SEX, WOLVES AND ROCK 'N ROLL

TITLE: SEX, WOLVES & ROCK ‘N ROLL

AUTHOR: MINA CARTER

Pages: 53

Date: 16/01/2014

Grade: 4+

Details: One Night Stand Series / Lyric Hound

              Received from Decadent Publishing

              Through Love Romances

Own / Kindle

The story:

Trent Savage, Sav, is the drummer in Lyric Hound, a very popular band, consisting of Werewolf musicians. For as long as he can remember he’s been attracted to Karlan Rixx, the band’s guitarist. What’s more, for years he has known that Karlan is his preordained mate. Karlan however is as straight as they come and, as far as Sav can tell, completely unaware of or ignoring Sav’s feelings as well as the bond between them.

After years of trying to deny his feelings just to hold on to Karlan’s friendship, Sav can’t take it anymore and leaves the band as well as the only life and family he’s ever known.

Karlan may be a womanizer, in his heart there is only one person he’s interested in. When Sav disappears Karlan feels lost. The band isn’t the same without Sav to drive the beat and Karlan’s life is incomplete without the man behind him on stage, next to him in life.

When he discovers that Sav has contacted Madame Eve to organize a one night stand, Karlan does what he can to be Sav’s date. There was a reason Karlan didn’t know he and Sav were mated. With Karlan’s problem solved both men are in for a few surprises when they meet again. But will it be enough for them to embrace their destiny?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

My thoughts:

Allow me to start with a few qualifiers. I’ve never read a One Night Stand or Lyric Hound story before. I don’t read a lot of supernatural stories, erotic or otherwise and, I very often find myself having issues with novellas. For all intents and purposes requesting this book for review seemed to be an exercise in setting myself up for failure.

Imagine how happily surprised I was to discover that being new to the One Night Stand series and Lyric Hound stories didn’t make a difference. I fell into and was captured by this story from the very first word and stayed hooked until I’d finished the last one. What’s not too like? We’re meeting Sav, a sexy and dominant werewolf rock star who, despite his rough exterior is breaking up inside because his mate appears to be rejecting him. And, not only do we get to enjoy this hunk, we’re also treated to Karlan, an equally hot werewolf. The reader is being spoiled.

Talking about werewolves; I’ve obviously been missing something while ignoring supernatural (erotic) stories. If this story sets the standard, this is a discrepancy I’ll be fixing in the not too distant future, very likely starting with the other Lyric Hound stories.

As far as the fact that this is a novella rather than a full novel is concerned all I can say is that I was very impressed. This was as complete a story as any reader can wish for. The characters are well described and fully fleshed, there’s enough back story to give the reader not only everything they need to know but also a real connection to the character’s feelings and actions. This story may only have counted 35 pages, it provided everything a good story needs: a beginning that puts the reader straight into the story, a middle that provided all the explanations needed without slowing the story down and a beautiful and very satisfying ending.

And did I mention this story is hot? Well, it is. But then, that’s exactly what you would expect when you pick up a story about two Alpha werewolves giving in to their feelings for each other after years of having to deny them.

This in short was about an hour’s worth of pure reading delight, leaving me with yet another author I have to add to my must-read list.

ANGEL CITY

TITLE: ANGEL CITY

AUTHOR: JON STEELE

Pages: 528

Date: 19/06/2013

Grade: 5+

Details: No. 2 The Angelus Trilogy

               Received from Penguin Group/

               Blue Rider Press through NetGalley

Own / Kindle

The Blurb:

“Two years after the battle at Lausanne Cathedral, the War of Shadows goes on...

Jay Harper, one of the last ‘angels’ on Planet Earth, is still hunting down the half-breeds and goons who infected Paradise with evil. Intercepting a plot to turn half of Paris into a dead zone, Harper ends up on the wrong side of the law and finds himself a wanted man. That doesn’t stop his commander, Inspector Gobet of the Swiss Police, from sending him back to Paris on a recon mission... a mission that uncovers the mystery of an ancient gift to mankind, born of angels at Montségur, the last fortress of the Cathars.

