Paranormal Books

Although the first bok in this series is really good this on e seemed a little dry and hard to follow for me. I was very disappointed

Boy, and you thought the first one was bloody? This one was easily the goriest, most gruesome piece of writing I've seen outside of Stephen King and some of the schlock-fest fiction I've read in the past when no better option was available -- you know, the kind of thing where you're trapped in a waiting room and the magazines are old and water stained, but hmm, what's this paperback without a cover? Oh, Attack of the Lung-Eating Leper Beasts? What's this about?

But unlike those books, this gore had reason and purpose, and it made the book better than it would have been without it -- surely the requirement for any given element's inclusion in a novel.

Anyway, the second Anita Blake book was as good as the first, and that is a good sign. Because the second book is in some ways very unlike the first: in the first one, the murder mystery takes a backseat -- way back, like hanging off the rear bumper of one of those double-length buses with the accordion joint in the middle -- to the vampire stuff, which is very scary and shows that the vampires are incredibly nasty and overpowering and no human really has any chance. At the end of the first book, Anita feels small to the reader. And that's good, because it makes the character human, and when she says at the very end of the book that line -- "I don't date vampires. I slay them." -- it sounds desperate, like she's whistling in the dark and she knows it, because Jean-Claude already has such a claim on her, both in terms of his mind control and because of her attraction to him, and because she never should have won the fight with the evil vamps. The poignancy of that line, and her desperate situation, makes her sympathetic.

This book made her bada$$. The murder mystery took center stage, because at every pause in the action, back it came with an even bloodier and more horrifying murder scene -- and since the very first murder scene begins with a corpse that is nothing but a section of ribs, and a blood-soaked teddy bear, saying that each scene is more horrifying than the last is saying a lot. And more so than the first book, the murder mystery and the intrigue element complemented each other, because this time, the intrigue involved the killers with Anita (The same held true of Guilty Pleasures, granted, but in a much more coincidental way.), and so her dealings with the evil folk brought her closer to solving the murders. I appreciated that the gory scenes helped to build hatred for the villains, as well as building up to the final scene; I think the last monster that is thrown at Anita would have seemed much more of a joke if we hadn't already had the sheer bloodiness of the murder scenes before then. There's also a wonderful moment when Anita catches up to the killer, and it asks her for mercy, in a way; one thing that I feel is an absolute requisite for monster fiction of any kind is the humanization of the monsters: if the monsters aren't human, then I can't care about them and I don't want to get involved in their existences, even peripherally. When the murderer asks for Anita's help, it makes me pity it, just a little -- and that makes the blood spilled by this thing that much more horrible. Which makes Anita's final victory over those responsible for this not only impressive, because this time she's the strong one, but also righteous, because the evil was contrasted with pitiable, tragic figures. Human figures. Something that is lacking in far too many paranormal fiction novels.

I definitely enjoyed this one, even more than the first, and now I'm eager to read on.

This is my second Anita Blake book that I have read (after "Guilty pleasures") and I am not impressed with it.
Anita Blake is a self-righteous, supposedly cool, totally unlikeable person. Her attitude is aggravating to say the least. She doesn't know when to shut her mouth, pisses the wrong people off at the wrong time and still comes out of every confrontation unharmed.

The descriptions of the murder scenes in the book are gross. To describe the scene once is necessary, but to describe the same stuff again and again is redundant. I'm getting the picture after the first time.

The books are called "vampire hunter novels", yet so far Anita hasn't hunted any vampires. Not that I think that vampires need to be hunted per se, but a bit of vampire interaction would be nice. In the first book the "vampire hunter" actually worked FOR the vampires and in the second one there were hardly any vampires.
Jean-Claude was only put in as a minor supporting actor. The whole book deals with zombies of all kinds - a topic that doesn't do it for me at all.

*SPOILERS*
What annoyed me most was:

- that Anita found out that raising a dead animator has very bad consequences and that that zombie can't be controlled by the one who raised it. Nevertheless she doesn't hesitate to - or even think about
it - raise a whole graveyard, meaning loads and loads of zombies she doesn't know anything about. What if there are former animators among them?

