Key to Redemption-Talia Gryphon

Key to Redemption
Talia Gryphon
Ace, Sep 30 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 0441016448

Dracula brings war to other vampires who challenge his right to rule; he kills Paramortals and other Metamortals have vanished and the population of various specious has been dramatically cleansed. Opposing the vicious Count are Lord Vampire Aleksei Rachlav and his supporters including Vampires and the Fey, Sidhe and Elven kingdoms. Aleksie’s Romanian castle is the headquarters of the Paramortall allies in their war against Dracula and his horde.

Also at his side is his lover healer warrior Gillian Key who provides Paramortal psychological therapy. Her patients include Samuel Frank, Frankenstein’s creation suffering from depression over his singular existence; Tuuli, the female Sidhe who looks like a monster due to a curse who is, seeking help with her depression because she looks like a monster; a vampire who insists on hiding in the nearby inn so nobody will recognize him and Perrin Garnier the Phantom who loves the opera but wears a mask to hide the part of his face that makes him look like a monster. Perrin wants Gillian to help him be comfortable in his skin and learn how to have a woman want him and have sex him even if he removes his mask.. As she works with all her patients in Aleski’s castle an old enemy is coming to kill Gillian and she will need the help of all her friends to survive.

KEY TO REDEMPTION is a fantastic satirical urban fantasy that never takes itself seriously as it lampoons the works of great fantasists like Laurell K. Hamilton. The story line focuses mostly on the interactions of the supernatural shrink with Aleksei and with her weird patients, but especially on Perrin who brings a fascinating French continental charm as she works to heal his mind and he works to capture her heart. With more of a romantic triangle spin this time, therapy will never be the same since Talia Gryphon introduced this key element to the war between the Paramortals (see the military urban fantasy KEY TO CONFLICT and the more pure horror KEY TO CONSPIRACY.

Harriet Klausner