Tag Archives: Adult Fic

Book Review: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

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Book: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

Published September 2011 by Berkley|336 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Guild Hunter #4

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh is back in the shadows of a deadly, beautiful world where angels rule, vampires serve, and one female hunter must crawl out of the darkness to survive…

The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more… 

I liked Archangel’s Blade!  This one is definitely interesting, but I don’t know that I like it as much as the other books in the series.

This book focused on two different characters- Dmitri and Honor.  It’s interesting to follow two different characters, especially Dmitri.  I’m glad we got to know him more, because he’s definitely an interesting character.  I can’t remember how much we’ve seen of Honor, or even if she’s been mentioned.  If she has, it clearly hasn’t made an impression on me, though her story was sad but also interesting.  Still, I was more interested in Dmitri’s story.

I’m disappointed that we didn’t get more of Raphael and Elena, because I really like both of them.  They make appearances, of course, so we still know what’s going on, but I’m hoping we get back to their world.

I guess this is where I have mixed feelings.  On the one hand, we’ve had a few books focusing on Raphael and Elena, and we were suddenly pulled from their story to see the series focus on someone else.  But at the same time, there are a lot of characters, and with someone like Dmitri around, it’s also nice to see what’s going on with some of the other characters.  So hopefully, we’ll see a balance of Raphael and Elena and some of the other characters.

I don’t know how I feel about Dmitri and Honor.  Of all the vampires Honor could have chosen, she went with Dmitri?  It’s just so strange, given what he’s into, and what’s happened to her.  It seems like she’s a reincarnation of his mortal wife, but something about them just didn’t sit right with me.  Since they’ve had their book, hopefully future books will focus on some of the other characters, and we’ll just see them in passing.  I’m not sure if I’d be interested in another book about them.

3 stars.  While I don’t love Dmitri and Honor as a couple, I still liked Archangel’s Blade, and I’m hoping we get back to Raphael and Elena soon.

Book Review: Archangel’s Consort by Nalini Singh

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Book: Archangel’s Consort by Nalini Singh

Published January 2011 by Berkley|352 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Guild Hunters #3

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux and her lover, the lethally beautiful archangel Raphael, have returned home to New York only to face an uncompromising new evil.

A vampire has attacked a girls’ school—the assault one of sheer, vicious madness—and it is only the first act. Rampant bloodlust takes vampire after vampire, threatening to make the streets run with blood. Then Raphael himself begins to show signs of an uncontrolled rage, as inexplicable storms darken the city skyline and the earth itself shudders. The omens are suddenly terrifyingly clear.

An ancient and malevolent immortal is rising. The violent winds whisper her name: Caliane. She has returned to reclaim her son, Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena, the consort who must be destroyed…

I really liked Archangel’s Consort.  There’s a lot going on in this book, and I think it’s a great addition to the series.

In this book, we see Raphael and Elena back in New York.  Caliane is waking, and things are changing in this world.  She’s supposed to be really powerful- more than Lijuan.  I’m having trouble picturing it, but I also want to see how that plays out.  I think I’m having trouble with it because we’re meeting her for the first time in this book, though she’s been mentioned before.  And I feel like we don’t know a lot about her.

The world is changing because of Caliane, but I’m hoping it goes back to normal.  As normal as a world like this can be.  We also see how Elena gets drawn into things because of an attack at a high school.  Her sister is involved, and I wasn’t expecting that to happen at all.  I thought Elena was the only one with Hunter abilities, but we learn she’s not, and that she seems to have a pretty interesting family history.

I wonder if all of the angels and archangels are affected by what’s going on with Caliane.  Raphael is, and I think a few others are as well, but I’m having a little trouble remembering.  For some reason, I feel pretty fuzzy on the details but either way, Raphael doesn’t have an easy road ahead of him, especially where his mother is concerned.  I want to know how it’s all connected.

4 stars.  I really liked Archangel’s Consort.  I wish I had more to say about it, and that I remembered more of it, but I still enjoyed reading it.

Book Review: Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh

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Book: Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh

Published February 2010 by Berkley|352 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Guild Hunter #2

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find that she has become an angel-and that her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, likes having her under his control. But almost immediately, Raphael must ready Elena for a flight to Beijing, to attend a ball thrown by the archangel Lijuan. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan’s power lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena…

I liked Archangel’s Kiss!  I don’t know if I like this series as much as her Psy-Changeling series but I’m only a couple books in, so maybe I’ll have a better idea once I read more of this series.

