Volume 2 #10

Volume 2 # 10

Crime/ex-cop
Baptism in Blood
Jane Haddam
Bantam 0553574647

Former FBI agent and serial killer specialist Gregor Demarkian is called by an atheist friend to come to Bellerton, North Carolina, a hotbed of religiosity, to help solve the murder of an infant that occurred during a hurricane. The baby's mother is in protective custody in the jail claiming that she saw her baby sacrificed in a heathen ritual at a lesbian camp near the town. The baby's father is a fundamentalist loose cannon and all kinds of fingers are pointing at all different people. Gregor steps in but not before more murders occur does he solve the mystery. The town and its citizens are skillfully depicted. Haddam, under the name Orania Papazouglou also wrote the Patience McKenna mysteries one of my favorite series. It now looks like I'm going to be addicted to another series.

Horror/Monsters
Meg
Steve Alten
Doubleday 0385489056

The characters are cardboard, lacking in believability and real motivation but since the 60 foot megalodon is the focus of the story it doesn't really matter. The premise that the gargantuan ancestor or cousin of the Great White Shark Carcharodon megalodon armed with 7 inch teeth and a 9 foot bite has survived to this day in the depths of the Mariana Trench is convincingly presented amidst a full panoply of blood, gore, and bisected bodies. Jonas Taylor panicked several years ago causing the death of two men when he thought he saw a gigantic shark down in the Mariana Trench. Following that incident he devotes his life to the study of the largest predator that ever existed on this planet causing his media hungry wife to hate him in the process. As a favor to a friend he once again descends to the depths where he witnesses the inadvertent capture of one of the beasts and the improbable ascent to the surface of the ocean of its mate.

Los Angeles Times said "Two words: Jurassic Shark" about this book which will surely appeal to fans of Benchley's Jaws and Creighton's Jurassic Park.

Fantasy/Arthurthian Fantasy/Contemporary
The Forever King
Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy
Tor 0812517164

I loved The Broken Sword and this initial segment of the story enhances its sequel. Arthur Blessing an orphaned 10 year old Chicagoan ends up on the run with his aunt after he finds a mysterious cup-like object that possesses the power to heal. Hooking up with ex-FBI agent Hal Woczniak, the reincarnated Galahad, Arthur strives to survive and bring Merlin back from the limbo in which he has been languishing. When he pulls Excalibur from a stone, Arthur discovers that he is the reincarnated King Arthur. It may sound hokey but it is a satisfying read blending the magic of Camelot with the twentieth century. Saladin is a unique and reprehensible villain.

Fantasy/Alternate and Parallel Worlds/Science Fantasy
The Subtle Knife
Philip Pullman
Knopf 0679879250

This is definitely the middle book of a trilogy but it does offer thrills and chills of its own. Lyra hooks up with Will, a boy from our world, as they try to recoup in a recently deserted city in an parallel world, him from killing an invader in his home and she from the cataclysmic events in The Golden Compass.

Young Adult/Suspense/Mystery
Wanted!
Caroline B. Cooney
Scholastic 0590988492

It is no wonder that Cooney is a best-selling author. She has the ability to write excitement time and time again. Alice's dad calls her and tells her to take two computer disks and his beloved Corvette, even though he never lets anybody drive it and she doesn't have a license, to their favorite ice cream place to meet him. Before she can leave an intruder breaks in and she hides until he is gone then flees to carry out her assignment but her father never shows up. Listening to the radio she hears that he has been murdered and that she has e-mailed a confession to the crime! Unable to turn to her mother who seems to believe she did it, Alice goes underground to find the real murderer. Convincing characters make extreme situations believable as the heart pounding excitement propels the reader to a gripping conclusion.

Young Adult/Adventure/Survival/War
The Dead of the Night
John Marsden
Houghton Mifflin 0395837340

This exciting sequel starts off where Marsden's outstanding Tomorrow, When the War Began left off. The group now down to six continue their guerrilla warfare while trying to find out what has happened to their loved ones. Deciding to try and hook up with others who haven't been captured they make a disastrous sojourn towards the town on the other side of "Hell."

