Kevin Hearne, Tricked

Tricked by Kevin Hearne
Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, 4
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fourth in the Iron Druid Chronicles revolving around Atticus O’Sullivan, the last surviving Druid.

My Take
Tricked is full of fake deaths, after all, it is difficult to settle down and teach when most of your concentration is fixed on wondering when the next god will pop up to knock you off!

I love it—”GodSurround Sound and scored a little reverb off the ceiling of clouds.” We get more backstory on Atticus and how he got to America as well as an anecdote about his long-lived human family. Granuaile has her own backstory about her ruthless stepfather Beau Thatcher.

Then there’s Oberon’s new experiment with how people react to a dog called “Snugglepumpkin”…I do love Oberon.

Interesting interpretation of using the Blessing Way on a hogan.

It’s irritating how Hearne uses greater/less than symbols to indicate Oberon’s dialog but puts Atticus’ return conversation in italics. Choose one or the other!

Overall, I was not thrilled with this installment. Hearne’s writing seems to be deteriorating to a juvenile level…as much as I enjoy the unique measurement terms such as shitload and fuckton. I kept expecting teen behavior to break out all over.

The Story
We begin with Atticus whining about dying an ignoble death…quite contrary to his father’s instructions. Well, yeah, who wants to have their epitaph read “Died in Tuba City”. Absolutely no glory in that! The Æsir are so not happy about events in Hammered and they’ve sent thunder gods to “redress the balance”. An easy deal with Coyote takes care of this, but the Morrigan questions Atticus’ terms of that deal. Quite rightly it turns out when Atticus learns he should have been much more detailed.

Atticus and Granuaile have become Reilly and Caitlin Collins as befits their newborn status, not that that lasts long. Now if they can just get Coyote to stop calling Atticus “Mr. Druid” while Coyote explains his vision of the future for the Diné: the American Southwest becoming the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy. As well as how Atticus/Reilly fits in to his scheme with the elemental Colorado.

Naturally, life just ain’t that easy and Hel pops up with an offer Atticus just can’t see his way to and Hel takes her own measures to protect her plans. A protection that brings the skinwalkers. Meanwhile, Oberon has his own studies he pursues.

The Characters
Atticus “O’Sullivan” Siodhachan is the last surviving Druid, 2,100-years-old, and he just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The Morrigan (the Celtic Chooser of the Slain) feels a proprietary interest—and ya just don’t say “no” to her! Granuaile is training to be a Druid with Atticus and she has some difficult decisions ahead. She’s also been tested by Flidais and Brighid. His dog, Oberon, has been enhanced to enable mental telepathy between them and their conversations just crack me up. Atticus has a deal with Oberon that he will tell him a story when he gives him a bath. Their first bath in Tricked includes a story about Francis Bacon and, naturally, Oberon has his own interpretation: “Bacon is the Way and the Truth”—you can just hear that dog in the Beggin’ Strips commercial! Rebecca Dane is about to inherit the Third Eye Books and Herbs in Tempe, Arizona.

Leif Helgarson is Atticus’ vampire lawyer and required that Atticus accompany him on his trip for vengeance in Hammered. A trip which has led to a number of issues with Leif’s sire, Zdenik Hal Hauk is Atticus’ attorney. And a werewolf. Greta is a member of the pack and runs Hal’s odd jobs.

Coyote is one of the First People and an Indian trickster god…oh, yeah, he certainly lives up to that rep’. His construction crew includes Darren Yazzie, the foreman; Sophie Betsuie is the head engineer; Frank Chischilly is the hataalii; and, Albert is Frank’s nephew, currently idle and able to drive ‘em around for a little thievery. Robert and Ray Peshlakai have their own particular agenda.

Ganesha and his cronies claim to be in Human Services and they have an offer Atticus can’t refuse.

Those after Atticus include Týr the Norse god of single combat; Vidar is Odin’s son and the god of vengeance; and, the thunder gods include Ukko from Finland, Indra from India, Lei Gong from China, Raijin from Japan, and Shango from Nigeria. Mrs. MacDonagh makes an unfortunate reappearance with/as Hel, ruler of the dead in Niflheim and daughter of Loki. Seems she has a deal for Atticus, one with far-reaching repercussions. Detective Geffert is with the Tempe PD and would love to find some way to put Atticus behind bars.

