FREE Vicki Pettersson E-Book Download

 Check out what was sent to me from Vicki Pettersson's publisher...

"We are offering a FREE E-BOOK DOWNLOAD of Vicki Pettersson’s first “Signs of the Zodiac” novel, THE SCENT OF SHADOWS.

For anyone who’s not familiar with Vicki, this is the perfect opportunity to get to know her writing. She’s a former Vegas Showgirl turned New York Times bestselling Urban Fantasy writer. There’s a great interview with her in LAS VEGAS WEEKLY if you’d like to learn more.

And mark your calendars for the release of her latest, CHEAT THE GRAVE, out on 5/25"

 This is a great offer to check out Ms. Pettersson's first Joanna Archer novel and get on board for the series itself!  Feel free to copy the links and spread the word by putting them on your blogs as well.  Also, please check out my forthcoming review of Cheat the Grave as well.


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Best of Paranormal/Urban Fantasy - 2009

Going to do something different here. Since everyone's doing their "end of the year lists," I thought I'd post what I thought were the best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy books of 2009. Some I had the chance to review, some not, but they are all GREAT books! Now, I fully expect some of you to disagree wholeheartedly. If you do, please comment and tell me where you think I went wrong. Here goes, starting with #10.

10. Vanished (Greywalker, Book 4) (August 2009) - Kat Richardson – Ms. Richardson continues to get better and better with each book, and Vanished is her best to date. If this series is new to you I recommend picking up all the title to follow her hero Harper Blaine.








9. Night's Cold Kiss: A Dark Brethren Novel (August 2009) – Tracey O’Hara – I love it when first time authors hit it out of the park and Ms. O’Hara definitely hit a home run with this one. She did this by doing my favourite thing and bringing something new to the Urban Fantasy genre. The struggles that Antoinette Petrescu goes through and how she changes from start to finish are nothing short of amazing.






8. Street Magic (Black London Bk. 1) (June 2009) - Caitlin Kittredge – The story of Pete Caldecott and Jack Winters. This is one of those titles where the story grabs you by the throat (or more sensitive bits) and refuses to let go. Great Read.








7. Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) (August 2009) - Patricia Briggs – The story of Charles Cornick (Alpha Werewolf) and his mate Anna Latham (Omega Werewolf) continues to grow and get better with each story. Ms. Briggs has set this in her Mercy Thompson universe, so it’s given her a chance to further expound on werewolf culture and society.







6. City of Souls (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 4) (June 2009) -Vicki Pettersson – Joanna Archer is still trying to correct her mistake that’s left her Changeling damaged in a most heinous way. With the introduction of Midheaven and finding a way for her character to get out of Las Vegas, not to mention the emotional gut-wrenching scenes….this book will suck you in. Check out my review here.






5. Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Book 17) (June 2009) – Laurell K. Hamilton – This is how I missed my Anita Blake stories. Being in a thrill ride from start to finish. I mean the book starts with a decapitated head being sent to her. Great stuff showing that Ms. Hamilton is definitely back a the top of her game.








4. Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, Book 1) (July 2009) – Faith Hunter – Doing something I’ve never read before by almost having her character Jane have multiple personalities. Well, Jane does, Beast lives inside of her and gets to be Alpha when Jane shifts. Using Cherokee folklore and expounding on it is a great ride. Highly recommended. Please check out my review here.







3. Tempest Rising (Jane True Bk. 1) (November 2009) - Nicole Peeler – I completely meant what I wrote in my review of this: It is a Gem of a first novel. Plus, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a supernatural that almost no one has ever written about before. With a fast paced story it leaves you wanting the sequel Tracking the Tempest as soon as you finish. Also the greatest cover to grace the shelves this year. Please check out my full review here.






2. White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows, Book 7) – Kim Harrison – Still heartbroken over the death of her lover Kisten six months previous, Rachel vows to find out who did it. Considering she was there and cannot remember that’s a bit of a stumbling block, but it’s coming back to her. With the help of her Vampire partner Ivy and Pixie partner Jenks she’s going to get to the bottom of it if it kills her. Kim Harrison never disappoints.






1. Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4)(February 2009) – Patricia Briggs – Finally Patricia Briggs gets moved into hardbound. Mercy trying her very best to maneuver in both Vampire and Werewolf politics finds out that’s easier said then done. In one of those worlds were most of the “monsters” have come out Ms. Briggs does an awesome job of keeping her world as realistic as possible. Truly, my favourite book of 2009.






