Emily

The first half of the first book in this series was excellent. It goes downhill from there. I think I am through with this author. I kept hoping to see more of what I really liked in Dragon Bound but I think she put her best first and now it's a real stretch.

It gets 2 stars because, technically, the writing is very good. The author has good pace, nice balance between narrative and dialogue and it is a well constructed story. But that's where it ends.

I just didn't care for the characters. Khalil was interesting -- but it was a little strange that he was a "spirit" who had never made himself into a human. Grace was awful. At one point in the book, she complains about volunteers who help her do yard work (no, it doesn't excuse it because she thinks to herself that she might be ungrateful for complaining).

In the big scheme of things, raising your sister's kids is not that big of a deal -- I know many people who are raising their sister/brother/child's kids and consider it a privilege.

I really don't understand why Grace couldn't get a job...?? Because she had a bum knee from a car accident? I worked as a single mom. I didn't complain and I didn't expect people to show up and do my yard work for free. And if they had, I sure as heck would not have grumbled about them not working hard enough. Geez!

It was a boring story about selfish characters.

This novel could easily be read as a stand alone. I have read most of the Cynster novels and think they are good - some better than others - but this one is my favorite. Her characters are always strong and domineering, but she pairs them with strong and independent women and she creates very credible tensions with real relationship issues to sort through.
Her technical writing skills are superb. My only (very minor) complaint is that her love scenes go for a long, long time. I just skip forward a few minutes to cut out some of it.
The narration on this novel was excellent. He's not the same one who did most of the Cynster novels, which was fine with me. I think since this is a different series (even though there are some appearances by some Cynsters) a new voice makes sense and he did a great job.
Highly recommend this novel, even if you haven't ever read anything by this author before. But, be forewarned, she does write fairly explicit love scenes and this is first and foremost, a romance.

i enjoyed the lead character in this book. She was flawed and interesting. Nice, quality writing paired with a good 'who done it' and some interesting relationships mixed in. It's not your typical factory novel, but it still has some predictable paths, which was just fine for me. A good read to pass the time while cleaning the house or driving to work.

And the narration was top notch - very well done.

You have got to write more books, or longer books. It's too hard to wait in-between.

I loved this book. I loved your last book, and the one before that... but they are too short! It's like having to end dinner at the restaurant after they've given you your appetizer.

So, please, please write more. I'll come do your dishes if it means you could spend more time writing.

For all listeners...if you are undecided or have never heard of this author, get the book. It's excellent and you won't be disappointed. Crais' novels appeal to readers of many different genres - thrillers, murder/mystery, human interest, crime drama, spy novels, romance, etc.

Technically, the book is flawlessly written. And Crais has a rare talent for timing, dialog and internal narration that keeps the story moving and keeps the reader hooked. His characters are honorable and flawed and you end up caring about them greatly - this is hard to do, and just about no one does it as well as Crais.

Excellent book, excellent author -- he just needs to write MORE, please! :)

(And please write more with Joe Pike - he's my fav.)

I recently discovered this author duo. I picked up the series with 'Still Life with Crows,' though I skipped 'Cemetery Dance' (can't tolerate animal cruelty) based on what reviewers said.

I especially like how smart the writing is and the unexpected twists and turns. The protagonist seems to pull off Rambo-like feats, but without the "Rambo" cliche. He has faults and makes mistakes, but credibly still manages to triumph -- and he does it with true honor.

The secondary characters are very well developed and provide great color to the stories.

This particular installment is excellent! Though the Helen trilogy books are my favorites. I think you could pick this one up and read it as a stand alone, but it would probably be more meaningful if you went back to at least 'Still Life with Crows.'

The narrator is absolutely excellent. In a rare class.

I am a huge fan of Dan Ariely. I have read his previous two books (predictably irrational) multiple times and recommended them to friends and co-workers. And he continues that same work in this book by describing the experiments he's done that deal mostly with honesty. Many of the experiments are repeats from what he has described in previous books -- which was okay with me, because I like to hear about them again.

