Category: Blog Series Page 1 of 164

Saturday Miscellany—3/16/24

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Is It A Betrayal To Publish Dead Writers’ Books?: Inside the ethically thorny world of posthumous publishing.
bullet I didn’t get the credit for my bestselling book: the secret life of the celebrity ghost writer—Liam Pieper describes the reality that’s close to what I expected, but is nice to see confirmed.
bullet Not Just Covers, But Every Page: Why Writers Should Talk About Book Design Early On: Debbie Berne on the Intricacies of Literary Interior Design
bullet Why Are These 90s Young Adult Books So Irresistible?—For readers of a certain age, this is a fun collection of posts/articles from Pocket.
bullet Famous Works of Irish Literature as Limericks—what better way to note St. Patrick’s Day than with Amanda Lehr’s latest post to McSweeny’s?
bullet Bookish Death Cleaning: On What We Keep, and What It Means
bullet Page Turners vs. Screen Scribes: The Endless Debate of Physical Books vs. Ebooks—nothing revolutionary here, but that’s not neccesarily a bad thing.
bullet Breaking into the indie market with the Break-Ins! —Over at Before We Go Blog, The Fictional Escapist has a great interview about a great idea.
bullet Bookmark Chat: Guess Who’s Back…—The McBooknerd is back!
bullet A Voracious Reader was under the pressure of handling Witty & Sarcastic Bookclub’s Tough Questions this week (I really need to get on my answers)
bullet Thoughts From A Grumpy Year Of Reading—2024 isn’t treating our pal Peat too well…

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet The Conversation with Nadine Matheson 2.58 S.A. Cosby: We Tell Lies To Tell The Truth

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Red Rising by Pierce Brown—the beginning of a beautiful book friendship for me…
bullet And on the other end of the tonal spectrum…Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Ballad of Sprikit The Bard (And Company) by Sean O’Boyle—I’ve seen this described as “A ‘Discworld’ meets ‘Lies of Locke Lamora’ Adventure.” Which is enough for me. Hearing a lot of good about it, too.
bullet Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet—a “darkly comic” book about a Pitbull imitator (the rapper, not a canine) teaming up with a magical orca to become a real-life Tony Montana with shades of Moby Dick. The novel sounds so strange that it just might work.
bullet Black Wolf by Juan Gómez-Jurado—This thriller looks so good that I’m getting the first in the series from the Library today. Click the link, I’m not going to try to summarize it.

Man Sitting at his desk, 1784, Jan Ekels with a speech bubble reading 'If you finish a task early at work, you should be allowed to have silent reading time like we used to do in school.'

Teaching Moments by Troy Lambert: A Tale of Horse Thieves and a Serial Killer

Teaching MomentsTeaching Moments

https://troylambertwrites.com/the-max-boucher-series/)

DETAILS:
Series: Max Boucher Mysteries,  #2
Publisher: Unbound Media
Publication Date: January 18, 2022
Format: Paperback
Length: 368
Read Date: August 24-26, 2023
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

What’s Teaching Moments About?

It seems that after the events of Harvested, Max Boucher has developed a specialty when it comes to his PI work—animals. Granted, most of these are pretty small cases without a lot of excitement, but work is work, right? And if he’s getting the bills paid, he can spend more time thinking about the new evidence he found at his old home at the end of Harvested.

But that’s for another time, really. Max has been hired to leave Seattle and come to Cedar Peak—a small town in Idaho*, where someone from out of town sticks out like a sore thumb. He’s been called upon to investigate a missing—presumed stolen—horse, worth a pretty penny.

* I kept changing my mind about what city it’s based on, and decided to stop trying because it really doesn’t matter.

But before he can even start this investigation, he stumbles across a murder. Now, that’s not why he’s in town, but he sort of befriends the woman dating the dead man (who turns out to be related to the horse’s owner). He’s warned off by the local police, but he ends up looking into the murder, too.

It’s not long at all before Max discovers that almost nothing is what it seems and that he might have bitten off more than he can chew this time.