- that at first Anita wants to bring down Dominga Salvador with legal means and only in case those would fail she would let John Burke deal with her. That resolution didn't last for long, because as soon as she realizes that Dominga got out on bail (something which is pretty much inside the legal system, even though she obviously reached that by bribery) she decided it's time to have her killed by the numeours zombies she just raised. Nice double standard.

Guess this book wasn't for me.

I'm not really a fan of this genre, but people will buy these books and I read them when I dont have anything else to do. This book took me close to nine months to finish. Anita Blake is invincible. No matter what the situation you know Laurell Hamilton will never allow anyone to get the best of Anita Blake, and thats annoying. If two guys have guns pointed at you, if either was actually willing to shoot you, there would be no way to get out of it without getting shot. Not to mention how she's always talking about how vampires can "throw cars" yet she always seems to get disarmed in the fight, and still beat them. And every two pages, there is a paragraph explaining where her gun is and how she is carrying it, and it's pointless. Despite that she seems to have very little knowledge of firearms. Since when can you shoot a .22 in a .38? That is stupid on so many levels. And since when could a 9mm, or any handgun for that matter take off limbs? Jeane Claude is annoying the way he talks and how he's always dressed like a freak and nobody says anything about it. I gave the book two stars because Laurell Hamilton isn't the worst author, and this is far from the worst book I've read, but it's still pretty bad. I'm not into the genre, but her books are nowhere close to scary, or even dark. They remind me of tales from the crypt or something.

Good read: fast-paced, thrilling,full of magic.
The only problem is Anita's way of using magic. Ritually sacrificing animals is death magic, though she claims to be a Christian... She wants to give rights to the dead, but what about the living? Does making corpses walk, or explain testaments worth lives?
If you prefer white magic, there's Rachel Morgan or Harry Dresden...
But there's no vampire as beautiful and charismatic as Jean-Claude...

I absolutely love this book, and no matter how many times I re-read it, the magic and romance never go away.
The narrator does an amazing job with the voices, accents and flow of the story. This is a must read and a must "hear."

Just a note to anyone whose not too savvy with iTunes and is planning to put this MP3 audio into their iTunes library (version 4.0 and up) - make sure once you transferred the files, to convert them into AAC format. Otherwise iTunes will not play them without the CD and you won't be able to iPod them. To convert, highlight the chapters, right click, Convert to AAC Format.

When Gwen Cassidy, literally, stumbles upon a sleeping Drustan MacKeltar, she has a hard time convincing him that five hundred years have past since he last closed his eyes. The last thing he remembers is being informed of his brother's death. With Gwen's help, he is certain he can return in time to prevent this event from occurring. Being a Druid, it is within his power to pass through the stones, however it is forbidden to do so for personal gain and to defy the edict is done at a great cost.

Ms Moning does a great job of pulling you into the story from page one. Gwen Cassidy makes no bones about her reason for being in Scotland and when she and Drustan meet, not only do you know what will happen between them, you can't wait to get there.

The plot is simple and straight forward, which adds to the pace of the story. Ms Moning does a wonderful job of letting the story unfold with enough surprises and twists that you are never bored with a predictable story line.

One thing that I loved were the secondary characters. They were vibrant and interesting. When Drustan threatens to fire Nell, I laughed out loud at her response. Nell and Silvan were strong enough to be endearing but never annoying.

The only eye rolling moment for me was when it seemed that all the MacKeltar births were twins. If this was explained, I missed it.

To be honest, I put off reading this book for quite a while. The reason being, I read the third book concerning the MacKeltar family first and didn't see how all the pieces fit. From what I have recently learned, Ms Moning has several books in the Highlander Series and they are capable of standing alone. Since (to my knowledge) all but three deal with unrelated characters, this shouldn't be a problem. But, with the three books that deal with the MacKeltar family, I would have enjoyed them more if read in order.

Overall, I really enjoyed Kiss of the Highlander (and reread and enjoyed Spell of the Highlander.) Ms Moning is an author that goes on my buy list.

