Deadly Intent – Kylie Brant

Publisher’s Summary:
“Forensic linguist Macy Reid is an expert on kidnapping, having been abducted when she was a child. So, she is the perfect investigator to be called in when a Denver tycoon’s eleven-year-old daughter is abducted-for the second time. But Macy’s biggest stumbling block may be a member of her own team: Kellan Burke, the wise-cracking, rule- breaking investigator who relishes getting under Macy’s skin-and who just may be the man to help her confront the demons from her past.”

Rather than detracting from its appeal, the formulaic nature of romantic suspense is a great comfort. Knowing what to expect allows me to adjust my expectations, effectively putting a blinder on my critical eye. After reading Kylie Brant’s Deadly Intent, though, I realized that I had made an incorrect generalization: it’s not romantic suspense as a whole I find comforting, it’s particular authors writing within the genre. With this novel, I found myself going through the motions, turning pages without investment, and receiving no payoff to speak of at its conclusion.

Being a somewhat standard feature of the formula, having the heroine and hero grapple with the fallout from a previous affair – be it a one night stand or a long-standing relationship – typically does not put me off my stride. After all, misunderstanding breeds conflict. But here’s my caveat: it shouldn’t be that transparent. The misunderstanding, or whatever causes the dissolution of the couple’s previous relationship, should have enough depth to make the antagonism that flares up between the h/h when they find themselves once again in each other’s company a justifiable reaction. That was not the case here. Once revealed, the reason for Kell’s get-under-her-skin banter and Macy’s furious, internal denials of Kell’s supposed charms could not support five pages of that behavior, let alone the two hundred plus that was devoted to it. As a result, I did not care about them as a couple, making the eventual resolution of their relationship a moot point.

Macy’s unique profession (forensic linguist) initially drew me to the book, but it played such a small role in the story as to be irrelevant. On the flip side of that coin, the investigation itself, which paired various concentrations of forensic science with good ol’ fashion detective work, wasn’t subtle. And, unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. The characters, most of whom are considered to be at the top of their game, did not come across as sharp, intelligent individuals. Instead, they might have been actors reading a script. They were fed the words, but the intent seemed to be often beyond their grasp. The more I read, the harder it became to suspend my disbelief, but when the kidnapped, traumatized eleven year old showed up the professionals with remarkable displays of ingenuity it became an impossibility.

I can’t say much more, or offer particulars to prove my points without spoiling the plot, but from my perspective, Deadly Intent was built on superficial conflicts, shallow character development, with little romance or suspense present in the story.

Musical Interlude: “Suzy” – Caravan Palace

Another musical confection that I can’t stop listening to. It has a nostalgic feel to it that I adore. That, and it’s impossible to feel anything but happy while listening to it.

Last Breath – Rachel Caine

Publisher’s Summary:
“With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town-a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville’s latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn’t merely human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely?”

With long-running series, it stands to reason that at least one book will rank lower than the others, and that holds true for me: Ghost Town and Bite Club were not duds, per se, but they induced a regrettable sense of hesitancy regarding the future of the series. It would be going too far to say that Last Breath wowed me, but it did, in turn, startle me, worry me and, finally, took a sizeable bite out of the hesitance left in the wake of the last two books. Was Last Breath great? No. But it was pretty dang good.

Rachel Caine excels at keeping the reader off balance. Her Morganville books are no exception; they rely on no holds-barred, cojones to the wall plot lines that will – and inevitably do – run over your favorite characters with all the crushing force of a tank. Nothing is sacred. No one is safe. And the resultant tension is only one reason fans of the series keep coming back for more. This time around, Caine topped her personal best in the Take That! category. Last Breath also sets-up the next chapter in the lives of Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael, and, from where I’m sitting, the inkling we get of what’s in store for the quartet has the potential to elevate this series back to its initial glory.

So what did I like about this installment, gasp-inducing twists aside? First and foremost, Myrnin. That vampire has a troubling affect on my heart; in this book he didn’t just break it, he shredded it. If Caine – who has in recent books given characters other than Claire chapters from their perspective – were to let me inside of Myrnin’s head, the time spent there would do more than tear at my heart: it would make me fall to pieces entirely, I’m sure. It goes without saying, then, that I fiercely covet his perspective, even if it spans no more than a single page.

A look at Myrnin from Shane’s POV:

“He just stood there, Claire’s sad, crazy, manic boss with his handsome pale face and lunatic eyes and stupid damn bunny slippers that had always made her smile.”

