Kelley Armstrong - Women of the Underworld
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Stars: 4 out of 5
Contains: moderate sex and violence
Author's Website: Kelley Armstrong
My thoughts: These are wonderful books, with strong female leads. They deal with various characters in varied situations, but there's a little overlap through each of the books. I found them to be quite enjoyable and I recommend them.
The Books:
"Bitten" - Published 2004
Elena Michaels is a journalist living in Toronto with her boyfriend Philip, but Elena has a secret - she is also the only female werewolf in the world. Unable to deal with her lupine identity, she left the pack to live on her own, but now they're calling her back - there's trouble in New York, and they need her on board. But it wasn't only her lupine identity Elena was running away from - there's her handsome ex-fiance, Clay, to deal with as well.
"Stolen" - Published 2004
When two desperate witches lure part-time journalist and full-time werewolf Elena Michaels into a carefully laid trap, she quickly learns that her perceptions about humanity are based on some fundamental flaws. It seems the world is populated with vampires, demons, half-demons, magical shamans and other supernatural races living anonymously among the human population - a concept that Elena has a hard time accepting, just as she struggled with her own lupine identity. When Elena returns to her werewolf pack in upstate New York, pack leader Jeremy reveals that the threat people pose to the supernatural races should not be taken lightly. As Jeremy, Elena and her lover Clay decide to take action to protect their pack, Elena gets kidnapped on the orders of a power-crazed billionaire. While being held captive she learns that while some magical beings are good and some evil, none are capable of more outright cruelty and savage betrayal than ordinary, non-magical human beings.
"Dime Store Magic" - Published 2004
Typically rebellious teen Savannah is constantly butting heads with protective guardian mother Paige Winterbourne, but the standard teen traumas pale in comparison to Savannah's difficulties. To begin with, her mother Eve, a black witch, was murdered, and now evil telekinetic half-demon Leah O'Donnell is trying to gain custody of her, by means fair or foul. Standing in Leah's way is Paige, a rather typical twentysomething entrepreneur, trying to come to terms with this motherhood thing - that, and her status as leader of the American Coven. Welcome to East Falls, a sleepy small town outside Boston that turns out to be a hotbed of occult activity.
"Industrial Magic" - Published 2004
After Paige Winterbourne is ousted as leader of the American Coven of Witches, all she wants to do is hide under her duvet for a few months. Let the supernatural world manage without her, see if she cares - but fate, of course, has other plans. A murderer is on the loose - someone with superhuman skills. When Paige learns that the killer is targeting children, she realises she has to get involved in the covert investigation; and so Paige - desperate to protect those she loves - is thrown into a world of arrogant Cabal leaders, drunken necromancers, sulky druid gods and pretentious leather-clad vampires. Luckily, she has a female werewolf and a certain renegade sorcerer on her side.
"Haunted" - Published 2005
Eve Levine - half-demon, black witch and devoted mother - has been dead for three years. She has a great house, an interesting love life and can't be killed again - which comes in handy when you've made as many enemies as Eve. Yes, the afterlife isn't too bad - all she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter Savannah and she'll be happy. But fate - or more exactly, the Fates - have other plans. Eve owes them a favour, and they've just called it in. An evil spirit called the Nix has escaped from hell. She feeds on chaos and death, and is very good at persuading people to kill for her. The Fates want Eve to hunt her down before she does any more damage, but the Nix is a dangerous enemy - previous hunters have been sent mad in the process. As if that's not problem enough, it turns out that the only way to stop her is with an angel's sword - and Eve's no angel.
"Broken" - Published 2006
Elena and her pack agree to steal Jack the Ripper's 'From Hell' letter in return for some information on a rogue mutt they have been hunting for a while. It seems easy enough, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems in the supernatural world. Elena's blood triggers a spell on the letter, and it seems that this makes her the target. To complicate matters further, Elena is pregnant, and Clay isn't going to let anything happen to her.
"No Humans Involved" - Published 2007
Jaime, who knows a thing or two about showbiz, is on a television shoot in Los Angeles when weird things start to happen. As a woman whose special talent is raising the dead, her threshold for weirdness is pretty high: she's used to not only seeing dead people but hearing them speak to her in very emphatic terms. But for the first time in her life - as invisible hands brush her skin, unintelligible fragments of words are whispered into her ears, and beings move just at the corner of her eye - she knows what humans mean when they talk about being haunted.
She is determined to get to the bottom of these manifestations, but as she sets out to solve the mystery she has no idea how scary her investigation will get, or to what depths ordinary humans will sink in their attempts to gain supernatural powers. As she digs into the dark underside of Los Angeles, she'll need as much Otherworld help as she can get in order to survive, calling on her personal angel, Eve, and Hope, the well-meaning chaos demon. Jeremy, the alpha werewolf, is also by her side offering protection. And, Jaime hopes, maybe a little more than that.
"Personal Demon" - Published 2008
Half-demon tabloid reporter Hope Adams has a secret. Like full demons, she loves chaos. She thrives on it. She needs it.
Most of the time, Hope feeds the hunger by helping the interracial council. But it's never enough. So when Benicio Cortez offers her a job infiltrating a gang of young supernaturals, she thinks she's found the perfect solution. Instead, she finds a tinderbox of greed, desire and ambition. And when it ignites, a world is going to explode.
"Living with the Dead" - Published 2008
When Robyn Peltier - a very human PR rep - is framed for murder, the two people most determined to clear her name are half-demon tabloid reporter Hope Adams, and necromancer homicide detective John Findlay. Suddenly Robyn finds herself in the heart of a world she never knew existed - and which she is safer knowing nothing about...
