Mercy Blade is a book whose description is one I think was deliberately kept succinct and vague for a reason. And that was to keep the readers from any plot spoilers that might have been picked up from a longer blurb.
Mercy Blade itself opens up an entire introduction to new characters, paranormal species, and several areas of ways that the various beings govern themselves, or have the ability to.
Hunter has really constructed a complex universe that is just starting to emerge here. And it’s going to spread throughout the course of the series and over the country.
The few things I will say is that Mercy Blade sees the official emergence of a African black were-leopard group, in New Orleans to meet with Leo, a tumultuous revelation that includes Rick, and yet several more paranormal species that will have ongoing conflicts and roles for the future.
Jane’s life will be more heartbreaking, dangerous and in an unstable state where she’s scrambling for trust and support.
It’s a danger greater than anything before and makes for a fantastic story.
Jane, a shapeshifting vampire-hunter-for-hire, crosses paths with a stranger who has arrived in New Orleans, enlisted to hunt vampires who have gone insane-or so he says…
Jane Yellowrock quickly became my favorite main character from her introductory story and Blood Cross just continues my love for her complex paranormal if not completely known being. Her past traumatic history is slowly being rolled out by flashes of ancient memories returning and others sharing their knowledge of gods and mythology.
The enigma of Jane’s past is threaded throughout her current life of a rogue vampire hunter now temporarily living in New Orleans.
As a hidden skinwalker, she’s both Jane and Beast, the big mountain lion is now an integral part of Jane, despite continuing as a separate entity that Jane can change into, the main animal, although there’s others.
Blood Cross continues the plots laid out in the first book with Jane continuing to deal with the ramifications of those events. Leo, the Vampire Master of the City is still deeply grieving the loss of his son. He’s borderline insane and blames Jane for the death and is coming for her, even though she’s blameless.
There’s a rogue to catch and dispatch, multiple mysteries to investigate and resolve, and Jane’s traumatic past continues to haunt her in dreams and shattered memories.
The character development and complexity of series storytelling is incredible. The dynamic history and relationships between the different paranormal beings, the mythology, and cultural influences is amazing.
My only concern or issue is how Jane shoulders too much of the guilt of others due primarily to her being torn by her cultural identity. Her Christian beliefs and her lost memories of her Cherokee family and heritage.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in future books.
One of paranormal fantasy’s toughest heroines is back on the prowl in this second installment of Faith Hunter’s New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock series
Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker and vampire hunter for hire. But lately, instead of just slaying vampires, she’s been working for them.
The vampire council has hired skinwalker Jane Yellowrock to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules-but Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep…
Assassin’s Noon is such a remarkable book. The plot is outstanding, the characters show great depth and development and it’s not too close to the end, that I’m mourning the finish of this fantastic series. Which I will btw.
We have a locked room murder mystery worthy of the our best iconic mystery authors, and then the next moment, the entirety of the investigation turns darker when the murder motive and ongoing political conspiracy seems to be intertwined.
That aspect of the story is excellent . And alongside this, Nelson is detailing the new tentative relationship between Thea and her father, and her quiet growing bond with Mage Niath. Beautifully crafted and layered in among the storylines and scenes that they have together.
Thea’s mother, Ware, the others of the Watch and all the characters like the science officer that we’ve come to love continuously grow better as the demands of the thriller get darker and more intense.
No spoilers but the story arc is so suspense filled as well as magically satisfying action battle scenes. Thrilling and intense.
This is one of my favorite dark fantasy series. Not a romance.
One dead man. A fortified house full of innocent people.
One of the city’s wealthiest and most powerful residents is found dead in his own home. Murder is suspected, but the house was supposed to be absolutely secure against any intruder. Thea is faced with a hostile group of household servants inside the house and demands for swift justice outside its walls.
Working with Mage Niath, it doesn’t take long to realise that it’s not a straightforward death and the dead man has ties to opponents they have faced before.
