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First Moon by Richard Amos

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished an ebook last night. It was First Moon by Richard Amos, and it’s the first book in the “Four Moons” urban fantasy series. The main character is Akira Murakami, who’s half-werewolf and half something else.

Akira is the son of the High Werewolf, making him practically royalty. However, he’s turned his back on politics and makes his own way in the world as a hired sword. Akira is good at his chosen job. He’s also a kick-ass baker. He enjoys making treats for Gabriel, the werewolf bodyguard that his father has assigned to him. Akira has the hots for Gabriel, but he tries to tamp it down so as not to make things (more) awkward between them. When werewolves begin turning up dead around London, killed in a ritualistic manner, Akira finds himself in the middle of the situation.

I liked this. It was interesting and different from the urban fantasy I usually read. World-building was okay, and characters were portrayed well. The narrative alternated between action scenes and downtime for Akira. He did come across (to me at least) as a bit immature, but he’s only 24. I also didn’t like that Akira was a bit of a slag. LOL! I mean, good for him, but I prefer characters who are more...selective, shall we say. Throughout the story, I kept wondering who the villain was. I suspected and rejected various other characters, and it was a bit of a surprise at the end. Speaking of which, there was precious little resolution at the end. It’s possible to provide closure and still leave the reader eager to read the next book in the series.

Favorite lines:
♦ The only thing that could ever rattle me was a cake that wouldn’t rise.
♦ Sometimes you could just feel a shit storm brewing.

Very good, four stars

Zombie Moon by Lori Devoti

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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There was precious little left of my work book after lunch today, so I brought it home and finished it. The book was Zombie Moon by Lori Devoti. It belongs to the Silhouette ‘Nocturne’ line of paranormal romance. Main characters are Samantha Wagner and Caleb Locke.

Samantha never believed in things that go bump in the night until she receives a video of her BFF, Allison, reacting with fear to someone she calls “the Doctor”. The video convinces Sam that zombies are real, and that she needs the help of Caleb Locke, the most infamous zombie hunter out there, to rescue Allison. What Samantha doesn’t know is that Caleb is a werewolf.

Caleb chose to become a werewolf to better hunt and destroy zombies. His parents were killed by zombies, and he’s made it his mission to eliminate them. If only he could find out where they were coming from. Enter Samantha, who seems to have an inside track via her friend Allison. Caleb doesn’t want to work with Sam, but if she can help him find where the Doctor’s lab is, he will. Unfortunately, his wolf has decided it wants Samantha.

Nothing soft or humorous about this story; it was violent and gritty. It would have made a better urban fantasy than a paranormal romance. I could have done without Caleb and Sam falling in love over the course of about three days. Not everything was resolved by the end, which irked me. The female lead wasn’t sexually assaulted, however, which is refreshing for a Nocturne book.

Favorite lines:
♦ The heyday of zombies was fifty years past; ghosts were the new supernatural black.
♦ She had jumped out of one fire and into the arms of an inferno.

The story was well-written but not my cup of tea. Average score of three.

Seashells & Suspicious : A Seaside Cozy Mystery of Murder, Shell Shops, and Secrets Washed Ashore by Merlin Newton

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


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Stayed up a tad late last night to finish reading Seashells & Suspicions by Merlin Newton. Honestly, I was just done with it at that point. Main character is Lana Tidewell.

Lana has returned to Coral Bay after inheriting her late aunt’s seashell shop. When a body washes up onshore, Lana finds herself drawn into a mystery that stretches back years, one brimming with strange shells, cryptic messages, and a cult-like order. The sea is hiding secrets, and it has memories of its own. It’s up to Lana to expose the secrets and calm the sea.

The story was odd and eerie, compelling at times and vexing at others. It was fractured and disjointed with precious little continuity. It was like reading the narrative of someone’s fragmented dream. The story was chaptered, but each chapter read like a stand-alone, short story; there was no smooth transition between chapters. Characters were not fleshed out, and I don’t believe I really learned what any of them even looked like. The author was good at describing the atmosphere around Coral Bay, but not so good with the characters. It was a difficult story to sink into. Not helping were several irksome things:
( Yikes )

Favorite lines:
♦ That was the thing about small towns—they didn’t change much.
♦ Max tried to lighten the mood with a muttered joke about cursed pirate treasure and Scooby-Doo mysteries.

And, of course, the “breath” line: Lana finally let herself exhale, the kind of breath you don’t know you’ve been holding until it leaves your lungs like smoke after fire.

I wanted to like this book. It was eerie bordering on creepy—perfect to read while curled up beneath a blanket, but the story was all over the place. Many things were not resolved at all, which was frustrating, and not much made sense. I can’t condone scoring this higher than a 2.