CarolASpradling.com author

I've read the four books of the highlander's series and this one (book 4) is by far my favorite. Even though the plot seemed too close to "A Knight in Shining Armor" by Jude Deveraux (the hero was an English Lord who gets transported into the future rather than a Scottish Laird sleeping for 500 years), Ms Moning's ending beat that of Mrs Deveraux's by far and seemed more logical (if you accept the possibility of time travel). I loved the story very much, it had humor, spunk and sex appeal. I was somewhat disappointed that the author did not provide more details about Drustan's reaction to 21st centurie's every day things such as indoor plumbing, fridge, chocolate, lights, etc. Jude Deveraux covered that part beautifully in her book to include a trip to the dentist and had her hero go nuts over modern electricity. Moning's hero barely reacted to the 20th century food he ate or anything else he saw. I enjoyed his time in the 16th century a lot more. I also would think that a smart man like him would be curious to learn something about Scotland's future for example, but nothing, not a single question. Nevertheless, while Jude Deveraux's ending was rushed, Ms Moning gave it a lot of thought and did an excellent job with it. I think that my biggest complaint would be that Moning's heroine, a scientist nonetheless, would refer to potential lovers as "cherry pickers" (Yeeech!). That was truly gross and she kept using that term over and over. Overall, I truly loved this book and I enjoyed listening to it on audio. The narrator does an amazing job playing McKeltar (very sexy voice indeed). I can't wait to read Deagus's story now. I already bought as soon as I was finished with Durstan's. If you like this book, make sure you read Deveraux's "A Knight in Shining Armor" as well. I highly recommend it.

This is the first Karen Moning book that features the MacKeltar twins. All I can say is...READ THIS BOOK! It is a great mixture of time travel, highlands, passion & humor. The characters are well developed and get you itching to read the rest of the MacKeltar books (#2 "Dark Highlander" (drustans twin), #3 "Immortal Highlander" (Adam Black - side character interacting w/ MacKeltars), #4 "Spell of the Highlander" (part of MacKeltar clan), #5 "Highlander's Touch" (seperate story linked w/ Adam Black), #6 "Into the Dreaming" - a novella that features the fairy queen mentioned in the other books. NOTE: This is my suggestion for the order to read them in. There is not real official order in which to read them. All I know is once you finish "Kiss of the Highlander", you will be itching to read the rest. ENJOY!!!

I purchased this audio book for a cross-country flight. It's my first audio book. I picked Kiss, it's my favourite romance novel.

Like some of the oher reviews I've read, I found it a little difficult to get into at first. Phil Gigante has different tones of voice for each of the characters, you just have to get used to them. About 4 chapters in, I was able to get into it.

Pros: It's nice to be read to. I put it on for the flight, while I was cooking, when I was trying to fall asleep. Phil has a pretty solid grip on the accent, but it slips into the narrative at times (not a bad thing).

Cons: I didn't like his voice for Gwen, she sounds kind of childish/meak and sulky. The sexy parts of the story just didn't seem as sexy with him reading them.

Overall, it was pretty good. I'm really not sure if I'd buy another one or not. Maybe if I was going cross country again.

I would buy from you again. Quick service and the book is just as advertised.

It's been awhile since a great vampire story has come along... Moore has really gone in a brand new direction with this one. Gone are all the vampire myths that we all know. But what makes this great is Tommy. Here's this semi-normal guy who knows the fictitious stories of vampires as well, and he now gets to compare notes with the real deal. Truly funny and original. Really loved the story.

This is not a romance novel. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing that guys might not like this as much as gals. It is about a quirky, interesting vampire/human relationship. Jody gets turned into vampire. She needs a male helper who can run errands for her during the day. She meets Tommy a night worker at Safeway stores. Tommy says a lot of funny things. It's a fun relationship between Tommy as a human and Jody as a vampire.

Sexual content: not evaluated, but as I recall there was some sex. Setting: current day California. Copyright: 1995. Genre: humorous, contemporary, paranormal fiction.

I know it makes me sound like a rube, but the only reason I heard of Christopher Moore is because I grabbed this book at Costco. I had no idea what to expect, but really enjoyed it. I have never been a big fan of the vampire genre, but this book seems to transcend it. Ironically, this is the second vampire book (the other being Already Dead by Charlie Huston) I have read in less than a month, after reading maybe one other in my entire life.

