*Book source ~ Picked up for free on Amazon
Published ~ 1 February 2011
Genre ~ YA/Fantasy/Paranormal
Pages ~ 33
My Rating ~ 5 bites out of 5
Matt’s
best friend Ashley died of cancer when she was 10. That doesn’t stop her from
coming around to visit with him though.
I
picked this up after reading Hold Me
Closer, Necromancer. I went looking to see if there were more stories in
the series and couldn’t believe my luck when I saw this short for free on
Amazon. Score!
Ashley
is a Harbinger. Matt calls her Death though that’s not what she is. She doesn’t
kill people, she’s just a guide for those who are newly dead. Sort of like an
usher showing you to your seat in a stadium. She can make herself look however
she wants, but she prefers the form of her 10-yr-old self. She says it makes
her less threatening to the newly dead who are confused though that can
backfire when they have a hard time believing a little girl. She’s smart,
funny, loving and occasionally snarky. I loved her. She’s a great character!
I’m glad she got her own short story in this one and I look forward to seeing
more of her in the series.
*Book source ~ Local library
Published ~ 12 October 2010
Genre ~ NA/Fantasy/Paranormal
Pages ~ 343
My Rating ~ 5 bites out of 5
Samhain
‘Sam’ Corvus LaCroix is a college drop out working in a fast food place with
his best friend Ramon when a potato turns his life upside down. Yep, a potato.
A spud, a tater, a po-tay-to. If it hadn’t been for that sneaky tuber then Sam
may have continued his clueless drifting for a very long time. Instead, he
meets Douglas Montgomery, crazy sociopath and mega powerful necromancer. Turns
out, Sam is also a necromancer and Douglas
does not like to share his territory with any other necromancer even one as
weak in power as Sam, so he gives Sam a week to leave town, become his
apprentice or die. Not good options there and the messenger he sent to Sam’s
apartment? That is messed up. Sam’s running out of time while he tries to figure
out what is going on, dodge the cops and stay alive.
I
went into this book without a lot of expectations. I saw a lot of book blogging
friends had read it and the blurb sounded interesting, but it still took awhile
to get on my radar and then longer for me to actually read it. However, once I
started it I couldn’t put it down. I like books about people who have no idea
they are something else entirely. And Sam’s situation is one I haven’t seen
before in all the books I’ve read. The world, the characters, the villains and
the plot are all riveting. I did wonder why Douglas
wanted to train Sam at all. With his massive ego and paranoia about having
anyone in his territory with any kind of power I didn’t see the point though it
made for a good plot device. The end has me wondering though. Did Douglas pull a Voldemort? Hmmmm…
With a touch of her hand, Octavia Hollows can restore life. Yet, she couldn’t save the man she loved from the horrific accident that stole him from her. Octavia thought she could outrun the pain, but ghosts from the past refuse to be silenced. Out of options, she chooses to retrace her wayward journey across the country in search of answers. Surrounded by baffling mysteries of the undead, what she learns about herself along the way might become her greatest weapon.