I read that sentence so many times I lost count. I got all quivery each time, too. Because with the sad comes his delight; with the crazy comes his sharp intelligence; and with the manic comes his vulnerability. And then there’s his devotion to Claire. The handsome pale face, lunatic eyes, and bunny slippers are just icing on a dynamic, delicious cake.

What else? Shane. Always Shane. And a paragraph on the last page that merited a deep, contented sigh.

There was one thing, though, regarding the alternating perspectives: I kept asking myself, why now? Granted, Shane got a few chapters in the last book, Bite Club, and Claire remained the focus of the majority of Last Breath, but…It’s odd, isn’t it, that Caine decided to utilize multiple points of view ten books into the series? And are we to take away that this formula will remain in place for the remainder of the books in the series? Just a few idle thoughts that distracted me after I’d finished the book.

In the end, it’s nice to be left once again greatly anticipating the next book in the series. That said, Black Dawn, you had best give me more Myrnin, preferably from his own dangerously unstable point of view.

The Edward Gorey House in (a few) Pictures

Ever the passenger, long drives require a thing or two to be palatable: a book that allows me to forget the distance between me and my destination, and/or my iPod, which provides much the same respite. While I may appreciate the occupation, it never fails to provoke a familiar grumble from my family, particularly my husband who, ever the driver, could be heard saying “It’s like I’m in the car by myself” more than once this past weekend as we traveled to the Cape for a friend’s wedding. In my defense, I did set my book aside when the inn was, according to the GPS, thirty minutes away. If not for that, I would have missed the sign entirely. As it is, I barely caught a glimpse, and that glimpse had me scrambling around, yanking impatiently at my seat belt, to get a better look. Because the fact that Edward Gorey lived in Yarmouth Port was buried in a tiny corner of my brain, and it didn’t occur to me to unearth it, but once I saw that sign, well, a visit was inevitable.

There won’t be much commentary accompanying the following pictures. For one, visitors aren’t allowed upstairs, effectively downsizing the house and the time it took to meander through it, as well as the amount of information to pass along. (As a side note: There was no explanation given for the ban – and I’m sure there’s a good one – but it was curious considering the tour guide’s throwaway comment that the second floor was where Gorey dug into his work.) Secondly, my husband and I were stowaways on the tour; we hung back at the beginning, preferring to set our own course, but quickly caught up (again, smallish house) and sort of latched on. Lastly, my memory? Not what it used to be. But I do remember a few of the details and will share those where appropriate.

If you’re up for a mini-tour (of things I found interesting), click on through the cut.

Want NOW: Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers

The Rossetti siblings? Polidori? Supernatural warfare? And that cover? You, sir, can count me in.

Summary from this web site:
“In the winter of 1862, London veterinarian John Crawford learns that his interlude with a prostitute seven years earlier has produced a daughter. The now-reformed ex-prostitute, Adelaide McKee, has recently learned that their lost daughter is still alive—but that the girl’s life and soul are in peril from a vampiric ghost whose murderous attention McKee drew in her bad old days.

The vampire ghost is John Polidori, Lord Byron’s one-time physician and uncle to the poet Christina Rossetti and her brother, the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, both of whose works are supernaturally aided by the influence of Polidori. But when Polidori horribly makes a resurrected vampire of Dante’s wife, and threatens other family members, the Rossettis know that they must find a way to destroy their monstrous uncle, even though it means the end of their best work.

Thrown together with Crawford and McKee, who hope to find and save their fugitive daughter, the Rossettis find themselves plunged into a supernatural London underworld they never suspected. Each of the mismatched four, and the Artful-Dodger-like daughter too—in the midst of shootings and narrow escapes and supernatural warfare — must ultimately choose between stressful life and the unholy immortality that Polidori offers.”

Hide Me Among the Graves will be released on March 13, 2012.

Nanoing My WriMo

I cannot – will not – give myself permission to be sloppy, to push through my project without lingering, without considering, which means that NaNoWriMo’s goal of reaching 50,000 words in a month’s time is an unreasonable expectation. If I were to pursue it, the attempt would likely do me more harm than good.

But 5,000 – perhaps even 10,000 – words, now that’s a goal I can hold myself accountable to.

I wouldn’t turn up my nose at more or less.

So there it is: my statement of intent. I’m in. My abbreviated word count and I are here to stay, November; do your worst.

(Or don’t. Gentle is good, too.)