If he had stuck with the same format as his previous books and described his clinical work only, that would have been best. But, he goes on to offer explanations of why he thinks people are dishonest and of course, none of that can be supported with any evidence.

And he makes some pretty big leaps to conclusions on why people do what they do in the experiments he conducts. It's one thing to measure the outcome, but his conclusions (while put forth as speculation) are not based on anything but his own reasoning and logic. Which may turn out to be true, but the fact is there is no way (at this time) to determine the "why" and just because that's what he thinks does not make it so.

(ie - the sun rises around the same time each morning. Good, we've established this as a fact. Now, for the why...well because it's driven by a god in a charriot, of course. At least that's what some people believed thousands of years ago, but that didn't make it true.)

We have no way of knowing why people cheat and lie. Yes, he can measure that we do and that it gets worse or better under different conditions, but it's a big, big leap from that place to saying they do it because of X. There is no way to know X. At least not at this time. So he shouldn't speculate -- even when he doesn't state it as a fact it still comes off as if he's sure he's got the right answer for the why.

I wanted to like this book. Really tried. The writing is strong and fluid with a good mix of dialog and narrative. But the story and the characters were just...boring. No spark, no surprise, no conflict. Even the threat from the bad guys was ho-hum. You could see from the beginning how the book would end. Predictable. I give it 2.5 stars and have to round up.

This was my first child/preston novel and I liked it. The main character Pendergrast is very interesting. Had to skip past some of the more gory details of the murders but other than that it was a good mystery. Well written.

I like this series more than any other -- the books are great. The characters are witty and compassionate. The writing is smart, snappy and fun. The women are strong and powerful -- no whiners. But they're also soft and happy to love the right man. It's a good balance. And the conflict the author has created in her world between the characters is very credible -- and very clever.

The world the author builds at first seems interesting and it is a different take on vampirism. Though this different interpretation quickly shows itself to be severely flawed.

Main premise of the world: vampires are all bad and give in to blood lust -- the immortal guardians protect "innocent" humans from the vampires.

The 'altruistic guardians' and 'evil vampires' are flimsy, predictable (and not in a good way) and completely unbelievable. (The guardians even all look alike -- black hair and brown eyes -- how boring!)

The author has the guardians and vampires only killing "bad" humans. (There must be a lot of pedophiles in this author's world. I myself have never known one, but they seem to be ubiquitous and abundant in this book. Whenever someone needs to feed, there just happens to be a pedophile nearby. So convenient.)

The book has numerous plot holes. This is not surprising for a new author, but can be distracting nonetheless. ie - in the opening scene, the heroine rescues the hero then takes him to her house just a hundred yards away. She left the "bad guys" knocked out just outside. The hero and heroine promptly fall asleep in her house and stay there all day. Now, wouldn't any half intelligent person think that the "bad guys" might follow the copious trail of blood they left leading to her house?! This possibility wasn't even mentioned, let alone explained why the most logical thing didn't happen. There is another major plot hole at the end, but it would be a spoiler so I won't detail it.

The final irritation -- and main reason why I won't read more by this author -- is her preachy attitude. From the opening scene to the closing scene, she constantly preaches about organic food and cleaners. If you don't believe in these things (which I happen to support, but don't appreciate lectures about) then you will be made to feel like a bad human deserving of being food for a vampire.

The author also seems to be very sure of herself in claiming innocence or sin in a person. Most of her protagonists can tell just by looking at someone if they are "innocent."

Well...there is no such thing as "innocence" and the author acting as jury, judge and executioner, through her characters, is highly annoying.

There are several references to the christian bible -- as if the bible really is true in this paranormal world and even predicted the alien guardians. (That was creepy.)

Every time I read a new author that disappoints me, I tell myself I won't do that again, but that never sticks and a few weeks later...there I am reading another new author. So, this time, I won't bother saying it. I guess I'd never be delighted by a new author if I didn't keep trying.

This author might do it for some, but not for me. Hope this review helps you. Happy reading!