The Other POV

Interwoven with Max’s story is the first-person account of a young woman becoming a serial killer. On the one hand it’s easy to see why we get this (her weapon of choice is used in the murder)—but it frequently feels like it could be a different book.

Actually, you could excise these chapters (or at least almost all of them) and publish it as a stand-alone novella. You’d probably need a different conclusion to make it satisfactory—but it’d work that w
This isn’t entirely a criticism (although it does feel a little out of place from time to time)—the way this story ends up merging with the rest of the novel really works and adds to the overall impact of the novel.

The only real complaint I have about it is that all these chapters are in italics, and it just bugs me to read that much italicized material, there’s gotta be a better way to set that kind of thing off from the rest of the text.

The Series Arc

After the way that Harvested ended (and well, the way that most of that book went), I assumed we’d get a lot more time and space devoted to the murder of Max’s daughter and the disappearance of his wife in this book. I didn’t expect that he’d solve everything so soon, but still.

And while Max (and/or Lambert) didn’t blow off the topic, the novel didn’t focus on it as much as I’d assumed. I think it’s good for the long-term health of the series, as long as Lambert doesn’t drag things out in this regard. The closing pages of this novel bring in a new twist to the series that can help out with the overall arc(s), too.

So, what did I think about Teaching Moments?

It feels pretty uncharacteristic of me not to mention Max’s dog so far. Russ is one of those rescued at the end of Harvested and he’s become an important part of Max’s life. He’s a very good boy, and a canine I’m pleased to make the acquaintance of.

I don’t think I was as surprised at a lot of the serial killer story as the novel wanted me to be. That may be because I read too many things in this genre. It was well-executed and I don’t have any noteworthy negative things to say about it beyond I thought it wasn’t that unexpected. I don’t need to be shocked, I just want a good story, and that’s what Lambert delivered.

A solid PI novel is one of my favorite things in the world. Lambert’s Max Boucher novels are good examples of the genre. Yes, the setting and the central crime might not be common for the genre, but they work well in Lambert’s hands. I’m definitely looking forward to more of these, and recommend them to you. Even if you’re not looking for a series, Teaching Moments could work as a standalone. Either way, you should give this a shot.


3.5 Stars

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, the opinions expressed are my own.
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WWW Wednesday, March 12, 2024

Well, today got away from me. Let me get this up and I’ll try again tomorrow.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading still A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne, as with the first in the trilogy, as much as I’m enjoying the book, I need to take a break from it every now and then. but hopefully I finish it before next week’s post. I’m also listening to a very odd take on Peter Pan, Darling by K. Ancrum, read by Angel Pean, on audiobook.

A Blight of BlackwingsBlank SpaceDarling

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished a couple of very entertaining books: Olivia Blacke’s Rhythm and Clues and Dead Ground by M.W. Craven, read by John Banks on audio.

Rhythm and CluesBlank SpaceDead Ground

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be the ARC of The Tenacious Tale of Tanna the Tendersword by Dewey Conway & Bill Adams (soooo many ARCs lately, how am I ever going to make TBR progress?) and my next audiobook should be a quick trip to Painter’s Mill, Ohio (the most crime-ridden Amish community in the States) in A Hidden Secret by Linda Castillo, read by Kathleen McInerney .

The Tenacious Tale of Tanna the TenderswordBlank SpaceA Hidden Secret

Whatcha readin’?

PUB DAY SPOTLIGHT: Women Who Murder by Mitzi Szereto

I’m very pleased today to Spotlight Mitzi Szereto’s new release, Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales. This looks like one to keep you up all night! Sorry for any sleep this causes you to lose.

Book Details:

Title: Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales
Editor: Mitzi Szereto
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Mango Publishing Group
Release date: March 12, 2024
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 224 pages
Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales Cover

About the Book:

Deadly Dames and Murderous Damsels

Explore the fascinating psychology behind these killer women, unraveling their motives and unveiling the infinite complexities of human behavior in Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales.