Katherine Taylor and her two year old son Max are living in a small town in the American Northwest. It’s a quiet life. She runs a candle shop and spends her afternoons drinking herbal teas, imagining the crooked little man in the belfry of Lausanne Cathedral, the man who believed Lausanne was a hideout for lost angels. And there was someone else, someone she can’t quite remember... as if he was there, and not there at the same time.

A man with a disfigured face emerges from the shadows.  His name is Astruc, a defrocked priest wanted for murder; he's obsessed with the immortal souls of men.  Like a voice crying in the wilderness, he warns the time of The Prophecy is at hand...a prophecy that calls for sacrifice of a child born of light...”

                                                                                                    

“The religions and flags of men mean nothing to me, or those like me. Religions and flags come under the heading of free will. We can’t make those sorts of choices for men. It’s a certain breed of evil hiding behind the religions and flags, the ones who sow fear and greed among men, that we’re interested in.”

WOW! What a book! What an imagination and what a story!

When I read The Watchers almost a year ago I was blown away by the book. The idea behind the story was original, well thought out and brilliantly delivered. When I discovered that the book was the first part of a trilogy I was both delighted and a little bit afraid; would the author be able to live up to the expectations he had created in book one? And, before I go on, if you haven’t read The Watchers yet, please do so before starting this book. You will probably enjoy this book without having read the first book but not nearly as much as you will if you know the back-story.

I shouldn’t have worried. Angel City is at least as good as The Watchers and pushes the story forward in a manner that makes perfect sense and yet is full of surprises and unexpected twists. Two and a half years after the battle in Lausanne Cathedral, Jay Harper is still his old unpredictable and hard to control self. Although some of his memories of what happened in Lausanne have been erased – as most of the memories from his past have been – he remembers enough to realize that he escaped from a great danger and that the battle was only started at the Cathedral. And although there is something wrong with Jay Harper, something that may well end his existence once and for all, he is still on a quest to defeat the forces of evil, although he doesn’t know who or what exactly he is looking for and what exactly those forces are after.

Katherine Taylor is living in the United States, protected by forces from the Swiss Guards with her son Max, who was born after she narrowly escaped with her life in Lausanne. Since Katherine’s memories are also being controlled she is not exactly sure what happened in that city or even who Max’ father might be. And although she does realize that she is in danger, she has no idea how big the danger actually is and what form it might take should it ever find her.

Astruc is a priest on a mission. Convinced that he and his assistant Goose are the only forces for good left, he sets out on a quest to warn the world about the Prophecy that is about to be fulfilled; a war between the forces of good and evil that is about to reach its climax and the future of the world and humanity appears to depend – some would say once again – on an innocent baby boy.

Like I said, this is an amazing book. Taking the reader from Montségur in the 13^th century, to Paris in the very near future, from Switzerland to the USA this is a story that begins at full blast and doesn’t let up until the very last page.

Historical facts, conspiracy theories and biblical stories are faultlessly brought together to create a plausible and fascinating plot. So plausible, in fact, that it is almost possible to believe that this could actually happen. In Jay Harper’s words:

“Trust me mate, spend enough time watching the world go by and you learn just because something isn’t possible doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

And it is Jay Harper’s cynical view of the world and the situations he finds himself in, as well as his dead-pan way of dealing with, and commenting on, what is happening with and around him that stops this from being an incredibly dark story. In fact, one of the strengths of this book is that the author manages to combine drama, tension, action, humour, descriptions, relationships and love without ever slowing down the plot. No matter how pleasant a scene in this book may be, there is always that undercurrent of danger that keeps on pushing the story and the reader forwards.

I like that our heroes are as flawed as they come. Jay Harper may be an angel but you’d be hard pressed to call him Angelic. And while Katherine Taylor may be a former hooker she proves herself the most loving mother and loyal friend imaginable. It is impossible not to like these two characters and become engrossed in their adventures. These are two anti-heroes and yet the future of the world and humanity depends on their actions.

