Category: Faith Hunter Page 2 of 6

BOOK SPOTLIGHT (and GIVEAWAY): Final Heir by Faith Hunter

Today I’m very pleased to welcome the Book Tour for the fifteenth and final Jane Yellowrock novel, Final Heir by Faith Hunter. Along with this spotlight post, I have an excerpt from the novel to share and a quick Q&A with Jane and Eli!. I’ll also be giving my take on the novel (and probably a little on the series as a whole) a little later. Those links’ll work when the posts go live in an hour or two. If you scroll down to the bottom of this post (or, you know, read it), you’ll find a nifty giveaway.

First, let’s take a look at Final Heir.
Final Heir Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: Final Heir by Faith Hunter
Publisher: Ace Books
Release date: September 5, 2022
Format: Ebook/Paperback (Audiobook will be released in October)
Length: 464 pages
ISBN: 9780593335819
Final Heir Cover

About the Book:

The stakes couldn’t be higher in the newest novel in the New York Times bestselling, pulse-pounding Jane Yellowrock series.

Jane Yellowrock is the queen of the vampires, and that makes her a target as she fights to maintain control and keep peace in the city of New Orleans. She has enemies at every turn, because vampires live forever, and they keep their grudges alive with them. That includes the Heir, the vampire sire of the Pellissier bloodline, which gave rise to Leo Pellissier himself—Jane’s old boss and the former master of the city.

With the Heir and all the forces of darkness he can muster arrayed against her, Jane will need all the help she can get. She’ll find it in her city, her friends, her found family, and, of course, the Beast inside of her.

Purchase Links

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Books-a-Million ~ IndieBound ~ The Book Depository ~ Kobo ~ Google Books ~ Apple Books

About the Author:

Faith HunterFaith Hunter is the award-winning New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of several series: Jane Yellowrock, Soulwood, Rogue Mage, and Junkyard Cats. In addition, she has edited multiple anthologies and coauthored the Rogue Mage RPG. She is the coauthor and author of 16 thrillers under pen names Gary Hunter and Gwen Hunter. Altogether she has 40+ books and dozens of short stories in print and is juggling multiple projects.

She sold her first book in 1989 and hasn’t stopped writing since.

Faith collects orchids and animal skulls, loves thunder storms, and writes. She drinks a lot of tea. She likes to kayak Class II & III whitewater rivers. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain’t.

Find Faith online at:

Website ~ Facebook (official) ~ Facebook Fan Group ~ Twitter ~

Yellowrock Securities website ~ Gwen Hunter website

GIVEAWAY:

There’s a tour-wide giveaway open to US residents!

  • 1 winner will receive a Yellowrock Securities leather bracelet
  • 5 winners will receive a Beast is Not Prey leather bracelet
  • 4 winners will receive their choice of a $25 gift card from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the Widget isn’t showing up, just click here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9751c04272/?

My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

Of Claws and Fangs by Faith Hunter: Tales of Vampires, Weres, Witches, Skinwalkers and More

Of Claws and Fangs Banner

Of Claws and FangsOf Claws and Fangs

by Faith Hunter

DETAILS:
Series: Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood 
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 352 pg.
Read Date: April 26-28, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s Of Claws and Fangs About?

It’s a collection of 18 shorter works in the Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood universe—one novella, a couple of very short vignettes, and several short stories.

This is the second collection of such works (and I really should get that first one, I’m not sure how I’ve managed to miss it), and brings in material from a variety of collections and some things published online and brings them all together in one handy volume—which is great, most readers are like me and we’re not going to be able to get all these various collections, but you put them in a book like this, and we’re going to have a good time.

I briefly considered giving a sentence or two about each piece, instead, I’m going to focus on just a few:

Jane Tracks Down Miz A

This is the sole bit of new material for the book—it’s described as a “short-short story.” It’s a little longer than a vignette, but not quite a short story. It was originally written for someone who won a charity auction, and Hunter re-worked it for this collection. I wasn’t sure what to think of it originally, but by the time it was over I wanted it to keep going.

Bound into Darkness

This novella is the longest piece in the book, and as such, seems like it should get a little more attention than the rest. The story centers on Eli and Molly’s sister Liz Everheart. Several other characters get involved by the end, but it’s primarily about these two and one of the worst dates (that really wasn’t a date) in history. There were plenty of good character moments, a few good supernatural baddies, and a lot of Eli doing his thing.

