Show Dog Sings the Blues by Devin O'Branagan - minireview

Show Dog Sings the Blues
Devin O'Branagan
from the world of Red Hot Property

Cover - I love the covers of Devin O'Branagan books.  There are many self published books that have very weird looking art on them, almost like the worst possible computer characters being used as models, and they usually just look bad....making me NOT want to open the book.  I'm sure you've seen them..But O'Branagan does not make that mistake.  Nope - she uses either a beautiful Aussie Shepherd, or a very sexy high heel shoe, or a couple of roses dramatically placed....Very classy covers.  This is no exception.  Just look at that dog.  Beautiful.  

Devin O'Branagan wrote a duo of novels featuring Molly, a newly single mother and her daughter.  The first book was the story of how Molly makes a new life for her daughter and herself, gets a license as a real estate broker and has many scenes of house showings weaved into a story of a woman's coming of age, or rather growing into her own.  That book was Red Hot Property and was a good mix of humor and real life.  There was a sequel, Red Hot Liberty that was just as fun to read.  I mention them, because Talisman is a very pampered dog owned by one of the secondary characters, and later ended up in Molly's small family.   There is a third novel coming, by the way - but in the meantime...

Show Dog Sings the Blues features a short story of Talisman, aka Tali, aka dog diva supreme (I made that up) and her visit to see her sister.  See Tali is so pampered that her first owner made sure she had regular spa visits, massages, visits with a pet psychic, etc and when Tali ended up in Molly's family Molly and daughter continued the regimen, which included regular visits with her sister, who lived a completely different lifestyle.

Tali's sister is a working dog - a dog that works on a ranch, herding sheep and helping the ranch hands with all kinds of the jobs that make a ranch function.

Except that on this one particular visit, Tali and her sister end up mixed up - a case of mistaken identity.  While her sister, who loves being a working ranch dog has to endure a day of pampering and watching through the window Tali ends up having to work the day away, not know how to handle each particular job.  The ranch hand she's left with doesn't realize she's not her sister and can't figure out why his new boss says the dog is such a good working dog - she seems kind of crazy to him.  And the other farm animals of course can tell Tali isn't the right dog so some of them challenge her and some of them just don't seem to respect her - especially this one kitten who decides she's a new best friend.

The book is a fun read, and though I would never dream of pampering my dog the way Tali is pampered, it's kind of funny to read about Tali and her....very spoiled ways.  Her sister - way more down to earth and happy with her life, was a good counterpoint to Tali.

If you're looking for a fun short read, Show Dog Sings the Blues is a fun one, written in Tali's pov. I had fun reading it. 

It's Monday....and I'm back - sort of.

Here we are again - it's a Monday.  I've never been crazy about Mondays, even during the summer on my work "vacation" (in this case, meaning two months without pay, meaning we don't actually get to go anywhere...{boohoo} would be nice to be able to afford to go even on a small trip.  I'm hoping to make a day trip to the beach soon).  Because even during the summer, each Monday brings me closer to the start of another year of working - which I used to love, but now the only thing I like about it is the kids - definitely, I haven't been enjoying one of my supervisors.  But then - at least I get to do some things that are fun.  The library work is fun.  Lunch duty - while frustrating at times, can still be fun, especially when the kids are all playing and enjoying the day.   I know I'm sounding a little em0 about things - but it's a passing thing.

I missed the last Monday post because of some emotional dips - I lost a grandfather (he was 106 years old), who I was only able to see a few times - and even then only because other people paid for me to fly to Panama twice.  For that I'm completely grateful.  But it's kind of sad to know he's gone, and to know that my mom has taken it very hard.  But life goes on for the rest of us, so far anyway.  So we all need to make the most of our lives, which is something I've been trying to do - and trying to remind my husband for at least 25 years (we've been married for 34 years, but he's turned into a bit of a bitter guy when life gets tough-and that's hard to live with - shit, now I'm sounding bitter, damnit!)

So let's get to it! Enough with the Emo Nemo shit.

