Netherworld-Lisa Morton

Netherworld Lisa Morton JournalStone, Jan 10 2014, $18.95 www.journalstone.com ISBN: 9781940161082 In 1878 since her beloved husband Lord William Furnaval vanished and is probably dead, Diana lost interest in life including her mission as a Netherworld Gatekeeper partly because he was her diligent partner preventing wickedness from entering our world. Since William’s disappearance, Diana performs her duty to patrol the supernatural portals, but lacks the vigilliance she possessed when teamed with her husband. As she shuts portals, Diana becomes concerned that evil has begun crossing over unchecked. She fears a war with demons will devastate her world if she fails to act immediately. With help from Yi-Kin the Chinese sailor, Mina the guardian and Stephen the scholar, all whom she meets on her globetrotting escapades, Diana fights malevolence while closing gates and searching with little hope for William. The keys to this fascinating first Chronicles of Diana Furnaval are the alternate vivid Victorian era and the wonderful anachronistic heroine who is way ahead of her time. Although Diana and her loyal band too easily and quickly defeat seemingly more powerful demons leading to the immediate next escapade against a new beast with no respite for the weary, readers will enjoy this action-packed historical fantasy. Harriet Klausner

Ripper-Isabel Allende

Ripper Isabel Allende; Oliver Brock (translator) and Frank Wynne (translator)Harper, Jan 28 2014, $28.99 ISBN: 9780062291400 In 2012 San Francisco, high school senior Amanda Martín loves her divorced mother Indiana Jackson, but is more like her beloved dad Ed the homicide cop. Whereas her spiritualistic mother sees the good in everyone, her daughter and her ex-husband see the evil in the same people. Meanwhile her mom has two suitors she admires but Amanda notices the dark flaws in both candidates seeking to be her stepfather. Amanda loves mysteries and serves as the headmaster of an online whodunit game Ripper. The players include her sexagenarian maternal grandfather Blake; wheelchair-bound New Zealander online as “Esmeralda” the Gypsy; a lonely New Jersey teen called Sir Edmond who never leaves his room except for the bathroom; a Montreal nineteen years old with an eating disorder using the name Abatha the psychic; and in Reno thirteen years old genius “Sherlock Holmes”. After her grandmother’s omen of a city bloodbath, someone murders Golden Hills Elementary School security guard Ed Staton with a bat and soon other killings follow. Deciding to investigate, Amanda persuades her Ripper playing friends to change the setting of their game from 1888 London to 2011 San Francisco so that they can help her investigate. When Indiana vanishes, Amanda fears for her mom’s life, so with resolve and her online support, Amanda works the case that turned frighteningly personal. Ripper is an exciting amateur sleuth starring a precious investigator and a fabulous support team whose online persona radically differs from their reality. Although the online game is never developed, the players are especially their virtual personalities. Readers will appreciate Amanda and her virtual squad gum-shoeing the mean streets of San Francisco. Harriet Klausner

Downfall-Jeff Abbott

Downfall Jeff Abbott Grand Central, Jan 28 2014, $8.00 ISBN 9781455528424 In San Francisco, Janice Keene places her reluctant daughter Diana in charge of their company while she goes to New Mexico for a no contact two week retreat. Soon after concerned and suspicious Diana leaves, a man calls Janice telling her she will use the identity of Marian Atkins and fly to Portland, Oregon while also reminding her to complete the mission for the sake of her beloved daughter. Not long after Janice leaves town, believing her mom lied to her, Diana searches for the truth and soon finds a hidden video that reveals her mom’s greatest secret. The next day, Diana rushes into former CIA agent Sam Capra’s bar The Select begging for help as two thugs follow. Sam protects Diana and soon learns John Belias assigned assassin to kill the daughter of one of his soccer mom agents; and now the bar owner too is in the deadly crosshairs at a time when Sam needs to focus on identifying who poisoned Round Table member Dalton Monroe. The third Sam Capra thriller (see Adrenaline and The Last Minute) is an exhilarating action-packed tale that never decelerates. The complex storyline grips the audience from the moment Diana races into the bar and never slows down as the exciting plot rushes the audience through five cities in five November days without a breather. Although over the top of the Rockies, fans will enjoy Capra’s entertaining adventures. Harriet Klausner