The nicest touch, if you ask me, was the short story that followed it in this collection. It ties into the novella, talking about something that happens behind the scenes. It doesn’t really alter your understanding of the novella, it just adds a little color. I really liked it—not just because of the added color, but the story was nice, too. I didn’t realize I wanted to know more about Lincoln Shaddock, but I was wrong.

Other Highlights

I’m a big Soulwood fan, so I was pleased to run into two stories from that series here. There’s a cute story about Nell’s early days with PsyLED and Black Friday, which is followed by Occam’s origin story.

There’s a great story where Angie Baby gets to shine. I’ve been thinking it for a while, but this story (“My Dark Knight”) confirms it for me—I need a stand-alone novel featuring her, either at her current age or as a young adult. She’s possibly the most interesting character in this series that features several interesting characters.

Of course, there’s plenty of good material featuring Jane and Beast—it’s pretty much a requirement. My one note on “Life’s a Bitch and Then You Die” was that it would justify the book’s purchase price by itself. Then I read “Of Cats and Cars” (I posted an excerpt from that earlier today), “Anzu, Duba, Beast” and “Shiloh and the Brick”—I think I’d have said the same about any of them.

Lowlights?

Really, there weren’t any—not many collections like this can say that.

For me, the collection started off rough—but I’m going to be in the distinct minority on this. The first vignette and the story that followed focused on Leo Pellissier, and he’s really never been my cup of tea. I can enjoy him as an antagonist to Jane, and even a benefactor, but that’s it—as a secondary character, basically. But even then, I thought the story, “Make it Snappy,” ended well, with a nice reveal at the end.

So, what did I think about Of Claws and Fangs?

I had more fun with this than I expected. I expected to have a good time with it, don’t get me wrong, but with short story collections, I try to go in with low expectations (and usually have those met). Like I said above, there’s not a bad one in the batch—sure, there were a few I could’ve liked more, but none of the stories were disappointing or dull.

For readers of Jane Yellowrock and Soulwood, this is a must. You’ll enjoy the time with your favorites, get a new perspective on a handful of them, and will be exposed to a variety of adventures that wouldn’t fit into a novel.

There’s nothing to complain about here, and plenty to enjoy—go get your paws on Of Claws and Fangs.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

EXCERPT from Of Claws and Fangs by Faith Hunter: Of Cats and Cars

Of Claws and Fangs Banner

from Of Cats and Cars, a short story from Of Claws and Fangs by Faith Hunter

Of Cats and Cars
A Story of Beast and Cows with Trees on Heads
This short story, originally written from Edmund’s point of view, was first published on my blog in 2019 (for 30 hours), and as a serialized blog tour event. It has been rewritten and extended (with more of Beast’s point of view). It still fits nowhere in the existing Jane Yellowrock timeline. For the sake of argument, I am cramming it into a three-day period just after the end of the Sangre Duello between Leo Pellissier and Titus, the Emperor of the EU, and the end of Dark Queen. Also, after the short “Life’s a Bitch and Then You Die.” The timeline isn’t perfect. I know that. But it is a fun story. Enjoy!

Edmund

“No. Absolutely not. I forbid it.”

“But—”

“There is no way beneath heaven’s sun that I will allow that . . . that . . . cat creature to hunt from my car. The seats are original. The carpet is original. It has never been off road and it never will.” His voice rose. “She is in pristine cond—”

“That cat creature is your queen,” Eli said, his tone cutting into the beginnings of an excellent tirade and still managing to sound laconic.

Edmund Sebastian Hartley shut his mouth. There were times when being the titular Emperor of all of Europe and the defacto (though not titular) Master of the City of New Orleans meant nothing, most often when dealing with Jane Yellowrock or her heirs and business partners, Eli and Alex Younger. He had already made arrangements to ship his prized Maserati to France, where he would join Grégoire, Blood Master of Clan Arceneaux (and assorted French titles, properties, and cities) in his campaign to seize all of Europe for the Emperor of Europe—himself—and the Dark Queen of Mithrans—Jane.