But now - it's time for...  It's Monday, What Have You Been Reading? hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Unfortunately, I can't link yet to a Monday post for Book Journey, so I'll temporarily link to the Book Journey site.

In the last two weeks I finished reading: 

**remember - click on covers for excerpts or website**

Sabaska's Tale

by J.A. Campbell

teen fantasy (with the coolest horse ever).  At first available as an e-book, you can now purchase this in print, via CreateaSpace.  Worth buying people, especially if you AND any teens in the family like horses! (and good writing)

On Basilisk Station

by David Weber

SciFi (the first Honor Harrington novel)

I enjoyed it - even with the occasional lengthy explanations of...stuff. ;)

Pretty Sacrifices

by Devin O'Branagan

Y/A,UF (post pandemic plot)

Show Dog Sings the Blues

by Devin O'Branagan

(What if your show dog gets mixed up with her sister, the working ranch dog?) A fun novella.

at website (remember to click on cover) scroll down for the excerpt

Roil

by Trent Jamieson

fantasy (OMG - what a strange world!)

What a strange, weirdly good book.

My Current Reads:

I'm currently reading a book on my Kindle - the second Honor book, The Honor of the Queen, which seems to be slower going than the first...Just when I thought I was done....here comes more.  Which is okay - because it's pretty interesting.

I'm also working on another David Weber book - one in print, called In Fury Born - it's a book and a prequel all packaged into one thick novel.  Unfortunately - THIS one seems to have way more lengthy

info dumps for such things as weapons, military positioning, political background, the inner thoughts of Alicia's pleasure or displeasure of her weapons, etc.  That makes it hard for me to keep going, but I want to -because I know if I can get through that, there's action coming up.  I finished the prequel part, and that was pretty good....but I just keep dozing off when I'm reading those damned pesky info-dumps.  Damnit! Weber - ease up on those, huh?  Click on the cover for the prologue - this is why I want to keep reading....

One more book that I'm taking in smallish doses - 
The First Casualty
by Mike Moscoe aka Mike Shepherd
Interesting SciFi, telling a story from two main character's pov.
No excerpt from Shepherd's website - which needs to be updated.  According to his book page this is out of print, and yet I just bought it recently at a bookstore - brand new, not used. 

Well - that's enough for now.  I'm tired, frankly.

Pretty Sacrifices by Devin O'Branagan - review

Pretty Sacrifices
Devin O'Branagan
Legend of Glory #2
Y/A, urban fantasy
2013
available both as e-book and print

cover - I like this cover; it's stark, with just the two roses, and the blood in the shape of a heart.  Dramatic and stark. Good cover.  I also want to note here that this is a good example of self-published book that has been edited with good effect.  you won't find silly typos or any of the mistakes that self-published books became infamous for.  I've noticed that a lot of the e-books are much better now, and I've also noticed that some of the big-publishing houses are letting typos and mistakes through.   hmmmmm......

Pretty Sacrifices is the second from the trilogy Legend of Glory.  I read the first novel, Glory - The Legend Begins, and enjoyed it.  I think I liked this one a little more.  The series is about a young girl and her part in a pandemic of epic proportions.  In the first novel, Glory (main character) has been injected with the only vial of medicine that cures a deadly virus that has been infecting millions.  And now that her blood is the only blood with the cure, she is in immense danger and must find her scientist mother who has been kidnapped and stay out of the clutches of a crazed group of people who have a intense agenda.  They feel a need to deal with overpopulation by causing a pandemic, leaving a select few to re-populate the world.  In Glory, Glory's mission is to find her mother, stay safe and then make her now very rare blood available for a cure for the suffering public.

Pretty Sacrifices deals with the aftermath of this pandemic.  The author touches on some of the ramifications of the pandemic - the economy, the lack of food sources, the changing structures of the schools and governments and how people are coping with this new life and the grief of losing so many loved ones.