Bloodsucking Fiends is clever, funny, sexy, and light, and all written with an almost sing-song tone. I flew through this book, and would recommend it to anyone looking to suspend disbelief and go for a fun ride. I will read more of Moore.

My first Christopher Moore book, and my favorite still. Will make you LOL! After this read Fluke and Lamb, they are fantastic too. You Suck was good, I just finished The lust lizard of melancholy cove, it was not Mr. Moore's best work, I'd avoid that one. Next on the list Practical Demon keeping and I'm hoping for another winner!

This series is so strong and chock-a-block with interesting characters, backstories, settings, etc., that it makes me want to write the author and beg her to write faster. I noticed that she stepped away from this series to create another book, but I'm anticipating that means the next book in THIS series will only be better. We have the expected paranormal background--the outsiders inching towards a place in society--but the spin on this series is the level of detail in Western European myths (world of the fae, etc.)and the touch of Native American stories of "walkers"--individuals able to assume the identity of native animals. Great bits like all smaller "animals" must wear dog tags so they can be returned to their owners and not impounded, the wish to be playful in animal form, returning sticks and balls with little children all create a different world than the more typical paranormal book soaked in too much blood, gore and questionable sexual activity. This series I would recommend to a teen finishing up the "Twilight" series rather than others in this genre. Every book in the series is a keeper.

This book was exciting from start to finish. I would have loved to see more of some Mercy and Adam interaction though.

Mechanic and walker Mercy Thompson just can't get a break. A rogue vampire-daemon-possessed killer is on the loose, leaving a trail of bodies hard to miss in the small town of Tri-Cities, WA. Worse, Stefan is collecting her debt to him. At the same time opening the door for the Mistress of the seethe to use Mercy as she sees fit, and she's got a hungry eye on a woman who can see ghosts, slip through the magical pull of most supernatural beings and has more loyalty and guts than most normal human beings. They hope. And good thing she's not really that human.

To add to the stress, she's not only fighting between the attraction between two dominant werewolves, Adam and Samuel, but Mercy also has to contend with a third, and surprising potential love interest. But romance takes a deep backseat when her friends go missing, and the daemon-vampire Cory Littleton only has eyes for Mercy.

This second installment, while pretty good and considering most second books in a series tend to be much weaker, Blood Bound made for an exciting and pulse-pounding tale of a woman who just can't back down when the people she cares about are in trouble. What scant restrained romance element there was, it was well done and keeps me hanging on. And I need more.

This one was more horror than real fantasy or otherwise, which is fine. And there were a few scenes with the vampires that was so well done, it gave me the creeps, a Clive Barker-esque sort of chill.

That being said, the weaknesses in Book 2 falls into the category that all authors tend to fall into. It seems that in order to reduce the candied and emptier versions of most vampire/were/witch/ghost series, and to make it more substantial with real emotional weight and character driven plots to ensnare the reader (and she's quite effective anyways), Mercy herself and other characters tended to 'talk' a lot. Talking about the mechanics of their world, its functions, explanations, to understand what is going on with the story at hand, is necessary but Briggs tended to just go on and on in several places. While inherently, that's almost unavoidable, because too little and it's just as tedious, Mercy herself became much more impersonal than she should have, considering the state of things in the story. At one point, all her friends are either mortally hurt or MIA, yet she's so calm and detached, almost not really that worried that they could all be dead. I hope Briggs doesn't fall into the fatalistic female heroine trap (think a la Eileen Wilkes. And, yes, LKH--and we all know how that series went down real south). Mercy is in danger of becoming that focal point in story where she's this invincible hero, but y'know, with everyday and girly problems, and men throwing themselves at her, minus the sex. Mercy went from girl next-door neighbor mechanic to Wonder Walker. Book 1 was so intriguing because Mercy really WAS a normal person, messing up but handling it a realistic way that I could relate too. She's not as relatable in this book, just...very supernatural and removed from that elemental normalcy that Book 1 had in spades. Stories that try to have booth vulnerable female leads but tough as nails hard-liners is a hard thin line to walk upon, but hopefully Briggs can manage the balance a bit better in Book 3. She's very talented and a fresh breath of air, so I have great hopes.

