Kaye took another drag on her cigarette and dropped it into her mother’s beer bottle
Our hero, Kaye, has always seen faeries and their ilk. Her mother dismisses these characters as imaginary friends and Kaye has always accepted her weirdness makes her difference from other people her own age. But when she moves back home and meets up with her old friends she realises just how different she is from her few friends.
The ghoul lady takes out her white linen handkerchief and uses one corner to dab at her watering left eye. It’s an old wound, a relic of her spent and reckless youth, but it still bothers her sometimes, especially when the weather Above is wet.
I bought this on impulse. I vaguely recalled seeing the author’s name mentioned on Neil Gaiman’s blog. And it has an interesting title. Then again I was put off by the cover, and the fact that it seems to be the third in a ‘verse of books. Not a series though, so in the end I decided what the hell and shelled out the cash.
Author: Kelley Armstrong
ISBN: 1841493422
DDC: 813.6
#6 in the Otherworld series
Clayton doesn’t do “unobtrusive” well. Not even when he tries and that afternoon, he was trying his damnedest.
As the sixth book book in a series it helps if you’ve read the previous novels by Armstrong, but it isn’t essential. However, I’ve read them all, and enjoyed them. They aren’t “serious fiction” but they are well-written with humour and good characterisation. Perfect easy reading without being trash.
This is the third of the Otherworld books to focus on Elena and the werewolves, but some characters from other books do show up, or get mentioned. This time Elena has been asked to repay an old favour, by stealing a letter. Jack the Ripper’s From Hell letter, to be specific. And it seems a straightforward job, so, in exchange for some information on a mutt on a killing spree Elena and the other pack members decide it is worth the risk. Or at least Jeremy, pack alpha decides, and the others are happy to obey.
There is however a complication. Elena’s pregnant, and Clay is somewhat over protective. And then it seems likely that they’ve triggered a spell releasing The Ripper onto Toronto. Not only that, but he seems to be fixated on Elena as it was a drop of her blood that let him out.
Like all the other books in this series it isn’t too be taken all that seriously, but it is the characters that are important. And as they’ve featured in previous books we don’t have to spend a lot of time getting to know them, although they are changing a little as the series progresses. Which is understandable and good. They are still entertaining and believable, if you can call vampires and werewolves believable. If I’m totally honest this isn’t as good as the first two, and is a little predictable in places. Especially regarding some of the villains, but I still really enjoyed it. And will be reading more by this author.
