Burning Water

Diana Tregarde Investigation Series, Book 1

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Traci Odom

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Dallas Police Detective Mark Valdez isn't just any cop, he's a psychic who knows that the cattle mutilations and torture murders he's been investigating are somehow tied together. He also knows that his meager psychic abilities aren't enough to identify the killers, much less stop them.

Luckily, Mark has an ace up his sleeve: an attractive young romance novelist who happens to be a practicing witch. And not just any witch, either - Diana Tregarde is a Guardian, charged with protecting the Earth and all its creatures.

Using modern science and ancient magics, Diana and Mark discover that they are tailing no ordinary serial killer but the awakened avatar of an Aztec god. Tezcatlipoca and his four beautiful handmaidens are preparing for a great sacrifice that will transform North America into a new Aztec realm.

Diana isn't sure her powers are strong enough to take on those of a risen Aztec god, but she has no choice. As a Guardian, she is sworn to protect mankind, even at the cost of her own life. Luckily, she does not stand alone. Mark Valdez is more than just a cop. And Tezcatlipoca is not the only Aztec god walking in the world.

©1989, 2018 Mercedes Lackey (P)2019 Tantor

One of the Better Fantasy Novels I've Found Lately

The story was fairly well constructed, better than the other series' I've tecently tried out. I finished this one, and I'll get the second book. There were some overly convenient plot twists, and some turns in conversation that stumbled rather than flowed. There was the usual lack of understanding about multiple organized religions that you tend to see in a humanist work. I'd be more willing to let it go as the character's perspective except that the one speaking was supposed to be an expert. Instead, it comes off as a lack of research.

It was a bit surreal to read a book set in the '80's, since it seems like it should be relatively close in time to now (I was a small child when this was originally published), but the world of the book is so different from 2019. It was interesting, in it's own way, to realize how much the US has changed in a few decades.

Regarding the narration, for the first couple sentences, I honestly thought it was a computer reading. The narrator did pick up some emotive qualities as it went on, but she's by no means Tantor's best reader. The battle scenes and climax were particularly noticeable in their lack of emotion. I recommend the reader listen to someone like James Marsters and take a few more acting lessons. And work on her enunciation. When she did male voices such as the Chief, she tended to mumble, and I had to keep going back and replaying to figure out what she was saying.

Despite my technical issues with the audiobook, I will definitely be buying Book 2 as soon as I finish this review. It's been a while since I found a new urban fantasy story that actually kept me wondering what's going to happen next (as opposed to being able to surmise the whole book from the first couple chapters). On to Book 2 and another adventure!

Ignore the bad pronunciation and you will enjoy it

This is another book I read year ago. I had forgotten most of it and it was a great listen. the pronunciations for many words, terms and names were off...some really bad. But, if you can get over that, it is a really fun book.

Interesting Urban Fantasy

3.5 stars.

The protagonist is a strong female investigator with a hinted-at deep backstory. The plot is interesting and its timing is more reasonable than that of most police novels, taking weeks to resolve rather than hours. The magical version of the world shown in the novel is coherent and deep.

And yet, with all those virtues, the story seems to lack vitality. Tregarde is rather sketched in and never really engages me, and her partner seems likewise to be a bit flat.

Not Lackey's strongest work, but decent.

NB: The use of "ack emma" for a.m. by several of the characters is an affectation. It's a British slang phrase from WWI and certainly not common in 1980s US slang. I found its use really distracting here.

I would probably be better if it was updated.

I bought this because I remember loving it when I was a teenager, about 40 years ago. While I understand that books are a product of the time and culture in which they were written, some of the language and stereotypes used in this book made me pretty uncomfortable. They were things that could easily be changed without changing the story and may make it more palatable for a modern audience.

Nice change from princesses and fancy horses

I have read/heard quite a bit of Mercedes Lackey's works and had grown a bit tired of the fancy horse series. This is a breath of fresh air and a complete change. Her usual well researched descriptions and magnetic story line makes this a great beginning to a new obsession.

love this series

This series was always 20 years ahead of its time. Occult/ Paranormal mystery at best!

love everything by Mercedes Lackey!

So glad to find another Diana Tregarde book. Thanks Audible. Can't wait to get another.

A great story overall, but ...

I've been a long time fan of Mercedes Lackey and Diana Tregarde so, naturally, I enjoyed this audiobook. Only one thing detracted from it, however, and that was Traci Odom's reading. On the whole it was quite well done, both in terms of inflection and character accents, but Odom had a marked tendency to vary her volume significantly. Her baseline was good and Odom could raise her voice when needed for effect but when she went soft, generally as part of characterization, she was so quiet that I could barely hear her at all.

Magic comes with responsibility... great book!!!

Love thus author!!! She creates a great and amazing world!!! This series gives wonderful vivid mind magic as the problems get figured out and ‘magically fixed!’

As good as I remember

Read most of the author's urban fantasy years back and I am glad to see them produced as audio books so I can enjoy them again.