The goal was to conquer the unruly, warring Blood Masters, claim their fealty, gain control over their hunting territories, and bring peace to the blood-families that had been left in limbo when Jane Yellowrock killed Titus, the former Emperor of Europe. Thanks to her, Edmund was now that titular, if moderately unwilling, Emperor. It was an empty title until he conquered the land and killed his enemies.

However, walking away from war wasn’t an option, now that the European Mithrans and Naturaleza were hunting and killing humans. He could not abdicate. Leo Pellissier had made clear what the ramifications of such an abdication would mean politically and in regard to world unrest. Therefore, Ed would fight. And he would win.

Ed frowned at the puma lounging in the kitchen, her eyes on the three men gathered in the living room. She yawned, showing off her fangs, and flicked her ear tabs at him. She was a magnificent creature, lean and muscular, and he had it on good authority that those curved and serrated fangs could tear the head from a powerful blood-servant or even a vampire. Apparently, there was photographic proof.

Ed didn’t know what was going on with Jane, but she hadn’t been herself since Leo had been defeated. When in human shape, she was pale and withdrawn, grieving as all of them were, but there was something more, something that had sent her into Puma concolor form for the last two days. Normally when in mountain lion form, Jane was present. She acknowledged comments, answered questions, participated in discussion as best as the cat form allowed. At such times she called herself Beast. But not now. Two days past, she had texted him with the request to take her Beast hunting for a cow, in his car.

For a cow. In his car.

He had refused. He still was refusing. Not. In. His. Maserati.

Except that the cat creature—sans Jane—was following him around, watching him, often vocalizing loudly with clicks and whistles and mewls, like a kitten begging for milk. This dusk, he had waked from his daily sleep to find her lying on his chest, her fangs inches from his eyes, breathing cat-breath upon him. That raw-blood-and-meat stink had been the scent of his first breath of the night. Her fangs had been his first sight. Had he been alive, he would have expired on the spot. Ed had no idea how she had opened the sealed door to his newly renovated, windowless, attic sanctuary or, more likely, who had let her in, but there it was. And because Jane, in whatever form, was his Dark Queen, his hands were bound to her in fealty. Her desires were his command. Blast and damn.

He dropped to the leather couch, leaned at an angle to the couch back and arm, and propped his chin on his fist, staring hard to his left at the cat in the kitchen. This is all utterly unacceptable.

The cat rose, all killing grace and muscle, and walked to him, her very long tail moving slightly. When she was ten feet away, she leaped, landing beside him. Despite his centuries as a human-hunting vampire, he flinched.

Eli chuckled.

The cat dropped to the sofa cushion, her head fell into his lap, and she started to purr. He had a ridiculous urge to scratch her ears. She batted her eyes at him, for all the world as if she were flirting. He had no idea that mountain lions had such long eyelashes. Or perhaps only Jane’s cat had them. Her golden eyes wore the loving expression of a cat who wanted something and wasn’t above emotional manipulation to get it. There was no sign of Jane in the cat’s eyes at all, and he wondered for a moment where Jane went when she disappeared and her cat roamed free.

The cat rubbed her jaw on his bespoke suit pants, scent-marking him and leaving behind cat hair. His tailor would be appalled. There would be no getting out the musky scent. “Stop that,” he demanded. The cat rolled over and stared at him from upside down, her belly exposed. “No. I am not scratching your belly and you are not hunting in my car.”

The cat mewled and began to purr, the vibration gently shaking the couch.


Read the rest in Of Claws and Fangs by Faith Hunter to see what happens from here—and spoiler: it’s ridiculous and fun.


My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Of Claws and Fangs by Faith Hunter (and Giveaway!)

Today I’m very pleased to welcome the Book Tour for the collection of shorter works by Faith Hunter, Of Claws and Fangs. Along with this spotlight post, I have a fun excerpt to share. I’ll also be giving my take on the collection a little later. Those links’ll work when the posts go live in an hour or two. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post so you can be entered into a nifty giveaway.

First, let’s take a look at Of Claws and Fangs.
Of Claws and Fangs Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: Of Claws and Fangs by Faith Hunter
Publisher: Ace
Release date: May 3, 2022
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Length: 352 pages
ISBN: 9780593334348
Of Claws and Fangs Cover

About the Book:

New York Times bestselling author Faith Hunter presents a stunning collection of stories from the world of shape-shifting vampire hunter Jane Yellowrock and beyond.

