POD-Stephen Wallenfels

POD


Stephen Wallenfels

Ace, Apr 24 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9781937007430



In Prosser, Washington, the screeching noise wakes up teenager Josh and his dad. They quickly realize they have no phone, internet, radio or TV service. They are stunned to see the humongous grayish spheres. Josh watches in horror as the newspaper delivery person Jamie vanishes into a light. Father and son quickly realize anyone outside is zapped so they rush back inside their home wondering what to do when their food and water are gone. The pair gets on each other’s nerves as time slowly passes while under “house arrest”.



At the same time in Los Angeles, tweener Megs says good-bye to her mom in a hotel parking garage. Soon afterward the sphere arrives. Megs quickly realizes anyone outside is zapped as she sits in her mom’s car. She enters the hotel where those in charge brutally control supplies, viciously keep families apart and ruthlessly kill any opposition.



Rotating perspective between the protagonists, readers obtain a throwback survivor science fiction novel that is a sort of The Lord Of The Flies inside a pre-virus The War of the Worlds. The comparison between the subplots is enlightening as the lead pair considers how much their lives changed as they recognize their world will never be the same. The cast is solid especially Josh the teen and Megs the tweener who act their respective age, and while we never meet the aliens outside the POD that adds to the sense of terror. Ironically, humans behave eve more horrid towards each other than the POD invaders in an entertaining young adult thriller.



Harriet Klausner

Wicked As They Come-Delilah S. Dawson

Wicked As They Come


Delilah S. Dawson

Pocket, Mar 27 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9781451657883



Two weeks ago, Nurse Tish Everett found the body of elderly Mrs. Stein. Now she is at the deceased woman’s estate sale where she finds a ruby locket. Before she can pay for it, an elderly woman and then her beeper interrupts her. She rushes off to deal with an emergency forgetting the locket in her pocket without paying for the item.



Tish cleans the locket, but struggles to open it before she finally plies it apart. She is unaware that the locket was sent by a magician to her. When she awakens, Tish finds herself in Sang dealing with circus ringmaster Criminy Stain the fanged bludman. Everyone except Criminy looks at her with suspicion as she lacks fangs. Meanwhile Tish realizes she has the “glancing” skill which enables her to tell fortunes. As she considers staying or not, her key the locket home is stolen Criminy and Tish search for the locket, but find the deadly anti Blud racist Magistrate plotting evil.



This is an entertaining steampunk fantasy starring a modern day “Alice” falling through the rabbit hole. The storyline is fast-paced with the key (besides the locket) being Tish’s awe with what she sees and the obvious distrust by the Blud community towards her. Fans will relish her escapades with roguish Criminy as she must decide to blud or not to blud that is her question.



Harriet Klausner

Blood On The Bayou-Stacy Jay

Blood On The Bayou


Stacy Jay

Pocket, Mar 27 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9781439189870



Fairies became human blood seekers biting mortals. The Fey toxin leaves 75% of the humans insane; 10% physically misshapen before dying; and another 10% instantly dead; the remaining populace contains immunity. Katrina exacerbated the fairies assault for those living on the Delta (see Dead on the Delta).



Immune to the toxin, Fairy Control and Containment evidence collector Annabelle Lee works the bayou beat. Her former lover Hitch asks for her help in finding stolen Fey toxin, a secret lab using human guinea pigs and an FBI traitor. Annabelle hesitantly agrees to assist him though she fears a meltdown as she still loves Hitch. Complicating her life further is she must deal with her attraction to the mysterious Tucker, who has his paranormal skills like invisibility, his elixir and his lethal warning.



The latest Annabelle Bayou fantasy is an interesting thriller starring a kick butt heroine with issues mostly caused by the three males (including a current BF) competing for the title of “Master of Her Vagina”. Filled with action, the storyline is thin yet fans will enjoy trekking the swamps guided by an energetic irreverent protagonist.



Harriet Klausner

Life Guards In The Hamptons-Celia Jerome

Life Guards In The Hamptons


Celia Jerome

Daw, May 1 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780756407254



Sitting in her Manhattan apartment graphic novelist Willow Tate hears of a massive crime wave in her childhood home of Paumanok Harbor, Long Island. Apparently violent dolphins are hunting people. She refuses to go back there as she flees from her feelings for Matt Spencer until the chiggers get her and her Pomeranian buddy Little Red forcing them to return home.



