Review: Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13)

Now, the late Harry Dresden will have to pull off the ultimate trick without using any magic—or face an eternity as just another lost soul…

Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher, is the thirteenth novel in the Dresden Files series. At 500 pages, this is the longest Dresden Files novel to date. After an unknown assassin murders him and leaves him to die in the dark depths of Lake Michigan, Harry Dresden hopes that he's heading to a better place. However, being dead doesn't make his life any easier. Trapped between life and death, Harry learns that his friends are in serious trouble in Chicago. Only by finding his murderer can he save his friends and move on—a feat which would be a lot easier if he had a body and access to his powers. Worse still are the malevolent shadows that roam Chicago, controlled by a dark entity that wants Harry to suffer even in death.

I had high expectations for this book ever since I read Changes and the novella in Side Jobs. At nearly 500 pages, it was a big of a drag to finish the entire book. In post-Dresden Chicago, chaos roams the streets. There were moments when Harry reflected too much on himself and not the crisis at hand -- saving his friends from an undead necromancer who wants to take over the world. I struggled with the fact that Dresden knew that he asked a companion to take him out after the events that occurred in Changes, yet as a ghost he forgets that he initiated the order. There were high and low moments throughout the book where I wondered where Butcher was taking his readers. It was not one of Butcher's best novels (some parts were boring), but I am glad to shift focus to Dresden's next role as the Winter Knight in Cold Days.

Stay tuned for the fourteenth novel in the Dresden Files series, Cold Days (Dresden Files).

Promotional Trailer for Second Season of Sleepy Hollow

Below is the promotional trailer for the second season of Sleepy Hollow. It will premiere on September 22, 2014 at 9:00 pm EST on FOX.


Sleepy Hollow - Second Season Trailer

Review: Thirst Series #1 (The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice)

Thirst #1: The Last Vampire, Black BLood, and Red Red Dice, by Christopher Pike, is the first three books of popular teen series, The Last Vampire. The books have been reprinted and updated into an omnibus for easier reading. The description states:

At five thousand years old, the vampire Alisa thought she was smart enough to stay out of trouble. But when her creator returns to hunt her, she must protect herself by befriending Ray, the boy who may be her only chance at finding her maker. When she begins to fall in love with Ray, all of a sudden there is more at stake than her own life. Originally published in 1994, this series netted more than 500,000 copies as individual titles and later as bind-ups. This hot new repackage will revive the series for today’s teen.

I had heard many great reviews about the The Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike over the years but never had the chance until now to read the books. The omnibus is a great way to read through a popular series without having to track down the original mass marketplace paperback versions. Since the 1990s, Pike (along with R.L. Stine) has become one of the greatest teen horror authors in the genre. Their books influenced the rise of the adult/teen urban fantasy series in the 2000s. The Thirst books are a great way to revisit why these books became popular among young readers.

The Thirst #1 omnibus focus on the life of Sita, a 5000-year-old vampire from India who considers herself the last of her kind on earth. In The Last Vampire, she lives under the shadows until her creator, Yaksha, reappears to locate and capture her. In Bloack Blood, there is bloodshed and loss (even the man she loves) as she tries to prevent more vampires from roaming the earth. She keeps her promise to the man (Indian god, Krishna) who saved her life a long time ago. In Red Dice,, she runs into more trouble when she discovers a former flame and secret government facility experimenting with vampire blood. Sita (or known as Alisa or Laura throughout the books) must destroy all evidence so that the world does not know about vampires. Sita has a cruel responsibility and wishes nothing more but to be human again.

Stay tuned for the second omnibus of the original six-book collection, Thirst Series #2: Phantom, Evil Thirst, Creatures of Forever.

Review: Up From the Grave (Night Huntress #7)

A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death...because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences. And if they fail, their lives--and those of everyone they hold dear-- will be hovering on the edge of the grave.

Up From the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost, is the seventh and final book in the Night Huntress series. A rogue CIA agent is involved in a horrifying secret genetic experiments that threatens to start an all-out war between humans and the undead (vampires, ghouls). Cat Crawfield and her husband, Bones, must race against time to save their captured friends from a fate worse than death. Once the enter the secret underground facility, they discover a secret so profound and shocking that there is no room for mistakes. For Cat to protect everyone she holds dear, she must come out on top against powerful forces who originally wanted her dead.

Frost delivers a spellbinding story that would shake the Night Huntress universe. Fans will be in for a surprising rollercoaster ride when the secrets of the genetic experiments reveals a weapon that could launch an all-out war among the undead. Fortunately, there is a happy ending for Cat Crawfield and her friends even if it means leaving behind everything they knew for survival's sake. From the Ohio countryside to government agent, Cat Crawfield led an adventurous life as a hybrid (half-human/half-vampire) vampire hunter. I will miss her funny and kickass attitude. I am very glad that I picked up this series and highly recommend it to anyone interested in urban fantasy with an erotic/suspense twist.

For reading order, I recommend reading this book before Twice Tempted.