A Discovery of Witches: A Novel by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches: A Novel. Deborah Harkness. Viking: A Penguin Group. February 2011. 592 pp. ISBN #: 97806700022410.

THIS AMAZING NOVEL IS NOW IN PAPERBACK!!!

This is not your ordinary story about witches, vampires and daemons!

Diana Bishop’s famous ancestor was executed for being a witch. As a heart-rending consequence of Diana’s parents’ mysterious deaths, Diana has vowed she will live totally as a human, denying her identity as a witch with both usual and unusual powers. Dedicating her life to logic and ordinary living, she is now a history scholar doing research on alchemy texts in the Bodleian library at Oxford. Upon receiving a requested text called Ashmole 782, she realizes either the book is spellbound or there is something about this book that connects with her hidden witch powers. Add to that the reactions of suddenly appearing witches, vampires, and daemons whose animosity and threatening looks and words make Diana’s wish for normalcy an illusion she can no longer ignore.

Into the midst of this reality arrives a handsome, extremely intelligent and old vampire, Matthew Clairmont, who is supposedly pursuing his own research as a geneticist. Initially disliking and avoiding his presence, Diana finally begins to realize he is protecting her from direct attack by the hordes of persons appearing daily in the library who are insisting she recall the text they are desperate to obtain. Then he begins to appear during her running and rowing exercises which seem to be the only way she can stop her natural abilities from emerging with perilous effects on herself as well as others.

Why is Matthew so attracted to Diana and what is behind the interest so many have in this mysterious text lost for centuries which has appeared and again disappeared after Diana’s innocent unbinding of its pages? Finally, when several close calls with death frighten Diana into realizing her lack of control, she accepts shelter first with Matthew’s vampire family in France and then with her own witch family in America.

A Discovery of Witches is so much more than just a supernatural story! Yes there are adventurous thrills for those who love the proverbial accounts of such creatures. But here is an intelligent consideration of the essence of origins, differences, genetic mating and consequences, shared powers defying definition and classification, versions of history holding secret and amazing phenomena, relationships of enmity forced to unite under common needs – both good and evil, the quintessential realities behind the search for the Philosopher’s stone or alchemy, and so much more.

Add to that a sweet, dangerous romance all the more real because of what seems to be its doomed end, and herein is the perfect combination, preciously difficult to adequately encompass in any brief review. This tale is a smart, tense, provocative, and enchanting read you will not want to end and will be relishing long after the last page is turned. This reviewer is so looking forward to the sequel to this amazing novel which will be a best seller!!! Absolutely delightful and impossible to put down!

Zero Day: A Novel by Mark Russinovich

Zero Day: A Novel. Mark Russinovich. Thomas Dunne Books: St. Martin's Press. March 2011. 320 pp. Hardcover. ISBN #:9780312612467.

Have you ever experienced a virus, Trojan horse, spam, worm, etc. on your computer? It seems overwhelming when it happens, but imagine if it began to happen to computers around the country all at once. Imagine that, unlike your problem, this national problem doesn't seem to be fixable at all. The bottom line is financial loss at a devastating level but also other consequences never before contemplated.

A horrific scenario begins to multiple in Zero Day, a novel about the deadly effects of a computer virus deliberately designed to keep replicating itself and spreading through vulnerable spots on other computers. So far it has caused multiple deaths in a hospital where computerized medication programs went awry from this "glitch." An airplane drops thousands of feet in seconds, unsure of recovery. Automatic computer robots in an automobile factory go haywire, causing the death of the man assigned to monitor them and shutting down so that business comes to a total standstill. Dams fail, nuclear power plants fail, and on and on and on. It seems the stuff of futuristic science fiction but is a present day threat ever looming in a world increasingly reliant on computers for everything.

Jeff Aiken and Daryl Haugen are the best in the business. If they can't find the source and solution for these nightmares about to destroy America, no one can. Jeff is recovering from a traumatic loss and unsure of anything, but his intellectual curiosity quickly pulls him into the nonstop search for answers, possibilities that seek to find if this is a sicko individual act or a scenario being implemented by much larger international groups with terrorist goals. The clock is running now to Zero Day, involving an international connection that brooks no interference and is determined to be the hand of fate on the world.