From chilling stories of black widow murderers to spine-tingling narratives of women who shocked the world with their sinister deeds, this anthology spans eras and continents, offering an electrifying and thought-provoking exploration of the darkest corners of human nature and the female psyche. Like Mitzi Szereto’s popular The Best New True Crime Stories series, Women Who Murder includes all-new and original nonfiction accounts from an international cast of writers, all of whom prove that women can be just as deadly as men—if not more so!

Book Trailer:

Purchase Links:

Amazon US ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Books-A-Million ~ Bookshop.org ~ Amazon UK ~ Blackwell’s ~ Waterstones ~ Amazon CA ~ Indigo ~ Angus & Robertson ~ Fishpond

About the Editor:

Mitzi Szereto Mitzi Szereto (mitziszereto.com) is an American-British author, anthology editor, and short story writer whose work spans multiple genres. Her widely acclaimed true crime series The Best New True Crime Stories features the volumes Crimes of Famous & Infamous Criminals; Unsolved Crimes & Mysteries; Partners in Crime; Crimes of Passion, Obsession & Revenge; Well-Mannered Crooks, Rogues & Criminals; Small Towns; and Serial Killers. Aside from her many popular books, she has the added distinction of being the editor of the first anthology of erotic fiction to include a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. A contribution from her crime fiction anthology Getting Even: Revenge Stories also received the Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Dagger “Highly Commended.” Mitzi has appeared internationally on radio and television and at literature festivals, and taught creative writing around the world. She produced and presented the London-based web TV channel Mitzi TV and portrays herself in the pseudo-documentary British film, Lint: The Movie. Follow her @mitziszereto on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, and Spoutible.

Author Links:

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ TikTok
~ YouTube ~ Bluesky ~ Threads ~ Mastodon ~ Spoutible ~ Goodreads


One more time, Women Who Murder is out now—get it today!

Saturday Miscellany—3/9/24

The last few weeks have been heavy on non-reading/blogging tasks/events/changes. And (to me anyway), that’s been clearest when it comes to these posts. But yesterday was (theoretically) the last tweak, so I should be able to start adjusting to things soon and things will return to some form of normal in the next couple of weeks.

Huge thanks to Peat Long for the return of Friday Five, so I could add a couple of items to beef this list up.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Your new literary dream job: reader-in-residence.—I’ve spent the last couple of days fighting the urge to move to Fort Collins to chase my dream.
bullet Counterfeit Books Are a Growing Problem, but a Solution May Be Near—the biggest question here is how long it’ll take pirates to work around it.
bullet This Facebook post from the NYT about Worcester Public Library’s March Meowness will bring a smile to your face even without going beyond the paywall
bullet Wander into This Miraculous Miniature Library with Thousands of Books Made Entirely by Hand—oooooohhhhhhh (said best in Toy Story’s LGM voice)
bullet When Indie Publishing Meets Corporate Bookselling: Michele Herman on the Challenges of Getting—and Keeping—Her Book on the Shelves
bullet IBPA Publishing MAP (Models and Author Pathways)—this looks handy for the writers who are looking at this post
bullet Chinese Science Fiction Before The Three Body Problem
bullet “Longmire” series author Craig Johnson talks about its development and its future—I’m always down to read/listen to/about Johnson
bullet A Punk Noir Interview with M. W. Craven—there’s a lot to enjoy here, I loved the last answer from someone else I’m always down to read/listen to/about.
bullet AC/DC’s Back in Black Inspires New Book of Murder Mysteries, Including New Jack Reacher Story—sure, the wrong Child is writing the Reacher story, but some of the rest sound promising (Coleman and Eldridge in particular)
bullet Genres Are Historical and Cultural, Not Scientific: why rigid rules for genres never quite work—Lincoln Michel has many good things to chew on here (as per usual)
bullet We got two new entries in Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub’s Tough Questions series this week, you should see how JamReads and Featuring Fantasy Book Nerd handled the pressure.
bullet Weaving some Wyrd & Wonder—it’s almost time for the TBR expanding celebration of Fantasy. This year’s theme is really appealing.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week? (clearly a slow week)
bullet Death Without Company by Craig Johnson—here’s where I decided to get serious about reading Walt Longmire books
bullet and I noted the releases of: The Player by Brad Parks (I know he’s doing well with his stand-alone thrillers, but I miss Carter Ross), Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire (the third InCryptid novel and the first narrator switch), and Notes from the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone (something I never got around to reading, but still looks amusing)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire—Aunt Mary, the baby-sitting ghost, takes center stage in this new InCryptids installment. I cannot wait to dive in (but must for a little bit)
bullet Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter—Soulwood #6 brings readers action, love, family, answers, and more questions. I yammered on about it some yesterday (and really wanted to keep going on)
bullet Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano—Finlay and Vero hit Atlantic City and (almost certainly) chaos ensues.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to AndOnSheReads, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.
The text 'Today I will live in the moment unless it is unpleasant in which case I will read a book.' next to a sketch of a person holding a giant book

Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter: Everything Changes

Sorry this is so late in the day…it’s been, well, a day. But now it’s time to wrap up this Tour Stop for Hunter’s Rift in the Soul.


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Rift in the SoulRift in the Soul

by Faith Hunter

DETAILS:
Series: Soulwood, #6
Publisher: Ace Books
Publication Date: March 5, 2024
Format: eARC
Length: 382 pg.
Read Date: February 26-29, 2024
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

What’s Rift in the Soul About?

As is so often the case with books in this series, there’s a lot going on–issues with Nell and her powers, Nell and her sisters/pets/family, and some sort of supernatural-based crime for starters. So this isn’t going to be exhaustive (I hopefully never am, but I felt like I should say that here).

Nell is summoned to appear before Ming of Glass, the vampire Master of the City. They’ve had an interesting relationship in the past, and from the moment the two encounter each other in these pages you know things are going to be much more so. Because this book happens after the events of Final Heir and Ming and her vampires aren’t quite like they were last time Nell crossed paths with them.

There’s a body on Ming’s land that she wants Nell to take away and investigate. Her people aren’t responsible for the death–and none of them understand it. As it’s on Ming’s property, it’s a PsyLED problem.

Before PsyLED can do anything about it, Nell catches the attention of vampires that aren’t associated with Ming. And…I don’t know what else to say about that beyond, drama, violence, and other tense nouns ensue.

Oh, and in the middle of all this, Nell has to prepare for Christmas with her expanding family and a wedding. Because even for a PsyLED Special Agent, there’s more to life than just ancient vampires on the hunt.

The Jane Yellowrock Ripples

I may spill a bit more from the end of the Yellowrock books than people who haven’t finished might like. If that’s you, read this next paragraph and then skip to the next heading, okay?

As I’ve said frequently when it comes to this series–if you haven’t read the Jane Yellowrock books that it spun off from, you’re going to be okay. You have all the information you need in the Soulwood books. However, if you have read both, you’re going to get a lot more from the series.

Boy howdy, is that true here. Yes, it seemed like almost everything got resolved and wrapped up in a pretty little bow at the end of the Yellowrock series. Buuuut…there were enough things dangling to make it seem realistic and maybe allow for short stories from those characters and so on–or, for Soulwood to pick them up and do something with them.

For example–is everything peachy keen in the vampire world now? Is everyone getting along? (I think we know the answer to that) What does it mean for vampires to have their souls back? That’s a bigger question than this book can really answer, but we get a peek into the answers.

There are some other things, too–but you should find those out for yourself.

I found this aspect of the novel very satisfying and it scratched an itch I didn’t realize I had. We don’t see Jane or hear from her directly. But we get to hear a vague update on her and a couple of familiar names pop up to help out here.

The Vampire Tree/The Green Knight/Soulwood

Every time we readers–or Nell–seem to think we all have reached some solid conclusions about Nell’s abilities and her land, Hunter comes along, shakes her head at our naiveté, and shows us how little we actually get.