In Glory's case, after her blood has been used for a 'vaccine/cure', now she's dealing with her mother who has given up on life.  Because she was one of the developers of the original virus, she feels a deep guilt and depression.  Glory's friends are trying to pull together, but some of the protagonists from the previous books are making a reappearance, trying to disrupt lives and pull people over to the dark side.

Pretty Sacrifices deals with many things, all spirituality of all types plays a large part of the story.  Glory has guardian angels who have made themselves known to her, since she plays an important part in world events, but they're limited in what they can do.  It seems the villians have more on their side than the people who are trying to help people.

Part of the spirituality contains angels, wiccan type of religion, earth mother, Native American beliefs, Catholic religion, vampires, demons an both angels and fallen angels.  It's an interesting mix of characters who all manage to work together.  One of my favorite groups is a small band of vampires who call themselves the goth girls.  They're vampires who have overcome their bloodlust and make it their mission to help people.

Part of the plot involves Glory trying to find her sister, who was kidnapped years ago, to help her mom come out of her depression.  Turns out there's more to the kidnapping than meets the eye.

Time travel plays a large part, long term plans, experiments and fringe groups.  And as with O'Branagan's other works, Australian Shepherds are an important characters - in this case, Hallelujiah the family shepherd who, though grieving for her dead master, loves the rest of the family and helps Glory as much as she can.

I found this to be an engaging read, with strong spirituality threaded through the story along with some interesting characters - one of whom is a four year old.  The four year didn't sound like like any four year old I've ever come across - but then she's a remarkable child in a story of extraordinary characters and times.  The characters are struggling with their respective beliefs - are they going to give up or are they going to keep trying?  Are they going to be optimistic and help others, or are they going to start behaving badly, give up and cause others to suffer?  The story carries a message - be true, be as good as you can be, which is something that many of us need to remember. 

It's Monday, .... and I'm late at this post

I've pretty much been living a nocturnal life - but then I always seem to do that over the summer.  Ever since I was a little kid, I was happy staying up as late as I could.  I didn't want to go to sleep - that prayer that people make kids say at night - "...If I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take..." - might have something to do with it. When you're little, and you're not quite sure about who the "lord" is, and why they want your soul, or even why you want them to take it....and why a kid might die before THEY'RE AWAKE... it's scary stuff.  Made me nervous anyway.  That was just the beginning.  Spending school vacations with a father who mainly worked night shifts had another part to play in this....as well as me later getting jobs that had night shift availability.  I always seem to be more alert and awake from the hours between 4 p.m. and 6 a.m. - but if I have to wake UP at 6 a.m., I tend to feel sullen, resentful and just plain angry at life.  :)  At least until around 4 p.m. 

So now it's summer and even though I spend 8 months or more trying to adjust to a day time schedule for my current work life, it takes mere days to slip right back into the night life.....

So it's time for a Monday post - only I'm very late to it this week.

It's Monday - hosted by Sheila of Book Journey - is where we all get together, or rather, visit other blogs and see what we're all reading.

What I finished reading....

I didn't get a lot of reading done this week.  I feel like I might have forgotten about finishing a book, but of course, can't remember which one.  

The one I do remember is.........

Sabaska's Tale

by J.A. Campbell

This is an e-book, YA/fantasy about a very special horse, a young girl who has recently lost her grandmother, and how she deals with sudden danger and comes out a stronger person in the end.  I enjoyed it a lot.  Any one who loves horses will enjoy this, as the horse is a strong character in this book.   There is travel between worlds, other worlds and being, and some fun mythical creatures....and danger - there is DANGER.   And Campbell writes great fiction! And just look at that beautiful cover - that's the real life Sabaska pictured there.

BTW - there is a contest going on right now for swag to celebrate the release of this novel.

Current Reads

There's one main book that I've been reading, and there's a couple that I've started in my usual book A.D.D. fashion (B.A.D.D.)