And then there’s the cliff-hanger. Did the first book end in such a way that the story could have stopped there, this book ends at such a heart-stopping moment that there is no room for doubt that a sequel is coming. And I have absolutely no objection to another book by this author. set in this world with these characters. What I do have a problem with is that I haven’t been able to find out when this third book might be coming. I really do NOT want to wait another year before I find out how all of this is going to play out.

SEDUCTION

TITLE: SEDUCTION

AUTHOR: M.J. ROSE

Pages: 386

Date: 17/05/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: Reincarnationist Series # 5

          Received from Atria

          Through NetGalley

Own / Kindle

Blurb from the author’s site:

"A gothic tale about Victor Hugo's long-buried secrets

and the lengths we go to for love...

In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo's beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, still grieving, Hugo initiated hundreds of séances from his home on the Isle of Jersey in order to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the Devil himself. Hugo's transcriptions of these conversations have all been published.

Or so it has been believed...

Recovering from a great loss, mythologist Jac L'Etoile thinks that throwing herself into work will distract her from her grief. In the hopes of uncovering a secret about the island's mysterious Celtic roots, she arrives on the Isle of Jersey and is greeted by ghostly Neolithic monuments, medieval castles, and hidden caves.

But the man who's invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, hopes she'll help him discover something quite different—transcripts of Hugo's lost conversations with someone he called the Shadow of the Sepulcher. Central to his heritage, these are the papers his grandfather died trying to find.

But what neither Jac or Theo anticipate is that the mystery surrounding Victor Hugo will threaten their sanity and put their very lives at stake."

Before I start on my thoughts about this book I should probably point out that I only read one previous title in this series: The Reincarnationist.  Although it is quite possible that I missed connections because I didn’t read all the previous books, I can safely say that I didn’t feel as if I was missing out on vital information. While I can’t be sure that reading all the books in sequence wouldn’t have increased my enjoyment of this book, I can safely say that this book can be read and is very enjoyable as a stand-alone title.

“Every story begins with a tremble of anticipation. At the starting point we may have an idea of our point of arrival. But what lies before us and makes us shudder is the journey.”

This book gives the reader a perfect combination of straightforward thrills and supernatural elements. It doesn’t become clear where the story is taking the reader until the very end of the book. But, while the resolution comes as a surprise, it does come as a logical, yet unexpected, conclusion of the narrative.  

When Jac discovers a letter addressed to her from Theo, a man she hasn’t seen or heard from since she was fourteen she jumps on the opportunity to travel to Jersey and help him unravel a mystery linking back to the time of the Celts and Druids. But when she and Theo first met, both teenagers had big issues and Jac can’t quite remember the events leading up to the moment when they were suddenly and seemingly permanently separated.

Reunited, despite strong opposition from the man who treated them when they were teenagers, both Theo and Jac are once again struggling with traumatic personal issues. Searching for the mystery manuscript, allegedly hidden on the Island by Victor Hugo, provides them with an opportunity to concentrate on something other than the losses they have suffered. But all is not well; Theo appears as troubled as he ever was and Jac, once again, finds herself haunted by visions she can’t control.

“Now he was thirty-three and seemed almost ruined.”

Solving this mystery will not only answer questions about Victor Hugo’s time on Jersey, it will also provide both Jac and Theo with answers they need in order to move forward in their life.

The story in this book is told in two, alternating, storylines. We get an insight to Victor Hugo’s time and struggles on Jersey through his (hidden) notebooks. The story about Jac, Theo and the quest they’re on links into Hugo’s story but goes much further because their mystery has roots in more ancient times. The combination of history, mystery, supernatural occurrences and human relationships make this an intriguing, fast moving and multi-layered story. And I haven’t even mentioned the links to perfume and scents yet.

“Her father always used to talk about how scent connects us to a past we can’t always see, that seems lost but can so easily be conjured up and found.”