This book picks up after Elena wakes up from a coma to find that she’s become an angel.  I liked seeing Elena deal with becoming an angel, and getting ready for a ball thrown by Lijuan.  She has a lot to learn about being an angel, and this book deals with that.  It’ll be interesting to see what else is in store for Elena, and if it’ll affect her Hunter abilities.  We see a little bit of it in this book, and I’m curious to see how all of that will work out in the future.  It could be an interesting combination.

I also thought that everything with Lijuan was interesting.  So far, it seems like the books are focusing on the other archangels.  The first book focused on Uram, and Lijuan is pretty important in this one.  It makes me wonder if each of the archangels are going to have an important part to play in the rest of the series.  The cadre does seem to be dropping like flies, and I wonder how long that can be kept up.

We meet a lot of characters and I honestly can’t remember most of them.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see of them, and I’ll actually be able to remember them.  But I also wish we hadn’t met so many of them in this book.  It felt like too many were introduced.  Hopefully this won’t continue, but maybe she’ll start doing a list of characters, like she did with her Psy-Changeling series.

I do like Elena and Raphael, and I do like them together.  I like that it’s not immediate and that things are moving relatively slow.  At least in terms of romance novel land.  There are definitely going to be a lot of adjustments in their future, that’s for sure.

3 stars.  I liked it, and I can’t wait to see where things are headed next.

Book Review: The Blood Gospel by James Rollins And Rebecca Cantrell

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Book: The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

Published August 2013 by Harper|717 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: The Order Of The Sanguines #1

Genre: Adult Thriller

In his first-ever collaboration, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins combines his skill for cutting-edge science and historical mystery with award-winning novelist Rebecca Cantrell’s talent for haunting suspense and sensual atmosphere in a gothic tale about an ancient order and the hunt for a miraculous book known only as . . . The Blood Gospel

An earthquake in Masada, Israel, kills hundreds and reveals a tomb buried in the heart of the mountain. A trio of investigators–Sergeant Jordan Stone, a military forensic expert; Father Rhun Korza, a Vatican priest; and Dr. Erin Granger, a brilliant but disillusioned archaeologist–are sent to explore the macabre discovery, a subterranean temple holding the crucified body of a mummified girl.

But a brutal attack at the site sets the three on the run, thrusting them into a race to recover what was once preserved in the tomb’s sarcophagus: a book rumored to have been written by Christ’s own hand, a tome that is said to hold the secrets to His divinity. The enemy who hounds them is like no other, a force of ancient evil directed by a leader of impossible ambitions and incalculable cunning.

From crumbling tombs to splendorous churches, Erin and her two companions must confront a past that traces back thousands of years, to a time when ungodly beasts hunted the dark spaces of the world, to a moment in history when Christ made a miraculous offer, a pact of salvation for those who were damned for eternity.

Here is a novel that is explosive in its revelation of a secret history. Why do Catholic priests wear pectoral crosses? Why are they sworn to celibacy? Why do the monks hide their countenances under hoods? And why does Catholicism insist that the consecration of wine during Mass results in its transformation to Christ’s own blood? The answers to all go back to a secret sect within the Vatican, one whispered as rumor but whose very existence was painted for all to see by Rembrandt himself, a shadowy order known simply as the Sanguines.

In the end, be warned: some books should never be found, never opened–until now.

I really liked this one!  The Blood Gospel is definitely interesting, and it’s a good read-alike if you like Dan Brown.  Particularly the Da Vinci Code/Robert Langdon books.  But with vampires.

I did like the Sanguines, and how they came to be.  I also liked what Rollins and Cantrell did with history, particularly with Rasputin, and the Romanov family, though we only see Alexei, the son of Csar Nicholas.  Part of me wishes Anastasia had been the one mentioned, because of the stories of how she survived, but we can’t really do anything about that.  I will say that Alexei makes sense, because his hemophilia is how Rasputin ended up with the family in the first place.  Even though this book isn’t about that, part of me wishes we had a lot more detail about how he survived.

One thing I thought was confusing was when we had other perspectives.  We see a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory narrate at times, as well as a young boy who survived the earthquake.  People were referenced in those chapters, and those references were never explained.  They were known simply as He and Him, and I wanted something a lot more clear.  It made things more confusing and muddled than they needed to be.

Another thing I was not sure about was the kid who survived the earthquake.  I’m still not sure how he factors into things, but maybe we’ll see that in the other books?  The chapters that focused on some of these side characters were really strange.  I already mentioned how confusing they were and part of that is because it wasn’t obvious at first when we changed perspective.  I don’t mind multiple narrators or perspectives, but I do mind when it’s not obvious.