If you aren't a computer geek, some of the lingo and explanations are going to pass right by you; but there's enough information and ever-developing, terrifying plot developments to keep you riveted to every page. If you are a computer pro, you're going to absolutely love every page of this story that actually provides the technological lingo which shows the realistic potential for this unstoppable plot to unravel in cyberspace. There's a tad much on repetition, but it's bearable and serves to reinforce the awful threat effectively happening.

Zero Day: A Novel covers a scenario frequently imagined but never, fortunately, realized to date beyond what can adequately be handled and responded to. It seems, according to Mark Russinovich to be a warning to businesses, government, and computer professionals that cyberwar is and will be our next war, with implications far beyond what the experts usually predict! Great novel about a very important issue!

Promise Canyon: A Virgin River Novel (#11) by Robyn Carr

Promise Canyon: A Virgin River Novel (#11) by Robyn Carr. MIRA Books. January 2011. 352 pp. ISBN #: 9780778329213.

Recently divorced and needing some space from his past life, Clay Tahoma is excited about working as a farrier and vet technician in northern California. He'll be working with a respected vet and near his sister, Ursula, who lives in a nearby town and always has a warm welcome and dinner place for Clay. Proud of his Navajo roots and traditions, Clay is about to be surprised by a challenging and unusually talented woman.

Lilly Yazhi's got a way with horses, even more so than Clay, whom rumor has it is a bit of a "horse whisperer." Lilly and Clay meet very soon after his arrival in Virgin River, and the sparks are flying but not necessarily favorably. Is it her Hopi background the problem with their lack of connection? She has to admit Clay is "drop-dead gorgeous," but her experience of Native American men projects the opinion that good looks mean heartbreak.

Two unique horses draw Clay and Lilly together, one severely sick and one dysfunctional from some mysterious and traumatic past event. Blue and Streak have characteristics that parallel the attitudes and behavior of their caretakers. Are all broken beyond hope or is there some link that just might erode those blocks in all?

Promise Canyon has some just as interesting sub-plots involving a deceased woman's legacy to the town, a woman's desperate attempt to reclaim Clay, and a family deeply affected by a severe accident that keep the action and conflicts flowing in a tense yet manageable way.

Robyn Carr is a uniquely talented romance writer. She manages to write about Native American issues with a realistic yet gentle way that implies her obviously respect for their traditions and values. Likewise, her characters are sexy, passionate, and sensitive in an admirable way that magnifies our appreciation of these very wonderful Virgin River people.

Promise Canyon, the eleventh Virgin River novel, is a must read which this reviewer thoroughly enjoyed and highly, highly recommends!

How to Woo a Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries

How to Woo a Reluctant Lady. A Hellions of Halstead Hall Series #3. Pocket Star Books. February 2011. 384 pp. ISBN #: 19781439167557. $7.99

Minerva Sharpe is a Gothic novel writer. Anyone who is respectable doesn't read her series published in "The Ladies' Magazine," at least that's what they say. Yet Giles Master has been following each addition as it seems he's the rapscallion star of her stories, under a pseudonym that is.

When Minerva is in danger of losing her inheritance, she posts an ad for an eligible gentleman to marry. Giles realizes he must appear for an interview as a prospective bridegroom because her stories are getting far too close to the truth about his secret activities that could destroy some very high-positioned people in the British government.

What follows is a funny, passionate, and intriguing journey in which Minerva's grandmother agrees to Giles's engagement to Minerva. A whole new world opens to the couple as Minerva sees her fiance in action at a murder trial and he begins to investigate the mysterious death of her parents. Even better, their occasional romantic kisses fuel the passion both feel but refuse to acknowledge.

Giles, however, is a very smart pursuer as well as a more than capable barrister. How he wins Minerva's heart over her previous antagonism is a glorious romp full of mystery and romance that will delight every reader. Yes, even villains can make their victims scream...

Terrific story, Sabrina Jeffries

Most Valuable Victim: A Gloria Trevisi Mystery by A. R. Grobbo

Most Valuable Victim: A Gloria Trevisi Mystery. A. R. Grobbo. Double Dragon Publishing. October 2010. 285 pp. ISBN #: 9781554047796 pb.; 155404779X - e-book.