The Cover
The cover is deep oranges and browns with a flash of pink as Atticus throws a spell from his hand.

Oh, yeah, Atticus has been Tricked all right. Coyote got him good.

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Word Confusion: Hole versus Whole

Victor Tookes commented about an hysterically funny word confusion regarding hole and whole. It just goes to show that everyone needs a proofreader…

Victor’s share:

I absolutely cannot describe how annoying the whole/hole mistake is. I recently read an indie zombie novel that used “asswhole” throughout the book, and then talked about the “hole world”. It was an exact flip-flop.

After a while, I started to think about maybe it’s worse to be an asswhole. I mean, if we call someone an ass, or a specific part of the ass, wouldn’t it be worse to be the whole thing?

And what about those poor people who live in the “hole world”? What do you think their life is like, their entire existence carried out underground in a tiny hole in the ground.

One comment I must add to this…Victor, it does sound as though the guy was at least consistent…snicker…chuckle…oh, heck, outright guffaw… I did so enjoy your share, Victor! Thanks, Kathy

Hole	Whole
Credit to: Apple.com for the definitions and Victor Tookes for the catch and perspective!
Part of Grammar:
Noun, Verb	Adjective, Adverb, Noun
Noun: Hollow place in a solid body or surface [informal] Small or unpleasant place Awkward situation Verb: Make a hole or holes in	Adjective: All of; entire In an unbroken or undamaged state; in one piece Adverb (submodifier): [informal] Emphasizes the novelty or distinctness of something Noun: A thing that is complete in itself All of something
Examples:
Noun: What an asshole! Is that a hole in the ground? Verb: Yeah, we had to hole up in this grungy little town.	Adjective: He’s got the whole world in his hands. Adverb: Yup, he gives a whole new meaning to the idea of needing a proofreader. Noun: All those bits and pieces come together to create a whole.
History of the Word:
Old English	15th century

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves?

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She is the author of the arts marketing series, Your Portfolio & You, aimed at helping artists survive (and thrive) at the business of being an artist and include Accounting for the SMALL Businessperson, How Copyright Applies to the Artist, the Buyer, the Employer/e, the Sold Artwork, Dealing with Photographs, Slides, Digital Images, and Surviving the Outdoor Arts Festival.

A huge believer in knowledge being power, Kathy has begun a free set of Author Tools for authors interested in self-editing including an online tutorial in Using Microsoft Word’s Markup Tool, words commonly confused by authors and Punctuation and Formatting Tips.

Contact Kathy for various writing and editing services or explore her artwork.

Possible iWeb Replacement in Wix.com

For those of you using Apple’s iWeb, y’all know that Apple no longer supports it. Within a few years, your site will be breaking as new browser updates are issued and iWeb’s code is not upgraded to cope. So, start considering now what software you will use to replace and rebuild your iWeb-built site.

Now, I know how much fun iWeb’s WYSIWIG interface has been to play with and one of the Apple Creatives suggested looking at Wix.com.

I’ve played with it briefly—it’s an online-based web editor and it’s free unless you do the upgrade which seems rather pricey per month. It’s not really my cup of tea as it forces you to click to accomplish anything and windows keep popping up getting in my way. I suppose if I were to put some time into I would enjoy it more, but I’m a control freak…I do love my CSS and HTML.

I’m simply passing the idea along for those of you needing a Apple-compatible WYSIWIG-ish web editor.

Reblog: In which one thing doesn’t always lead to the next

C.S. Lakin makes an interesting point about sequential events. I haven’t found these too often in my reading, but am very aware of them from my own writing whether it occurs from the micro-level of the sentence to the scene level in which you need your characters to get from A to B and hopefully not by passing C first!

Molly Harper, Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors

Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors by Molly Harper
Series: Jane Jameson, 4
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fourth in the Jane Jameson urban fantasy series revolving around a librarian vampire, her beau/sire, her friends, and her family in Half-Moon Hollow, Kentucky.

My Take
I love that Jane is groaning about her being the tech person in their relationship…snicker.

