Romance/Paranormal
Masque of the Swan
Rebecca Ashe
Pinnacle 0786002123
Never having thought of herself as attractive, orphan Caralisa is surprised by her popularity when she attends holiday revels with a mysterious masked man who purports to be the legendary Count of Samothrace. This interesting combination of Greek mythology and The Phantom of the Opera provides some entertainment but the romance between the characters never ignites the reader's imagination.
Horror/Werewolves
Young Adult/Gen Y/Horror
Blood and Chocolate
Annette Curtis Klause
Delacorte 0385323050
The only thing not perfect about Klause's powerful new tale of the supernatural is that it won't be available for purchase until August of 1997. Beautiful teenager, Vivian Gandillon is lonely at her new high school in Maryland where she has moved with her mother and the rest of her pack after her father was killed when their group of werewolves was run out of its rural West Virginia home. Without a leader the pack is undirected and at loose ends, a disaster waiting to happen. When humans start turning up dead, savaged by strong teeth, the pack is in peril.
The description of changing into a wolf form is conveyed so vividly that one wants to howl. This sexy tale has everything-- romance, mystery, and truth making it a truly outstanding read and one of the best horror novels of the decade. Klause is to werewolves as Stoker is to vampires.
Literary Fiction/Romance
Mother Tongue
Demetria Martinez
Ballantine 0345406028
Martinez brings a storyteller's voice to this lyrical tale of a young Chicana woman falling desperately in love with a refugee from El Salvador she is helping shelter. The colors of Old Town and even the feel the Albuquerque air make this account real. The sanctuary movement, the impact on individuals, and the involvement of the U.S. with a regime that tortured and disappeared the people is eloquently shown.
On one level this is a romance, not in the happily ever after genre embraced by the avid romance readers, but more in the general sense of a story of great love. On another level it is a highly readable beautifully told story in the tradition of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams. That it is a good story only enhances the powerful depiction of heinous crimes committed in the name of politics.
Fantasy/Fairy Tales/Young
Adult
Zel
Donna Jo Napoli
Dutton 0525456120
On the eve of her birthday, Zel and Mother go to town, a rare occurrence happening only twice a year. After Zel catches the eye of a young nobleman while helping the smith with a horse her life changes forever. After returning to the cottage on the alm, Mother takes Zel to a tower where she tells her she will be safe from bad people who are trying to find and kill her.
Told from the perspectives of Zel, Mother, and Konrad we experience the emotional turmoil experienced by all as Zel, isolated and suffering from the horrendous headaches caused by her magically long hair, descends into madness, Mother struggles with her decisions and the issues of eternal damnation, and Konrad relentlessly searches for the young woman who is inextricably linked to him on a level no one else can understand.
Napoli, author of the memorable and award winning Magic Circle has once again produced a memorable and magical tale.
Fantasy/Human Comedy/Urban
Fantasy
Trader
Charles de Lint
Tor 0312858477
The extremely talented Mr. de Lint has done it again and provided the world with a sensitive, thought provoking tale full of magic and mystery. Max Trader, a luthier, awakes one morning to find that he has been dreamed into the body and life of deadbeat scumbag Johnny Devlin. When he tries to reclaim his apartment and shop he winds up losing even Devlin's cruddy apartment. Homeless and on the streets he is befriended by an Indian and one of the most likable canine characters ever, the stalwart Buddy.
Peopled by characters so real you expect to run across them when walking through the park, Trader is a compelling look at identity and a darned good story well told. Even if you don't consider yourself a fantasy reader you will want to try this wonderful book. Tor Tor Books has provided an excerpt.
Science Fiction/Space
Opera/Psionic Powers
Mid-Flinx
Alan Dean Foster
DelRey 0345383745
Flinx and his pet flying snake Pip, pursued by an insane twerp, find themselves on an uncharted jungle planet. Assisted by a human woman, her children, and their indigenous green furry companions he survives the deadly threats posed by the exotic flora and fauna to face his pursuer and reptilian invaders from the enemy Commonwealth.
This is an enjoyable diversion but not as compelling as some of Foster's previous works.
Crime/Women
detectives/Private detectives
M Is For Malice
Sue Grafton
Henry Holt and Company 0805036377
Poor Kinsey just seems to keep getting caught up in family affairs. In L Is for Lawless she got involved with a kind of trashy sort of family while preparing for a wedding in the midst of her beloved friend and landlord's family and even had to ask her new found cousin for help. In this, the thirteenth outing for Santa Theresa P.I. Kinsey Millhone, our feisty heroine finds the gorgeous and surprisingly sweet missing heir to the Malek fortune on the behest of her cousin Tasha. She comes to know all the living members of the gravel wealthy Malek clan better than she would ever want.
Grafton is always a good storyteller and fans of the series will definitely want to read this one but those who aren't acquainted with Kinsey should start earlier in the series.