But things seemed to get randomly introduced and it wasn’t clear at first how they connected to the overall story.  Some of becomes clear by the end of the book, and while I’m doubtful it will come up again, I hope some of the people and things are explained more.  Again, the vagueness did not work for me at all because you’re trying to figure things out and it made it really confusing.  I hope that doesn’t continue in the other books.

I was definitely intrigued, and I did want to keep reading to see what would happen next.  It takes place over a couple of days, and even though we knew the timeline because dates and times were mentioned, it also seemed like it was happening over a longer period of time.

On a random note, I don’t understand why they couldn’t mention when we changed narrators, but could mention the exact day, time and location for the timeline.

Back to the timeline, though.  Things were definitely moving along, and I really liked the pace of the book.  Though it seemed like a lot, especially over a couple of days, there was never a lull in the action.

3 stars.  I liked The Blood Gospel, and I’m curious to see what happens next.

Book Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

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Book: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Published October 2004 by Ace Books|219 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out…

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn’t such a bright idea.

Dead Until Dark was a book I read years ago, and I decided to pick up and re-read it.  It was fun, and I liked it.

Honestly, this is a book where I don’t have a lot to say.  There’s definitely a mystery to be solved, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but I was quite surprised by who was behind the mystery.  Things definitely changed for Sookie once Bill came into town, and I had a fun time reading about everything that happened.

I liked Sookie, and I was really interested in her ability to read minds.  It’s interesting that she works in a bar, and you can see glimpses of how hard it is for her to shut it off.  I imagine it’s a lot easier for her to do it as an adult than it was as a kid.  One thing about it that didn’t make a lot of sense was the town knowing.  It seemed like everyone knew there was something going on with her, but a lot of people didn’t seem to know what it was.  And yet, it also seemed liked at least some people knew but pretended like it wasn’t something she could do.  How it didn’t spread like wildfire, I don’t know.

I really liked her grandma, and it’s a shame we didn’t get more of her.  She seemed pretty cool, and her exit from the book (and series) was way too soon.  I know there’s no hope that we’ll see her again, but I really wish we saw more of her.  Maybe we’ll get some stories about her in the rest of the series.

The world is pretty cool, and I know there’s more to it than what we see in this one.  Fairies, vampires, shapeshifters…what else are we going to see, and how does it all fit together?

3 stars.  I liked Dead Before Dark, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Book Review: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase

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Book: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase

Published June 2012 by Avon|372 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: The Dressmakers #2

Genre: Adult Romance/Historical Romance

From the Journals of Sophia Noirot: A dress is a weapon. It must dazzle his eye, raise his temperature… and empty his purse.

A blue-eyed innocent on the outside and a shark on the inside, dressmaker Sophy Noirot could sell sand to Bedouins. Selling Maison Noirot’s beautiful designs to aristocratic ladies is a little harder, especially since a recent family scandal has made an enemy of one of society’s fashion leaders. Turning scandal to the shop’s advantage requires every iota of Sophy’s skills, leaving her little patience for a big, reckless rake like the Earl of Longmore. The gorgeous lummox can’t keep more than one idea in his head at a time, and his idea is taking off all of Sophy’s clothes.

But when Longmore’s sister, Noirot’s wealthiest, favorite customer, runs away, Sophy can’t let him bumble after her on his own. In hot pursuit with the one man who tempts her beyond reason, she finds desire has never slipped on so smoothly.

I liked this one!  I didn’t love it, and it’s not my favorite Loretta Chase book (or series), I still enjoyed it.

I really liked Sophie, and I liked her with Longmore.  I didn’t love them together, but I liked them as a couple a lot more than Clevedon and Marcelline.  I felt like he really wanted to help his sister and protect her, and Sophie seems to blend in everywhere she goes, so it’s the perfect way for her to help Longmore keep an eye on his sister.  Assuming she wants to be invisible, of course.

Like Silk Is For Seduction, I was more interested in the dress shop and the business Sophie and her sisters were trying to build.  Not to the same degree that I was with the previous book, since I liked this romance more than the previous one.  But I was still slightly more interested in the shop and the dresses than the romance.

I was pretty interested in what was going on with Clara- even though all of her issues brought Sophie and Longmore together, I was pretty interested in what was in store for her in the romance department.  I’m pretty sure the next book (whenever I read it) won’t focus on her, but hopefully we’ll see her and what”s going on with her, because she is one of my favorite characters in this series.

