Book Beginning & Friday 56: Out in Blue by Sarah Gilman

Happy Friday everybody!!

Book Beginnings

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages.  

Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. 

If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.

The Friday 56

Rules:

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Freda's Voice
• Post a link along with your post back to Freda's Voice

Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Next up on my review stack is Out in Blue by Sarah Gilman. This is the first in the Return to Sanctuary series and one of the first releases of Entangled Publishing. I received the eARC from Entangled Publishing via NetGalley for review. This is a paranormal romance with fallen angels.

Beginning:

The tattoo of a bloody knife and scattered feathers caught Ginger Magellan's attention.

I have to say that seeing something like that would catch my attention too.

Friday 56 (estimated from Kindle edition):

The bald male wore only a white shirt and black boxers, but he stalked across the frozen grass in his bare feet, the tips of all four of his fangs visible as he gaped.

Review: Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis

Evil Ways
Author: Justin Gustainis
Publication: Solaris (December 29, 2009)


Description: In a story that range from Baghdad to Los Angeles, EVIL WAYS see eccentric billionaire, Walter Grobius, attempt to unleash a devastating magical apocalypse. Quincey Morris, and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are drawn into their most deadliest case yet...


My Thoughts: This second case for Morris and Chastain ramps up the intensity of the first case. Someone, in fact a group of someones, are killing children and harvesting their organs. Morris is blackmailed by FBI Agent Dale Fenton and his new white witch partner Colleen O'Donnell to investigate the case. Meanwhile, someone is targeting and killing white witches and have made a few unsuccessful attempts to kill Libby Chastain. 


Quincey has Libby join him to help with his investigation and to protect her too. To provide additional protection, he enlists Hannah Widmark who is another very dangerous character. Both the FBI investigation and Quincy and Libby's investigation start pointing the same direction. A black magician named Lewis Pardee is planning something big. Like, lay waste to the Earth big.


Pardee is funded by zillionaire Walter Grobius who is hoping for healing from his terminal illness and extended life. Pardee has other goals. The action is tense in this one. I love the relationship between Quincey and Libby. They are friends and partners but have no romantic interest in each other. Both respect the other's competence and together they are a very formidable team.


This was another great urban fantasy that was filled with action and adventure. 


Favorite Quote:

"Gotta do something," he said. "And that's better than screaming, which is what I really feel like doing. See, Colleen, it's not that I believe that that Grobius and Pardee are actually gonna call up Satan tonight out there in Coeur d'Alene. And if they do manage to pull that trick off, I don't believe that they won't be able to control him, he'll get loose, and as the saying goes, lay waste to the world. I don't believe that, okay?"

"Okay, then why are you--"

"I'm here because I don't f***ing disbelieve it. And if that shit's a possibility, I mean if it's even a one percent chance...then I gotta do what I can to stop it."

I bought my copy at Amazon. You can get yours there too.

Review: Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis

Black Magic Woman
Author: Justin Gustainis
Publication: Solaris; Reprint edition (November 25, 2008)


Description: 

Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are called in to help free a desperate family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem Witch Trials. To release the family from danger they must find the root of the curse, a black witch with a terrible grudge that holds the family in her power.

The pursuit takes them to the mysterious underworlds of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, stalking a prey that is determined to stay hidden. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself ­ and the very heart of darkness.

My Thoughts: This was a great urban fantasy. The world Gustainis creates is very near our own but witches and curses are real. So are vampires and werewolves and zombies. The world was well-drawn and very realistic. 


Quincy Morris is a descendant of one of the people who killed Dracula. His family has been hunting the monsters for generations. He works as a consultant when people have problems that traditional routes have failed to solve. He often calls in Libby Chastain as a consultant when he needs questions answered by a practicing white witch. 


This case has them trying to end a curse that has been cast on a family. It looks like the roots of the curse date back all the way to the Salem Witch Trials. They travel around the US trying to get a lead on the black witch who is trying to get revenge for actions taken against an ancestor.