"Frostbitten" - To be Published October 2009
When word comes of a series of humans apparently killed by wolves near Anchorage, Elena and Clay are sent to check things out. But they find more than they bargained for among the snow and trees of the savage Alaskan wilderness.
Kelley Armstrong - Men of the Underworld
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: 3 out of 5
Contains: Mild sex and violence
Author's Website: Kelley Armstrong
My thoughts: It had been stated that this novel would contain the 4 novellas which had been removed from the website (Savage, Ascension, Beginnings and The Case of El Chupacabra) plus two short stories. In actuality, the novel contains 2 novellas (Savage and Ascension) and two short stories (Infusion and the new story, Kitsunegari). All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to charity. A second volume, "Tales of the Otherworld" will be published in the future, containing Beginnings, The Case of El Chupacabra and a couple of short stories.
The Book:
"Men of the Underworld" - Published 2009
As a curious child, Clayton didnÕt resist the bite - he asked for it. But surviving as a lone child werewolf was more than he could manage - until Jeremy came along and taught him how to straddle the human-werewolf worlds, gave him a home... and introduced him to the Pack. So begins this volume, featuring three of the most intriguing members of the American Pack - a hierarchical founding family where bloodlines mean everything, and each day presents a new, thrilling, and often deadly challenge. For as Clayton grows from a wild child to a clever teen who tests his beloved mentor at every turn, he must learn not only to control his animal instincts, but to navigate Pack politics - including showing his brutal arch nemesis, Malcolm, who the real Alpha is...
Anthology contains: Infusion, Savage, Ascension and a new story narrated by Jeremy called "Kitsunegari".
Infusion - The story of Jeremy's conception.
Savage - The story of Clayton's childhood
Ascension - The story of Jeremy's rise to Pack Alpha, told from Clay's point of view.
Kitsunegari - Jeremy finds out about the other side of his heritage.
"Tales of the Underworld" - Forthcoming
No description as yet.
Anthology probably contains:
Beginnings - Beginnings fills in part of the gap between Savage and Ascension, and the novel Bitten. It covers the period when Elena met Clay, and is told from alternating Elena/Clay viewpoints.
The Case of El Chupacabra - A Lucas & Paige investigation, narrated by Lucas and Sean Nast (Savannah's cousin), set between Haunted and Broken.
One of...
Rebirth: Aaron's first year as a vampire
Demonology: Talia discovers the truth about her son, Adam's, heritage
Birthright: Logan's first visit to the Pack
Case of the Half-Demon Spy: Paige & Adam's first sleuthing adventure
Expectations: Lucas's confrontation with Eve
Territorial: Karl Marsten before the events of Bitten
Ghosts: Jeremy after sending Elena & Clay to Toronto in Bitten
Escape: Eve's incarceration at the compound
Wedding Bell Hell: Paige & Lucas's Wedding
Adventurer: A Kenneth adventure!
Bargain: Xavier gets the "From Hell" letter theft job
and a brand new Kelley Armstrong short story.
Kelley Armstrong - Nadia Stafford
Overview:
Genre: Suspense
Stars: unread
Contains: unread
Author's Website: Kelley Armstrong
My thoughts: Unread
The Books:
"Exit Strategy" - Published 2007
Law enforcement is in Nadia Stafford's blood. She comes from a long line of police officers, and was one herself until the wrong case sent her over the line from cop to killer. Now, to keep her beloved wilderness lodge afloat, she's a contract killer for a small Mafia family.
When a serial killer with all the earmarks of a hit-man begins murdering innocent people, the police investigation threatens to unmask Nadia and others, and she bands together with a small group of hitmen, including her mentor—the mysterious Jack. But once the killer realizes who's on his trail, his simple plan twists into a complex game as both sides fight to prove who is the hunter... and who the prey.
"Made to Be Broken" - Published 2009
Nadia Stafford isn't your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, sheÕs known only as "Dee" to her current employers: a New York crime family who pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance, and her old instincts go into overdrive.
With her enigmatic mentor, Jack, covering her back, Nadia unearths sinister clues that point to an increasingly darker and deadlier mystery. Now, with her obsession over the case deepening, the only way Nadia can right the wrongs of the present is to face her own painful ghosts Ñ and either bury them for good, or die trying. Because in her book, everyone deserves a chance. And everyone deserves justice.
Kelley Armstrong - The Darkest Powers
Overview:
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Stars: unread
Contains: Mild scary scenes
Author's Website: Kelley Armstrong - Chloe Saunders
My thoughts: There have been huge chunks (ie. The first 10 chapters of each book - about 1/3 of the total) of the first two books published online by Harper Teen; I haven't read the books but I have read the sample chapters, and the books seem like fairly decent Young Adult novels.
The Books:
"The Summoning" - Published 2008
Chloe Saunders sees dead people. Yes, like in the films. The problem is, in real life saying you see ghosts gets you a one-way ticket to the psych ward. And at 15, all Chloe wants to do is fit in at school and maybe get a boy to notice her. But when a particularly violent ghost haunts her, she gets noticed for all the wrong reasons. Her seemingly crazed behaviour earns her a trip to Lyle House, a centre for 'disturbed teens'. At first Chloe is determined to keep her head down. But then her room mate disappears after confessing she has a poltergeist, and some of the other patients also seem to be manifesting paranormal behaviour. Could that be a coincidence? Or is Lyle House not quite what it seems? Chloe realizes that if she doesn't uncover the truth, she could be destined for a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital. Or could her fate be even worse? Can she trust her fellow students, and does she dare reveal her dark secret?
"The Awakening" - Published 2009
If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl Ñ someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. I'm a living science experiment Ñ not only can I see ghosts, but I can raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever. IÕm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends and we have to find someone who can help us gain our freedom back before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.
"The Reckoning" - To be Published 2010
No information