Also, there are also two endings which, after reading it complete, I didn't mind. But when you get to where it 'feels' like it should be done, and the movement completely stills because it's a scene with Adam, and you know what that werewolf wants and is thinking. But you can't help thinking: there's still thirty pages left? Even though you know what she's planning, it threw me. Then again, it's the calm right ahead of the storm before the final calm, and is a primer for Book 3.

All in all: a well-worthy second book. And I can't wait to start the third, something I both relish and dread.

Second in Brigg's Mercy Thompson series, I think I liked this one better than the first- and that's saying something!

In Blood Bound, mechanic and part/time magical world protector- Mercy Thompson, agrees to return a favor for Stefan, the vamp who assisted her in Moon Called (mercy Thompson Book 1).

Stefan needs her to be his eyes and ears while she's in coyote form when he sets out to confront a character who has the appearance of a vamp but is actually much more. When the encounter goes awry, Mercy finds herself firmly entangled in the intrigues of the vamp seethe living nearby- a morass she certainly doesn't like finding herself in.

Adam and Samuel, the two alpha werewolves competing for her affection, don't like it either. Naturally, they all become involved, because the last thing they need is for the world to discover that Vampires really do exist, let alone for the knowledge to get out that they are far less tame than the other magical beings all ready "out" seem to be.

The something-more-than-vamp is definitely a creature that needs to be neutralized and however helpful the leaders of the vamp seethe seem to be in reining in the rogue creature, their motives are not all together pure. It falls to Mercy, whose shapeshifting nature vampires fear and loathe, seems to be the only one to take him down. In the end, it is indeed she who gets the job done.

Briggs does a wonderful job of plotting her novels so that everything ties together without breaking her own rules and in the process having it all make sense.

What keeps me coming back, however, is the love triangle (who will she choose?) subplot of Mercy, Samuel, & Adam. (Yeah, I'm that easy.)

Another excellent addition to a great paranormal series!

"Like most people that own their own businesses, I work long hours that start early in the morning. So when someone calls me in the middle of the night, they'd better by dying. "Hello, Mercy," said Stefan's amicable voice in my ear, "I wonder if you could do me a favor." Stefan had done his dying a long time ago, so I saw no reason to be nice."

Stefan is Mercy's vampire friend. If you could possibly call a vampire a friend, that is. And yes, she owes him a favor. He had gone to bat for her with his seethe when she had some werewolf trouble, and now he is calling in that favor. Stefan has been asked to investigate the appearance of a new vampire in town. One that didn't ask permission from the seethe, which is a big no-no in the vampire community. And Stefan wants Mercy to come along as a witness, in case something happens. He needs her for 2 reasons. Because she is a Walker, she is virtually immune to the powers of a vampire. And she can shapeshift into a coyote and no one will know who she is.

So Mercy goes along on the meeting. But when they meet up with this vampire, she knows that trouble has come to the Tri-Cities. Not only is he a vampire, but a sorcerer.....that has let a demon inside. He actually had the ability to control Stefan, and he's about the most powerful vampire around. And now this new vampire's bloodlust is causing a rather large body-count. Which for a group of vampires that don't want the human world to know their existence is big trouble.

What can I say? This is one fantastic series!! Mercy is tough as nails, funny, and exceedingly humble. I just love her! Strong female characters are always good for me, and Mercy is definitely one of the best. The main storyline is fascinating, as we learn a lot more about the vampire community. And Mercy's lovelife is only getting weirder. Not only is she caught in the middle between 2 dominant werewolves, now there is a little something with Stefan the vampire! Blood Bound is ever bit as good as the first book, Moon Called. Maybe better. I can't wait to see where Mercy goes next!!

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)
Charlaine Harris really knows how to write a book, if you like your vampire series with a bit of humor you will like these books, if you like your mysteries with a bit of what we call "Woo Woo" (in other words weird stuff)
then you'll like Ms.Harris's Southern Vampire series and if you find you like it find the rest Sookie Stackhouse is a kick and coming in September 2008 on HBO, the series based on this books called "True Blood".

I love this series of books and cannot wait for more to be written.I will be tuning into HBO for the series based on the books can't wait!