The current read is from reading another person's blog, where they (she - why do we do that?  change a single person to 'they' when referring to a blogger or someone we really don't know in person...) had mentioned the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.  I went ahead and picked up the first of the series, luckily they had at B&N, and I bought it before I became irritated enough to impose a book buying ban from B&N - which makes it hard for me to shop since they are the one bookstore that stays open after 6 p.m. in my area - and they're the largest bookstore around.  I'll have to get creative and become for loyal to home-grown bookstores, which while they may be wonderful indie bookstores, don't usually carry a huge variety of novels, especially UF or SciFi, and they aren't open when I feel like moving around (see the nocturnal lifestyle note above, heehee)

Back to the book - I grabbed a copy of...

On Basilisk Station 

by David Weber, 

the first Honor Harrington novel.

Even though there are a few spots here and there where he goes on about politics, or a bit of info-dumping, it's not enough to turn me off from reading, and the rest of the story so far, is interesting enough to keep me engaged - though Honor is almost too perfect.....almost.

Of course, after I buy a print copy of this book, I THEN look it up on the Baen website, where it's available as a free download - the entire book.  Baen does this thing where they offer quite a few of their publications for free downloads.  It bypasses the

whole pirating issue - offering it up.  they also put up a donation button, so if you're feeling like you can, you can offer up some $$ for reading.  I'm going to take advantage of their free library when I'm ready to read the second book.  Then I think I'll keep my future purchases to their website - as far as SciFi novels.  Why pay stores like B&N - where all they care about is selling you a card you can use to save money yet don't actually care about you as a customer (sorry, mini-rant) - when you can buy directly from a company that has been offering free e-copies of their books way before Amazon began offering free downloads?  Sounds like a good company to support.

The next book in the Honor series is The Honor of the Queen, which is also available as a free book.  

Other current/coming reads:

                                           

Pretty Sacrifices by Devin O'Branagan (sequel to Glory)

novella - Show Dog Sings the Blues by Devin O'Branagan

This Case is Gonna Kill Me by Phillipa Bornikova

haha - I wish I had come up with this caption, but I didn't.  It's funny - love it.

Threshold by Devin O'Branagan - review

Threshold

Devin O'Branagan

paranormal thriller

*****

cover - isn't this a cool cover? Very dramatic, lightening, a lake, the suggestion of an opening in the sky...

I've read a few books by Devin O'Branagan and each book is a bit different from the other. Each book carries strong messages and each one deals with spirituality in one form or another. Threshold focuses on spirituality, religion and near death experience, and well as family relationships and prejudices. It's all in there forming an interesting story of a young boy who drowns, the shaman/family friend who saves him and the family and town that is ultimately affected by events that were set in motion from the day of the drowning. In fact, one could say that things had been brewing even before that day...

Cole is the young teen or preteen who drowns; his drowning and near death experience changes his attitude and pulls him into a journey of thought and self discovery. His older sister, Leah is full of anger and angst. She's almost 18 and has been a surrogate parent to Cole and Rachel, the youngest of the family since their mother abruptly left them years ago. Rachel, elementary aged, has portentious dreams and a serious love of all things chocolate. All of O'Branagan's books feature at least one main character dog, and Wigglebutt is the dog star. And then there's the dad, Ty - who is trying his cowboy best to be a good dad, but the kids don't feel the love.

Other strong characters include Elijah, the Native America shaman, who has strong mystical powers yet he's dealing with his own demons of abstaining from alcohol, with a wife and son who have issues.

The seemingly ideal little town, where the inhabitants are close, have their own problems seething under the surface and Cole's drowning and near death experience seems to uncover these problems. Problems such as complacency, bigotry, depression and alcoholism. A hate group seems drawn to the small town, adding to the mix. Elijah's tribe is divided and committing violent acts on some of their own. The Pastor's wife seems full of hate. The Babtist minister seems just as full of non-acceptance...and on top of everything else, Cole - a young almost teen seems determined to sacrifice himself for the good of many others.

Threshold is the story of how things come to a suspenseful and tragic head, and how Cole's family, Elijah's family and the town seem to become damaged and yet still manage to pull together and bounce back.