Readers of Tomorrow, When the War Began were so captivated by it I have frequent requests for more like it. Those readers will be overjoyed to find this satisfying page turning sequel. Looking at Mardsen's page and finding out that this is actually the second book in a trilogy will make readers want to find a friend down under who will send them a copy of the third book The Third Day, The Frost not yet available in the US.

Young Adult/Historical/Great Depression
The Storyteller's Daughter
Jean Thesman
Houghton Mifflin 0395809789

This satisfying story of Quinn the fifteen year old daughter of Beau John, the beloved storyteller and problem solver of their Pacific Northwest neighborhood, brings the depression vividly to life. It seems that every household has had to take in destitute relatives. Quinn's home houses her grandmother and an aunt and uncle in addition to her nuclear family. The DiPianos have taken in their mean spirited bag lady grandmother who is always yelling out curses at the Protestants in the neighborhood. Quinn spends a lot of time yearning for her father to return home from the only job he can find to keep the family afloat one on the Seattle docks that only allows him to come home one day a week One night when Beau John is home, Quinn overhears a conversation that makes her think he may have become involved in illegal rumrunning and then when he does not return home the following weekend and the family doesn't hear from him she decides to find him even if it means venturing among the scary men living in the Hooverville under the bridge.

Young Adult/Coming of Age/Spirituality
Bone Dance
Martha Brooks
Orchard 0531300218

This thoughtful and thought provoking beautifully written tale is told from two viewpoints. Lonny's loving widowed stepfather has sold his heritage, an acreage with an Indian burial mound on it, so that Lonny can have a future. Alexandra, who never knew her drifting alcoholic cowboy father has inherited that piece of land from him. Both experience dreams, Lonny's terrifyingly filled with sprits he unearthed digging in the mound as a child and Alex's comforting visitations from her step-grandfather now in the spirit world.

This eloquently written spiritual trek filled with loss and love set against the magnificent backdrop of the wide open Manitoba landscape will touch the hearts of its readers.

Young Adult/Romance/Supernatural/Ghosts
Ghost of a Chance
Laura Peyton Roberts
Delacorte 0385325088

Just what do you do when you discover that you are in love with the same guy as your best friend and that the object of this affection has been dead for decades? Melissa's best friend Cloe has just moved into an old mansion and discovered that the ghost of James a gorgeous 18 year old boy inhabits the place. When Cloe and her family go out of town Melissa finds herself spending lots of time getting to know James as she takes care of the house for the vacationing owners. It is a quick light read with engaging characters. For more light supernatural romances for teens be sure to check Teen Genreflecting

Fantasy/Fairy Tales
Rose Daughter
Robin McKinley
Greenwillow 0688154395

This lovely lyrical retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story is wonderful addition to the canon of retold fairy tales. McKinley has created complex fully realized characters in the three sisters and their failed merchant father. Unlike the traditionally told versions, Beauty's sisters are pretty likable. Roses and their cultivation play a large role in this tale as does the magical castle of the Beast. I missed McKinley's highly acclaimed Beauty which also retells the classic but if it was half as good as Rose Daughter it was definitely deserving of the praise.

Young Adult/Adventure/Treasure Hunting
The Unprotected Witness
James Stevenson
Greenwillow 0688151337

This sequel to The Bones in the Cliff stands on its own. Pete who had lead a life on the run with his criminal dad is now living with his friend Rootie and her wealthy grandmother in New York, his dad having disappeared into the safety of the Federal Witness Protection Program. His sense of safety proves false when his father is murdered anyway. In the Ozarks where they have gone for the funeral an old man slips a letter from his father to Pete which he forgets for a while. His spotty education makes him unacceptable for most private schools but he is accepted to one that is full of losers and weirdoes where he meets Moosh, 16 year old owner of a derelict Lincoln who lives on his own in a trashed apartment with his druggie sister while their parents jet set around. When the bad guys come after Pete, he must determine why and how to elude them forever.