M.J. Rose writes beautiful books. Her writing is thoughtful, descriptive and clear. It is easy to see the landscapes she describes and it is almost possible to smell the scents from their descriptions. She manages to give her readers a fascinating and thrilling story without ever compromising on background in favour of shocks. Too often these days it seems readers have to choose between beautiful and descriptive writing and thrilling adventures. Mrs. Rose manages to give her readers both without compromising on either, which means we are treated to reading enjoyment on every level. On a personal note it means that this reader will now have to go back and read all the books she has managed to miss in this series; something I look forward to with delight.

ETIQUETTE & ESPIONAGE

TITLE: ETIQUETTE & ESPIONAGE

AUTHOR: GAIL CARRIGER

Pages: 312

Date: 12/04/2013

Grade: 4

Details: Finishing School Book the First

            Received from Atom

            Through Nudge

Own

Fourteen year old Sophronia Temminnick is driving her mother to distraction. She is nothing like her sisters or other girls her age. Rather than interested in fashion, good manners and elegance she has a fascination with climbing trees and discovering how things work by dismantling them. After an unfortunate incident with a dumbwaiter Mrs. Temminnick is only too happy when her wayward daughter is invited to Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality.

Sophronia dreads the idea of going to a school where she will have to dedicate her time to being truly feminine but since she isn’t given a choice she travels to the school with one of the teacher’s and another new student. What could have been a boring journey filled with apprehension turns into something far more interesting when their coach is attacked by flyway-men and it is up to Sophronia to save the day. And the school turns out to be not quite what she expected either. Not only is the school’s location rather fluid, the lessons are unexpected as well. Yes, Sophronia will have to learn how to curtsy properly, something which proves quite hard since:

“It is one thing to learn how to curtsy properly. It’s quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time.”

Not to mention the fact that she has both a werewolf and a vampire among her teachers. And then there is the small matter of the missing prototype and the flyway-men so determined to acquire it that the whole school is being threatened.

Welcome to finishing school, where finishing comes in lots of different ways.

This book is so much fun. Sophronia is a wonderful main character; she’s feisty, clever, curious and not easily scared. Following her exploits is an exhilarating experience. There isn’t a dull paragraph in this book and almost every single page will contain at least one moment that will have the reader smile if not laugh out loud. But while the reader is taken from one exciting moment to the next and it seems like we’re on an uninterrupted adventure there is also room for character development and world building.

This book is set in a steam-punk version of Victorian England and this makes for a wonderful combination. I loved all the technical devices introduced in this story, especially Bumbersnoot, the little mechanical dog Sophronia secretly adopts. And I adore the idea of training girls to be assassins or spies while also teaching them how to be proper ladies. Everything a lady uses, wears or carries with her turns out to not only be a fashion accessory but also a potential weapon. Who knew there were so many uses for the simple fan or handkerchief?

It is hard to read this book and not draw parallels with the Harry Potter stories. The boarding school setting, the secret nature of the school and its location, the student who is an instant enemy, the unlikely friends, they are all clearly recognisable and I could probably come up with more examples. But, this story is unique enough to stand on its own two feet. Gail Carriger has created her own universe with its own quirks and charms. And while there are a lot of mysterious devices as well as supernatural creatures in this book there is no magic and that fact in itself sets the book apart from Rowling’s books.

If I have one complaint about this book it is that it wasn’t any longer. I don’t think this story would have suffered if there had been more descriptions and background information. I would have loved to read a bit more about the lessons and all the weird and wonderful skills the girls are taught. I would have liked to see all the other characters fleshed out a little bit more. As it was, all of that took a backseat to the thrill of the adventure. Mind you, this is the first book in a series, so I’m hopeful that in books to come I will find the detail I’m craving at the moment.

This book is a magical, thrill a minute sort of read that will keep the reader turning the pages with a huge grin on their face; pure enjoyment between two covers.