Collected together for the first time, this volume contains shorter works featuring heroines Jane Yellowrock and Nell Ingram, as well as a host of other characters from the Jane Yellowrock and Soulwood series. Faith Hunter is “an expert at creating worlds filled with intriguing supernatural elements and exciting scenarios”* and her skills are on full display in this collection. From a vampire-filled Halloween evening in New Orleans to the searing tale of how a certain were-leopard first got his spots, this collection has something for everyone, and each story is sure to put the super in supernatural.

With eighteen stories in all, Of Claws and Fangs will enrich and entertain—it’s a must-have for Faith Hunter’s readers and all lovers of fantasy.

Purchase Links

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Books-a-Million ~ IndieBound ~ The Book Depository ~ Kobo ~ Google Books ~ Apple Books

About the Author:

Faith HunterFaith Hunter is the award-winning New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of several series: Jane Yellowrock, Soulwood, Rogue Mage, and Junkyard Cats. In addition, she has edited multiple anthologies and coauthored the Rogue Mage RPG. She is the coauthor and author of 16 thrillers under pen names Gary Hunter and Gwen Hunter. Altogether she has 40+ books and dozens of short stories in print and is juggling multiple projects.

She sold her first book in 1989 and hasn’t stopped writing since.

Faith collects orchids and animal skulls, loves thunder storms, and writes. She drinks a lot of tea. She likes to kayak Class II & III whitewater rivers. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain’t.

Find Faith online at:

Website ~ Facebook (official) ~ Facebook Fan Group ~ Twitter ~

Yellowrock Securities website ~ Gwen Hunter website

GIVEAWAY:

There’s a tour-wide giveaway open to US residents!

  • 2 winners will receive a limited-edition leather Soulwood bracelet
  • 1 winner will receive their choice of a $50 gift card from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the Widget isn’t showing up, just click here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9751c04266/?

My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

Junkyard Bargain (eBook) by Faith Hunter: Sometimes getting what you want is painful

Junkyard Bargain Banner

Junkyard Bargain

Junkyard Bargain

by Faith Hunter
Series: Shining Smith, #2

eARC, 166 pages
Lore Seekers Press, 2021

Read: October 16-18, 2021


Back in March, I talked about this as an Audible Original. And I’m going to borrow from that, but the eBook is a different experience, so we’ll talk about that a little bit, too.

The Law was uncertain. Vengeance wasn’t.

What’s Junkyard Bargain About?

Shining Smith needs to gear up and improve her weapons and armor if they’re going to take on the task they have ahead of them. This means traveling to Charleston, and selling some of the junk from her scrapyard, and making the right deals.

Standing in their way are rival bike gangs, corrupt police, sex slavers, and random other criminals. Whatever else happens—Shining isn’t going to allow those slavers to hang on to their captives (and likely won’t let them hang on to their lives, either). She needs to avoid the police, strike careful deals with the gangs, and survive the rest—all the while she’s noticing changes in her cats and expands the control Shining’s won enhancements have on those closest to her.

It’s really hard to explain without pretty much recapping everything in the first book.

Shining’s Thralls and Allies

This time through the book, Cupcake, Jagger, Mateo, and Jolene—Shining’s Thralls—grabbed my attention to various degrees more than they had before. Don’t get me wrong, this is Shining’s story and she’s a character that’s worth dissecting.

But what Hunter has done with these secondary characters is really interesting. Cupcake, for example, changes a lot over the course of these pages—due to what’s required of her as well as what happens to her. There’s a lot to Cupcake that’s been latent, but she’s never had a reason/opportunity to express. Now she’s been given that opportunity…I can’t wait to see what Cupcake gets up to in the next installment.

The rest of the thralls all end up doing things that Shining doesn’t expect (this is hard to get into while staying away from spoilers). The way this works out both in the closing pages of this book and in the next is likely going to make or break this series.

Getting back to Shining—one thing that Hunter’s protagonists tend to share is that they’re coming to greater understandings of their abilities (and developing them) in each book. This applies just as much to her post-apocalyptic SF hero as it does to her Urban Fantasy protagonists. It’s just about her nanobots instead of magic.