Can Thea uncover the truth of the death before the tensions in the city spill over and more deaths occur?
Assassin’s Noon is the fourth book in the Ageless Mysteries series, and continues Thea’s story which started in Deadly Night.
If you like your fantasy with mystery and magic, you will love Thea’s story. Get your copy of Assassin’s Noon today to continue Thea’s story.
Absolutely riveting. Book by book, Nelson is pulling us into a larger magical world where there’s a dark conspiracy building against anyone not human as well as the Ageless.
Using the Watch, with their own abilities to move around the countryside and nearby villages as well as the small group of law enforcement, mages and Thea who are working towards making the city safe, it’s an extraordinary story that balances out all the needs of the plots and keeps us heavily involved with them at at the same time.
The danger posed by the Archon, the threats to the city and community, the plight of the non humans, and Thea’s struggles with her family, it’s everything.
Beautifully written, amazing characters, and a developing story that won’t let you go.
Beneath the unrelenting sun of Accanter’s summer, an ugly conspiracy is underway.
A desperate mother asks Watch Officer Thea March for help. Her daughter has gone missing. No one else at Thea’s Watch Station will help the mother.
More bad news follows when a body is found. A young man who had gone missing some time before and whose death her superior officer wants to write off as natural causes. Thea realises that there is something else going on. Something dark and ugly and far more wide-spread than she could have imagined. There is corruption at the heart of the Watch.
Thea is determined to find the truth, but not sure who she can trust. And it looks like someone wants her and Mage Niath dead.
With their lives in danger, and more bodies found, Thea and Niath must work together once more to stop the ugly conspiracy before more people die.
Morning Trap is the third book in the Ageless Mysteries series, and continues Thea’s story which started in Deadly Night.
If you like fantasy with magic and mystery, you will love Thea’s story. Get your copy of Morning Trap today to continue Thea’s story.
I just can’t help myself, this series and main characters call to me. Every single time I try to read something else, I find myself back in the Ageless world with Watch Officer Thea March,still trying to figure out how to remain true to her oaths as a watch officer while under the command of a Captain who’s determined to see her punished for being assigned to his location, and the odd things that seem to happen there.
There’s also Mage Niath, the coroner’s office, and just some outstanding characters that pull together to form a group of beings that make a reader feel so part of their world and the struggles that they face.
And they are many. From the power inequities that are present due to the societal structures that have the Ageless with their centuries of existence perspective at the top of everything, and everyone else at the bottom, with no real choice or chance of resistance, then a “weapon less “ town Watch is constantly trying to make their lives as safe as possible.
False Dawn is the beginning of a terrifying series storyline, one that will be further developed and expanded as new books come. But here it begins with a threat of counterfeit Ageless coins showing up in the marketplaces outside the gates of The Citadel.
If the thieves and counterfeit coins aren’t found, there’s a good chance that Ageless warriors will come out to the towns in anger to find them themselves. Or worse.
There’s murder, many intriguing mysteries, complicated investigations, and incredible escalating dangers for Thea and Niath and the plots go deeper than expected.
Another early morning ending. Honestly my dog is so over me. She’s exhausted.
But I’m just getting started. I’ll get her a doggy sleep mask.
But this is fantastic. Beautifully written, the world building is incredible, and the characters are believable and so alive that they all are beings you can relate to.
In the city of Accanter, forgeries can cost lives.
Someone is faking the ruler’s currency in her home city. And unless Thea can find out who is doing it, no one will be safe from the Archon’s and the Ageless’ wrath.
Thea just wants to do her job. Catch the criminals. Keep the people safe.
If only life was that simple.
Assigned to a new investigation, she has barely started her enquiry when Mage Niath appears, wanting her help at the one place in the city she does not want to go. The Citadel.
She wants to say no, but fake coins have been turning up and unless Thea can prove they had nothing to do with it, innocent people will be killed in the Ageless’ quest for revenge.