Aww, how can you not love a guy who wants to read Jane Eyre because his girlfriend has “only mentioned a dozen or so times that Edward Rochester is second only to Mr. Darcy…” One, he actually heard what she said. Two, he wants to fulfill her dreams…awwww… Ohhh, and I just love how Gabriel proposed…sigh…

Too many funnies. Jane is describing a typical weekend at home of movies and babysitting, feeling all grownup, and then Dick “recites a sixteen-stanza penis-based epic poem”. Then there’s the issue of raising a new vampire childe when he’s still feeling like a hormonal teen. All the brattiness and slovenliness of a teen with the strength, speed, and hunger of a vampire…eek! Then Wilbur’s reaction to Grandma Ruthie’s will…hee-hee…

It’s a whole lotta family interactions. Expectations at funerals, weddings, and just plain life. Those signature casserole dishes. Thank god for the “scary vampire boyfriend” who scares off all the snarky remarks. The reactions of Jane’s childe’s family…which ensures that Jane realizes just how incredibly lucky she was…is even if the bookshop’s revenue is dropping. Family reunions with dead grandpas including Grandpa John (Ruthie’s first and Jane’s real grandpa), Grandpa Tom with the allergy, Grandpa Jimmy, and Grandpa Fred still wearing his plaid golfing pants.

Interesting back story for Ophelia. Snicker, Jane plans to get back at Jolene and Andrea with bridesmaid dresses from Jolene’s Aunt Yvonne. With a twist.

Crack. Me. Up. Anyone for “Happy Naked Fun Time”??

Then there’s a bit of the down-to-earth when her childe complains about life as a vamp in which Jane responds with life as a human—”Accidentally knocking up your girlfriend your sophmore year of college. Getting a nine-to-five job, so you can support her after your shotgun wed…” But that is followed up by a good bit of advice I suspect we all could use:

You can’t control what your family does. You can only control how you respond to it.

Oh lordy, if anyone is planning bachelorette parties, read it and plan.

The Story
Gabriel is moving in with Jane and giving his house to Jane’s sister Jenny. And Jane has finally said “yes”. So, let the nightmare begin. Er, sorry, I meant, let the wedding planning begin. Jane had hoped for a Vegas wedding, but it’s not to be.

And because planning a wedding while taking relatives into account isn’t hard enough, Jane gets saddled with her first “childe” when someone tries to kill her. Everyone wants to put Jane in a hermetically sealed protective cage, but she’s feeling a lot more proactive.

Yup, as if Jane doesn’t have enough going on with having to hide her new childe out, counter Grandma Ruthie, and discover who is trying to kill her while planning her one and only wedding.

The Characters
Jane Jameson is adjusting well to life as a vampire. Even better, she’s adjusting to a romantic life with her sire, Gabriel Nightengale. Aunt Jettie is her ghost of an aunt; she’s carrying on with Gilbert Wainwright, Jane’s short-lived boss at the bookstore. Mr. Wainwright is also Dick’s greats-grandfather. Jane has recently become friends with her formerly litigious sister Jenny. Grandma Ruthie is still a major pain; even after she’s dead, she torments Jane. And we find out the reality of her ghoul of a boyfriend, Wilbur.

Andrea used to be a blood donor and now she’s married to Dick Cheney, a boyhood friend of Gabriel’s. (Gabriel hosted their wedding at his place before he gave it away.) They’re both vampires and they both work for Jane at the bookstore she inherited from Mr. Wainwright.

Zeb is Jane’s childhood friend whom she thought she’d marry one day and now he’s married to Jolene, a werewolf, and they have their own litter, Joe and Janelyn. His mother, Mama Ginger, is no longer allowed to babysit.

Jamie Lanier is the dairy delivery guy. A truly hunkalicious highschooler for whom Jane used to babysit. The Laniers were very friendly with the Jamesons in the past. Iris Scanlon is a wedding planner for vampires. Truly a godsend for Jane.

Ophelia Lambert, the adolescent-looking “head of the local panel” for the World Council for the Equal Treatment of the Undead. Turns out she was naughty when she was first turned and she turned a child, her very young sister Georgie. Sophie is another panelist with some scary mad mental skills along with Waco Marchand who seems to have a paternal interest in Jane, and Peter Crown who hates her.

