January 2008 Fiction and Mystery Reviews

In this Rain
by S.J. Rozan

Delta
Paperback
ISBN# 978-0-385-33924-7
Suggested Retail Price: $12.00 or as low as $3.25 from Amazon.com!

Joe Cole was a man sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. He was a building inspector who was blamed for an accident in which a child was killed. He lost three years of his life, his wife, daughter, and his reputation. Once out, Joe tries to distance himself from his old life, but his former partner Ann Montgomery locates him and tries to get him to help her investigate a string of suspicious accidents in a large construction project in the Bronx with ties to bigwigs from City Hall to Wall Street. Power plays and violence mark this intriguing mystery from noted crime novelist S.J. Rozan.

Mercenary (Starship, Book 3)
by Mike Resnick

Pyr
Hardcover
ISBN# 978-1-59102-599-3
Suggested Retail Price: $25.00 or as low as $12.99 from Amazon.com!

Being a sucker for swashbucklers and a long-time science-fiction fan, I've been reading this series with a sense of guilty pleasure. The plot lines are about as original as alien influences aboard the submarine Seaview back in the day, but I still love following the pirate Captain Wilson Cole who hijacked the Teddy R after a dispute with his captain. This time out, Cole teams up with a female siren known as The Valkyrie who has her own ship, and her own sense of duty to her partner in crime. If you like old-fashioned space-oaters, you'll enjoy this tale.

Killswitch: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel
by Joel Shepherd

Pyr
Paperback
ISBN# 978-1-59102-598-6
Suggested Retail Price: $15.00 or as low as $7.98 from Amazon.com!

Killswitch is the third title in the Cassandra Kresnov series by Joel Shepherd. Its a twist on the crumbling galactic empire theme, featuring Cassandra the combat-android whose romance with Special Agent Ari Rubin is about to be crucial as someone is out to exterminate her by using the "Killswitch" that the old masters built into her. Meanwhile, the capital planet of the Federation is under seige by a group of disgruntled Fleet captains who are in cahoots with the politicians back on Earth. Its a lively romp through a made-up universe where things certainly haven't evolved the way they did on Star Trek.

Blood Dreams
by Kay Hooper

Bantam
Hardcover
ISBN# 978-0-553-80484-3
Suggested Retail Price: $25.00 or as low as $7.00 from Amazon.com!

Noah Bishop and his FBI Special Crimes Unit are tracking a particularly ruthless serial killer whose latest victim is the daughter of a US senator. The senator brings in Bishop and his crew to assist another semi-autonomous privately-funded security team called Haven who have been unable to track down this monster. Dani Justice is a part of Haven and her psychic abilities are going to prove crucial into finding this murderer.

I am uncomfortable with police thrillers that take psychics so seriously. I'm much more accustomed to finding them in sci-fi adventures where I naturally do the "willing suspension of disbelief" thing. However, this is a popular series of books and fans of Kay Hooper are sure to find lots to like here.

The Wrath Of Zar (The Demons of Destiny)
by Shayne Easson

WestBank Publishing
Hardcover
ISBN# 0-9789840-1-3
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $8.99 from Amazon.com!

Adan Cayne is desparately searching for his missing brother after learning many secrets about his father. Meanwhile, there's evil afoot in the land of Yannina, and Adan must make alliances with strangers, including a dragon, in order to escape the demon army that chases them. Its a fine effort by first-time novelist Shayne Easson that fantasy fans will certainly enjoy.