THE MADNESS UNDERNEATH

British Cover

TITLE: THE MADNESS UNDERNEATH

AUTHOR: MAUREEN JOHNSON

Pages: 352

Date: 02/01/2013

Grade: 5

Details: no. 2 Shades of London

              Received from Harper Collins

              Through NetGalley

              Young Adult

Own/Kindle

Please note that this book won’t be published until February 26 in the USA and March 28, 2013 in England.

It has been three weeks since Aurora (Rory’s) almost fatal encounter with The Ripper Killer and she is in Bristol with her parents recuperating. Except that being away from London is not helping Rory at all. She can’t tell her parents, never mind the therapist she’s seeing, the truth about what happened to her. The only people who she can talk to are Stephen, Callum and Boo the other Shades who, like her, can see and communicate with Ghosts and they are still in the capital. Then the unexpected happens; Rory is given the opportunity to go back to school, back to London and it is an opportunity she grabs with both hands.

Back in London it becomes clear that Rory’s encounter with The Ripper Killer may have unleashed new horrors into the area surrounding her school. And Stephen appears very reluctant to allow her to get really involved with the work he and his two colleagues do. To top it all off Rory also finds that life at school is as hard as life with her parents; she can’t tell the truth there either. On the upside, Rory’s new power makes her feel more secure and she meets a new therapist. And talking to this woman does make Rory feel a lot better.

But danger lurks. There are two unexplained deaths to resolve. And danger does not always come from the place you’d expect.

American cover

This was a wonderful paranormal thriller. I mean the first book, TheName of the Star, was good but this one is better. Rory, the main character is still feisty and funny but now that she has big issues to deal with she is also a lot more interesting. Her sense of isolation and her despair at not being able to talk to anybody about her special abilities is completely believable and make her a more rounded character. She is a real teenager; not a kid anymore and able to think things through most of the time, but not quite patient enough to give things time to develop; she needs her solutions now! I also love Rory’s voice. While reading the book I felt as if she was speaking straight to me, I could hear her and the things she thought and said had me laughing out loud on several occasions.

The writing in this book is smooth and easy to read while the events in the story ensure that it is almost impossible to put the book aside, even for a short while. This story has the right balance of fun, action, tension and emotional issues. This is a well-plotted story with well-rounded characters, but boy what an ending. Where the first book can be read as a complete story in and off itself, there is no doubt that this book a part of a series. There are a host of unresolved issues when this book ends and I know that it is going to be a long and frustrating wait for the third book and the chance to find out what will happen next.

SHADOW OF NIGHT

TITLE: SHADOW OF NIGHT

AUTHOR: DEBORAH HARKNESS

Pages: 580

Date: 18/07/2012

Grade: 5

Details: no. 2 All Souls Trilogy

            Received from Headline Publishing

            Through Book Geeks.

Own

The story in this book picks up exactly where the first book, A Discovery of Witches, left off. Diana Bishop, witch and Matthew Clairmont, vampire, have timewalked to London in 1590 where they hope to find Ashmole 782, the book Diana accidently accessed in the present and which appears to hold the answers to the questions they need to answer in order to stay together and secure the future of witches, vampires and daemons alike.

But, what appeared to be a good and simple idea in theory turns out to be rather complicated in practice.

Returned to a previous incarnation of himself, Matthew finds himself surrounded by those who were his friends and associates at the time and at least one of them, Christopher Marlowe, is jealous of Matthew’s connection with Diana and because he’s a daemon and therefore unpredictable, this emotion is potentially dangerous.

But there are more problems.

While Diana as a historian, knows a lot about the time she has travelled to, she is an obvious outsider; her speech, her actions and even her appearance don’t really fit into the late 16^th century. Ashmole 782 turns out to be as elusive in the past as it is in the present and finding a witch who can teach Diana what she needs to know in order to travel back to where she belongs proofs very difficult as well.

And there is Matthew’s life as it was in 1590. Working as a spy for Queen Elizabeth as well as King James while also collecting information for his father, Philippe de Clermont means he is spreading himself very thin while constantly balancing his various interests and identities.