False Dawn is the second book in the Ageless Mysteries series by Vanessa Nelson, which started with Deadly Night.
If you like your fantasy with mystery and magic, then you’ll love this series. Get your copy of False Dawn today to continue Thea’s story.
Practical Boots is a terrific read, the first novella in C.E. Murphy’s series, The Torn. It’s short but full of interesting takes on the fae, magic, and a in-between realm, The Waste.
Because of its short length, much of the main character’s story is missing. Especially her early years spent in the Torn (that’s the Fae realm) and then the Waste where she was dumped by her father essentially to survive or die.
The magical element is something I really want to explore more because it’s so fascinating and inherently terrifying. It extracts a price but we don’t know what. That’s left for future books.
Fae are the complicated conniving, backstabbing beings who are constantly manipulating and maneuvering for power. Her father is a very powerful player here. And how he intends to use Cat Sharp, the daughter he discarded is the main plot line.
Cat Sharp herself is a fabulous character. Tough, loyal, intelligent and persistent in her goals, especially when it comes to defeating her father.
I wanted to see where the story would go after the events of the day. She so ingenious that the plans she’s set in place are ones I can’t wait to see happen. In book 2 that’s not been written unfortunately.
Murphy is an author now on my auto read list and this story is just one more example why. Another winner.
The disappointing daughter of a Lord of the Torn, Cat Sharp was dumped in the shapeless Waste to prove herself or die. Seven years later, she’s honed the Artificer magic that saved her in the Waste, and her courier business is booming: after all, no one else can step from one location to another almost instantaneously, as Cat can with her seven league boots.
Each passage through the Waste takes her one step closer to the only thing she’s ever wanted to find…but even the Torn-born become careless at times. When Cat’s father catches up with her again, Cat must make a choice between her own dreams and an innocent’s future…or try once more to forge her own way through two worlds, neither of which she quite belongs in….
Vanessa Nelson, a prolific writer, was an unknown author to me before this book. But by the time I was done, at 3:33 am this morning, after reading through nonstop, she’s now gone directly to the front of my list of TBR authors.
What an incredible story and woman character Nelson serves up in Deadly Night, the first book in her Ageless Mysteries.
It’s been described as fantasy horror, or perhaps dark fantasy mystery, and it’s all that.
From page one, the writer drops us into a magical world of swords, carriages, and a very stratified society where a group of beings, the magical, flighted Ageless, rule over the world with the same sort of perception of a god looking upon lesser creatures. Then there’s the Ageless born, who have mixed human-Ageless heritage, who live in fear of being discovered and brought to The Citadel, the Ageless city, where they will be conscripted by the Ageless Society for whatever reason they want.
Then there’s the rest of the population, the humans and the other species, considered oddities by the Ageless. Most of the people leave their lives in abject poverty or in survival conditions.
Each small village has a Town Watch , a weapon-less law enforcement branch, to help police the community. Watch Officer Thea March has been newly promoted and sent to a new location and given a murder mystery to solve. The brutal slaughter of a young woman.
Nelson is laying down all her foundation while subtly building up her the world for her series, as Thea and her group of colleagues investigate the murder and move around the countryside and surrounding towns. We travel by carriage, move by foot to the docks, as each person does solid research into each case and their investigation. And while we are throughly invested in this aspect of the story, and we are because it’s suspense filled, tension laden, and compelling, there’s so much more happening.
Tiny personal moments and deep mysteries are appearing, mostly focused on Thea, but not all. And they look like tragic scenes and traumatic moments from her family’s past. This thread is likely one that will be continued throughout the series.
There’s no romance or hint of one. At least not in this novel. Too many other storylines and elements to introduce (and extremely well) and areas to explore. Even Thea’s difficulties with her bullying boss in her new job, how she manages to handle it realistically without making her feel weak but turning it into a positive experience for her job feels believable and very true.
It was extremely hard for me not to start on the second book right after this one. Even as an adult, I had to tell myself to wait for a couple of hours of sleep. Sigh.