A Different Experience

This isn’t evaluative, I just figured it deserved a mention. While I’ve frequently moved from reading a book to re-reading it via audiobook, I’ve never moved from audio to text before, so this was an interesting experience just for that. For one thing, I finally learned how to spell “Berger chip.”

I did think that I related to the text, story, and characters differently when reading as opposed to listening—although part of that is due to the fact that this was my second exposure to Junkyard Bargain. It’s like getting to read the screenplay/script for a movie/play that you’re familiar with. I did find that most of the characters “sounded” a lot like Khristine Hvam as I read the dialogue.

I’m definitely still going to listen to the third Shining Smith book when it’s released on audio, but I’m also going to be making sure I get the ebook later (which I didn’t do for Junkyard Cats…yet).

So, what did I think about Junkyard Bargain?

I absolutely love this world. I don’t think one more novella is going to be enough to satisfy my curiosity. I’m going to need more somehow—it doesn’t necessarily have to be about Shining Smith.

After Junkyard Cats took several unexpected turns in the latter half, I didn’t know what to expect from this beyond more of the same. This novella may have ended up where it seemed to be heading from the beginning, but the route it took bore so little difference to what was expected that it’s hard to recognize that. Hunter is filling this post-apocalyptic world with more dangers and strangeness than we’d been exposed to last time, and you know the next installment will increase the danger.

When talking about the last book, I said that it was too brief and not deep enough. This isn’t the case this time—and not just because it was 40 minutes longer. This time it felt like there was a solid match between depth and time—to the point I wondered how she fit it all in the novella-length book.

There were some great action scenes, some solid surprises, and good character development. And…cats with telepathy. I can’t wait to see what #3 has in store.


3 Stars

EXCERPT from Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter: A Breakfast Conversation

Junkyard Bargain Banner

from Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter

“I love broccoli,” I said, shoveling beets into my mouth. “I had broccoli pesto once. It’s good.”

“Oh my god, yes. Anything with garlic and pine nuts is good. You ever tried Brussels sprouts pesto? So good! The greenhouse is just blooming up a storm,” she nattered on now that I had contributed to the conversation, once again cheery, her blue eyes sparkling. I ate and heard her say, “That new hemp mesh Mateo and I strung up? The stuff that was left over from shading the greenhouse compound? We put it up on aisle Tango three.”

“Mmm,” I said, now scooping in the pancakes. Trying not to puke at the growing rotten-finger stench.

“This place needs a good cleaning,” she said. “It’s getting kinda rank in here.”

“Right. Soon. New hemp mesh?” I reminded her.

“It’s absorbing and capturing moisture out of the night air like a dream. Come winter, we might bring in enough to actually get a shower once a week.”

That caught my attention. I swigged my coffee so I could talk. She poured me more. “Fresh water?” I asked.

“Nearly a week’s supply for drinking and watering the greenhouse, in a little over ten days,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “We think we can do twice that in winter.”

My hand, holding the fancy fork, halted halfway to my mouth. “That’s … That’s really good.”

“It’s not a full replacement, yet,” she prattled, “but not bad for summer, and if Mateo and I can get that water tower off the office roof and patch it up, we’ll have a good place to store water.”

Something like pleasure, maybe mixed with joy, flowed through me—a rare and unexpected sensation. “I’m … I’m proud of you, Cupcake.”

Cupcake’s blue eyes widened. Her color went high as she blossomed at the praise. “Eat,” she ordered, pointing at my meal, shaking with elation.

I didn’t praise her enough. I had to remember to do that. I ate. The buckwheat and millet pancakes were tasty enough. The roasted beets were surprisingly sweet and tender.

“It’s good.”

She hid her smile in her coffee cup. That was the thing about thralls. They were eager to please, needed to please, quite literally might die if they couldn’t find a way to serve and didn’t get attention from their nanobot-donor queen. She set down her cup, whipped a nail file out of her pocket, and reached for my left hand. “Not this morning,” I said softly. To keep her from freezing in uncertainty, I continued, “Tell me more about the netting and the free water.” Then, because it made her glow, I added, “This is exciting.”

 


Read the rest in Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter to see what happens from here—and all the new ways that Cupcake finds to serve.