Their search will take Diana and Matthew from London to France, where Matthew faces a difficult and emotional reunion with his father and subsequently to Prague before returning to London again. On their travels the two meet both Queen Elizabeth and Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia as well as various other historical figures.

And in the midst of their adventures Diana and Matthew have to get to know each other better, determine how their relationship is going to work and overcome their individual fears and insecurities.

This is a wonderful and captivating book. Even though it had been about a year since I read “A Discovery of Witches” I found myself back in the story almost immediately after picking up this book.

Diana and Matthew may be other-than-human characters but they are completely recognisable when it comes to their emotions, insecurities and actions.

Very often a second book in a trilogy feels like filler material. This book didn’t suffer from that particular problem at all. This is a complete and fascinating story in and off itself, although I wouldn’t advice anybody to read this book without having read “A Discovery of Witches” first.

Historical detail, though at times slightly adjusted, is weaved seamlessly into the fabric of this story. In fact, the integration is so accomplished that at times I found myself wondering if maybe the details as described in this book were true to what had actually happened rather than that which we read in our history books. And while there is a lot of detail, it never takes the pace out of the story or takes the readers attention away from the fictional narrative. The fact that the reader gets to meet an almost endless procession of historical figures, most of whom they will have at least a passing knowledge of, adds enormous interest to the story. Because a lot of characters, both fictional and real, form part of this story even the historically very astute reader might find themselves scratching their head at times. Thankfully a glossary of characters is provided at the end of the book, making it easy for the reader to check who everybody actually is and whether or not they were real.

I was impressed with the way in which the author dealt with the paradox that is always present when dealing with time-travel. Not only did she mention the fears both Diana and Matthew have about the actions they undertake in the past changing events in the future, Harkness also had the characters from the first book, who stayed behind in the present, dealing with any anomalies surfacing in the present. In this way the paradox was dealt with but, more importantly, it also gave the reader short glimpses at the characters who had been important in book one, will without a doubt be important again in book three but had no real place in the events taking place in the 16^th century.

This is a book filled to overflowing with story, characters, locations and events and it is almost impossible to write a review that truly honours everything that happens and everybody who plays a role in this story. I’ve tried my best and still feel that I’ve not quite succeeded in conveying how very special this book is. All I can say is: read this book! Just make sure that you read “A Discovery of Witches” first. Anybody reading this book without knowing the prior story would deprive themselves of a lot of reading enjoyment. As for me, I will now be holding my breath until the third and final part of this trilogy will be available. I can’t wait to find out how this story is going to end.

THE UNINVITED QUESTS

TITLE: THE UNINVITED GUESTS

AUTHOR: SADIE JONES

Pages: 259

Date: 11/07/2012

Grade: 4+

Library

The year is 1912 and the Torrington family is in danger of losing their house, Sterne. Unless second husband and stepfather Edward Swift can secure a loan in Manchester, the family will lose the place Emerald, Clovis and Imogen (Smudge) have called home all their lives.

With Swift away on his rescue mission the rest of the household is preparing to celebrate Emerald’s twentieth birthday. But what should have been a quiet get-together over dinner turns into a nightmare when a train accident close by brings a group of rather sinister looking travellers to Sterne’s door looking for refuge.

Then, just before the family and their guests are due to sit down to dinner, one last train passenger shows up at the house. Unlike the earlier arrivals Charlie Traversham Beecher is obviously a first-class traveller and before anybody is quite sure what has happened he has joined the birthday party, much to Charlotte Swift’s distress. Charlie and Charlotte appear to know each other and Florence Trieves, the housekeeper, is clearly shocked to find the man in the house.

While the storm outside the house gets ever fiercer, the atmosphere in the house gets creepier as well. From the dinner that fails to appear as expected, via the ever rowdier and apparently growing group of refugees to the cruel and unusual game introduced by Charlie, Emerald’s evening is rapidly heading towards disaster. And just when it appears that things couldn’t possibly get any worse…

This is a very enjoyable story and not quite what it at first appears to be. What starts off as a comedy of errors appears to turn into a drama only to become a supernatural story with a charming happy ending.

