Children's

Arrow of the Mist

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Arrow of the Mist by Christina Mercer

Heading to Northern New York always means a few days of pretty much doing nothing but reading, and the last four days did not disappoint. I loaded my tablet up with several advanced reading copies from Netgalley and hit the road on July 3. The first ARC on my list was this lovely little book from Christina Mercer. I don’t read a lot of fantasy anymore, so I am always pleasantly surprised when I find a new book that pays some homage to classic fantasy, but has enough originality to hold my interest.

Arrow of the Mist introduces us to Lia, daughter of Carin and Dylan, a young herbalist determined to keep the old crafts of potion mixing and magic alive. She is well-taught by her Granda, who in turn learned from Lia’s magical Grandma Myrna. Lia lives in Rockberg, a village bordered by a mysterious, fog-bound land called Brume. She tends a beautiful garden planted in a labyrinth pattern around a huge crystal rock formation. Lia and her Granda are suddenly faced with finding a cure for a terrible illness that is striking down the men of the village, including Lia’s father. Lia and Granda are convinced the only cure lies within the land of Brume, and, accompanied by Lia’s cousin Wynn and his friend Kelven, they embark on what becomes a life-changing experience for all of them.

As soon as Lia enters Brume, she knows something has changed. She alone can hear the whispers of the shades that guard the fog. While in Brume, Lia and Wynn come to understand that they are descendants of royalty and it is their responsibility to bring magic back to their world. As Granda is stricken with the same poison attacking their home, Lia and Wynn embark on an adventurous quest to find the 13 ingredients needed to brew the curative potion. Along the way, they meet dwarves, unicorns, enchanted trees, and the master of the evil shades, Draugyrd, who has bound the spirit of Lia’s Grandma Myrna to his bidding. Will Lia and Wynn triumph? Will Lia and Kelven’s blossoming romance get legs? Will magic come back to Rockberg? Read this and find out!

It is clear that this is the start of a series, which promises to be very good. All the elements of a great fantasy are here – good against evil, three children rising up against oppression, fantastic creatures, communion with nature, and a beautifully drawn fairyland – all knit together by skilled storytelling. There are some echoes of Piers Anthony and even a little Terry Pratchett, but Mercer’s Brume is all her own. The characters are likable, the plot captivating, and the writing whimsical and evocative.

Highly recommended for middle school and up.

Mystery, Steampunk

Nefertiti’s Heart

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Nefertiti’s Heart by A.W. Exley

We first meet Cara Devon as she fends off a couple of tough guys sent to her father’s home in London searching for a valuable artifact. We quickly see that Cara is not to be trifled with, as she shoots one and wounds the other. Their boss also quickly comes to understand that Cara is not typical of the society debutantes who populate his world. She is not only beautiful but also very dangerous and certainly unconventional.

Cara’s story is ugly, the true extent of the ugliness only hinted at in the early chapters of this captivating novel. Her father, we learn, cared more for the unusual and valuable artifacts he collected than for his only daughter, resulting in a terrifying, traumatic event that scarred her at thirteen. Now, however, he is dead and she is his only heir, now owning all of those artifacts he so treasured. She has an inkling that the artifacts, which her father separated and hid in multiple locations, are much more than they appear, and she quickly discovers that there is one that someone will kill for. Cara finds an unlikely ally in Viscount Nathaniel Lyons, the man who sent the villains Cara so easily handled in the first chapter. The two embark on an adventure that takes them beneath the Thames, to fancy dress balls, to backroom sex clubs, all throughout a London painted with a broad steampunk brush as they search for the one artifact that can grant everlasting life to the right pair of lovers. Dogging their every move is the mysterious, deadly maniac responsible for a series of gruesome murders of young society ladies, all found with a key twisted into their hearts, whose path comes closer and closer to crossing Cara’s, leading them all to a grisly climax.