This is all the clearer when it comes to The Vampire Tree and The Green Knight persona. As both seem to be developing and evolving, it’s understandable that we (readers andNell) keep being surprised. It’s also kind of nice that we can’t get complacent. Nell was rocked by some of what she experiences in this book–and, reader, you will be, too. You will almost certainly want more details–like 4+ bonus chapters just about these things (you’ll know them when you see them), and will likely have a couple of dozen questions to ask Nell and/or Hunter.

But wait, there’s more. We get to see the way that Mud and Esther connect to all this–and it is not precisely the same way that Nell does.

Fans are going to sink their teeth and/or claws into this aspect of the book–and might not care that much about the plot in contrast to this. Well, that might be overstating it–but many fans would be content to hit “pause” on the action for a bit to focus on it.

Speaking of things that we readers think we understand…

As one would expect, things (outside of Nell’s personal life) bring us back to God’s Cloud of Glory Church/cult/compound. We end up circling back to events of Blood of the Earth and Curse on the Land in troubling ways. This leads Nell to rethink some of the theories and conclusions she reached back then, and to ask uncomfortable questions.

It’s only when you get a series to this kind of length that it becomes this rewarding to come back and take a second look at things like this (sorry for the vagueness). But in the light of these new circumstances, it’s good that we readers and Nell get that second look. It really pays off.

I wouldn’t mind a little less from this group in the future, but I don’t know if that’s possible given the way this series has been build. (at the same time, I don’t mind seeing them, I’m just worried that it’s becoming a rut)

So, what did I think about Rift in the Soul?

I don’t want to overstate this, but I’m not sure how I could. Nor am I going to explain this. No future Soulwood book is going to be like the ones that came before this one. Yes, yes, yes–the crimes, the monsters, the magic in each is a different kind of problem. But beyond all that, there’s a lot to each of these books that take on similar shapes, and patterns–just in the characters, but outside that, too. That all changes here.

And it’s a good thing–as comfortable as it is to watch the same set of investigators run down leads, do some magic, shift into wereforms/other shifts, and so on. A good, healthy series grows and develops–like, a garden or a forest (golly, why would someone think in botanical terms when it comes to this series?).

Rift in the Soul acts as a pivot point, or maybe a stepping stone between versions of these two (let’s go with a stepping stone, so I don’t have to keep hearing Ross Geller yell “PIVOT!” in the back of my mind). There are some hellos, some goodbyes, some…”huh, that’s new.” (some of which I alluded to above, a lot I haven’t). This novel acts as a cap and a launching pad at the same time for the series.

It’s tough to consider this book without reference to that, honestly, because so much of the warp and woof of the novel is that. But let’s try: you’ve got some solid vampire action, you’ve got strange vampire action, too. Some great action scenes. Good, strong character development. Solid emotional beats that are well-executed and earned. Things might not be the same soon, but for now, this is a good time with your group of friends.

Obviously, I don’t recommend this as a jumping-on point for the series, but it would be okay if you decided to. (but don’t, go back to the beginning). I think you’ll like the time in this world. But for people who’ve been with Nell and her team/work family/blood family since the beginning? You’re going to walk away very pleased.

Oh, one last note before I go: Faith Hunter/Publishers: Mud deserves at least a solo-novella. You’ve got something great here, use it. (unless you wanted to team her up with Jane Yellowrock’s Angie)


4 1/2 Stars

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, the opinions expressed are my own.

My thanks to Psst…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 Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter: Waiting in the MOC’s Foyer

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from Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter

Waiting in the MOC’s Foyer

Patterns at my feet drew my eye. The foyer had been refloored in white marble. In the center, tiny pieces of gray marble, brass, and glistening steel had been inlaid and formed a pair of blades, the mosaic marble handles crossed. The single-edged blades themselves had been embedded in the floor; they appeared real but were strangely shaped. One blade looked as if an ax had been crossed with a machete and then a dragon had taken a bite out of the unsharp edge. I knew nothing about fighting with blades, but even I could tell the dragon-bitten section was for snagging an opponent’s blade out of their hand. The other blade was similar but without the snagging-dragon-bite, and a longer cutting edge. They were different but they were also clearly a pair of blades intended to be used together. The ends of the blades, where they should have attached to real handles—hilts?—were made of brass or gold and were shaped like dragon snouts, as if the steel was erupting from their mouths. Above and between the crossed blades was a green, faceted square.