Some bad things happen to people - some ugly truths are exposed and yet everyone manages to come to an acceptance and forgive each other. So even though parts of this story may seem heartbreaking, there is that thread of optimism that most of us are so good at keeping.

I enjoyed reading this book. I think in one way or another we've all had to deal with one or more of the issues brought up in Threshold. I'd definitely recommend Threshold for a good fiction read with not one, but a few good messages.

Devin O'Branagan is the author of numerous books, including Red Hot Liberty.

Red Hot Liberty

Free e-book! visit here for a chance at Senior Year Bites

Red Hot Liberty

Devin O'Branagan

fiction

available currently

Cover Lovin' - I could never ever, especially at this point in my life, wear a shoe like this. But it would be fun, right? It's so THERE. It's so flamboyant - wonderfully flamboyant and those are for sure some... F=== me heels, pardon my bad language. wink wink. I like this - the all white cover with just the shoe. Nothing else but that sexy shoe. MmmmHMM!

Okay, enough playing around. I'm keeping this review short and sweet because I'm behind in so many, many book reviews...but

Devin O'Branagan is the author a quite a few books, of a variety of subject matter. A complete list can be found at her bookstore website (she also sells a variety of other items-jewelry and dog/cat items), and if you click on that sexy shoe cover, you'll go to Red Hot Liberty's page where you will find quite a few links to excerpts out of the book. It's a nice intro to O'Branagan's writing.

Red Hot Liberty is the sequel to Red Hot Property. It features the return of Molly and co., with the addition of a few more quirky characters. Some VERY quirky characters. One of them a hot British man named Robin. yummy Molly is dealing with a "tween" who is becoming a bit obnoxious in that wonderful way that girl tweens have (moms of girls will know what I mean) she (Molly, not the tween) is being sued by a former client, investigated by the feds, the dog is having romance issues and is depressed, things aren't quite right between Molly and her man, and her life seems to be falling apart. And on top of all that, there is trouble with her ex-husband and some dangerous people who are not happy with him.

As with the previous novel, Devin O'Branagan has written a novel with interesting plot and sub-plots that also contains a series of vignettes of the zaniest real estate agent experiences that you can imagine. In fact, some of the scenes are I Love Lucy 21 century style worthy. Oh yeah. Imagine Lucy and Ethel with a dog that believes she's human (the humans even treat her like a human) trying to run a real estate business. The dog, Talisman, is quite a character. I cracked up at some of the Talisman episodes. Reminds me of watching a show about how some of the super rich deal with their pooches.....OMG Talisman has better care taken of her than many children do.

Red Hot Liberty is a fun, zany read. An interesting story of a single mom making a success out of her life and learning how to trust herself and others. O'Branagan has written a zany story with a few serious subject matters woven in. Broken hearts, mending hearts, new love, money trouble, daughter trouble, safety issues, danger, etc. There are some sober threads made easy to handle with the loony happenings. If we're lucky, our lives could be like that - lots of laughs to counteract the serious scenes of life.

The Reading....

After reading two amazingly brilliant urban fantasy/fantasy novels in a row I need to "cleanse my palate" with a book or two from completely different genres.

I found out that after reading a book that wows me, nothing else will measure up for at least two books.

This happened in a strong way after I finished reading Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews - actually this is when I realized I have this issue.

I had vaguely noticed for a while that after reading a very bood book it's hard to concentrate, but after Magic Bleeds and after Devon Monk's books I really became aware of this.

The only books that will stand up to them are other books from my list of favorite authors.

If I attempt to read a new novel or a novel that I would normally enjoy (even if it wouldn't actually WOW me), then I find myself feeling bored and not really paying attention because my mind is still lingering on the amazingly brilliant novel.

This is how I feel after reading Bone Song by John Meaney -

and for sure, this is how I feel after reading The Bitter Seed of Magic by Suzanne McLeod.

So I'm not going to even try to read a fantasy or urban fantasy at this point.

Nope!