Ray McElray is the brother of the man, Bud McElray, who shot and killed Jane.

The Cover
It’s a blurry, white background against which Jane is embracing Gabe’s naked chest—his back is facing us.

The title is all about manners and what one should not do in spite of provocation. Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors, no matter what.

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Lee Child, Second Son

The Second Son by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, 0.5
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A short story prequel in the Jack Reacher suspense series. This story takes place when Jack is 13 in 1974 and the family has just been posted to Okinawa.

My Take
This sets us up for Jack’s math and deductive abilities…even as a kid, that boy was bright!

I do like how Child describes the difference between Joe and Reacher. Joe has no trigger, he’s all brains and into theory; he’s likely to end up in military intelligence. Reacher, well, Reacher is “permanently jammed wide open on full auto”, an unstoppable force of nature with his “get-the-job-done” mentality.

The wrong note in this is that a major and two Warrant Officers are willing to take this kid’s word about the missing test answers and the code book. And they’re willing to bargain with him!

Still, it was sweet! It makes me want to read more about Jack Reacher!

The Story
It’s not “Jack”. Not really. Everyone simply calls him “Reacher”. His parents. His brother. It’s Stan and Josephine. Joe and Reacher.

A new posting. A new batch of kids to impress. And now their new school expects Joe and Reacher to take placement tests?! Ehh, Reacher doesn’t care. He’ll do the minimum to get by. It’s Joe who’s worried about how well he’ll do. It’s that fear that gets played.

Captain Reacher has his own worries when he gets handed a top secret mission…and loses the code book.

It’s Reacher who puts all the clues together—and makes us wonder how we missed ‘em. Just a part of taking care of his family.

The Characters
U.S. Marine Captain Stan and Josephine neé Moutier Reacher are Joe and Jack‘s parents. Laurent Moutier is the kids’ French grandfather. A carpenter. After World War II, he was ordered to make wooden legs for the combat vets. Using furniture legs.

Helen is the daughter of one of the NCOs. The fat, smelly kid leaves all sorts of clues…who knew?

The Title
Well, the title is certainly to the point. Jack Reacher is the Second Son.

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Carrie Vaughn, Kitty Meets the Band

Series: Kitty Norville, 2.5

This is a short story included in Kitty Goes to Washington that takes place after chapter one and before chapter two.

My Take
This is the story of what happens during her interview with the band, Plague of Locusts, that she mentions in chapter one.

It’s almost 12 pages with a funny, surprise ending. I don’t know why Vaughn didn’t just slip this into the main story. Set it off with a slight formatting change…something.

The Story
It’s a live interview with Plague of Locusts and Kitty gets to meet them: Rudy Jones is the lead singer, Bucky is on drums, Len plays guitar, and Tim is on bass. Tim Kane looks more doo-whop-a-diddy than Plague of Locusts-looking material and they all claim he’s possessed by a demon named Morgantix. Unsure what they’re like, Kitty is quite pleased to find that they’re a fun, polite bunch with each giving all the credit for the band’s success to this musically-inclined demon, especially Tim. Because Tim has a very practical secret about Morgantix.

Carrie Vaughn, Kitty and the Midnight Hour

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, 1
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First in the Kitty Norville urban fantasy series revolving around a radio talk show host who discusses the supernatural in Denver.

My Take
I enjoyed this! Vaughn took the usual cultural treatment of vampires and werewolves and gave it a twist. Kitty is a forcibly changed werewolf and the lowest in the pack until she slips up on her midnight radio show. A show that’s supposed to be about music, but quickly escalates away from it. It’s a delicate balancing act as the head vamp demands secrecy and her alpha wants to maintain the status quo with the vampires. And Kitty does not want to give up her show.

Interesting point about Milton’s Paradise Lost that Satan’s greatest mistake was believing that God would not forgive him if he asked. Not pride, but self-pity was the real issue. Vaughn goes on to make some interesting points based on this. The idea of General Sherman being a werewolf…yeah, it does make sense.

Kitty’s found something that makes her happy, that’s all hers. And she’ll do what it takes to hold onto it. It certainly is a kick reading the questions and concerns about which Kitty’s callers want advice. From the realistic to the totally off the wall. Just like real life.