“Ingram,” FireWind snapped. There was an edge of “pay attention” in the tone.

“What’s that?” I pointed at the floor.

“Ming’s new crest,” FireWind said, his tone still sharp. “Since she became MOC.”

As if my up-line boss hadn’t just snapped at me, I holstered my weapon and started taking pictures, sending them back to HQ. Aya grunted in approval. I was learning how to read him. I flipped on more lights and took shots of the parlor to the left and the hallways leading off into darkness. According to county records the clan home of the Master of the City was nearly twelve thousand square feet, so I wasn’t getting much of the house, but it was the first time I’d been in a position to film it.

As I worked, Rick explained to me, still a newbie, “It’s customary for the Master of the City, the most powerful Mithran in the territory, to have their crest inlaid in the entry floor of the city’s Council Chambers headquarters, to remind friends and visiting enemies alike who they would have to fight and conquer. Ming is both the MOC and head of the only vampire clan in Knoxville, so her home does double duty.”

Ming had been given MOC status by Jane Yellowrock. I remembered that. When I had taken photos of everything I could without wandering around, I pulled the psy-meter from my pocket and quickly took a reading of Ming’s foyer. The readings were all over the place.

At a warning signal from Rick, I slid the device away.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ Copyright Faith Hunter

 


Read the rest in Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter to see what happens from here in this pivotal novel for this universe.

My thanks to Psst…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 (and GIVEAWAY): Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter

Today I’m very pleased to welcome the Book Tour for the sixth novel in the Soulwood series, Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter. Along with this spotlight post, I have a tantalizing little excerpt from the novel to share and I’ll be giving my take on the novel a little later (there’s some work stuff that’s come up that will push this back a bit). Those links’ll work when the posts go live in an hour or more. 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 Rift in the Soul.
Rift in the Soul Schedule Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter
Publisher: Ace Books
Release date: March 5, 2024
Format: Ebook/Paperback (Audiobook will be released this summer)
Length: 382 pages
ISBN: 9780593335796
Rift in the Soul Cover

About the Book:

Nell Ingram and her team face a dire, supernatural evil in this newest thrilling paranormal procedural in the New York Times bestselling Soulwood series.

Nell Ingram draws her powers from deep in the earth, and uses them to help Psy-LED, the Psychometric Law Enforcement Division, which solves paranormal crimes. When a local vampire calls to report a dead body on her compound, Nell knows she and her team have to be ready for anything.

But the dead body is just the beginning of a mystery that involves supernaturals of all kinds, including some of the most powerful vampires in the country. As Nell gets closer to the truth, she begins to understand that the perpetrator is tracking her too—and that there is something personal about this crime. Something with roots that go almost as deep as those in Soulwood.

Praise for Faith Hunter’s Soulwood Series

“Hunter’s brand of supernatural is equal parts exciting, engaging and entertaining…Filled with high-stakes tension, Hunter’s storytelling is vivid and descriptive with edgy, sharp dialogue laced with humor.”RT Book Reviews

“Nell’s coming into her own as an independent woman…Hunter’s many fans will be delighted with her strong new heroine.”Publishers Weekly

“I love Nell and her PsyLED team and would happily read about their adventures for years.”Vampire Book Club

Purchase Links

Amazon ~ Apple Books ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Books-a-Million ~ Bookshop.org

About the Author:

Faith HunterFaith Hunter, urban fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. Hunter fell in love with reading in fifth grade, and best loved SciFi, fantasy, and gothic mystery. She decided to become a writer in high school, when a teacher told her she had talent. Now, she writes full-time, tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for RV travel, Japanese maples, orchids, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

Author of series: Skinwalker (feat. Jane Yellowrock, urban fantasy), Rogue Mage (Thorn St. Croix, urban fantasy), Junkyard Cats (Shining Smith, dystopian-esque Scifi), and Soulwood (Nell Ingram, paranormal procedural where an escapee from a cult, a solitary woman with deadly magic of her own, is hired to help PsyLED: a paranormal division of Homeland Security; find a missing child. Find out more about the author here: www.FaithHunter.net.