My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter

Junkyard Bargain Banner
Today I’m very pleased to welcome the Book Tour for the e-book release of the second Shining Smith novella, Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter. Along with this spotlight post, I have a fun excerpt to share. I’ll be giving my take on the novella a little later. Those links’ll work when the posts go live in an hour or two.

First, let’s take a look at Junkyard Bargain.
Junkyard Bargain Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter
Publisher: Lore Seekers Press
Release date: October 19, 2021
Format: Ebook
Length: 166 pages
ISBN: 9781622681648
Junkyard Bargain Cover

Book Blurb:

Sometimes before you can face your enemies—you need to confront yourself.

Time is running out for Shining Smith and her crew to gather the weapons they need to rescue one of their own. But will they even make it to the ultimate battle? First, they’ll need to hit the road to Charleston—a hell ride full of bandits, sex slavers, corrupt lawmen, and criminal bike gangs looking to move in on Shining’s territory.

Shining’s human allies will do anything to protect her—because they must. But will victory be worth it if she must compel more and more people to do her bidding? And will her feline warriors, the junkyard cats, remain loyal and risk their lives? Or are they just in it for the kibble?

Purchase Links

Barnes & Noble ~ Amazon

About Faith Hunter:

Faith HunterFaith Hunter is the award-winning New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock, Soulwood, Rogue Mage, and Junkyard Cats series. In addition, she has edited several anthologies and co-authored the Rogue Mage RPG. She is the coauthor and author of 16 thrillers under pen names Gary Hunter and Gwen Hunter. Altogether she has 40+ books and dozens of short stories in print and is juggling multiple projects.

She sold her first book in 1989 and hasn’t stopped writing since.

Faith collects orchids and animal skulls, loves thunderstorms, and writes. She likes to cook soup, bake bread, garden, and kayak Class II & III whitewater rivers. She edits the occasional anthology and drinks a lot of tea. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain’t.

Find Faith online at:

Website ~ Facebook (official) ~ Facebook Fan Group ~ Twitter ~

Yellowrock Securities website ~ Gwen Hunter website

My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

PUB DAY REPOST: True Dead by Faith Hunter: Playing the Long Game

True Dead Banner


True Dead

True Dead

by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock, #14

eARC, 384 pg.
Ace, 2021

Read: August 30-September 1, 2021

What’s True Dead About?

Jane and the rest of the Yellowrock Clan are headed for New Orleans after a little excitement near her new home. There are two things that bring her to her old hunting grounds and her “freebie house.”

The first is a new, looming threat to her as Dark Queen, Master of New Orleans, and pretty much every Mithran in North America—at least those who are her loyal subjects. It’s a threat that has roots in ancient vampires, magic that Jane hasn’t encountered before, and possibly a tie to the “liver eaters” of the Cherokees. It’s going to take more than a couple of sliver stakes, shotgun blasts, and a wicked grin to take care of things.

The second reason to head for New Orleans is much more pleasant—almost as elaborate, it should be added. Jane’s strengths are best displayed in combat, figuring out what supernatural threat is out there, and that sort of thing. But social events, diplomatic moves, and things like that? Not what anyone thinks of when they think Jane Yellowrock. For good reason. Thankfully, she now has a staff.

While dealing with new supernatural forces set against her and the big social event, something more immediate is plaguing Jane. She’s unable to control her shifts—she’ll wake as the cat, or in half-shifted form. She won’t be able to change back when she wants to—and Beast isn’t doing much better with it than Jane is.

All in all, Jane’s got her hands (or paws) full.

Beast

Beast gets some great moments—possibly better than Jane. She has her own agenda at points and is keeping secrets still.

I feel like I should have more to say about Beast here, but I really don’t. Mostly because I wouldn’t be able to avoid spoilers. Also, I’m not sure when I’d shut up.

Simply put, she’s a delight.

Leo’s Long Game

Over the course of the book, Jane learns some things, pieces together a few more, and makes a couple of good guesses about what she calls Leo’s long game. What she comes up with helps her—and the reader—to see her arrival in New Orleans and most of what she’s done in various situations for Leo in a new light.

