plunges into one dangerous situation after another. There’s an excellent dynamic set up between her and the other players, especially Ghastek, the necromancer most likely to contact her when the Masters of the Dead need her unique brand of assistance, and Curran, whose authority she seems to defy and challenge without even trying every time they meet. You can see the sparks brewing between Kate and Curran as their personalities clash time and again, and while there’s a definite attraction between them, it’s just as obvious that it won’t kindle into anything major anytime soon. Kate’s too independent for that.

Andrews draws upon a wide variety of mythological creatures and ideas for her setting, and it really helps to establish this series as something wide-ranging and complex. Toss in genuinely intriguing, fast-paced plots along with the interesting characters, and you have an urban fantasy series with a twist, slightly reminiscent of the Shadowrun role-playing game but definitely standing on its own. I thoroughly enjoyed these two books, and I’ll be eagerly looking forward to the next, because I want to see just what Kate gets into next.

La Vida Vampire, by Nancy Haddock (Berkley, 2008)

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Francesca Marinelli is one of the best ghost tour guides in St. Augustine, Florida, able to relate spooky stories about her surroundings and the spirits that haunt them like no other. Of course, in her case, she has an advantage: she’s a vampire, born two hundred years ago and only recently unearthed from her underground prison. Holding a job is just part of her acclimatization to the modern world. It could be worse, she’s just happy to be walking the streets in person, rather than experiencing events through her psychic abilities while her body lies trapped in a coffin, her fate for so many years.

Her quiet, well-adjusted life is thrown into shambles when a body turns up, the victim someone who’d just been in one of her tour groups. Next thing Francesca knows, she has rabid anti-vampire vigilantes on her tail, as well as some very suspicious cops. She’s also got vampire groupies eager for a little taste of the night life, a pack of gun-toting middle-aged housewives both helping and hindering her, and a preternatural crimes special investigator who sets Francesa’s libido on fire with a single glare. Can they find the true murderer before he strikes again, even closer to home?

La Vida Vampire’s a quirky, charming tale, with a heroine who manages to defy a great many vampire conventions. She surfs, shops at Walmart, is none too fond of the smell of blood, and rejects the image of vampires as sultry night-time creatures. She’s got a modern sensibility but retains enough dignity to be far more interesting than the chick-lit protagonist she could have devolved into easily. Nancy Haddock’s clearly found enough of a twist on the vampire mythos to let this particular take stick out. The mystery at the heart of the story is clever enough to keep things moving, without dragging things along, and it has a few surprises in store for the reader. One part paranormal romance, one part supernatural mystery, La Vida Vampire is an entertaining read, and I’ll be sure to pick up more by Nancy Haddock in the future.

Hunter's Prayer, by Lilith Saintcrow (Orbit, 2008)

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In Santa Luz, if there’s a Hellbreed problem or bizarre murder that needs investigating, they call in Jill Kismet. Hunter, exorcist, spiritual exterminator, kickass bitch, she wears many titles, not all of them complimentary. With her lover/partner, the werecougar Saul Dustcircle, she tends to cut a bloody swathe through anything that dares mess with her city. But big trouble is coming to Santa Luz, and Jill’s not prepared for the sheer scope of the problem at hand. It starts with the brutal killing and mutilation of prostitutes, and rapidly escalates when one of Jill’s oldest, nastiest enemies, shows up … apparently looking for her help. It looks as though a rogue member of the Sorrows, a widespread cult dedicated to the worship of ancient evils, is planning to summon a shadowy terror from the dawn of time, and Santa Luz is ground zero for the ritual. Jill’s going to have to draw upon all her resources to save the innocent people caught in the middle, and ally herself with several beings she truly hates and distrusts, in order to protect her city from the oncoming apocalypse. But what will this cost her, in terms of blood, energy, faith, and soul?

Hunter’s Prayer is the second in the Jill Kismet series, and compared to the first, Night Shift, it’s a major leap forward in terms of scope, quality, and epic asskicking. I found the development of the setting itself to be lacking in the first book; this has been rectified here, with Santa Luz gaining a lot in terms of feel, atmosphere, and presence. The city is a character in its own right, and I actually felt like the story was taking place in a specific location. The story itself is nonstop action, with Jill thrown from one crisis to the next in an ever-escalating, ever-messier series of battles and incidents until the final confrontation with the big bads.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was the use of unorthodox mythology. While there are werecreatures here, they’re not the focus, acting more as support and backgvround flavor for the most part. The real emphasis is on the various kinds of Hellbreed that infest the city, though most of them seem to exist just to give Jill something to kill in large quantities. In Hunter’s Prayer, we also get a good look at the Sorrows, Lovecraftian-style cultists with a decidedly nasty streak and no shortage of ambition where their dread gods are concerned. Combine all of those with the rather unique monster hunting Jill through most of the book, and you have something fairly new and interesting as far as the story’s supernatural elements go.