As a Visualizer, Willow finds her latest hero’s companion Oey alive on the island sent there from the sea god M’ma who lives in a dimension where magic is normal and is adjacent to ours. The rare bird is tearing apart the town by the birders who want to find it. The dolphins, lile Oey are there to avail her and the other espers in town and the dolphins too came from the magical dimension. A hurricane is coming that connects the evil sea serpent N’fwend with the robbers that are cleaning out the town. The Visualizer Willow knows if her side loses, her hometown is wiped off the map.



The latest Willow Tate Visualizer island fantasy (see Trolls in the Hamptons and Night Mares in the Hamptons) is a fun tale that amusingly lampoons paranormal powers and the sub-genre’s tendency to polarize the concepts of good vs. evil. The eccentric cast brings humor with the problems of using their psi talent to include the heroine forgetting the byproduct of her art. Although similar in tone to Fire Works in the Hamptons, fans will enjoy this delightful tale summed up by the police chief who must have stock in an antacid company, which he chews like M&Ms when Willow is in town.



Harriet Klausner

The Thirteen-Susie Moloney-

The Thirteen


Susie Moloney

Morrow, Mar 27 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9780062117663



In Haven Woods, The Thirteen witches run the town. Each has sacrificed their soul to their Master in order to insure their family goals are achieved. When Bill Henderson dies in an accident, his wife Chick, one of the thirteen, grieves deeply before dying in an inferno, At about the same time, Chick dies, another coven member rebellious Audra Wittmore suffers a heart attack while a third witch Isadora Riley watches gleefully.



Izzy arranges for Audra’s “exiled” for over a dozen years daughter Paula to come home to care for her mom. Paula who has had bad luck since her banishment arrives back in haven Woods with her child twelve years old Rowan. The witch sisters need a thirteenth to sacrifice; their first choice is the granddaughter coming to town for the first time in her life.



With a darker nod to The Witches of Eastwick, the key to this super horror tale is the little things that make Haven Woods seem like a quiet safe suburb. However, beneath the beneath the family oriented veneer is a nasty place in which human sacrifice, demonic assaults and blood flow are the norm. Readers will relish The Thirteen as Susie Moloney provides a bewitching thriller.



Harriet Klausner

Hide Me Among The Graves-Tim Powers

Hide Me Among The Graves


Tim Powers

Morrow, Mar 13 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9780061231544



In 1819, John Polidori is part of the romantic writers’ inner circle led by Byron and Shelley as he writes a vampire tale. Two years later he is dead, allegedly a suicide victim.



In 1862 London the Rosetti siblings are very talented artists. Dante Gabriel Rossetti is a wonderful pre-Raphaelite painter and Christina is a well-regarded poetess. However, they fear their late Uncle John haunts them from the grave. Dante and Christina ask for help from former prostitute Adelaide McKee; her veterinarian lover John Crawford and Polidori’s romantic writing peer Edward John Trelawny. Polidori and his kin plan to terrorize London starting with those who share their blood.



This is an engaging refreshing vampire Victorian thriller with an incredible twist in which the siblings’ talent is at its “immortal” for the ages’ best when the vampire “controls” them. The time and place is incredibly developed so much so that readers will believe they meet a who’s who while walking the foggy streets of London; however that depth also slows down the pace of a wonderful loose sequel to The Stress of Her Regard.



Harriet Klausner

The Job-Cramer Louis Jackson

The Job


Cramer Louis Jackson

Outskirts Press, Jan 30 2012, $8.95

WWW.OutskirtsPress.com

ISBN: 9781432784584



Joe’s search for employment has turned into a frustrating full time job as he checks want ads, sends out résumés and shows up for announced vacancies; only to return to his walk up dumpy small apartment unemployed with his self-esteem dropping. After his latest humiliation, he opens the mail, which adds to his debasement with overdue bills.



However, the last letter is from a firm he never heard of, who offers him an interview. Instructions were sent to him by e-mail as this company provides no address or phone number. He goes on line, thankful he did not hock his computer, to obtain directions. Joe arrives for the interview and learns that if he takes the job, Joe Jamieson will no longer exist as he will have a new identity and compensation is one million annual. He agrees to become Zann General Morgan briefs him that his position and new identity ties back to 1947 Roswell and soon finds another perk when he rescues the other selectee Layone from some nasty folks who have other plans for the pair.



There is plenty of action in this thought provoking science fiction romantic novella. The story line starts with a depressed everyman struggling to pay his bills and keep a dilapidated ceiling over his head before the plot moves into an exciting thriller with its Life Energy connection to Roswell. Encouraging people to take a radically fresh look at their options reminds me of my husband’s reengineering teaching and mentoring position in which he destroyed a zillion paper cups claiming they were not half full or half empty if you slice off the top the cup is filled. The Job is a quick engaging thriller.



Harriet Klausner