I certainly don’t think much of Carl as an alpha…T.J. should just take him out.

The Story
It was just supposed to be a music show playing music produced before 1990. Instead, it turned into a talk show on supernaturals. And it became too hard to keep track of personal and professional life.

Nor are the supernatural leaders happy with the exposure…until Kitty reminds Carl that half of her syndication earnings are his. And Kitty realizes some basic truths when it comes down to it.

Nor is this the only issue Kitty must cope with, someone has paid an assassin to take her out and whoever wants her dead just keeps going and going and…

It’s Estelle’s dilemma that really catches Arturo’s attention and changes at least half of Kitty’s existence.

The Characters
Kitty Norville was involuntarily changed one night when the guy she was out with dumped her on the side of the road. She’s doing her best to cope. T.J. is the second in the pack and Kitty’s friend. He watches out for her. She hasn’t told her parents, but when they do find out through her sister Cheryl…it’s nothing Kitty would have expected.

Ozzie is the station manager for KNOB where Kitty works barely making subsistence wages. Matt is her sound engineer. Cormac is a human assassin who takes down supernaturals. A nasty surprise when Kitty finds out who’s paying his freight! Detective Jessi Hardin becomes Kitty’s go-to cop from start to finish. Including hunting down the serial killer. Dr. Flemming is part of the formation of the center for the Study of Paranatural Biology within the National Institutes of Health…and Kitty’s secret caller.

Carl is the alpha for Kitty’s pack; the vicious Meg is his mate. Zan is the out-of-control jerk who turned Kitty. Arturo is the Master of the local vampire Family and he is not happy with Kitty’s “taking his authority away from him” nor with the exposure. Rick is another powerful vampire and part of Arturo’s family, but he rather likes Kitty.

Elijah Smith is a faith healer promising to cure vampires and werewolves. A promise that Estelle tries out. Not of interest to our rogue werewolf, however. He’s part of a nasty, little takeover.

The Cover
It’s a beautiful nightlit scene that blends into a daytime sky with clouds creating the background for a ghostly looking wolf brushing up against a cocky Kitty in her cropped lace-up top and her low-cut jeans exposing the tattoo on her back. Her blonde hair in a braid, Kitty is poised with a microphone.

It’s that radio show of Kitty’s—Kitty and the Midnight Hour. And here she thought no one would notice at that hour of the night…

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Carrie Vaughn, Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, 2
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second in the Kitty Norville urban fantasy series about a werewolf radio show host.

My Take
I enjoyed this! And I sometimes hate that I won’t allow myself to read the next installment in a series until I’ve done the just-finished story’s review first!

The series, Kitty Norville, is total fluff and lots of fun while Kitty herself has a nice sense of honor even as she’s trying to find herself in the new role life has thrust upon her. Vaughn presents a nice balance of Kitty becoming stronger in herself while remaining considerate of others. She makes a nice argument about treating shifters and vampires as people.

Oh, crack me up! I just love the caller to Kitty’s radio show who “knows” she’s an expert on Dracula because she’s seen every Bram Stoker-inspired movie. I love Kitty’s statement about the book—that it’s the techno-thriller of its time. True enough. Makes me wonder what “techno-thriller” of our day will be the Dracula classic in a hundred years. Vaughn also provides an interesting interpretation of Daniel in the lion’s den…hmmmm…

What is the deal with Alette? Kitty is an adult and Alette is not her mother! Oh, snicker! I just love Duke’s reaction to discovering his pet assassin has a pre-existing relationship..! With Duke’s nemesis. I dunno, the denouement with Smith was too easy.

Ya know, in spite of Alette’s hijacking and her attitude, I much prefer her to Ahmed. She’s got a lot more humanity in her. Between her help with the camp’s breakup and her comment that “immortality ought to make one more sensitive to the plight of the downtrodden, and more apt to work toward the betterment of humanity. Not less.” Because it’s true, vampires do “have the luxury of taking the long view”.