Exley has done a masterful job creating memorable characters in Cara and Nathaniel. They complement each other beautifully, with just the right blend of romance and sex. The story here is fast-paced with a well-constructed plot, leading to an unexpected and satisfying conclusion. Exley develops Cara’s character with sensitivity but also a bit of irreverence. Her story is revealed bit by bit, and the effect it has on the relationship between Cara and Lyons is nicely handled. I was reminded very much of the Theodosia series of children’s books by R.L. LaFevers – Cara could be Theodosia all grown up, except Theo’s father was not a scoundrel. Being fairly new to the steampunk genre, I have found that the stories are either really, really good, or really, really bad; Nefertiti’s Heart falls into the former category. Highly recommended.

Mystery

Speaking from Among the Bones

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Speaking from Among the Bones is Alan Bradley’s latest entry in the superb Flavia deLuce series and is just as entertaining as his previous books. This time, Flavia discovers the corpse of St. Tancred’s church organist, Mr. Collicut, in the most unlikely of places – the tomb of St. Tancred himself. Flavia goes on to experience all sorts of the amusing and clever adventures we have come to expect from the author, all rendered with Bradley’s wonderful combination of wit and gravity.

By the end of the story, the murderer is unmasked, a de Luce sister is engaged to be married, and Buckshaw may indeed be lost to the family. The current state of the family finances pales, however, in comparison to the bombshell dropped by Mr. de Luce on the very last page.

Speaking from Among the Bones features a Flavia who is starting to grow up. Her relationships with her sisters, her father, Dogger, and the police inspector assigned to Bishop’s Lacey all have evolved from the first entry in the series, where her behavior was often that of a spoiled, willful child. Bradley reveals a little bit more of each family member in each book, which is what keeps me coming back for more. Flavia grows on you as the series grows; in fact, I found myself thinking of her as a young Harriet Vane by the end of this one.

As for the bombshell at the end, I won’t spoil it, but I will say….I KNEW IT! Highly recommended for those who enjoy witty, English mysteries, but I do recommend reading the series in order.

  1. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
  2. The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
  3. A Red Herring with Mustard
  4. I am Half-Sick of Shadows
  5. Speaking from Among the Bones
General

Playing Catch Up

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

I’ve been reading, reading, reading, but, alas, not writing. Here’s a down-n-dirty recap of my recent reading adventures….

  • Discovery of Witches & Shadow of the Night by Deborah Harkness – Discovery had been on my wait list for months, and I finally got around to it just before Christmas. I roared through it, and went right on to the sequel, Shadow of Night. Wonderful stories, both, which will appeal to those of you who like supernatural-historical-romance. Quick synopsis: a repressed witch uncovers a long hidden book of serious magic in the Bodleian, attracts the attention of a 1500 year old vampire, and ends up going back in time to 1590 to sort things out.
  • A Murder at Rosamund’s Gates by Susanna Calkins – Read the ARC from Netgalley and enjoyed this debut from an author who reminds a bit of Jill Paton Walsh. A raw and honest description of Restoration England and a spunky, smart young maid who embarks on a private investigation to save her brother from the hangman make this a pleasant enough read.
  • Inspector Ravenscroft series by Kerry Tombs – I stumbled on this series via some mindless browsing on Amazon and spent a couple weeks plowing through the series of four books – The Malvern Murders, The Worcester Whisperers, The Ledbury Lamplighters, and The Tewksbury Tomb. All decent enough mysteries set in 1880’s England. An unusual twist on Jack the Ripper provides some suspense in the series.
  • Songs of Innocence & Songs of Experience by William Blake – I try to re-read something “classic” every year, and I was reminded of how much I love Blake by a reference passed by a friend online. I found a beautifully illustrated digital versi0n of Blake’s masterpiece and immersed myself in his weird but wonderful world for a time.  So worth it.
  • Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman – Had to have something less fiery than Blake, so I turned to Whitman’s collection of some of the most evocative words ever written. So gentle.

Lots of quick, little mindless mysteries filled in the gaps, although there wasn’t a whole lot of time to fill in. My goal for 2013 is to read more nonfiction. Any suggestions?

Young Adult

Cleopatra Ascending

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Cleopatra Ascending by Maureen Lipinski is an entertaining look at the life of a young girl who is Cleopatra reincarnated. Rhea Spencer comes from a family of unusual women. Witches, a shaman, a muse, psychics…all the Spencer women have some sort of supernatural ability. Rhea’s claim to the ether is the fact that, on her 16th birthday, she starts to acquire the powers of Cleopatra as she absorbs the dead queen’s magic. Problem is, there’s a team of bad guys digging up Cleopatra’s tomb, looking specifically for her own personal Book of the Dead, which they intend to use to….get ready for it….take over the world!