GIVEAWAY:

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

  • 4 Leather Bracelets (One Per Chosen Winner)
  • 5 Hand-Beaded Bookmarks (One for each respective winner)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the Widget isn’t showing up, just click here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9751c04284/?

My thanks to Psst…Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

WWW Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Somehow, it feels like March is half over, no matter what my calendar says. Is it just me?

Eh, numbers were never my thing, anyway. Let’s talk about words.

 

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne, a mere four years after it was released (and four months after the final book in the trilogy was published), and am listening to Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane, read by Jonathan Davis on audiobook, the end of my most recent Kenzie/Gennaro revisit..

A Blight of BlackwingsBlank SpaceMoonlight Mile

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished T. L. Simpson’s Strong Like You, a dynamite debut, and The Body’s Keepers: A Social History of Kidney Failure and Its Treatments by Paul L. Kimmel, MD, read by Lane Hakel on audiobook.

Strong Like YouBlank SpaceThe Body’s Keepers

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be the ARC of Rhythm and Clues by Olivia Blacke (which will surely be a fun time, like the first two in the series) and my next audiobook should be Dead Ground by M.W. Craven, read by John Banks, the only novel in the series I didn’t write about yet. Hopefully, I can fix that with revisiting it.

Rhythm and CluesBlank SpaceDead Ground

Are your books for the beginning of March more like lions or lambs?

Saturday Miscellany—3/2/24

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Book bans? Make that “intellectual freedom challenges”—the reframing of the challenges Public Libraries are facing (whatever you may think of those challenges)
bullet A Simple Way to Build Intimacy: Reading Aloud—It’s behind NYT’s paywall, but it looks good.
bullet Mark Twain’s Obsession with Joan of Arc—I really didn’t know he was “obsessed” with her, but I appreciated this look at Twain (it also jibes well with According to Mark, a book I haven’t mentioned for a week or two)
bullet Where the Red Fern Grows was trending on Twitter this week, and I was comforted by seeing so many others sharing the same (self-inflicted) trauma that I have. Also, I learned/was reminded of this statue in Idaho Falls (finally, a reason for me to visit the town).
bullet The Biggest Differences Between the ‘Longmire’ Books and TV Series—odd that this is something written in 2024, but still a fun look back at the show.
bullet Announced this week: Safe Enough by Lee Child—”20 thrilling standalone short stories,” out in August.
bullet Speaking of announcements, Mushroom Blues Soundtrack was announced a couple of days ago. Looks great.
bullet A Beginner’s Guide to Falling in Love with Audiobooks
bullet I Have Bad Taste- Books I Feel Bad for Enjoying—The Orangutan Librarian fesses up.
bullet On My Radar: February 2024—Celeste brings a great list of links from the past month.
bullet Ways A Book Ages—surprising no one at all, Peat Long dropped something worth reading.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
(a very slow week, I should add)
bullet Chimera by Kelly Meding—(and a post I enjoyed reading for the first time in a decade or so)
bullet I mentioned the releases of Hammer of Angels by G. T. Almasi, The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, Honor’s Knight by Rachel Bach, and The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson & Will Ferguson—a whodunit featuring a former TV star, amateur theater, and a town full of (likely quirky) suspects. Looks like a fun time.
bullet Criminal Justice by Ian Robinson—an undercover cop dances along the edge of the law. I asked Robinson a few quick questions about it yesterday.
bullet Morte Point by Rob Parker—The second Ben Bracken novel is a great ride, and has been released in a new edition.

Tweet from @bookculture 'it is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of a large to read pile must be in want of another book'

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