So, did’ja hear the joke about the bigot, the opportunists, and the scientist…? Yeah, it wasn’t much of a joke although Kitty did a great job of turning it around at least a little bit. What is it with bigots and extremists? That they believe they can get away with anything if it forwards their agenda?? I am rather surprised that the bad guys let Kitty get away with her announcements. Wouldn’t it just figure the FCC would grab the wrong end of the stick?

The Story
Kitty’s been on the road with her show for a month now when Ben contacts her to let her know about the subpoena from Washington. Seems Kitty has been established as the go-to girl on supernaturals and Dr. Flemming’s press conference has blown the lid off things.

Kitty has barely arrived before she’s hijacked by the Mistress of the City’s MIB and “invited” to stay at her home. Alette is “concerned” about the dangerous situation amongst the shifters and the jeopardy it poses for Kitty. A concern not shared by Kitty since she makes off with Luis from the art museum’s reception. A useful move for a number of reasons, not excluding the great sex. But the Crescent also provides Kitty with an eye-opening view on how well the different species of shifters can get along.

It’s Kitty’s reporter instincts that both unravel Flemming’s research and Duke’s committee and set up all those rescues. It’s a good thing that she and Cormac did all that exploring. What they discover—and experience—is just nasty…and that’s a major understatement! I’m just dying to find out what happens in Kitty Takes a Holiday!

The Characters
Kitty Norville was slaving away at a local radio station until she “accidentally” outed herself and ended up going on the road with her supernatural talk show. Hmmm, this is much too simplistic a statement, but I’d hate to ruin your reading fun..! Her mom and dad are totally cool with her new condition. Matt from KNOB still handles the engineering albeit at a distance while Ozzie, KNOB’s manager, takes care of the legal end. Ben O’Farrell is her lawyer and quite comfortable with her other half. Cormac is a vampire and werewolf hunter and yet, a friend of Kitty’s.

Dr. Paul Flemming heads up the Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology which is the focus of the Senate hearing. He’s behaving very secretively—shredding papers, avoiding Kitty’s calls, etc. Jeffrey Miles is a professional psychic and channeler with an unexpected surprise for Kitty. Reverend Elijah Smith is a faith healer (we first met his idea of healing in his Church of the Pure Faith in Kitty and the Midnight Hour); he’s got an interesting background and a terrifying future plan.

Alette is the Mistress of Washington D.C. A vampire with the police in her pocket. Her MIB, Tom and Bradley, are both considerate and implacable. Leo is Alette’s second-in-command and quite the snot. Emma is Alette’s unfortunate descendant.

Luis is a jaguar shifter who works at the Brazilian embassy. Ahmed is a shifter who owns a Moroccan restaurant that seems to operate as a general headquarters for all shifters even though Ahmed is totally without concern for his fellow shifters. Don’t even get me started on his thoughts about the vamps. Fritz is an old, very private werewolf with a very chequered past.

Senator Duke is the head of the committee investigating the supernatural and Dr. Flemming’s center. He’s also a major bigot and asshole with his own very nasty agenda. His fellow senators on the committee are Henderson and Dreschler.

Roger Stockton is a reporter with Uncharted World, a rather sleazy tabloid. Think of every bad thing you’ve heard about a reporter’s persistence and lack of regard for his targets…

The Cover
The cover is range of oranges from the deep, deep red-orange of the sky with its full moon to the orange-and-black palette that makes up the Brazilian jaguar’s pelt. Kitty herself is cocking a pose with her back to us in her short black dress with the wide banded straps trimmed in a pale orange that matches the wide trim that emphasizes the bust of the dress. Kitty is in front of a microphone but looking down at Luis with a satisfied look on her face.

The title is scarily accurate for indeed Kitty Goes to Washington, but not for anything fun!

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Lora Leigh, Deadly Sins

Deadly Sins by Lora Leigh
Series: The Callahans (also known as
            Heroes and Heartbreakers), 2
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Second in The Callahans, a.k.a., Heroes and Heartbreakers, romantic suspense series revolving around three men, cousins, who are targeted by the ruling clique in Corbin County. The couple focus is on Logan Callahan and Skye O’Brien.