As always, Saintcrow packs a lot of character moments and emotional resonance into her work. Jill’s a damaged soul who tries to cleanse herself through extreme violence and who justifies making a deal with one of the city’s most powerful Hellbreed by counting the people she saves against the cost to her soul. She’s a fascinating study in contradictions, and it’s amazing she gets out of bed some days, even with the love and support of Saul Dustcircle (who remains, in many ways, an enigma even after two books). We get to see Jill’s gentler side (her empathy for the prostitutes and dregs of society) and her darker side (she enjoys killing pimps as much as she does Hellbreed) and in her mind, it all makes perfect sense. She’s as much hero as anti-hero, and someday that internal conflict is probably going to be her downfall. The strangest, most disturbing relationship continues to be between Jill and Perry, the Hellbreed who empowers her. Theirs is a violent, mutually abusive, mutually exploitive partnership, and it’s pretty much a given that it’s not going to end well at all. It’ll be interesting to see just what happens when one of them stops needing the other.

Hunter’s Prayer isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s a lot more satisfying than Night Shift was. Action-packed, with a nonstop plot that rockets towards an explosive climax, it’s a damned good read, one I was unable to put down. After Night Shift, I wasn’t sure if I’d continue with the series, but now I’m glad I did. At this point, I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment.

House of Cards, by C.E. Murphy (Luna, 2008)

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“We are here to tell you that there is strength in numbers, and that a balance has changed.”

With those words, a long-lost faction of the Old Races, those supernatural creatures which have lived among us for the length of recorded history, comes out of hiding, thus throwing the careful balance of the remaining Old Races into chaos and confusion. Not that things had been entirely peaceful before. Ever since the gargoyle, Alban Korund, revealed himself to human lawyer Margrit Knight, things have been spiraling out of control, slowly but surely. Margrit, nicknamed “Grit” for her tenacity and boldness, quickly became deeply embroiled in the strange affairs of the Old Races of New York City: the dragons and djinn, gargoyles and selkies and vampires. Now she’s known as a human who can negotiate with the representatives of the various races, unafraid and unwavering in her attempts to serve a greater good. She’s faced down the dragon crimelord, Janx. She’s stymied and opposed the vampire businessmen, Eliseo Daisani. She’s earned the goodwill of the selkies, romanced a gargoyle, and even stared down an angry djinn. Not exactly what she’s used to in her daily life as a lawyer for Legal Aid, that’s for sure.

But Margrit’s presence has set things in motion. She owes Janx several favors, and the dragon is aiming to collect, even as Daisani works things with an eye towards obtaining her services as a new personal assistant, a job which even Margrit understands to have more than its share of risks. The dragon and the vampire, rivals at best and enemies whenever the winds are right, at once again at war with one another, their pawns and human tools dying as casualties, and despite her best efforts, Margrit can’t help but get caught in the middle. And that’s when other factions make their presence known. Now, the representatives of the Old Races must gather for the first time in centuries, and Margrit Knight, a mere human, albeit one of unusual boldness and cunning, has a chance to alter their destinies forever. But what will it cost her? And how will all of this affect her love life, caught as she is between the safety and normalcy of a human cop on the one hand, and the exotic freedom of a gargoyle on the other? As things erupt in violence and fire, Margrit’s life will change forever.

House of Cards, the second in Murphy’s Negotiator trilogy, continues the fascinating story of the influence one mortal can make in a society of supernatural creatures. I’ll say it now: Murphy’s Walker Papers series, about an urban shaman, was very good. This series is nothing short of great. Her supernatural characters carry off a very nice blend of alien amorality and human fallibility, managing to exist beyond and above the laws of mortals without being completely removed from the day to day realities. Janx and Daisani in particular are complex, multi-dimensional, and unpredictable, pulling off their parts with confidence, dry humor, and just enough understated menace to make them believable as both allies and antagonists. One gets the impression that they’re amused by Margrit’s bravery and boldness (like if a kitten showed its fangs), and pleasantly surprised by her efforts to manipulate their own customs and personalities to get her way. Even immortals, it seems, can be jolted out of complacency.

This isn’t to make light of the parts played by the other characters. Alban, the exiled gargoyle who inadvertently brought Margrit into this mess, makes some hard decisions of his own, changing and growing as a result of his time spent with the feisty lawyer, while the resident djinn, Malik, shows his hidden depths as plans unfold and things get messy. The only one who really seems to suffer is Margrit’s occasional boyfriend, Tony, who mostly exists to stomp around, toss out coplike pronouncements of “If you’re dirty, you’re going down with the rest of them,” and sulking about the status of their relationship. It’s hard to find much to like about him under the circumstances, which is a shame.

The plot itself is fast-paced and always moving forward, and even though this is the second book in a trilogy, it doesn’t suffer from the middle-book syndrome, at least not so one would notice. Plenty happens, as the entire balance of the Old Races is upset and rules are changed. Characters live and die, alliances are made and broken, and a vicious power struggle leaves the status quo rather different from before, all leading to a conclusion that leave readers wanting more. I really did get a feeling of Big Things Happening, as events unfolded and the words I quoted at the start of this review were spoken. Murphy’s got a knack for suggesting Big Things Happening without resorting to pyrotechnics, just as her most dangerous characters manage to pull off the majority of their best tricks without pulling out their respective supernatural abilities. Daisani is a vampire who doesn’t need to drink blood on screen in order to convey a sense of age and power, and Janx exudes dragonlike qualities without breathing fire and flapping wings all the time, and yet you never forget, for all their playful demeanors, that they’re frighteningly capable and genuinely dangerous. Murphy understands when less is more, and it works quite well in this series.

