Weekly reads

I finished three books this week that are from some of my favorite series.  These books don’t seem to be getting the attention I think they deserve, so I hope you give them a try and like them as much as I do.

Beastley Bones by William Ritter

This is the second book in the Jackaby novels and I hope there will be a lot more in the future.  Jackaby is a Sherlock Holmes type character who also investigates supernatural beings. The narrator of the story is Abigail Rook, an english girl who has run away from

home to America in the 1890’s.  Abigail becomes Jackaby’s assistant in the first book, and like Watson, is chronicling their adventures.  In this book there have been some dinosaur bones discovered close to their town, and someone has been stealing them and a beast of some sort has been killing people.  Jackaby and Abigail set out to solve the theft as well as the murders, but soon find themselves being stalked by a beast of a different sort.  These books can be a little slow moving at times, but are brilliantly written, and end up being quite fun. I listened to the audiobook for the first one which was also well narrated by Nicola Barber.  A third book, called Ghostly Echoes, will be out in August.

 

Raging Sea by Michael Buckley

Michael Buckley has been one of my favorite authors for awhile.  I really enjoyed his Sister’s Grimm series and although I never finished it, the N.E.R.D.S. series.  Students I recommend these two series to, usually really like them two. So I was thrilled when he started this YA series as I thought his humor and writing style would work well with this audience.  But I just haven’t seen this series receiving the attention it should. The first book, Undertow, was  full of government conspiracies and cover-ups, intriguing otherworldly sea creatures called Alphas (read mer-people, but not really) and a young heroine, Lyric Walker, who is only trying to save and protect the people she loves. Lyric’s adventures continues in this second novel, and although the pace is a little slower, it is just as well written and full of twists and turns as

the first.  Lyric finds her parents, who she lost in the battle at the end of the first book, at a top secret camp in Texas.  The people holding them will only release them if she agrees to help them destroy the Rusalka, evil sea creatures from the deep that are very hard to kill.  I should probably mention that Lyric is half alpha and possess powers to control water and to kill the Rusalka.  There is alot going on in both these books, lots of subplots and yes, romance, but it is a great read.  Plus aren’t the covers awesome! There will be a third and final book coming out sometime next year.

 

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

This was probably my favorite book of the week.  I just absolutely love every book this author has written, and I have read or listened to them many times over.  Her Seven Realms series is one of my top five favorites of all times. And I was so excited when she went back to this world to write another series.  This is the first book in a planned four book series.  Flamecaster starts 25 years after the Seven Realms series ends.  Although I was hoping to see more of the characters from the original series, this one involves the next generation.  Ash is the son of the Queen of the Grey Wolf Throne and he is in hiding because of the war with Arden.  The King of Arden wants his family dead. Ash has vowed that he will kill the King himself.  Jenna is an orphan working in a coal mine in Delphi, but is also part of the resistance fighting the king of Arden.  She has a mage mark on her neck that both protects her and draws unwanted attention from powerful people.  There is magic in this world that Chima has created, although it is different from magic seen in other books.  It was this magic and the fact that most wizards were not nice people that drew me into the first series.  The kingdom of Arden, sees wizards as evil demons that must be cleansed of their magic (burned) although the King is not above using collared wizards to do some of his fighting.  This is a  great fantasy adventure that truly deserves more attention than it receives.