My Take
Well, it’s better than the first installment, Midnight Sins. Leigh created a lot of tension and question in that first story and in Deadly Sins, she’s expanded upon it, providing yet more questions. And, yeah, I’m curious enough to want to know who or what is truly behind this vendetta against the Callahans. In the first story, Leigh had us believing that their parents’ families wanted nothing to do with them. That those families would stop at nothing to destroy the three boys. Now, Leigh is throwing in a lot of confusion with contradictory remarks, or are they statements?, from the barons. It’s certainly one way to ensure that her readers continue to read this series…

WTF does Saul Rafferty expect? Their entire lives, these boys have been treated like dirt, shunned, despised and now ol’ Saul is upset that his grandson so obviously wants nothing to do with him?? This whole set-up is worse than a soap opera.

The whole premise of this series is both intriguing and damned irritating. There’s some guy who fell in love with the woman who met David Callahan (one of the fathers). When she married David, this guy went gonzo.

The boys finally begin to have some allies in this damned county. About time.

The Story
The FBI has a cadre of agents positioned in and around Corbin County, including Skye O’Brien carefully placed in a house next door to Logan Callahan. She’s there as bait. To draw out a killer. The one who seems to target any woman any of the cousins takes to bed. There’s that little clause in the cousins’ inheritances that needs to be got ’round.

Too weird. Grandfather Rafferty giving him a dog? There is just no way that Logan is taking that damned dog. Just another creature to love and find murdered. That’s how it’s always been. Any one of the boys loves or cares for something or someone and they find it destroyed. Even leaving the county didn’t change a thing. So now the boys are back and they will take care of business.

That whole attitude of care for nothing is really hampering Skye’s objective—taking Logan as a lover. It certainly isn’t helping Bella, the little Chinese pug puppy, who wants nothing more than to lie at Logan’s feet. Then someone tries to kidnap Skye and a sniper fires on Cami when one of her own betrays her.

And Ryan gets his kill order. In person. From a person he would never have suspected.

The Characters
Three cousins, Rafer (engaged to Cami Flannigan; see Midnight Sins), Crowe (who’s in love with baker Anna Corbin), and Logan Callahan have had each other’s backs since their parents died when all three were children. All three suffer horrible nightmares about those they loved and couldn’t save.

Special Agent Skye O’Brien is an orphan who learned, in yet another soap opera-twist, that she was raised/trained to join some elite group. Amy Jefferson had been her foster sister and raised/trained in the same way; her foster father is the current governor of Colorado, Carter Jefferson and his wife Marla. Anna Corbin (the baker Crowe fancies is also John Corbin’s granddaughter) and Amelia Sorenson (the county attorney’s daughter and personal assistant and Cami’s former best friend) are old schoolmates of Skye’s. Amara Resnova became Skye’s friend when Skye saved her from the DC Vigilante. Now Amara’s father, Ivan Resnova, feels he owes her everything. A man who is probably a criminal, but certainly can hide anyone, anything.

Seems that Corbin County has a plethora of sheriffs as there’s a Jeannine Thompson, an Archer, and a Tobias whom Leigh refers to as “sheriff”. John Caine is a deputy sheriff; must be a busy man serving under all these sheriffs. Detective Ian Staton is from Boulder investigating Marietta Tyme’s murder and all that DNA.

The “barons” are the cousins’ grandparents. Doing their very best to destroy the boys. Or are they? Saul Rafferty is Logan’s grandfather (Sam and Mina Callahan had been Logan’s parents); Tandy is his grandmother and she raised dogs. John Corbin is Rafer’s while Marshal Roberts is Crowe’s grandfather.

The Sweetrock Slasher is a serial killer, in particular, of Amy Jefferson. There is a man who directs who the Slasher takes and how he treats them. Marietta Tyme‘s only crime was sleeping with Logan Callahan. Once. As was Jenny Perew.

Ryan Calvert plays an assassin. He’s been undercover in Corbin County for over twelve years and his purpose for being there has finally arrived. John is his second-in-command.

The Cover
The cover is rather scary! It’s a close-up of Logan staring out at us quite intently with his beautiful green eyes; it’s that mouth of his that terrifies with its first impression of blood. Skye is standing behind him, looking over his shoulder.

My guess is that the title refers to the Deadly Sins perpetrated by the three boys’ grandparents.

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