Gloria Trevisi is nearing the end of her pregnancy and plans on temporarily retiring from her reporter job. Stuck in the ladies' room at the Peewee Hockey Tournament, Gloria realizes chaos is breaking out as the arena's ceiling begins to collapse. Thinking the lady in the next booth can help her, Gloria calls out but gets no response. After working her own way out, she tentatively opens the next door and finds a female dead body and barely makes it out of the arena herself.

Work is difficult, to say the least, with a domineering editor and some unwilling criminal investigators who constantly veer between wanting Gloria's advice and reluctance to tell her what they know. Her home life is no better, with her mother-in-law in residence because of financial problems and Gloria's husband seems more interested in going away for his musical career than being present at the birth of his child.

A missing body on the trails, some very questionable behavior at another place where a fire occurs and a roof collapses, and other mysterious clues these begin to show definite connection.

Gloria as always will figure it out but takes the reader on some outrageous, dangerous, and intrigue-filled pages before all the major and minor conflicts are sorted out.

A. R. Grobbo's latest novel is a tautly plotted story that never loses the reader's fascination. She is expert at eliciting relevant facts in the most subtle manner and her easygoing, professional, and caring style make her the very skilled writer and investigator readers love.

Great story, A. R. Grobbo!!!

A Canterbury Crime - A Belinda Lawrence Mystery by Brian Kavanagh

A Canterbury Crime: A Belinda Lawrence Mystery by Brian Kavanagh. 2010. Bewrite Books. 150 pp. ISBN No. 9781906609450.

Professor de Gray has suddenly died, and Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby, knowledgeable ladies in the world of antiques, have arrived in the ancient, well-renowned town of Canterbury, to catalogue the furniture and objects in the Professor's home. Once they settle in, they are put off by the cold, unwelcoming attitude of Miss Mowbray and the weird, silent presence of Mrs. Jones. That initial reaction, while initially offsetting, becomes downright frightening when they learn that the Professor and his wife died suddenly under highly suspicious conditions.

It's right about the time Belinda and Hazel decide to investigating in addition to their cataloguing job when Miss Mowbray fails to return from a brief trip and a mysterious caller says she won't be back for a while. The case becomes even more complex when a rather flip character, Tom Bedford, enters the picture and claims he has the right to lurk through all of the late Professor's computer and paper records.

The Professor, it turns out had written a book in which the last chapter was supposed to be a historical blockbuster that would guarantee it's widespread sale and fame for the Professor. Everyone is looking for that final chapter and some shady characters are vying for opportunity to publish, hoping to connect to a new connection to Canterbury that will change history.

Add to the complexity of this mystery with a new twist on every page the fact that Belinda is being forced to decide between someone in England and someone else in Australia who would both love her hand in marriage. Mark, however, is the English beau who will prove himself in a life-threatening scene within these pages and offer her a new view of spending life with him in wedded bliss.

Brian Kavanagh is a very talented writer who has written an even more tautly plotted tale than his last crime mystery. The story is totally unpredictable and never loses the reader's rapt attention. Brenda and Hazel are witty, irksome, sharp, and pleasure-loving characters who are the perfect detectives barely managing to elude disaster by the most dire, unsavory criminals imaginable!

A best seller, for sure!

Barney and The Runaway by Max Elliot Anderson

Barney and The Runaway by Max Elliot Anderson. Comfort Publishing. 2011. ISBN No. 9780984559848.

Michael W. Ellis has a new ideal to live by, the Declaration of Independence. He's tired of doing what everyone else wants, and so he decides to run away. It seems like an adventure at first when he and his dog, Barney, wind up on a railroad car and then with a traveling circus. Big Bob takes to Mike and wants to make Barney part of the circus, since he has a very special talent that could draw crowds and make money.

The plot thickens, however, when some evil characters have other plans for Barney. When the threat grows, Mike thinks of all the times "if that hadn't happened" that have added up to one big mess. Big Bob, however, comes to the rescue but also tells Mike a story that changes everything. The bottom line is that plans go crazy and one must realize the consequences might not turn out for the best after all is said and done.

Barney and The Runaway is a great adventure story that is unpredictable and fascinating on every page. It's a great addition to the already terrific novels written by this very talented YA fiction author!!!