Between the Covers - Book Review #3

The book gods smiled on me this week. I have three books to share with you and no bad reviews.

1) Emma Bull's Finder is a wonderful YA novel set in Bordertown, the land originally created by Terri Windling. (Bordertown is the town between Fairy and our world where humans, elves, and half-bloods exist.) Orient is a finder with a secret. He came to Bordertown after committing a terrible crime in our world. Now he's been commissioned with his friend, Tinker, to find the person who is selling a dangerous drug to humans. The drug "supposedly" will turn a human into a TrueBlood so they can cross the border into Fairy, but in reality, people are dying terrible deaths. This book is filled with wonderful, quirky characters and moves fast. I recommend it.

2) Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner promises to entertain young adults and adults alike. Her take on the world of the Fae and the war between humans and faeries is original and creative. In the town where Liza lives, humans fear magic after The War. Plants and trees left behind by the Fae attack and kill without warning, but in another town, humans have learned that magic is a gift that can be controlled. When Liza's magical talents begin to manifest, she knows she must run away from home before her father kills her like her baby sister. She discovers an entire town filled with people with magical abilities and the secret of what really happened to her mother, a dark secret that will lead her to St. Louis, Missouri and through The Arch into the destroyed world of Faerie. It's been a long time since I've read such an inventive book about Faerie. You will not be disappointed with this one.

3) Tom Piccirilli's The Deceased is brilliantly written. Where other authors use gore simply for shock value, Piccirilli weaves a visceral tale of the gothic and supernatural. It's a whole new animal. Author Jacob Maelstrom returns to his childhood home where ten years ago his sister beheaded his entire family with an axe. Jacob hid in his closet for three days before anyone found him, but he doesn't consider himself a survivor. Haunted by the memories of that night and wondering what happened to his family's heads, as they were never found, Jacob returns to the scene of the grisly murders in hopes of coming to grips with his violent past, but will he cope with the secrets he uncovers? I cannot say enough good things about this novel. It's a must-read for any horror fan. Beautifully written and very emotionally gripping, you have to get this book.