I didn’t love Sophie and Longmore together, and I’m not sure why.  Better them than Clevedon and Marcelline, but I still wasn’t into them as a couple.  This series (at least so far) has been more about the dresses than the romance.  At least, I’m more into that than the romance, which is why I picked up this series in the first place.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like Loretta Chase and I did enjoy Scandal Wears Satin, but maybe some of the descriptions of clothing could have gone towards making me fall in love with Sophie and Longmore.

3 stars.  I liked and enjoyed Scandal Wears Satin but I didn’t love it.  I liked it enough that I’ll pick up the next book at some point, because I am curious to see how things work out for the Noirot sisters.

Book Review: Silk Is For Seduction by Loretta Chase

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Book: Silk Is For Seduction by Loretta Chase

Published June 2011 by Avon|371 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: The Dressmakers #1

Genre: Adult Romance/Historical Romance

From the Design Book of Marcelline Noirot:
The allure of the perfect gown should be twofold:
ladies would die to wear it…and gentlemen would kill to remove it!

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London’s rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon’s intended bride? Winning the future duchess’s patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are…not.

The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline’s met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses; and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno…and a blazing scandal.

And now both their futures hang by an exquisite thread of silk…

I liked this one!  I’m on a romance kick right now, and this seemed like a good one to read.  I really like Loretta Chase, and it was no surprise that I liked this one.

I really liked Marcelline but I don’t know that I liked her with Clevedon.  I felt like we saw a lot more of Marcelline than Clevedon, and I felt like this book was more about Marcelline and her up-and-coming dress shop than it was about the romance between her Clevedon.

I think part of why I didn’t like them together was the fact that there was someone he was intended to marry, and Marcelline did everything she could to get to him so she could dress this really important person.  I mean, it brought them together, of course, and there are all of these obstacles, but I just wasn’t a fan of them as a couple.  Clevedon was what I expected but…he’s not my favorite romance novel hero.

Not that I could pick a favorite, because I don’t think I could.  But he just didn’t do anything for me.  Just…even though he wasn’t actually engaged to someone he thought of as a sister…I don’t know, I just couldn’t get behind them knowing he was supposed to eventually get married to someone and ignored that in favor of his own needs.  It just made it hard to care and root for them.

I did want Marcelline to be a really successful shop owner and dressmaker, and I did find myself rooting for her to actually make it.  I wanted her to be able to take care of her sisters and daughter, and she’s well on her way to doing that, I think.  We’ll see, though, because this is only the first in a series.  I’m curious to see how things turn out for them, and even though I know the following books won’t focus on them, I’m sure both Marcelline and Clevedon will make an appearance.

3 stars.  I liked it, and Marcelline is a great character.  I just wasn’t a fan of the romance in this one.

Book Review: Don’t Tempt Me by Loretta Chase And The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

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Book: Don’t Tempt Me by Loretta Chase

Published June 2009 by Avon Books|353 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Fallen Women #2

Genre: Adult Romance/Historical Romance

Spunky English girl overcomes impossible odds and outsmarts heathen villains.

That’s the headline when Zoe Lexham returns to England. After twelve years in the exotic east, she’s shockingly adept in the sensual arts. She knows everything a young lady shouldn’t and nothing she ought to know. She’s a walking scandal, with no hope of a future . . . unless someone can civilize her.

Lucien de Grey, the Duke of Marchmont, is no knight in shining armor. He’s cynical, easily bored, and dangerous to women. He charms, seduces, and leaves them—with parting gifts of expensive jewelry to dry their tears. But good looks, combined with money and rank, makes him welcome everywhere. The most popular bachelor in the Beau Monde can easily save Zoe’s risqué reputation . . . if the wayward beauty doesn’t lead him into temptation, and a passion that could ruin them both. 

I really liked this one!  I liked Zoe, and I liked her with Lucien.  I don’t know if it’s just me, but it feels like the last romance or two that I’ve read has a main character who needs help getting introduced into society.  Maybe it’s just the books I happen to be picking up.

At any rate, I really liked Zoe, and she and Lucien are an interesting match.  They’re pretty good together, and I thought they were both hysterical.  Zoe’s a free spirit and headstrong while Lucien is still not over the death of his parents and brother, and the disappearance of Zoe.

Zoe definitely had a hard time adjusting to life in London.  Her sisters were pretty irritating, and for some reason, they reminded me of the Bennett sisters from Pride And Prejudice.  Zoe seemed pretty smart and observant, and I really liked that about her.  It took her a while to get used to everything in London, and I liked seeing her navigate a completely different world.