Rhea finds herself protected by the good guys, who have pledged, father to son/mother to daughter, for centuries to take care of the Queen when she returns to this world. However, being a 16 year old girl who has a hot boyfriend (albeit one from the Dark Side), Rhea insists on trying to live as normal a life as possible, which includes having dinner with her boyfriend’s parents. The dinner turns out worse than she could have possibly imagined, and she soon finds herself on her way to Egypt, where she will begin her training to understand Cleopatra’s power and control the Book of the Dead. All of this ends in what I had anticipated being an exciting climax, with a big battle between the forces of good and evil.

This is where I was mistaken. Lipinski does an excellent job of developing the story, up until the time Rhea gets to Egypt, where it all just kind of falls apart. There is shocking betrayal, to be sure, but the final battle felt rushed, predictable, and pretty lame. I was also put off by the number of times Rhea “shrieks” or “shouts.” I can overlook that descriptive overuse, but I really wanted a more exciting ending. Even so, the author and her subjects intrigued me enough to go find her first novel and read more about the Spencer family. One redeeming factor is the awesome cover art, which is rich and lovely, and will certainly attract readers.

General, Mystery

The Scroll

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Not long enough to be called anything but a short story, The Scroll is somewhat of a departure for Anne Perry. The reader is immediately introduced to Monty Danforth, a bookstore clerk hard at work unpacking boxes from a new acquisition made by his employer. At the bottom of the last box, he finds a mysterious scroll. Unrolling it, he discovers patchy writing in a language he thinks is Hebrew. He attempts to copy it, but the copies come out blank; the same thing happens when he photographs the mysterious scroll. As he tries to come to grips with the idea that the scroll is something very special, a man named Judson Garrett and a young child appear in the store, offering to buy it. Their appearance is followed by two other potential buyers, one a Prince of Church and one a scholar.

Monty seeks advice from a friend who recognizes the language as Aramaic, and dates the scroll to the time of Christ. Monty frantically attempts to contact the store owner, and eventually travels to his home, where he finds the man burned to death and the house tossed upside down. Monty eventually comes to believe the scroll is the lost Gospel of Judas Isacariot, and he suspects each of the three buyers have devious motives for wanting to acquire the scroll. He invites them all to the shop owner’s home for a private auction, where all hell breaks loose.

This cautionary tale reminded me of classic folktales in which antagonists appear in groups of three to torment or aid the protagonist. Perry causes the reader to speculate upon who each antagonist represents and why they want the scroll, while at the same time identifying with Monty as he struggles with whether he should allow the information in the scroll to be released to the world. Perry has offered up a delicious little morsel of a tale that blends philosophy, theology, and hubris, all in a neat package. Very nicely done.

Mystery

Family Vault

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

The Family Vault by Charlotte MacLeod is a reissue of the first in the Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn series, originally published in the 1980s. I often enjoy going back in time and reading good mysteries from great authors, and I was not disappointed in this trip back in time. There are plenty of anachronisms, and I was somewhat put off by the shrinking violet Sarah and her chauvinistic relatives, but she grew on me as the story progressed.

We first meet Sarah as she accompanies a relative to open a family vault in a cemetery in Boston where a batty old uncle has decided he wants to be buried. The vault hasn’t been opened in decades, so Sarah goes along to supervise. Imagine her surprise when the body, or rather the bones, of a well-known stripper is discovered sprawled inside the family vault. The grisly discovery sets in motion a series of events that result in several deaths, one shockingly close to Sarah herself.

MacLeod’s writing is always enjoyable – good plots, decent characters, and a hefty dose of tongue-in-cheek humor – and Family Vault did not disappoint. Take this one on vacation, or keep it for a rainy Sunday afternoon when you’re in the mood for some light reading.

Young Adult

Unspoken

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (Lynburn Legacy #1)

The description of this story intrigued me enough that I overcame my initial revulsion at yet another supernatural romance series and decided to give it a try.