None of the characters in this book are what they at first appear to be either. While, at the start of the book, the characters seem like rather superficial, selfish and almost stereo-typical products of the times they live in, they all end up surprising both the reader and themselves before the story has ended.

Great comic relief is provided by Smudge as she embarks on her “great undertaking”.

For some reason reading this book was not as smooth for me as I would like it to be. I found that I had to read sentences at least twice on several occasions just to make sure I understood what I was being told. It didn’t ever irritate me or make me want to put the book down, but it happened often enough for me to take notice.

Overall though, I enjoyed reading this book. The story and the way it developed and ended surprised me and put a smile on my face. And any book that does that for me is a book worth reading.

THE ARMAGEDDON RAG

TITLE: THE ARMAGEDDON RAG

AUTHOR: GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

Pages: 363

Date: 31/05/2012

Grade: 4-

Details: Received from Book Geeks

Own

During the 1960’s Nazgûl was a hugely popular hard rock band, the voice of a generation. But in 1971, when a bullet ended both the life of the charismatic lead-singer and the future of the band, an era came to an end.

During those years Sandy Blair was in the midst of the action. An activist while in college and an underground journalist afterwards he was present at the demonstrations and the concerts. He was there when the bullet found the singer and ended a revolution that never really started.

The world, Sandy Blair and the remaining band-members have changed in the decade since the shooting.

Blair, a published author with three novels to his name is facing a severe case of writers-bloc when the former manager of Nazgûl is murdered in his house; murdered in a way that reflects the lyrics of one of Nazgûl’s songs.

When the magazine Blair worked for in the 1960’s asks him to investigate the murder he can’t reject the offer. Intrigued, Blair goes on the trail of a murderer. A journey that will bring him into contact with the remaining members of the once famous band, his own past and a man who wants to resurrect both Nazgûl and the revolution.

Soon after starting his investigation, Blair finds himself haunted by very vivid nightmares; dreams that become darker and more vivid as the date of Nazgûl’s relaunch comes closer. Eventually Blair comes to believe that the visions in his dreams will become reality unless he takes some action.

This is very much a story of two parts. What at first appears to be a rather straightforward mystery – who killed the manager – turns into a psychedelic fantasy about halfway through the book.

The reader is lulled into a false sense of security as they commence on a road-trip with Sandy Blair. While investigating the gruesome murder Blair behaves as any investigative journalist would. He travels to the scene of the crime and talks to those he thinks are likely suspects. It is only later on in the story that the reader discovers that this won’t be a straightforward investigation, although the story does end with a revelation that is somewhat surprising.

There is even more to this book though. This is also an ode to the 1960’s, to the philosophies of the time and, most importantly to the music that was created during those years. Each chapter starts with lines from songs of that era; lines that in one way or another reflect the content of that chapter.

And finally, this book is also a study of how people’s dreams and ideals change as they grow older and have to face the reality of having to life and work in the real world. And although that reality may not kill the original dream, it does make it hard, if not impossible, to live that dream.

I thought this was a fascinating book. The shift from mystery to supernatural story took me by surprise and delighted me. What made the supernatural aspects even more fascinating is that the main character has as hard a time distinguishing between reality and fantasy as the reader has. The reader is never on their own when they wonder what on earth might be going on. The supernatural is as unbelievable to most of the characters as it is to the reader, and therefore suddenly very credible.

This book was originally published in 1983, long before Martin achieved huge fame for his Game of Thrones series. The re-release now is without a doubt due to the popularity that series has now achieved, both in print and on television. Because I’ve neither read the Game of Thrones books nor watched the series I can’t compare this book to Martin’s later work. I can say though that this is a very interesting read for anyone who likes mysteries, the supernatural and, most importantly, rock and roll.