Voodoo and Nuns

Sadly, not in the same book.

'Black Heart Loa' by Adrian Phoenix is the second book in a new UF series and I think, surprisingly, that I enjoyed it more than the first, although it did get a little busy. There were times when I felt there was just too much going on, but, once the various plot threads started to interweave themselves into a single narrative, it fairly galloped along. Ms. Phoenix's world is built on a combination of voodoo and Celtic folklore, which is an interesting combination and one that really works for me. Unfortunately, the relationships between the characters are such that it would be difficult for a new reader to jump in with book two and know who was what to whom and how and why.

I recently read Tess Gerritsen's 'The Silent Girl' and realized that I really liked the Rizzoli & Isles novels, but that there were several I hadn't read. I dug 'The Sinner' out of my towering stack of "I'll get around to that someday" books. This was one of the earlier novels in the series and it was interesting to see the seeds of elements that would bear fruit in later books (hello, Father Brophy). Gerritsen has allowed her protagonists to grow and change a lot over the course of the series and has made sure that Rizzoli and Isles were always as interesting as the cases they were investigating. And, this one was quite interesting, involving, as it did, nuns and lepers. Oh, and one of the nuns had had a baby, which always adds an element of either interest or squick, depending on your sensibilities. I, personally, lean toward interest--or. perhaps, morbid fascination.

'Sorry' by Zoran Drvenkar was interesting. I wasn't particularly keen on the prose, nor on the shifting POV, and the characters never really engaged me, but I liked the concept and the twisty-turny path the narrative took. It was, ultimately, worth the time spent reading, but I'm glad I didn't pay the hardcover cover price for it.

And, that's me. All caught up now. I can get back to one or two books per post, rather than these weird group things I've been doing. And to try to never dig myself this big of a hole again.