Following the case from a different angle are FBI Special Agent Dale Fenton and Detective Sergeant Garth Van Dreenan from South Africa. Van Dreenan has come on the trail of a African black witch who is kidnapping and killing children to harvest their organs. Fenton and Van Dreenan and following her trail and Van Dreenan, who believes in magic, is trying to convince Fenton that it is all real. 


The book is filled with action and great characters. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more stories about Morris and Chastain.


Favorite Quote:

"Well, naturally, you can't stage a black mass without having some kind of orgy afterwards," Duval said. "People expect it. And as long as they are willing to pay for the privilege..."

Libby Chastain smiled. "I was just wondering," she said, "what Satanists might say at the point of orgasm. 'Oh, God!' hardly seems appropriate, does it?"

I bought this one. You can get your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I picked up Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis after finishing Hard Spell and Black Magic Woman. I like his way with urban fantasy. Great characters!

Here is the product description from Amazon:

In a story that range from Baghdad to Los Angeles, EVIL WAYS see eccentric billionaire, Walter Grobius, attempt to unleash a devastating magical apocalypse. Quincey Morris, and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are drawn into their most deadliest case yet...

Teaser:

This was important. The second worst thing that could happen tonight was for the branch to give way while Morris was on his way into Fortner's property.

The worst thing would be for the branch to break while Morris was trying to get out.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (August 22, 2011)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.


Last week I read:

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer -- I enjoyed this exciting sequel to Nightshade about a different take on werewolves. My review will be posted on August 27.

Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis continues the Morris and Chastain stories. These are urban fantasy and I liked it  a lot. All the characters were great and the tension was thick. My review will be posted on August 25.

I also read some books from my review stack. All of these were ebooks that I got from NetGalley.


Guys Read: Thriller edited by Jon Scieszka was filled with a wonderful variety of thrilling stories that will appeal to middle graders. My review will be posted on August 24.


Out in Blue by Sarah Gilman is the start of a new urban fantasy series about angels. I thought it was a very well-done paranormal romance with a interesting world and great characters. My review will be posted on August 27.


Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson is a young adult book that starts out as a problem novel and ends up science fiction. I really enjoyed this one and think my students will too. My review will be posted on September 1.

I am currently reading Sympathy for the Devil by Justin Gustainis. This is the most recent in the Morris and Chastain series and deals with a politician who has made a deal with the devil.

Next week, these are on my stack:

Blood Work by Kim Harrison is an original graphic novel in her Hollows series.

Stone Cole Seduction by Jess Macallan is an urban fantasy novel. I am a site on her blog tour and need to read this soon.

Face of Danger by Roxanne St. Claire is romantic suspense.

I also need to look for something young adult from my stack next week too. Though I don't have many young adult books here with me. I took my laundry baskets back home when I went down for a couple of days last week. I needed to divide my stuff into two trips because of the summer stuff expansion. (It all fit in the car when I came here in June! I don't know what happened.)

I will be going back to my school year home on Friday. I begin work next Monday. In between, a friend and I are going to the Cities for two author signings at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore on Saturday. Patricia Wrede will be there autographing Across the Great Barrier (which I really liked) and Sharon Lee and Steve Miller will be autographing Ghost Ship (which I adored. I have already read it 3 times.) The day also includes dinner and dessert with Sharon and Steve. I am really looking forward to it.

What is your week looking like?

In My Mailbox (August 21, 2011)

The weekly In My Mailbox post is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It is fun to see what everyone else gets in their mailboxes, shopping bags, and library visits. Click on the link to The Story Siren's site to see the rules and join in the fun.
 
I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow when you see all the wonderful books everyone gets. You will discover lots of great blogs and lots of books that you won't be able to live without.

