Have Stakes Will Travel: Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock

Have Stakes Will Travel: Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock (2012) Faith Hunter

This is a collection of Jane Yellowrock short stories, some of which were published elsewhere, but I love short story collections, so I sprung for this, and two other collections.

The stories are:
WeSa and the Lumber King
Haints
Signatures of the Dead (2009) published in Strange Brew
Cajun with Fangs

The story “WeSa and the Lumber King” is the only story I’ve read that is told from Beast’s point-of-view. It is set in “the Hunger Times” when Beast was in control, and white men were clear-cutting the Appalachian mountains. It’s interesting, an entire story written from Beast’s point-of-view and set in a time when Jane was still we sa, or little bobcat. Jane is still quite young in this story, although it’s hard to gauge an age, since Beast is in control.

“Haints” is told from Molly’s point of view. Molly is asked to remove a haunting from a house, but things are far more complicated than they first seem (which is how Molly ended up with the job). It’s also where Jane and Molly meet Detective Paul Braxton.

“Signatures of the Dead” is also told from Molly’s point-of-view and is the first Jane story I read. A group of rogues are torturing and murdering people, and Brax wants Molly to help him get an idea of how many rogue vamps there are.

This story is referred to several times in the series, although you don’t have to have read the story to enjoy the series.

Both stories occur before the first book, Skinwalker.

The last story, “Cajun with Fangs” is set between Raven Cursed and Death’s Rival. Jane has ended her contract with Leo, but when she wanders into a small Louisiana town, she gets entangled in a feud between the local vamps and witches.

It also shows how Jane keeps getting sucked back into Leo’s employ. She needs Leo or law enforcement to give an okay before vamps can be killed, and Leo is a lot faster.
This is a nice collection, and a good introduction to Jane’s world.
Rating: 8.5/10

Published by Roc

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