My Rating: 4 stars.  I really liked Zoe, and I liked her with Lucien.  I liked their romance, but I wish we saw more of their life after they got married.  It just didn’t seem like enough.

Book: The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

Published April 2007 by Grand Central Publishing|372 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Princes Trilogy #2

Genre: Adult Romance/Historical Romance

THE ONE THING A LADY MUST NEVER DO 
Wealthy Lady Georgina Maitland doesn’t want a husband, though she could use a good steward to run her estates. One look at Harry Pye, and Georgina knows she’s not just dealing with a servant, but a man.

IS FALL IN LOVE…
Harry has known many aristocrats-including one particular nobleman who is his sworn enemy. But Harry has never met a beautiful lady so independent, uninhibited, and eager to be in his arms. 

WITH HER SERVANT. 
Still, it’s impossible to conduct a discreet liaison when poisoned sheep, murdered villagers, and an enraged magistrate have the county in an uproar. The locals blame Harry for everything. Soon it’s all Georgina can do to keep her head above water and Harry’s out of the noose…without missing another night of love.

I really liked The Leopard Prince.  I’ve read a few of Hoyt’s books, and I really like that she always has a fictional story in her boos.  At least, she has a fictional story in the books I’ve read of hers, and that hasn’t been many.  This book has the tale of the leopard prince, but unfortunately, I’m super fuzzy on the details, so don’t expect a lot of details or mentions of this fictional story.

I liked Georgina, and I liked the relationships she had with her sister and her brothers.  They’re pretty protective of her, and I liked that she was protective of her sister.  She really did try to look out for her sister, and I felt like she was pretty supportive of her.

There was more mystery than I was expecting for a romance novel, but I vaguely remember the first book in this series having a bit of a mystery as well.  I don’t know how I feel about Georgina and Harry together, though I really like them as individual characters.  I just don’t know I how feel about them as a couple.  There are a lot of obstacles, considering he’s her servant, and the local magistrate is pretty much out to get him.  Maybe I just didn’t completely love them as a couple, but I do think they’re good together.

My Rating: 4 stars.  I didn’t love The Leopard Prince but I still really enjoyed it!

Audio Book Review: Spectacle by Rachel Vincent, Narrated by Gabra Zackman

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Book: Spectacle by Rachel Vincent, Narrated by Gabra Zackman

Published May 2017 by Record Books|Length: 9 hours, 25 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Menagerie #2

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

In this riveting sequel to New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent’s acclaimed novel Menagerie, Delilah Marlow will discover that there is no crueler cage than the confines of the human mind…

When their coup of Metzger’s Menagerie is discovered, Delilah and her fellow cryptids find their newly won freedom brutally stripped away as they are sold into The Savage Spectacle, a private collection of “exotic wildlife.” Specializing in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors, the Spectacle’s owner, Willem Vandekamp, caters to the forbidden fetishes of the wealthy and powerful. At the Spectacle, any wish can be granted—for the right price. 

But Vandekamp’s closely guarded client list isn’t the only secret being kept at the Spectacle. Beneath the beauty and brutality of life in the collection lie much darker truths, and no one is more determined than Delilah to strip the masks from the human monsters and drag all dark things into the light.

This is another book I’ve really enjoyed!  I really liked the first one, and I’m glad I switched to the audio book, because Gabra Zackman is one of my favorite narrators, and she was a great choice for this book.

I liked seeing the aftermath of what happened in the first book at Metzger’s, and what happened once they were taken to the Savage Spectacle.  What they had to endure there was horrible- more so than what we saw in the first book, and I hated seeing them go through that.  In particular, I hated what Genevieve, Gallagher and Delilah had to go through, but I think that’s because Genevieve’s story really stood out, and we get chapters from Delilah and Gallagher’s perspective.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the different perspectives we see in the book.  I really liked in Menagerie, and I did like it in this book, but not as much as I did previously.  I think part of it is that I didn’t find the other perspectives as interesting.  And I think part of it is that it didn’t translate well to audio.  At least for me, but there were points were I was paying attention but also had my attention elsewhere, so maybe I just wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been.

Like Menagerie, we get snippets of headlines and other stories about cryptids and the Reaping.  I’m curious to see how what’s going on now will come together with everything that happened before.  It’s more creepy and horrifying and it really opens up this world that Delilah is now living in.