This is a quick satisfying read. Adventure and quirkiness combine to provide a lot of fun especially for reluctant readers.

Science Fiction/Space Opera/Militaristic
Young Miles
Lois McMaster Bujold
Baen 0671877828

Sometimes one just has to reread. Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is undoubtedly my favorite series of books ever and even though I don't have the time right now to be reading books I've already read I just had to make the time. This wonderful omnibus edition includes two novels and a novella featuring Miles Vorkosigan, the sexiest most powerful man under 5 foot tall in this or any galaxy. The Warrior's Apprentice introduces the 17 year old Miles as he is booted from the Service Academy when he fails the obstacle course due to breaking both legs. Sent off to visit his grandmother on Beta he finds himself surrounded by stalwart companions and accidentally taking command of a mercenary fleet . "The Mountains of Mourning" is a poignant story set just after Miles graduates from the Academy. Home on leave at the country estate, Miles is conscripted by his father to investigate a backcountry infanticide.The Vor Game winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards takes Miles to his first posting at a frigid outpost commanded by a sadist and then back out to the Hegen Hub where he must once again assume his persona as Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Mercenary Fleet in order to prevent war and save his emperor.

Bujold's books are all exquisite. The combination of excellent writing and superlative story telling makes all her books sure bets for great reading experiences. They combine adventure and romance with vivid characterizations and settings to create the ultimate in reading pleasure.

For more information about the works of Lois McMaster Bujold go to the Bujold Nexus .

Adventure/Technothriller/Action
Ignition
Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason
Forge 0312862709

This rip-snorting tale set at the launch of a space shuttle offers unrelenting page turning excitement. Iceberg who was to have commanded the mission has been sidelined because he broke his foot performing a stupid stunt. He isn't going to let that deter him from watching his buddies take off so he sneaks onto the base with the assistance of his nerdy brother who works in a video observation bunker. Meanwhile at Launch Control Central beautiful capable Nicole Hunter, a former astronaut herself and Iceberg's late lamented flame, has with the entire complex been taken hostage by terrorists. Amidst spectacular pyrotechnics, Iceberg attempts to save the day and rescue his crew now under an other's command from being blown to smithereens on the launch pad. One can't help but envisioning this as a movie perhaps with Steven Segal and Sandra Bullock as the estranged lovers.

Young Adult/Nonfiction/Autobiography
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Ji-Li Jiang
HarperCollins 0060275855

This intimate view into the life of a girl caught up in the terror of China's Cultural Revolution lets readers experience what it was like to be there. Ji-Li first begins to realize not all is well with her family when her parents tell her not to go to her audition for the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. It is not because she doesn't have the talent to make it but because her application would cause the authorities to delve into the family's background. As the Cultural Revolution takes hold Ji-Li, just entering her teens, is impacted because she is smart and her family once was wealthy. This is a fascinating look at hidden history well told.

Young Adult/Adventure
River Thunder
Will Hobbs
Delacorte 0385323166

In this sequel to Downriver, Hobbs reunites the disparate group of teens to once again run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon but this time at flood stage. Adventure readers and whitewater rafters will love the detailed descriptions of challenging nature at its wildest.

Young Adult/Fantasy/Magic
Sandry's Book. Circle of Magic Book 1.
Tamora Pierce
Scholastic 0590553569

Four young people who are all outcasts among their own people are taken by Niklaren Goldeye to Winding Circle, a monastery like isolated community. All four, not fitting in well in the dorms, are sent to live in a cottage called Discipline. Each of the four has an unusual talent, a magical talent uncommon enough to be unrecognized until Nik found them. As the four housemates learn to tolerate each other they also begin to learn to deal with their magic. Even though this is Sandry's Book, everyone in the quartet is pretty evenly featured until they are trapped in the bowels of the earth and Sandry must bind their unique abilities together if they are to have any hope of survival. I look forward to seeing the stories of Briar, Daja, and Tris. Like Pierce's previous quartets, "The Song of the Lioness" and "The Immortals," "Circle of Magic" will be popular with fantasy readers of all ages..