Crime/Women
detectives/historical mystery
Historical/American/20th century
Fire and Fog
Dianne Day
Doubleday 0385475500
Dorothyl, a listserv for mystery readers, has been a great source for terrific mysteries. It is where I first heard of Dianne Day and her Fremont Jones series. The previous title in the series is The Strange Files of Fremont Jones for which I have placed a request to purchase at my local public library and am eagerly awaiting the chance to read. In Fire and Fog Fremont, an independent young woman in turn of the century San Francisco is awakened by the Great Quake of 1906. She saves her typewriter, the cornerstone of her business as proprietor of a typewriting service, when Michael Archer makes her leave her ruined office just after she discovers that her landlords may have been smuggling expensive objects. Volunteering for the Red Cross she runs across a former acquaintance, the mentally unstable Alice, who offers to let Fremont stay in her home in one of the few sections of the city spared the devastating fires that followed the quake. Amidst mysterious disappearances and bloody murder, Fremont finds adventures on many fronts. A thoroughly satisfying read.
Romance/Regency
The Folly
Marion Chesney
St. Martin's Press 0312143389
In this fourth installment in the Daughters of Mannerling series, Rachel Beverley finds herself with two proposals of marriage from wealthy men and two chances to reclaim Mannerling, the family's lost estate. The story moved along splendidly, neither slowing the reader with rehashes of previous escapades, nor leaving gaping holes for one who had not read the previous installments. Having read the first in the series and missing the next two, I found The Folly a true book in its own, not reliant on the rest of the series even though the other titles are sure to be as charming.
For Regency classics the reader can never go wrong with Georgette Heyer but for those with voracious appetites for these witty bon bons Jean R. Ewing's recent paperbacks are a welcome addition to the genre. Chesney always provides entertaining romances, just perfect to take ones mind off woes. It is fortunate, indeed, that she is so prolific.
Science Fiction/Alternate
History/Detection
The Two Georges
Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove
Tor 0312859694
Not every Tom, Dick, and Harry could put together a mystery in such a fully realized alternate America. Our world would be very different if George Washington had reconciled the rebellious colonies with King George. Americans, as loyal subjects of the Crown, may not have been so innovative or inventive or maybe in this reality there was no Revolution because the colonists weren't as independent as in ours.
This though provoking tale takes Colonel Thomas Bushell of the Royal American Mounted Police on a trek from sea to shining sea as he tries to recover the famous Gainsborough painting, the Two Georges , which is emblematic of America as a loyal subject nation. At a gala reception in New Liverpool (Los Angeles) Tricky Dicky (Richard Nixon), the used steamer magnate is killed by gunfire, a most unusual occurrence but at the same time the Two Georges is stolen away by the Sons of Liberty, a radical group that wants American autonomy. On the trail of the painting, along with his friend and coworker Sam Stanley, Tom once again runs into the curator of the traveling exhibit, the lovely Kathleen Flannery who claims to be conducting her own investigation into the abduction of the painting.
While slow moving in places, the ramifications of how different this world is gives the reader much to ponder as it grinds its way finally to an explosive and exciting climax.
Crime/Woman detective/police
detective
Science Fiction/Detection
Romance/Romantic Suspense
Immortal in Death
J.D. Robb
Berkley 0425153789
The publisher categorizes this as "romantic suspense" probably because Robb is the pseudonym of the reigning queen of romantic suspense, Nora Roberts. It really is more of a crime novel even though it does have the healthy helping of romance necessary when the top homicide detective of New York City in the year 2058 is about to marry the planet's wealthiest man. Eve Dallas is working on a case involving the murder of one of her snitches when her best friend Mavis is arrested for the murder of a celebrity fashion model. The murder occurred in the loft of the designer, Mavis's current flame, who is designing Eve's wedding gown and trousseau. While investigating these two seemingly unrelated cases, Eve discovers that a new drug made in part with alien ingredients, and not yet on the streets, has played a role in both murders.
Immortal in Death follows Naked in Death and Glory in Death in this enjoyable series. Other detectives in science fiction and fantasy can be found at Science Fiction and Fantasy Detection.
Crime/Woman detective/lawyer
detective
Hotshots
Judith Van Gieson
HarperCollins 0060175125
Neil Hamel, Albuquerque lawyer, takes on the Forest Service when the parents of a beautiful young firefighter killed in the line of duty come to her wanting vindication. Joni Baker was killed when a blaze swept over the "hotshots" fighting a fire on Thunder Mountain in southern Colorado and her parents are rightfully upset that the government is blaming the firefighters rather than management for the disaster. The questions posed are much the same as come up with many western wild fires, are the wilderness homes of the wealthy worth the loss of life. Van Gieson subtly brings both Albuquerque and rural Colorado to life with tidbits of location description strategically placed throughout the story. With the use of a high tech listening device, Neil solves the mystery of who started a second fire on the mountain and vindicates not only her clients but also a struggling Navajo female firefighter and brings the story to a heartwarming close.
Hotsots is a worthy addition to an excellent series.