Twisted Kingdom

It's finally my turn to review one of Kelley Armstrong book: Industrial Magic!! It's funny, because while Kailana and Ames' challenge was to read one of the book, my challenge is that all of the Women of the Otherworld books are reviewed at TK before the 15th! LOL! All right, onto the review now... This is my favorite of the series, so it might be a little bit biased.

Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong: 4.75/5
published by Seal Books in 2004

From Kelley Armstrong website:

Think your in-laws are scary? Try meeting Paige Winterbourne's potential father-in-law: CEO of the Cortez Cabal, a multinational corporation...and the supernatural equivalent of the Mafia. Lucas Cortez has devoted his life to ruining the Cabals, though that doesn’t stop his father from expecting him to take over the family business someday. Benicio’s favorite ploy is to appeal to Lucas’s quixotic ideals by asking him to investigate Cabal cases of injustice.

After years of failure, Benicio finally has the perfect case: a teenage witch attacked and left for dead. Refusing will be difficult enough for Lucas...near impossible for his new witch girlfriend. Paige and Lucas soon discover that the young witch wasn't the first Cabal teenager attacked.
When the infighting among the Cabals threatens to let the killer continue his spree, Paige and Lucas decide it’s up to them to stop him. The chase takes them on a cross-country hunt through the supernatural world, where allies can be found in the strangest places, including a celebrity necromancer, a wise-cracking Celtic deity, a pissed-off ghost, a half-mad clairvoyant, and a group of vampires who’d really rather be in an Anne Rice novel.

Genre: vampires, witches, sorcerers, vampires, werewolves, ghost, necromancers, urban fantasy
Series: Women of the Otherworld, Book 4

Review: I usually don't take synopsis from others, but in this case, I didn't really know what to say as so much is happening, that I've decided to make an exception. All in all, this book was great! I know that some find Paige a little bit annoying, but this book was more focused on the case and so much more interesting than Dime Store Magic where the book was mainly focus on Paige's struggle. We also get to see a myriad of old characters (the vampires: Cassandra, Aaron, the werewolves: Elena, Clay and Jeremy, the demon: Adam) and get introduced to new very interesting ones (necromancer: Jaime and ghost: Eve, sorcerers: Benicio and the rest of the Cabals).

I think that Kelley Armstrong achieved a great balance in this book between the development of the characters as well as the mystery/suspense aspect. I like how this book doesn't pick up right after Dime Store Magic, but instead a few months after. It gives time for Paige and Lucas relationship to develop as well as their interaction with Savannah. Also, Paige's interaction with the other supernatural beings was also very interesting. What I really enjoy is that every character has their own personality and most of them do not follow cliche, which is hard to avoid. Also, I found Paige definitively less annoying in this book than in Dime Store Magic. I think that she has matured and doesn't need to prove that she can be a leader. Instead, her focus has shifted for the best.

Although Kelley Armstrong did a great job at characterization and revisiting old characters without it feeling so gratitious, the strong point of this book would definitively the case on which Paige and Lucas are investigating. Not only is the case complex, but very interesting and it kept me wondering. Definitively a strong plot.

Finally, I guess the reason why this book is my favorite is exactly because most of the characters are present and I like to see their interaction with each other. Clay and Lucas' friendship, Elena trying to bond with other females. Jaime is just hilarious and very different from what you'd expected for a necromancer. There's also Savannah and Jeremy's special status...

This is definitively the Must Read book in the series :D

Book Description:

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him.

I just finished reading this new book from Patricia Briggs. The sequel to Moon Called, which I read last year, this was a good way to start of February. This book has quite the paranormal cast of characters, there are werewolves, vampires, fae, witches, and many more characters to attract your interest. Patricia Briggs is best known for her fantasy novels, but this move to paranormal fantasy has been quite enjoyable. I started to read her backlog of books, but I have not read them all yet. I have lots of time to do so, though, while I wait to see if there is going to be a book three, and if there is, when it will be out.

In this book, Mercedes is proving to the paranormal world that she may not fit into the categories that their society has made for non-human creatures, but she is worthy of many "bad" guys. Mercedes is a Walker. She has the ability to turn into a coyote. The Walkers were destroyed many years ago by the Vampires, so a part of Mercedes heritage has been lost. She knows what she is, but the only people that can really tell her what she is capable of are the vampires, and they are not talking. Mercedes learns a bit more about herself in this book, though, mainly because it is the vampire society that she is helping.

One of the things that I like about this book is that she writes tastefully. There are hints at romance, but other than a few kisses, the book has been pretty tame in that department. That means that there is more time to concentrate on action. Many people will not read fantasy novels by female authors because there generally is a great deal of romance, but so far Briggs has done a good job in giving the readers action and a strong female that you can respect.

There is the potential for the books to go in any direction. I am worried, there is a bit of a hint at a possible love... situation... that could present itself. I hope that Briggs figures out what she wants Mercedes, um, doing, before she writes the next book because the last thing I need is there to be more about the romance and less about the fantasy. So far she has done a very good job. I believe that this book stands up well to the one that came before it. Let's just hope it stays that way!

That being said, I liked the first book better. Not by a lot, but I am not getting into part ratings, so I will give it a 4/5 and you can pretend it is like a 4.25 or something.

I have heard of Patricia Briggs before, as many people I am sure have picked up on, as I like fantasy novels. I even own a book by her in my to be read pile, I just hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Then, Dance Chica talked about Moon Called on her blog, because the sequel is going to be released in the New Year. So, I thought I would forget about the book I have by her to read, and pick this book up if I saw it. Well, I found it yesterday and started it in the car on the way back home from the bookstore.

From the back of the book:

Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they'll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I'm not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.

Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.

She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself...and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

I was very happy to be recommended this book, as it as a very worthwhile read, let me tell you. Better than Laurell K. Hamilton, I hope. Yes, there are chances that it could get bad because there are men and women involved, so sex could become a very Anita Blake type of novel. I just hope that it is tasteful, because she is a strong character like Anita Blake started out, but she is not turned away from relationships like Anita was, so it wouldn't have been as bad if it changed. I just think this series is more hopeful right now than I have been hearing Laurell Hamilton is.

It is one of those books that you can not easily put down. It starts out rather innocently, but by the end of the book the action has you glued to the pages. It is a novel of Mercy, a shape-shifter, able to take on the shape of a coyote. Her abilities are traced back to Natives and their magic, but as far as she knows and is told, all of her people have been erradicated. Her neighbour is a werewolf, and not just any werewolf, but the leader of the local pack in the town that she lives in.

Then, there is the witch that is in the werewolves pay roll to clean up what they don't want the public eye to see, and the other supernatural characters that are friends with Mercy and her friends. Some are known by the public world, while others remain in hiding as a species. Mercy is a badass, it is a novel where the women are making advancements in the world, but the werewolves are still about male dominance. Mercy refuses to do what is expected of her. She fixes cars for a living, nothing too amazing, but she is a very interesting character.

A very worthwhile novel, be sure to read it if you like supernatural or paranormal characters. Book 2 will be out in January.

4.5/5

Yasmine Galenorn's Witchling
Shiloh Walker's Hunting the Hunter
Patricia Briggs' Moon Called
Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking
Laurell K. Hamilton's Bloody Bones
Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment
Patricia Brigg's Blood Bound
Kelley Armstrong's Bitten
Kelley Armstrong's Stolen