Life at the Spectacle is pretty contained, much like life at Metzger’s was, but somehow, this book opened up more of this world.  I think it’s because of everything Vandekamp was trying to do, with the collar, and the clients that frequent the Spectacle.  When you have a lot of wealthy and powerful clients, it’s going to change things, and I’m curious to see the fallout from what happened there.

With being able to control them at the press of a button, and trying to break them to learn what their triggers are…it’s a brutal world they’re now living in, and it’s a lot more threatening, especially where reproduction is concerned.  There’s no consent for the cryptids (as far as humans are concerned), and that’s something to keep in mind if you pick up this book.

What’s interesting is that while Menagerie would make a great stand-alone, there’s still a lot of story that could be told in this world.  Spectacle is a great addition to the series and adds to the world we get introduced to in Menagerie.  I can’t begin to imagine what we’re going to see in the next (and last) book, but I’m hoping it’ll add more to the world while wrapping things up.

4 stars.  The brutality and cruelty was a little hard to handle, especially on audio, and the multiple narrators didn’t work as well as I thought they would.  Gabra Zackman did a great job narrating the book as well.

Audio Book Review: Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink, Narrated by Jasika Nicole

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Book: Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink, Narrated by Jasika Nicole

Published October 2018 by HarperAudio|Length: 8 hours, 44 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: None

Genre: Adult

From the New York Times best-selling coauthor of It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale comes a fast-paced thriller about a truck driver searching across America for the wife she had long assumed to be dead.

“This is not a story. It’s a road trip.”

Keisha Lewis lived a quiet life with her wife, Alice, until the day that Alice disappeared. After months of searching, presuming she was dead, Keisha held a funeral, mourned, and gradually tried to get on with her life. But that was before Keisha started to see her wife, again and again, in the background of news reports from all over America. Alice isn’t dead, and she is showing up at every major tragedy and accident in the country.

Following a line of clues, Keisha takes a job with a trucking company, Bay and Creek Transportation, and begins searching for Alice. She eventually stumbles on an otherworldly conflict being waged in the quiet corners of our nation’s highway system – uncovering a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman.

Why did Alice disappear? What does she have to do with this secret war between inhuman killers? Why did the chicken cross the road? These questions, and many more, will be answered in Alice Isn’t Dead.

I loved Alice Isn’t Dead! Ever since I heard there was going to be an Alice Isn’t Dead book, I knew I had to read it. It’s rare I pre-order books, but this was one I pre-ordered on Audible the second it was available to pre-order.

It’s a great book, whether you’ve listened to the podcast or not. It has some of the same elements and events from the podcast and while it’s the same premise as the podcast, it’s also a completely different story. So if you’ve listened to the podcast, it’s also worth checking out the book, because it’s a different take on a story I’ve come to know and love.

I liked hearing this version of Keisha’s story, and how she went in search of Alice. I loved seeing them find each other again and what happened once everything was over. It makes me want to listen to the podcast all over again, to see how they’re different but also the same. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to the podcast, particularly the earlier episodes, and it might be fun to revisit the podcast.

Back to the book…I honestly don’t have much else to say about the book. I loved the story, the search for Alice, and how things weren’t what they seemed. It’s a very different feel than the Night Vale books, and it’s more of a thriller than whatever category you want to place Night Vale into. I know there’s no way any mention of Night Vale would happen, but now that I think about it, it would have been cool to have seen a mention of it. Still, Alice Isn’t Dead is great, regardless of connections or mentions to the same weird desert town that got me into listening to Alice Isn’t Dead.

Since I did listen to the audio book, I think I’ll talk about that! I knew I had to go with the audio book for the Alice Isn’t Dead book. I’ve loved the podcast, and I can’t imagine physically reading the book. It would be interesting to read Alice Isn’t Dead in print, but I remember the print version of the Welcome To Night Vale book not working in print, and I have the feeling it would be the same with this book.

I’m glad Jasika Nicole narrated the book- she did great as the voice of Keisha on the podcast, and I knew she would be great at narrating the book too. It’s definitely worth listening to, especially if you’re a fan of audio books. Something about the story works so well on audio- it’s like it was written for the audio book listener in mind.

One last thing I’d like to talk about: Keisha’s anxiety. It’s definitely present throughout the book, and the thing I loved the most was that it wasn’t cured or magically gone by the end of the book. You see how she copes and deals with it, and I loved Keisha more knowing that she was still the same Keisha we saw at the beginning of the book.

5 stars. I loved Alice Isn’t Dead, particularly as an audio book. If you like a little bit of horror and road trips and thrillers, this is the book for you!