Book Review: First Grave on the Right/Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

First Grave on the Right
9780312662752, $21.99, St. Martin's Press

Second Grave on the Left
9780312360818, $21.99, St. Martin's Press, Pub. Date: August 16, 2011

by Darynda Jones

Stephanie Plum (of Janet Evanovich fame) meets the supernatural - hilarious, kick-ass, and sexy.

Charlotte (Charley) Davidson is the Grim Reaper, though she likes to replace the grim with sarcasm. Basically, she's the big shining beacon of light that all ghosts who neglect to cross over on their own are guided towards. Usually it's ghosts who have a reason to stay behind, for instance, because they've been murdered. That's where her day job comes in. Charley's also a PI (private investigator) and a "consultant" for the police department where her father was a cop and her uncle is still a detective. Between helping Uncle Bob solve crimes, working on her own PI cases, and helping ghosts receive closure before they pass over, Charley's plate is pretty full. Somehow she still manages to find time to find herself involved with one ridiculously gorgeous, bad-ass dude who may or may not have been shadowing her, and saving her from almost certain death, most of her life. While his corporeal body is in prison for the murder of his father (not that the abusive bastard didn't deserve it), his incorporeal self is visiting Charley in her dreams and then her waking moments, bringing heat of all kinds with him.

In First Grave on the Right, Charley is helping to solve the murder of three lawyers, also while working on a side project - trying to figure out just who, or what, that deliciously sexy man is who keeps slipping in-and-out of her day- and nighttime dreams. The lawyers were working to free an innocent man convicted of the murder of one teenage boy and the disappearance of his own nephew. Meanwhile, when she finds him, the man of her dreams (literally), happens to be in prison. In a coma. And has three days left before the state pulls his life support. With the help of her assistant, Cookie, several ghosts, and reluctantly working with hunky, skeptic, fellow PI Garrett Swopes, Charley tries to connect the dots between an abandoned warehouse, a human trafficking ring, a priest, the innocent man, the missing boys, and the lawyers. All while racing against the clock to find a way to save Reyes Alexander Farrow, the convicted murdered in a coma, who happens to appear very much awake and alive the several times he appears to either kiss her or save her life.

Read an excerpt here.

In Second Grave on the Left, Reyes Alexander Farrow (Mr. super-gorgeous, possibly evil, lifesaver - literally) has disappeared. Never mind he's hidden himself in an effort to protect Charley; she's found him once, and she'll find him again. Unfortunately Reyes isn't the only thing on her mind. Her assistant/best friend, Cookie, needs her help to find another missing person. An old high school friend of Cookie has gone missing, and the more they search, the more they find out about a long-buried high school secret among a an old group of friends. Unfortunately, someone out there is killing to make sure that secret stays buried. It's another race against the clock while Charley and Cookie search for the missing Mimi and the missing Reyes before they both end up dead.

Read an excerpt here.

Mass Market Monday: Bite the Bullet by L.A. Banks

Bite the Bullet

by L.A. Banks

9780312949129, $6.99, St. Martin's (Macmillan)

Kick-ass, action-packed, and drama-packed. If you're in the mood for gun-totin' shapeshifters and elite trained operatives, rouge werewolves, a supernatural war fought on multiple planes, and drama between lovers, then pick up one of the Crimson Moon series today. This was my first foray into this world, of course it's the latest book, so I did have a bit of catch-up to play, but the author explained previous events fairly well while maintaining the plot and not making the series history feel like an information dump.

Sasha Trudeau is an elite, highly trained operative bent on saving both the human and supernatural worlds. She's also mated with Max Hunter, the Alpha of a werewolf pack, making her an important figure in a world where the rules are very different than what she's used to. Her team was ambushed while on their last mission; only Sasha and two of her men survived. Their mission was to find and destroy anyone who has been infected with a deadly toxin that poisons the blood of any shapeshifter. What she doesn't know is that the man she loves was infected with this toxin as an infant. At each major stage in his life, his good wolf side and bad wolf side have to fight an internal battle for supremacy. As Sasha struggles to trust Max and her mate bond with him, Max is struggling to control the outbreak of another battle within - right when Sasha needs to rely on him the most as a no-holds-barred, all-out war for supernatural supremacy breaks out. Max fights his inner demons while Sasha and Max's grandfather fight to keep him safe and alive on the eve of battle. Meanwhile, the vampires are taunting the misguided werewolves who are now addicted to the toxin like it's the latest new high-inducing drug. It's the rogues versus the pack, as many packs come together to battle this new evil, with Sasha, her trained operatives, Max, and his grandfather right in the middle.

My favorite part: Sasha really knows how to fight. Readers of the Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake series will appreciate a woman who can use her weapons well.

Book Review: Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

Any Given Doomsday

by Lori Handeland

9780312949198, St. Martin’s Paperbacks (Macmillan), $6.99

This is the first book in a supernatural fantasy series. Elizabeth Phoenix used to be part of the Milwaukee Police Department until one of her “hunches” got her partner killed. The police force and Liz herself want nothing more to do with the fact that she might be a psychic. Liz finds herself unexpectedly working for (and becoming friends with) her dead partner’s widow, bartending first shift at a cop bar. All’s as well as could be expected until Liz has a sudden urge to visit her foster mother.

Paying attention to the call, Liz finds her foster mother murdered, her ex-love(r), Jimmy, falsely accused, and herself the new leader in a supernatural war of good vs. evil. In order to fully claim her power, Liz will have to face her past by facing her ex (who still holds her heart), traveling back to the Navajo land she lived on when she was 15, and trusting Sawyer, the man who will help her become who she has to be in order to win. Though battles are lost and won, at the end of the book, the war still rages, and it looks like everyone’s past, Jimmy’s, Liz’s, and Sawyer’s, will all play a part in the final battle.

The supernatural elements are explained well, to define the world of this book as separate from worlds found in other series. The sexual tension and chemistry between Jimmy & Liz and Liz & Sawyer will evoke thoughts of a Team Jimmy/Team Sawyer face-off by the end of the series.