My Honourable Mentions for this year, in no particular order this time, are:

Mark of the Demon (My Review's here) - Diana Rowland

Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) - Ilona Andrews











Darkness Calls (Check out my review here) - Marjorie Liu











The Better Part of Darkness - Kelly Gay (review forthcoming)











Blood Kin (Blood Lines Bk. 3)(Check out my review here) - Maria Lima











Demon Mistress (Otherworld)(Check out my review here) - Yasmine Galenorn











Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld, Book 10) - Kelley Armstrong

All of these novels are well worth your time and money. There’s nothing but standouts here. I do not think one of the books mentioned in this post will disappoint.

City of Souls - Sign of the Zodiac Bk 4 - Vicki Pettersson

In neon strewn city of Las Vegas, a war rages. An unseen war by mortals, but the fate of the world itself hangs in the balance. Surprisingly, to herself most of all, Joanna Archer has become the most important player in this battle. She is the Kairos, and it is written that she is destined to either help the Light or the Dark finally defeat the other. The trick is that no one knows which side Joanna will come down on since she herself is both a child of Light and Dark.

Joanna is the Archer for the Zodiac troop 175, a Troop of the Light. Unfortunately, in the last novel of Joanna's adventures The Touch of Twilight she "broke" her Changeling Jasmine. By splitting her chi with Jasmine the young girl has gained new powers, while Joanna has grown weaker, and refuses to give them up and grow up. Her younger sister Li was supposed to take her place as Joanna's Changeling, but with Jas refusing to proceed with puberty, Li slips further and further away. This has caused a major imbalance and already broken the city's safe zones for the Light. The Light side's manuals (comic books to you and me) are no longer being written anymore either. If Li dies then the Light will surely follow her as they become weaker and weaker without their manuals being written and their legends no longer growing in the mind of the young.

Joanna has been told that there is only one place where she may be able to fix things, Midheaven. A world ruled by women, and hidden from mortal eyes, where the price of admission is a piece of your very soul. Once there she must find Jaden Jacks, the only other person to ever "break" one of the Changelings before. Unfortunately for Joanna, Jacks has not been seen since he corrected the problem. The leader of Troop 175, Warren, believes that Jacks and his Changeling escaped to Midheaven leaving both sides to continue their war without them. Joanna must find a way to "fix" everything she's broken. If she fails in this mission, the
fourth Zodiac sign will not come to pass and the Dark will soon take over.

I love Vicki Pettersson's novels and short stories for a myriad of different reasons. She's taken something very old (the signs of the Zodiac) and put her own spin on it. Having superheroes and villains running about beneath our very noses, fighting battles, and influencing us, is a truly imaginative stroke of writing. City of Souls (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 4) continues building upon the mythology of Pettersson's world. Joanna deals with situations the way any of us would if we all woke up one day and discovered we could lift a car or jump to the roof of a two story building. She's strong yet vulnerable and with Pettersson writing her as a hybrid of both Light and Dark you're left to wonder which way Joanna as the "Kairos" will go. Will she turn out to be our savior or our damnation?

At times Pettersson does get a bit bogged down in her own mythology and forgets the story she's telling in the present. Plus, just from my ex comics shop owner side, she does forget that people buy and read back issues of comics (manuals) and trade paperbacks (bound volumes of issues) all the time. I used to sell people stacks of back issues and they would happily read them if there were no new comics around. The back issues and trade paperbacks of the manuals should provide for some strength for the Light, but they're never mentioned in City of Souls (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 4). Generally Ms. Pettersson is spot on with her comic book bits and the people who frequent comic shops, I just believe that this was an oversight on her part.

All in all, City of Souls (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 4) is a great read. Taking Joanna out of her comfort zone of Las Vegas was wonderful to read. One of the best things I can say about all of the Sign of the Zodiac series is that Ms. Pettersson takes a known mythology, reinterprets it, and completely owns her version of it. She also does a skillful job of reminding you of what has passed without boring the reader who already knows. It feels like a refresher course you're glad to take if you read as many novels as I do in between her books.

City of Souls (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 4) receives a Good rating from me, 3 stars out of 4.

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