This series still hasn't grown stale for me. Actually, this book really moves things along and reveals some important info. This time Sookie Stackhouse has a new boyfriend, finds out a heartbreaking secret about her past love, discovers some surprising facts about her bloodline and heads to New Orleans to go through her dead cousin's things. She finds a new witch friend and winds up embroiled in a big political vampire mess all the while trying her best to push her heartache aside. The characterization, as always, is well done and kept me anxiously turning the pages.

If you haven't picked up the Sookie Stackhouse series - do it now! :) These books are great - entertaining and smart, and they flow very easily from one to the next, leaving you wanting more.

If you like these, you will love the Harper Connelly series, and I recently started the Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard sets, and am enjoying those as well. I can't believe I just "found" Charlaine Harris this year! :)

I love all of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire books and eagerly await the next one. Sookie is a very likable character and a complete original. Charlaine's vampires and other supernaturals all have depth and are well thought out.

If you haven't read Charlaine's other books, they are wonderful reads too.

Simply addictive. Once you've finished you will be looking for your next Sookie fix. You'll feel like a starved vampire if you start reading this series.

in this third installment of The Sookie Vampire mysteries, Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Bill, has come up missing and Sookie and new "hunky werewolf" character Alcide go to Mississippi to try to find him. While there's a lot to love in book 3- revisiting old characters like Bubba/Elvis, or Sookie's interaction with Alcide and Erik, this book seemed to flounder a bit. I think my main problems with the book were the absence of Bill and the pretty much absence of any mystery storyline. In fact, I felt the whole "Mississippi" storyline was very underdone and not even resolved by book's end.

But in the end, as a Southerner, I cannot deny the overall charm and whimsy of the series. Which means that while I will try the rest of the series, I hope they get better than this one.

3 stars.

This is the third book in the series... By now you would think that Sookie would have learned her lesson but no. She allows herself to be pulled into situations where she just gets brutalized. Her it's probably a good thing that Bill has become her ex.. but the way things are going with Eric.. I really just want to smack some sense into that girl.
Also, I noticed it in the previous books and it's bound to pop up in later books since it is a series about southern folk but the racism that pops up in this series is just sad. I don't think there's one positive black character in this series that doesn't play into some typecast minor role. It's more than irritating...

How many times can an author recycle a love-plot that is only tepid from the start? Harris seems determined to find out.

Best book yet in the Southern Vampire series. Although I am dissapointed in Bill the vamire, you can not help but admire Sookie's strength and mental fortitude. Poor kid...it's amazing she's survived thorugh book III and hasn't let Eric or Bill bring her over. Already started Dead to the World and ordered all the books, I CAN'T wait to finish the series (although I will really miss these characters when I am done). Remember to keep checking HBO for the new series "True Blood" which will air this fall (hopefully) and is based on the Southern Vampire series.

The book was in decent shape...it took a while to receive compared to other books I have purchased but it was acceptable.

Great little book. It grabbed hold of me and didn't let go until I came to the end. Couldn't wait to read the next in the Three Sister's Island trilogy

I liked nothing about any of the characters.
I didn't find anything good about the heroine and I don't know how could the hero really fall for her. It didn't make sense since he was lusting after Mia almost to the end.

Mia the former best friend of Riply was a wicked witch only without a broom who constantly stabbed Riply in the back by bringing her down in front of Mac.... and supposedly she still loves her friend very much and misses her terribly.....What the hell?

this book called heaven and earth, was a great book, however i recived
2 copies when i ordered only l. your policies make it stupid to return
it from a dollar stand point. this is just a complaint, not a request
for a remedy.

This was and excellent book from a wonderful series. I was sad when I finished reading it!

I LOVE Linda Howard books. I haven't read a book by her that I haven't liked, and boy can she write an alpha male. Her stories are rich, full of emotion and she really connects to the reader. This story in particular was so well written, you feel the struggles of both Dane and Marlie and when the end of the book comes, LH rewards the readers with a great HEA. I am really looking forward to reading her MacKenzie family.

I just discovered Linda Howard, and I have to say...Where has this author been all my life? I could not put this book down. I don't usually read scary books, but this one had enough romance to offset the villian.

Good plot development. I'm giving it 5 stars even though I was disappointed in the author's choice of one of the hero's actions, described below.