Yes, it’s incredible. Yes, I’m absolutely recommending this. And best of all? It’s completely finished. You know I’m already binging it. My shelves are groaning.
Newly-promoted Watch Officer Thea March is assigned her very first death investigation. Someone has brutally killed a young woman and dumped her body in an empty warehouse. The only real clue left at the scene points to one of the elite – the Ageless – as being involved.
The Watch might ignore one anonymous woman’s death, but when more bodies appear, killed in the same way, the deaths attract the attention of the ruling elite, and Mage Niath is assigned to work with Thea to hunt down the killer.
Having spent most of her life trying to avoid attracting the attention of the elite, the last thing that Thea wants is a prominent mage shadowing her every move.
But they will have to depend on each other, and all the skills at their disposal, to hunt down and stop the killer.
Deadly Night is the first book in the now-complete Ageless Mysteries series by Vanessa Nelson.
If you like your fantasy full of mystery and magic, then you will love this series. Get your copy now to start Thea’s story.
It only took 2 books but Faith Hunter has become not just a autobuy but an author I have to have and binge all of her series and books. And right now. She’s made my TBR pile so much longer! As if it wasn’t already out of control.
Did I tell you that she’s prolific and writes under two different names? Yep. And I’m just exploring one at the moment.
Hunter’s Urban fantasy series about a Cherokee skinwalker, Jane Yellowstone, who’s a traveling rogue vampire hunter is fantastic. A complete series, the first book was released in 2009, however, with the exception of some references to politicians and musicians from the same period, it’s still pretty current.
Jane Yellowstone’s past and her true nature is a fragmented history that will continue to be revealed over the series. It makes for a fascinating aspect of her story and adds more mystery to her character and series.
Her latest commission brings her to New Orleans, where she has been hired by the madam of Katies’s Ladies, a powerful woman vampire herself, to hunt down a rogue vampire who is killing other vampires in the city.
But nothing is that simple. And this turns into something layered with the mythology and magic of multiple mythologies and cultures. Foremost is the Cherokee skinwalker and other skin walker legends of various native tribes because it differs from tribal cultures. And Jane’s fractured memories leaves her trying to figure out where she falls in the spiritual spectrum. Is her skinwalker side dark or light?
And her enormous cat, the Beast that’s the main animal she can become, is a separate entity. Strong and entirely that of a creature that hunts and isn’t human in any sense of the way. The history behind the two of them is also a very strong part of her story.
New Orleans is beautifully portrayed, clearly by someone who loves and knows the city. Its locations are very well written and feel real.
The other characters here, from the wonderful women in Katies’s Ladies who make an indelible impression, to the various Vampire masters and their assistants who Jane gives nicknames, yes I love Troll so much, they made this a universe to sink into.
There’s potential romantic leads, each with their own secrets and unique personalities and agendas that make them poor choices. And the top Master Leo who’s obsessed with Jane’s ability and what type of unknown supernatural being she is.
Hunter is leaving much of Jane’s true identity and past unknown so it can slowly be revealed throughout the series. And the growth and development is something I really look forward to.
Meet shapeshifting skinwalker Jane Yellowrock in the first novel in the New York Times bestselling series that captures “the essence of urban fantasy” (SF Site).
Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind—a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she’s been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katies’s Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who’s killing other vamps.
Amidst a bordello full of real “ladies of the night,” and a hot Cajun biker with a panther tattoo who stirs her carnal desire, Jane must stay focused and complete her mission—or else the next skin she’ll need to save just may be her own…
Once Bitten (Cursebreakers, Inc. Book 4) by A.M. Rose just continues to show what an absolutely fantastic series Cursebreakers is. Dark, heartbreaking at times, and thrilling in its weirdly beautiful, damaged characters, Once Bitten is up there among my favorites so far.