Good choice.

Brennan is a fresh voice in supernatural fiction in that she can actually write! It’s been a long time since I enjoyed quirky, sassy language in this genre. Kami Glass, our girl hero, is kick ass. She leads a typical teen life in Sorry-in-the-Vale, a sleepy English village. Typical, except for the imaginary guy in her head. Jared has been her best friend for years, but only in her imagination. She has learned to hide him from everyone in order to appear sane, so imagine her tremendous surprise when she meets him, for real.

Kami and Jared, both feeling super-exposed, fence around with each other in person, trying to find the comfortable friend each has grown to love, in their minds. To complicate matters further, Jared happens to be a Lynburn. The Lynburns are the to-the-manor-born inhabitants of the manor house in Sorry-in-the-Vale, although the family has been absent from the village for years. Suddenly, they reappear, bringing with them a whole host of supernatural issues that combine to make Kami’s typical life very atypical, very fast.

Brennan’s snappy, sassy dialog is a treat to read, and the story itself is full of wonderful imagery, imaginative plotlines, and likeable characters. In fact, I enjoyed Unspoken so much, I will be looking for the next installment in the Lynburn Legacy.

Mystery

Fatal Incision

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

 Fatal Incision by W.R. Park

I am a sucker for Jack the Ripper stories. What mystery fan isn’t? So when I saw this offering on NetGalley, tying the Ripper mystery to New York City, I couldn’t resist.

The story is actually a good one, and an interesting, unusual take on the whole Ripper mystery. Young Scotland Yard constables Matthew Ward and Jimmy Black launch their own investigation of the Ripper murders in London, much to the embarrassment of their superiors who can’t seem to make any headway on the case. When the London murders stop and new, similar murders begin across the Atlantic, Ward and Black are sent to New York City to assist in the investigation there.

Ward & Black track the doctor they originally pegged in London through the streets of New York, as he looks for the mysterious “Joan.” Once in New York, the reader is treated to parallel stories – Ward & Black and Dr. Joshua Croft, the Ripper suspect. Croft’s life in subterranean New York is especially intriguing as he insinuates himself into the lives of the City’s forgotten, who live in the vast tunnels underneath New York. Ward and Black pursue Croft through one grisly murder after another, until they finally catch up to him and “Joan” in a startling conclusion.

While I enjoyed the first half of this story very much, I found myself put off by some rather juvenile character situations, particularly that of the “relationship” between Matthew Ward and the beautiful female detective assigned to help with the Ripper inquiry. Completely unnecessary to the plot, IMHO. The story started to drag about halfway through, and I kept finding myself wondering how much longer it was going to take to catch the damn Ripper. However, the unexpected, clever ending made up for the length of the story.

Not the best I’ve read recently, but not horrible either. Interesting, unusual plot that just went on a few chapters too many. Do take some time to check out the author’s website, though. Very creepy and shivery! http://www.wrparkebooks.com/index.html

Biography

Queen of Vaudeville

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay by Andrew Erdman

Before Madonna, Katy Perry, and Lady GaGa, there was Eva Tanguay. Never heard of her? Neither had I, but by the time I finished this entertaining biography, I knew more about the First Lady of Vaudeville than I ever needed to know.

Tanguay began performing at the tender age of 8, and went on to become the most celebrated performer of her time, despite regular reports that she could neither sing nor dance. She made up for her lack of talent with her outrageous performances, which she undertook with enthusiasm and joyful abandonment. She became known for songs such as “It’s All Been Done Before, But Not the Way I Do It,” “Go As Far As You Like,” “That’s Why They Call me Tabasco,” and her most famous ditty, “I Don’t Care.”

At one point in her career, she was the highest paid performer in Vaudeville, earning as much as $3500 a week, unheard of at that time, especially for a woman. Erdman does a fine job of recounting Tanguay’s life and rise to stardom. The photos sprinkled throughout the text show a vivacious woman, usually grinning or winking at the camera, who obviously loved what she did for a living.

Anyone with a taste for pop culture should find this biography highly entertaining, just like Eva Tanguay.