X-Rated Bloodsuckers (2007) Mario Acevedo
Felix Gomez went to Iraq a soldier but returned a vampire, so with his unique skill set, decided that becoming a private eye would be the best career he could make.
He’s good enough that he can choose the cases he wants, but is intrigued when Katz Meow asks him to discovered [...]

A Fistful of Sky (2002) Nina Kiriki Hoffman
The first time I read A Fistful of Sky, I was at loose ends and thought I’d just flip through a couple pages and see if that was what I wanted to read.
I ended up reading the entire book in a single sitting.
When I picked up the book [...]

Through a Glass, Darkly (2006) Donna Leon
I’ve been trying to slowly read–to savor–Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti books. However, being home sick I’ve read through several in the past couple days, and having finished Through a Glass, Darkly have only one published paperback left. (There are a couple of books that were not republished in the [...]

B.P.R.D. Vol 3: Plague of Frogs (2005) Mike Mignola and Guy Davis
I have to admit I was a tad bit disappointed when I saw Vol 3 was a single story and not a collection of short stories. It’s not that I dislike the longer format, it’s simply that I think the short stories are better.
Plague [...]

Friends in High Places (2000) Donna Leon
Apparently, Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti books are not being published in the US following European copyright dates. Friends in High Places has a European copyright of 2000, but was published in the US only recently. Not that this particularly matters in the grand scheme of things, as the Brunetti [...]

Borderland: Where Magic Meets Rock and Roll (1986) edited by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold
The Borderland anthologies contain stories by some of my favorite authors, in this volume Charles de Lint and Ellen Kushner contributed stories, along with Steven R Boyett and Bellamy Bach.
I’ve been a fan of shared world anthologies since Thieves’ World, [...]

Backup (2008) Jim Butcher
At last, we get to see into to mind of someone other than Harry Dresden–and get a glimpse of Harry from the outside–albeit the somewhat adoring eyes of his brother Thomas.
We also get to a glimpse of the interior life of Thomas. He considers himself a monster, but he continues to fight [...]

B.P.R.D. Vol 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories (2004) Mike Mignola, Miles GUnther, Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Augustyn, Guy Davis, Geoff Jones, Scott Kolins, Joe Harris, Adam Pollina & Cameron Stewart
In The Soul of Venice & Other Stories, Mike Mignola invited several other artists and writers to help him write five new tales [...]

Blood from a Stone (2005) Donna Leon
In Donna Leon’s fourteenth Commissario Guido Brunetti book, a vu cumpra is shot down on the street by hired assassins. Brunetti is (eventually) called to the scene, and attempts to unravel why a man selling fake handbags was shot in cold blood on the streets. The more Burnetti tries [...]

Ex Machina Vol 7: Ex Cathedra (2008) Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, Jim Clark, JD Mettler
I’ve been reading Ex Machina for awhile now, and I’ve been pre-ordering the collections since then. I have yet to regret these pre-orders, yet I also feel like the more I read, the less I know about Mitchell Hundred and [...]

The Shape of Mercy (2008) Susan Meissner
I received The Shape of Mercy to review, and when I read the first couple chapters I had a sinking feeling–I don’t typically like books about young women finding themselves. But I knew I’d be getting a sub story about a young Puritan girl who was a victim of [...]

BPRD Vol 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories (2003) Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Tim Sniegoski, Ryan Sook, Curtis Arnold, Brian McDonald, Derek Thompson, Matt Smith
I’ve been enjoying the Hellboy comics, so I thought I’d branch out and check out the B.P.R.D. series. Hollow Earth & Other Stories takes place after the events in Conqueror Worm. [...]

Poison Sleep (2008) T.A. Pratt
Nathan raved about the first Marla Mason book, Blood Engines. I thought the book was good, but nothing really drew me into the story. But Michael liked Blood Engines so I bought the second book, and decided to read it while I was on vacation.
Marla is called out to an emergency [...]

White Corridor (2007) Christopher Fowler
Once again the Peculiar Crimes Unit is in danger of being closed. After Raymond Land decided to close the until for a week’s vacation, a member of the unit is found killed, while Bryant and May are on their way to one of Bryant’s spiritualist conventions.
With Bryant and May out [...]

Harbingers (2006) F. Paul Wilson
The tenth Repairman Jack novel things are beginning to come to a head as finds Jack at odds with the entities that have wreaked such havoc in his life.
Abe is still trying to find a new identity for Jack, and a way for him to reenter society. But Jack himself is [...]

Doctored Evidence (2004) Donna Leon
A querulous old woman is killed in her apartment, and suspicion automatically falls upon the maid. Scarpa closes the case, but when Brunetti comes back into town, new evidence–that Scarpa wants to dismiss unheard–comes to light.
This book is not just about discovering who killed a nasty old woman and why, it [...]

Uniform Justice (2003) Donna Leon
I really like Commissario Guido Brunetti. I like his sense of justice and fairness. I like his intelligence and wit. And I like his wife. In fact I think I wish I was Paola.
A boy is found dead in the local military school, and it’s immediately filed as a suicide. [...]

Hellboy Vol 5: Conqueror Worm (2002) Mike Mignola
I believe I’ve mentioned previously that I prefer Mike Mignola’s shorter Hellboy stories than the longer stories.
The Conqueror Worm is a longer story.
It’s not that the story is bad–it’s not. My problem is that the longer stories tend to wander more and get more confusing as they go. [...]

Hands of Flame (2008) C.E. Murphy
The third and (for now) final story in the Negotiator story arc finds Margrit dealing with a conflict between the Old Races that is turning into an out-and-out war.
A war that Margrit inadvertently started.
Although I was quickly sucked into the story, and tore through the book to find out what [...]