Romancing The Duke-Tessa Dare

Romancing The Duke Tessa Dare Avon, Jan 28 2014 ISBN: 9780062240194 Miss Isolde Ophelia Goodnight became motherless at a young age. Her father became a successful writer so Izzy lived okay though never as the romantic heroine of the fairy tales she adores. When Papa died, Izzy was left a penniless friendless orphan who no longer cared whether Prince Charming arrived as avoiding starvation supersedes romanticizing. Lord Archer writes Izzy that her godfather the Earl of Lynforth recently died and left her a bequest; he asks for her to meet him at Gostley Castle in Northumberland. With no other prospects, Izzy travels to the castle where the executer tells her she inherited Gostley. However, her castle also contains a reclusive resident, scarred and blind Ransom William Dacre Vane, Duke of Rothbury. He demands she leave so he could wallow in peace, but she refuses. As they cohabitate in the castle, Izzy regales him with fairy tales and begins to believe her bitter castle mate may be her Prince Charming with the twist that she rescues his heart. The first Castles Ever After Regency romance is an amusing gender war that purposely uses anachronisms and comedic situations as subgenre satirical humor. The lead couple is a nice pairing of two people who at first seem like the anti-Cinderella and anti-Prince Charming. Although his original trauma fails to convince the reader of its genuineness, fans will enjoy Tessa Dare’s fractured ode to romantic fairy tales. Harriet Klausner

Antiphony-Chris Katsaropoulos

Antiphony Chris Katsaropoulos Luminis Books, Nov 1 2011, $16.95 http://www.luminisbooks.com ISBN: 9781935462330 Accompanied by his wife Ilene and leaving the Midwest winter behind, Theodore Reveil is in Santa Rosa, California to present his paper on Perturbation Theory at the New International Perspectives on String Theory Symposium. Just before his talk, he is upset with Ilene for planning to skip his session for a massage. Nervous as he hates speeches, Theodore becomes undone when he cannot find his two pages of notes filled with supporting math that were his crutches. As attendees impatiently wait for his arrival, late Reveil hesitantly appears without his papers. Winging it, Reveil ignores his physics expertise to ask participating scientists: "What if the universe … is really a giant thought?" He angers the audience who reject the notion of a spiritual divine being running the universe. With the debate between supporters of evolution and creationism (recently highlighted by Bill Nye and Ken Ham), Antiphony is an intriguing timely tale. As readers observe the protagonist’s everyday life, we wonder whether Reveil’s revelation means he is losing his mind or finding a spiritual awakening that will ultimately lead him to the asylum or the Universe’s Final Unified Field Theory. Fans who prefer something offbeat will appreciate Chris Katsaropoulos’ profound character study of a physicist on the brink of discovery, insanity or both. Harriet Klausner

Carousel Sun-Sharon Lee

Carousel Sun Sharon Lee Baen, Feb 4 2014, $15.00 ISBN: 9781476736235 Ten years ago the Guardian of the Land Katherine Fae Archer left Archers Beach, Maine but recently returned when the by the SOPs Fun Country manager Marilyn demanded remittance from her for her space in the amusement park as her missing grandmother failed to pay. While Kate avoided her responsibility leaving the town and land in a horrid downward track, her Fantasy Menagerie Carousel lost a horse when the spirit within awakened and took off. Kate needs to replace the empty spot while Fun Country demands she does so immediately or face penalties. She reluctantly goes to the Enterprise who has no horses or any items to fit the menagerie. Instead she settles on a fiberglass chicken to fill temporarily the void. Mechanic Nancy Vois works the carousel’s night shift and helps install the chicken; while newcomer Vassily Abramovich Davydenko works days. Borgan the trenvay and Bonny the dryad recover from injuries and much of the land also begins to heal since the Guardian came home. The sequel to the exciting Carousel Tides is an insightful cerebral Maine fantasy though muted compared to its action-packed predecessor. The entertaining storyline focuses more on the healing of the land, the paranormal, the humans and the Guardian although there is rematch with the drug gang who has a fiery ally in round two. Sharon Lee enables her audience to look deep into the soul of the guilt-laden heroine as she tries to make right what her decade of neglect caused. Harriet Klausner

Hidden Riches-Felicia Mason

Hidden Riches Felicia Mason Kensington, Jan 28 2014, $15.00 ISBN: 9780758205735 Employed as a domestic and known for her quality quilts (and fried chicken) Ana Mae Futrell recently died from an aneurism while cleaning a toilet. The Ahoskie Times & Union Report mentions in the obit that she is survived by a son Howard who neither the townsfolk nor her family knew existed. Her three younger siblings (Mary Josephine Coston of Las Vegas, Marguerite Delcine Foster of Maryland and Dr. Clayton Futrell of San Francisco) and their significant others arrive in their hometown of Drapersville, North Carolina for the funeral. Ana Mae’s will surprisingly include a lot of money which she initially had won at the lottery but immensely grew with sound investments. It also stipulates her siblings and their mates, her pastor Reverend Toussaint and her BFF Rosalee search for the meaning of a quilt she left behind. Hidden Riches is an engaging contemporary as the deceased prayed when she was alive that one day she succeeds in her mission. Character driven by a fully developed cast and containing a stunning twist that explains much of the dysfunction, readers will appreciate Felicia Mason’s fabulous family drama. Harriet Klausner