When young women start dying, Boston cop Samantha Ryan is the perfect person to investigate, for only she knows what the archais symbol carved into their flesh means. The last in a long line of ruthless witches, she grew up in a coven seduced by power and greed. And now she's sure that bad witches have returned to Salem. Reluctantly, Samantha goes undercover-into a town obsessed with black magic, into her terrifying past, and into the dark, newly awakened heart of evil.
Goodreads
This book caught my eye and I downloaded it onto my Nook. The beginning was a tad slow, but before too long I could barely keep up with my fingers as they turned the pages. This book gets top marks for action adventure of the witchy kind.
What I liked:
The heroine of the story is a witch fighting against the darkness of her past. She knows she has to embrace what dwells inside of her to bring murderers to justice, even if it costs her everything. The characters are believable, the action is non stop and there are going to be more! Series here I come!!
What I Didn't:
Witches, like everyone else chose the path they want to go down. Intent is everything. Also, it ended. Dang. 400 more pages would have been just lovely!!
Overall:
5/5
A witchy action adventure story that will keep you up at night turning the pages.
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting — he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments.
The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.
From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd — whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself — Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.
Goodreads
This book was brought to my attention by a wonderful friend who is always telling me great books to read. He did, in fact loan me his copy until mine arrived from the publisher for review. I had to struggle not to cry all over it.
This book, at first glance, looks very much like a monster in the closet, creeping up the dark and hollow places kind of book. In some ways it is, but not like you think.
First, there are monsters. Yes. Of course. What kind of story would it be without one? Patrick Ness has created a story that is a tribute to those dealing with bullying, grief and death. Heavy prospect. But this book does it and with a grace to its pages that left me breathless and openly sobbing as I turned the last page. I can't remember the last time a book did that for me.
Without telling everything in the story (but oh, I really, really want to this time!) I can tell you that it is wonderful for anyone dealing with hardships in life. Grief, death, bullying, anger issues, discontent at home...you name it, it's in there, complete with some pretty amazing artwork to boot.
And finally, the biggest monsters may not even be the ones in the closet, or staring in through the window...they may be in the darkest recesses of our soul.
In the small university town of Redwood Grove, people are succumbing to a lethal strain of flu. They are dying—but not for long.
Ashley Parker and her boyfriend are attacked by these shambling, rotting creatures that crave human flesh. Their lives will never be the same again.
When she awakes Ashley discovers that she is a “wild card”—immune to the virus—and is recruited by a shadowy paramilitary organization that offers her the chance to fight back. Fatally attracted to her gorgeous instructor, and bonding with her fellow wild cards, Ashley begins to discover skills she never knew she had.
As the town falls to ever-growing numbers of the infected, Ashley and her team fight to contain the outbreak—but will they be enough?
Goodreads
When I was approached by the publisher to read this book, I was thrilled. Happily, the reading experience was just as wonderful as I expected. Ashley is a character you can't help but feel for. Her world comes to an end and now she has to go and fight zombies because she's a "wild card." Talk about having a bad day. That and the guy she liked is kind of dead and the one she wants to kick in the teeth is looking is looking like he might be somewhat likable after all. Maybe.
I like Ashley for her attitude and her willingness to go out there and take care of her town. Her interaction with her fellow "wild cards" and what is happening around her is full of banter and very real emotions, reactions and physical engagement. I like a book that keeps me reading into the night. If you enjoy authors like Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris, you will love Dana Fredsti.
What I liked:
The voice. It was snarky. Practically love at first read, frankly. Ashley takes no crap from anyone, especially her instructor who delights in making her life pretty miserable. The action and interaction of the characters was stellar and I could not put this book down. Yep it went everywhere with me.
What I didn't:
There are some points where the book gets a little punchy and goofy. Some of the antics of Ashley's fellow "wild cards" are a little exaggerated and annoying but it fit right in with the zombie apocalypse feel, so it in no way detracted from the story. If anything, it made it feel more real.
Overall, this book was a great read. Full of snark, close calls, action, mysterious survivalists, military conspiracies and some zombie butt kicking. This book was electric from the first page and I could not put it down.
To quote:
"A cool, hip zombie apocalypse novel, with crisp writing, a cast of memorable characters, and tons of undead combat action, it's a zombie lover's literary dream."
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