It’s not as drastic as some other UF series have been when the chief protagonist learns that changes their understanding of pivotal moments in the series—but it is pretty significant. You won’t be able to think of the series and Jane’s adventures in quite the same way again—you’ll have a richer, more nuanced idea.

I’m so glad she did that.

So, what did I think about True Dead?

This thing started off with a bang—a killer first chapter that had everything a Yellowrock fan would want. When I saw the heading reading “Chapter 2,” I stopped cold. How had she fit all that into a chapter? I seriously thought I was wrapping up Chapter 3 at that point. Sure, Hunter’s chapters tend to be longer than many of the things I read, but anyway you cut it—Chapter 1 gets things rolling in a big way.

It didn’t stop from there—the hits keep coming, Jane’s sharper than she’s been in a couple of books. Not that I’m complaining about the books, but Jane’s been going through a lot lately—and now that’s fairly settled. She’s adjusted (at least more adjusted) to her new role and position. So now when trouble is on the horizon, she can throw herself at it.

And, boy howdy, does she. There are a few scenes that feel like vintage Jane—sure, given her new status she ends up dealing with things in a very non-vintage way. Long-time fans will enjoy seeing Old School Jane.

But New School Jane has more than a few surprises up her sleeve, and as fun, as it is to take a nostalgic look at how Jane dealt with problems, it’s more fun to see the way Jane deals with them now.

True Dead felt like a gift to the reader—not just because we get to see Jane tooling around New Orleans again with a vamp killer in hand, but because of everything else. The new challenges are great—and watching all the members of Clan Yellowrock rise to them is just as great. There’s a lot of joy, some sweetness, a little romance (and a little of the stuff that accompanies romance), we get to see some old friends–including a couple of pleasant surprises. And there are some very unpleasant surprises, too. Like every good writer of a long-running series, Hunter knows how to put her readers through the emotional wringer.

What it sets up for book 15? Ohh boy, I already can’t wait.

In the meantime, get your copy of True Dead as soon as you can. If you’ve read this far in this post and don’t know Jane Yellowrock? Fix that and thank me later.


My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

True Dead by Faith Hunter: Playing the Long Game

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True Dead

True Dead

by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock, #14

eARC, 384 pg.
Ace, 2021

Read: August 30-September 1, 2021

What’s True Dead About?

Jane and the rest of the Yellowrock Clan are headed for New Orleans after a little excitement near her new home. There are two things that bring her to her old hunting grounds and her “freebie house.”

The first is a new, looming threat to her as Dark Queen, Master of New Orleans, and pretty much every Mithran in North America—at least those who are her loyal subjects. It’s a threat that has roots in ancient vampires, magic that Jane hasn’t encountered before, and possibly a tie to the “liver eaters” of the Cherokees. It’s going to take more than a couple of sliver stakes, shotgun blasts, and a wicked grin to take care of things.

The second reason to head for New Orleans is much more pleasant—almost as elaborate, it should be added. Jane’s strengths are best displayed in combat, figuring out what supernatural threat is out there, and that sort of thing. But social events, diplomatic moves, and things like that? Not what anyone thinks of when they think Jane Yellowrock. For good reason. Thankfully, she now has a staff.

While dealing with new supernatural forces set against her and the big social event, something more immediate is plaguing Jane. She’s unable to control her shifts—she’ll wake as the cat, or in half-shifted form. She won’t be able to change back when she wants to—and Beast isn’t doing much better with it than Jane is.

All in all, Jane’s got her hands (or paws) full.

Beast

Beast gets some great moments—possibly better than Jane. She has her own agenda at points and is keeping secrets still.

I feel like I should have more to say about Beast here, but I really don’t. Mostly because I wouldn’t be able to avoid spoilers. Also, I’m not sure when I’d shut up.

Simply put, she’s a delight.

Leo’s Long Game

Over the course of the book, Jane learns some things, pieces together a few more, and makes a couple of good guesses about what she calls Leo’s long game. What she comes up with helps her—and the reader—to see her arrival in New Orleans and most of what she’s done in various situations for Leo in a new light.

It’s not as drastic as some other UF series have been when the chief protagonist learns that changes their understanding of pivotal moments in the series—but it is pretty significant. You won’t be able to think of the series and Jane’s adventures in quite the same way again—you’ll have a richer, more nuanced idea.

I’m so glad she did that.