This would have been a quiet week for my mailbox except Sourcebooks was having a Georgette Heyer sale in honor of her birthday. I had to get copies of some of my favorites for my Kindle. I already have the print copies from Sourcebooks to replace my old battered copies. The ones from Sourcebooks have such gorgeous covers. Here are the ones I bought:

The Corinthian

Devil's Cub

These Old Shades

Frederica

The Grand Sophy

I couldn't pass up the $1.99 price for these. I also decided to buy a couple of her mysteries. I haven't read those. I got:

Footsteps in the Dark

They Found Him Dead

But this wasn't just a Heyer week. I also got these three books:

Frost Moon by Anthony Francis was free for the Kindle and sounds like an interesting start to a new urban fantasy series. 

Kitty's Greatest Hits by Carrie Vaughn collects the Kitty stories from the various anthologies where they appeared and includes a couple of new stories too.

A Woman Worth Ten Coppers by Morgan Howell was well-reviewed on one of the many blogs I follow. I had a chance to get a copy from Amazon Marketplace for a small amount of money and decided to give this fantasy a try.

Those were my additions to my never-ending TBR mountain. What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Publication: Crown (August 16, 2011)


Description: At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them. 

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?



My Thoughts: I just finished this amazing story that will have broad appeal for a wide variety of readers. 


It is a dystopia. Wade Watts lives in a slum called the Stacks outside of Oklahoma City. The Stacks are piles of mobile homes, RVs, and other such vehicles that house those too poor to live anywhere else. Wade is an orphan who is theoretically cared for by his aunt who care manifests itself in taking his food vouchers and having her boyfriend of the moment take anything else of value that he might have. 


While Wade's real life is bleak and hopeless, his online life in the OASIS is something very different. The founder of the OASIS, which is a very souped up version of Second Life, died and left a contest in place. The winner will get his whole multi-billion dollar estate and control of the OASIS too. Everyone spends most of their available time in OASIS. That is where they go to school, and work, and spend their leisure time too.


Wade immediately begins searching for the treasure. To find it he has to become an expert on the founder - James Donovan Halliday - and has to become an expert on all the things Halliday loved. Halliday was a geek who loved science fiction authors (I have actually read quite a number of them), 1980s movies (I have heard of them but not seen them), and all sorts of video-games (which are totally a mystery to me). 


Cline lards the book with all sorts of 1980s pop culture details. It made me want to check out some of the videos, games, and stories that he mentions. Those who are hunting for the prize must collect three keys. The book is divided into three parts. Each of them revolves around the hunt for one of the keys.


It is an adventure novel. Wade isn't hunting alone. He also has some online friends on the hunt too. Aech is his best friend. Although they have never met in real life, they spend a lot of time together learning about the 80s and playing lots of those classic video games. Another friend is Art3mis. She is a popular gunter which comes from contracting egg hunter. Wade, who is known in OASIS as Parzival, has been following her blog and has developed a massive crush on her. There are also two other hunters who are of importance in the story - Daito and Shoto. While the five are rivals, they are still friendly. 


It is a romance. Parzival falls in love with Art3mis. He has gotten to know her online. She doesn't believe that he could love the real her. She wants to concentrate on winning the prize. She wants to use the money to feed the hungry. She tries to discourage all of Parzival's attempts to get to know her. 


But the real rivals to their search are the sixers who are employees of IOI, a megacorporation that wants to win the contest to take over OASIS and change the parameters. There plan to institute a fee structure would price most people out of it. The leader of the sixers is Sorrento. IOI is willing to go to great lengths to win the contest. After all, the winner will have great power and wealth. In fact, they are willing to resort to murder. A good part of the story has to do with the way Wade manages to stay one step ahead of IOI in the real world while pursuing his search for the keys in OASIS.


This was a gripping adventure, a celebration for geeks everywhere, and a great romance too. I recommend it to readers of any of those genres. I can't wait to see the movie!


Favorite Quote:

Standing there, under the bleak fluorescents of my tiny one-room apartment, there was no escaping the truth. In real life, I was nothing but an antisocial hermit. A recluse. A pale-skinned pop culture-obsessed geek. An agoraphobic shut-in, with no real friends, family, or genuine human contact. I was just another sad, lost, lonely soul, wasting his life on a glorified videogame.

I received a finished copy for review from Cara at Wunderkind PR. You can get your copy here.