It’s been a while since the series has had an update but it doesn’t take long to dive back deep into this dark landscape of brilliant psych damaged children, then men, brought up in a government institution and then put in a forced family setting that would “balance” their talents while using their abilities for government missions. No matter what age they were.
Here we get two family houses of talents , one for each city, who will have to work together because of the sheer size of the cursed problem and organization that they are facing.
It’s also the element that will bring Wren, whose talent is that of talking to animals, removing their curses from them, and Teddy, a cursebreaker who loved Wren when they were young together. Forced apart by NEXUS, that government agency that had control over them, both Wren and the readers finally get the truth about the secret to Wren’s history and the heartbreak he’s endured.
We get new fantastic characters from Teddy’s family. The twins, Saint and the scary Eerie especially to the fragile Echo, I loved Teddy’s family as much as Wren’s. That includes Wren’s animals like Blu and Sable.
Once Bitten is the best yet. Horrifying, devastatingly cruel and tragic, multiple intriguing storylines and Wren and Teddy’s story, interwoven with heartbreaking handwritten letters that span the years they were separated.
I think the authors wrote something extraordinary special here. In the characters and the multiple plots, one of which is ongoing.
I can’t wait for this to continue.
Fantastic work by the team that is A.M. Rose. Highly recommended!
Wren had been called that and worse since the moment he could openly express his hatred of Nexus and everything it stood for. But he played along. Not for them. But for the animals he helped along the way and the one boy who made those words sound like compliments instead of insults. Until they took him away.
Loveable. Inspiring. Exemplary.
Teddy had been seen as perfect since the moment he started training. He wasn’t perfect, though. He had broken only one rule, but it was the biggest one of them all. He fell for another cursebreaker. He gave his heart to the one he wasn’t allowed to. And they both paid the price for it.
Forced apart, they spent a decade loving the memory of each other, until a shocking case brings them back together. Will their love prevail, or will the Little Bird be forced to leave his Teddy Bear behind?
Urban Shaman brought me not only another great book but a new prolific author and series to explore. Love it when this happens.
In Urban Shaman, Murphy introduces a mixed race (Cherokee and Irish ancestry) Seattle police mechanic Joanne Walker, who on a flight home from a funeral, discovers not only is there mystical layers to her world but she’s a shaman as well.
In trying to save a woman from a threats from a Celtic god and the mythical Wild Hunt, Jo has to accept that she’s got shaman powers she’s not even close to understanding. And she needs them in order to survive the gods and the threats they have brought into her world.
The author combines Seattle location, a mechanic’s love for her cars, a middling law enforcement presence and two different types of mythology, Celtic and a broader spectrum of The People to this urban fantasy novel.
There’s murder, a race to understand the mystery behind the what the Wild Hunt and gods are doing, and most of the time, it’s spent in a dream scape of a urban fantasy world where Jo and Coyote are trying to heal her and lead her to knowledge.
This aspect of the story is where some readers will find themselves having issues. The magic isn’t well defined, especially Jo’s powers and how she’s developing them. And that so much of the story isn’t set in the real world of Seattle where the drama is occurring.
Perhaps future books will change that.
Jo is a really good and traumatized character (there’s a very sad, past history revealed here). And her relationship with the cab driver and her boss in the SPD have potential.
Looking forward to reading more of the series.
A winner here with the potential for a great series.
Joanne Walker has no use for the mystical, and up until this morning, the mystical had no use for her.
But an ancient god has reared his head, and the all-too-real riders of the mythical Wild Hunt are menacing the streets of Seattle. Caught in the middle of an age-old grudge, Joanne is forced to choose between accepting an unexpected magical heritage and facing this immortal enemy, or…dying.
(Look, nobody said it was a good choice.)
Guided by a cryptic coyote who visits her dreams and armed with magic she doesn’t know how to use, Joanne is befriended by a nosy cab driver who wants to tag along for the adventure as she hangs on to the desperate hope that she might survive the next few days.
Joanne’s journey from police department mechanic to urban shaman begins here…whether she likes it or not!
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 