CAUTION SPOILER: In the end, the killer calls in a fake crime to lure Dane away from Marlie (p 326). Dane believes it is a false alarm but feels it is his duty to investigate and leaves her alone. She is the bait to lure the killer and should never have been left alone. I wish the author would have come up with another way for the killer to try to get to her. Dane was too smart and his instincts too good to fall for this trick. It was not believable. However, even in spite of this, the book was an exciting and wonderful read. Sexual content: strong. Setting: current day Florida. Copyright: 1994. Genre: romantic suspense.

I have been recently collecting Linda Howard's books. Like all of her other books, this one was hard to put down. The suspense made you want to read it from front to back all in one sitting. Another good one!

"Dream Man" was an exciting story that combined both romance and suspense. I have read several of Linda Howard's books and I have enjoyed all of them, however in this book I thought there was a thick dose of lengthy descriptions of rape and murders. Still I was up most the night reading it, and I was thoroughly caught up in Marlie and Dane's story! These characters had a chemistry that kept me from putting the book down because Ms. Howard captured their love story, and yet she wove it into a tension-filled adventure. I think that this book is one of Linda Howard's best, and I would recommend it to all my friends.

These books would be better if the author actually remembered what she had previously written and therefore did not contradict herself.

For example: on page 339 of "Dance with the Devil" she described Archeron thus: "His long blonde hair flowed around his shoulders".

On page 8 of "Seize the Night" however she says that Archeron "......wore his long black hair loose and flowing around his shoulders".

On page 242 of "Dance with the Devil" the author says "Zarek stripped his own clothes off" and yet just one page later on 243 she says: "Zarek moved away from her only long enough to remove his clothes".

This kind of sloppy writing detracts and distracts from some rather unusual ideas that deserve either a) a writer of more discipline or b) proof-readers who knows what they are doing.

The other thing that detracts from what would be interesting stories is the insistance that all her primary male and female characters seem to suffer from a severe sex addiction and the inability to control it to the point where it interferes with the flow of the story.

On top of that the sex scenes are so repetitve that having read a couple of them, the reader is free skip forward a couple of pages in any and all of the books to pass over the "seeing stars" and "hissing" with passion bits.

It's a shame because the basic themes are interesting....the above instances are distractions from what should be good stories.

This book was a great continuation from New Orleans. It takes on a whole new perspective and puts one of the Dark Hunters with a non-human. Definitely worth the read, exciting in many ways.

Zarek is by far the best leading character so far. He is dark and mean and has every right to be. But has an inner sensitive side that only his love can reveal. Another one I could not put down until finished and wanted more!

I don't know why I let this book linger for so long on my to-be-read shelf. It is simply amazing. Zarek is the ultimate tortured hero and the justice nymph Astrid is his perfect foil. This is such a wonderfully dark book that it amazes me how the author can bring me from tears to laughter a few pages later. Well written, well plotted, well done. This is an intense, riveting read that I simply could not put down.

This book is one of my all time favorite books. Is it because of the great writing style? No! Is it for the depth and great literary message? Of course not! This is truly my guilty pleasure - it is one of those books I will go back and read again and again. I usually reserve my five star ratings for books I consider perfect in every aspect, but the story line in this one was so great that that alone made it five stars for me. I love Zarek's character and the romance between him and Astrid kept me turning the pages so much so that I could ignore the simple-like dialogue and rampant cliches.

I really enjoyed the book so did my friends. It was in very good condition.

I enjoyed this novel. For the first time you see the characters letting their hair down and having fun doing human things and not so human things. It was also the great read Feehan fans have come to love. I like that she managed to share a bit of all the characters without rushing the story line. It flows and i am sure you will enjoy it as well.

Write on, read on
N.M. Phillips

the story is captivating and it sums up all the differnt story lines up to this point.

For anyone who has read any of Christine Feehan's Dark Series books this book is sort of like a recap on all of the previous books she's written by re-introducing the characters during a Christmas celebration in the Carpathian Mountains. It also hints at future plots for her other books that haven't come out yet. I would really recommend that you read the other books before this one to understand the full effect of the story line but you should be able to make it through if you want to read just this one.

I've read everything Christine Feehan has written. I love all her stuff. I'm so excited when a new book comes out!