I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy, or paranormal romance, or mixtures of both, and this series stands out quite nicely for several reasons. It utilizes nonstandard fantasy races such as the gargoyles and djinn, it has a heavy focus on the complex web of political and personal negotiations and entanglements, and it relies on plot over romance to keep things moving along. The engine that keeps the story going is one of checks and balances between the major characters, while the romantic aspect is a subtle undercurrent that keeps the engine lubricated, if that makes sense. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed House of Cards, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting the third in the series.

Hotter Than Hell, by Jackie Kessler (Zebra, 2008)

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For centuries, the incubus Duanuan has seduced women, killing them and claiming their souls for the realm of Lust, down in Hell. He’s damned (literally) good at what he does, and he knows it. But when his boss, the great god Pan, ruler of Lust, calls him in for a meeting, Duanuan knows it can’t be good. It’s never a good idea to get the attention of one’s ‘coworkers’ in a job like this. It seems Pan has plans for Duanuan: seduce one very specific woman, a soul otherwise destined for Heaven, and get a promotion to Pan’s second … or suffer horribly for a very long time. With the clock ticking and his eternal future at stake, Duanuan gets to work, studying Virginia Reed. She’s a widow still mourning her lost husband, not in the mood for any of Duan’s charms, and uitterly resistant to his magic. This is going to be the seduction of his career. But can he pull it off in between mysterious, unprovoked attacks from other Hellish denizens? And can Duan get past his own undying lust for a former coworker, Jessie Harris, once known as Jezebel the succubus, long enough to deal with Virginia properly? When Duan starts developing actual *gasp* feelings for Virginia, it seems that his career may just be jumping the rails once and for all. He’ll have to make some hard decisions, and rethink the way he does things if he wants to succeed, but will he taint and corrupt an innocent woman’s soul in the process? It’s a Hell of a job…

The third book in the Hell on Earth series, Hotter Than Hell breaks from the tradition of the first two by focusing on previously-supporting character and perennial bad boy, Duanuan (pronounced just like you might think, Don Juan. Yeah. Him.) Jackie Kessler takes a lot of bold risks in this book, choosing to focus on a protagonist who really is a nasty piece of work. He’s arrogant, smarmy, cheesy, overconfident, sexist, and slippier than a snake oil salesman. He’s a stalker whose entire existence resolves around finding people to seduce, kill, and drag down to Hell, and when he’s not turning his supernaturally-enhanced charms upon mortals, he’s lusting for Jessie “Jezebel” Harris, who’s become mortal and settled down with her cop lover after the events of Hell’s Belles and The Road To Hell. Duanuan is a demon, unrepentant, unapologetic, and unashamed, and he spends most of the book lying to his target/love interest with intent to damn and kill. Yes, it’s safe to say that he sparks quite a reaction. Because he’s got his fine points, buried deep with, and over time, we get to see them come out as circumstances cause him to change and adapt and make hard choices and moral decisions. He’s not a hero by any real standards; even at the end, he’s still an anti-hero, shaped by his surroundings and driven by his very nature. So it’s obvious that any story featuring a character like this is going to raise some interesting questions. Do we dare root for someone like him? Let’s go out on a limb and say sure. Duanuan’s bound to have his fans.

So getting past the issue of the protagonist, we come to the plot. Incubus stalks innocent woman, charms her, gets to know her, is affected by her, and deals with job-related politics and strife in the process. It’s fast-paced, especially since Pan keeps moving up the deadline, and we alternate between supernatural action, fascinating character interaction, and some sizzling seduction throughout the course of several days. I will say that I honestly didn’t see the ending coming. It’s not what you’d expect from a romance, and I refuse to spoil it any more than that.

Jackie Kessler delivers some blistering hot moments along the way, through the eyes of her infernal protagonist, who clearly has an eye for beauty and sensuality. It hits that fine line between erotic and pornographic at times, and dances carefully along the edge, making for some hot times for Duanuan and Virginia as she slowly gives in to his appeal. Extra points for Virginia being depicted as a real woman, one with extra curves and a bit more weight than the stereotypical stick-figure romance heroine. Kessler really puts a lot of energy into the spicy content, appropriate given the premise, and it pays off. It’s not full-blown erotic romance or whatever they call the porn-with-a-plot these days, but it’s still, well, hotter than Hell.

Maybe this isn’t for everyone. The main character may be hard for some people to swallow, and it doesn’t have the easy, pat ending of most romances, and it doesn’t really qualify as mainstream urban fantasy. It’s billed as paranormal romance, but the author herself describes it as dark paranormal, which can be an awkward niche. But if you want a book featuring a protagonist in desperate need of some moral improvement, with a fast-paced plot, supernatural intrigue, and hot scenes, Hotter Than Hell is definitely a strong contender. You can bet I’ll be interested to see what Kessler does next.