So, what did I think about True Dead?

This thing started off with a bang—a killer first chapter that had everything a Yellowrock fan would want. When I saw the heading reading “Chapter 2,” I stopped cold. How had she fit all that into a chapter? I seriously thought I was wrapping up Chapter 3 at that point. Sure, Hunter’s chapters tend to be longer than many of the things I read, but anyway you cut it—Chapter 1 gets things rolling in a big way.

It didn’t stop from there—the hits keep coming, Jane’s sharper than she’s been in a couple of books. Not that I’m complaining about the books, but Jane’s been going through a lot lately—and now that’s fairly settled. She’s adjusted (at least more adjusted) to her new role and position. So now when trouble is on the horizon, she can throw herself at it.

And, boy howdy, does she. There are a few scenes that feel like vintage Jane—sure, given her new status she ends up dealing with things in a very non-vintage way. Long-time fans will enjoy seeing Old School Jane.

But New School Jane has more than a few surprises up her sleeve, and as fun, as it is to take a nostalgic look at how Jane dealt with problems, it’s more fun to see the way Jane deals with them now.

True Dead felt like a gift to the reader—not just because we get to see Jane tooling around New Orleans again with a vamp killer in hand, but because of everything else. The new challenges are great—and watching all the members of Clan Yellowrock rise to them is just as great. There’s a lot of joy, some sweetness, a little romance (and a little of the stuff that accompanies romance), we get to see some old friends–including a couple of pleasant surprises. And there are some very unpleasant surprises, too. Like every good writer of a long-running series, Hunter knows how to put her readers through the emotional wringer.

What it sets up for book 15? Ohh boy, I already can’t wait.

In the meantime, get your copy of True Dead as soon as you can. If you’ve read this far in this post and don’t know Jane Yellowrock? Fix that and thank me later.


My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

TRUE DEAD TOUR: A Q&A with Faith Hunter

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Thanks to an overactive Spam filter, I missed the invitation to submit questions. Thankfully, Audrey at Let’s Talk came through for me and got me this Q&A. I enjoyed it, hope you do, too.


What was your inspiration for Jane’s character/storyline? Was it the Katie’s Ladies idea or something else. You have probably already answered this 1000 times.

It’s always a great question. I started out with Katie’s Ladies. The first time I thought about writing an urban fantasy it was with the description of Katie’s Ladies running through my mind. I had the idea of a vamp bordello and the madam trying to figure out who had killed her girl. But it very quickly morphed into a Cherokee chick solving paranormal crimes and getting sucked into working for the master of the city. I love writing mystery and thrillers, and in fact spent the first 15 years or so my career writing just that under the name Gwen Hunter.

When you started writing Skinwalker, did you envision how many books this would stretch to?

Oh heck no. I planned on three. The end of book three was supposed to be Rick and Jane riding off into the sunset together, a reformed bad boy werecat and a skinwalker. Then while I was writing that book, Charlaine Harris (yes, the Charlaine Harris) posted in her blog that she was reading Skinwalker. I was at Dragon Con when I learned that my book sales took off and Penguin wanted three more books. Soooo. Things changed. I owe it all to a friend who had no idea that Faith Hunter was the Gwen Hunter she met back in my mystery writing days at Mystery Writers of America. The kindness of successful writers helps to make other writers successful. We depend on each other so much!

Did Jane ever have a pet? I know dogs are afraid of her scent, but what about other cats?

No, Jane never had a pet. Well… except Beast. (Wanders away laughing as Beast chuffs with irritation)

How do you decide who will die and does it affect you the same way as it does your readers?

If a character needs to die, I usually know it as I’m writing the outline for that book, but not always. Sometimes it happens as I write the scene and I have been known to have to go back and alter the outline for a whole book when a character dies. And then there are the characters like Adrianna who keep coming back because times change and Leo doesn’t want her dead. Of course, Leo doesn’t want the Sons of Darkness dead either and Jane kinda ignored that all around.

Is Ricky Bo based on an old boyfriend?

Nope. Physically, Rick is based on my first cousin, Frenchy black eyes, Frenchy black hair, lean and rangy, long-lived, and self-contained. Emotionally Rick is based on a template of player, overlaid with cop-think.



My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour, this Q&A, and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

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