It's now time to get out of my stack a couple of books that are more contemporary fiction.

One of them is .....

Red Hot Property by Devin O'Branagan. I had read Witch Hunt and Glory by the same author and when she noticed I had mentioned being interested in reading Red Hot Property, she was kind enough to send me a copy. This was very kind, because of course she didn't have to do this - I had been planning to send away for it, but I was very happy to find it in the mailbox one day - completely unexpected.

This novel is about a young mother who is trying to start out in a new career and ends up in a new town, working with three other "newbies" to the real estate market.

One of the reasons I was so interested in reading it is because of the character descriptions

• the young mother
• a gay man who has a dog that seems to understand everything
• a young woman born with a silver spoon in her mouth
• an mixed heritage young man (of Asian descent)

There is some suspense, a mystery and some possibly wacky situations in store. I enjoy novels that feature mixed heritage, and animals - animals that feature in more than just a passing mention here and there. I just started reading Red Hot Property a few days ago, and so far it seems promising.

I'm also fortunate enough to be on the mailing list of a very nice woman in the publishing biz (quite by accident, I believe. She was sweet enough to give a person with a teeny-tiny blog a chance at reviewing a book a while ago, and I jumped on it - of course!) I feel flaky right now, because for the life of me I cannot remember her title. Being on her mailing list means I get an ARC to read about every few months. Which is nice, because it just shows up - and I get a pleasant surprise.

She recently sent me an ARC for a novel by Kat Martin - A Song For My Mother. I think it's a romance, although so far it's reading a little like general fiction with a romance in it. It's definitely NOT one of those "heaving bosoms" type of books. WAIT! Before any romance lovers get upset, I'm not saying Romance novels are horrible.....they just bore me to tears, because I like a little more story with maybe a bit of sex in it, not a lot of sex with a little bit of story in it. Kind of like I like my warm sugared milk with a bit of strong coffee, where others like their coffee with a little milk.....yeah, that analogy doesn't really work well. Actually, I'm in the early pages, just in the fifth or sixth chapter and so far there hasn't been any mentions of "hawt" bodies, swollen...parts or heaving chests. A mother of a young girl who is recovering from a bout with cancer, comes back to her small hometown to visit her mother. They've been estranged because of a painful past, and Marly (the young mom) has only agreed to visit with Winnie (her mom) for her daughter's sake. She's carrying a lot of resentment though, and can't stand to be around her mom too much. The romantic interest seems to be the next door neighbor - a single father (widower) with a young boy about Katie's age. The two kids make friends....and that's as far as I've gotten. A Song For My Mother is my current "work" book. The book I take to read while my group of children are doing their own silent reading. This is the reason I haven't gotten very far, because I only read a paragraph, then look around the room, read a bit more - check on the kids some more - read a little more, etc. I read myself to encourage the children to read, but I also have to remain alert and not get too into the book that I don't notice what's happening round me. I used to do this type of reading when I was a young mom with four kids - used to be able to read and yet keep one ear open for disaster. :)

A Song For My Mother comes out in April 2011 - hardback and e-book

Red Hot Property is available now in trade size ppb and e-book

I have to admit, now, that my reading has REALLY slowed down. I seem to be babysitting my grandchildren more often (love it, but it does mean less reading), and I have two nights a week that I concentrate (haha - CONCENTRATE!) on tv - I'm now that older woman who has "my shows" - Oh My God.

Witch Hunt - review

Witch Hunt
by Devin O'Branagan

*****

first - take a good look at the cover - when buying this book, look for the edition with this cover, not another cover. This is the updated for 2010 version of Witch Hunt. I like this cover, since it's simple and dramatic, yet has a certain flair. If you purchase the edition with the other cover, you will not be getting the updated version of Witch Hunt.

Witch Hunt is about the Hawthorne family, who've been "witches" for many, many generations. Rather, they're devout followers of an old, ancient religion that has often been persecuted as witches; they have many varied abilities and the knowlege to use them.

This is not a Happily-Ever-After type of book. It starts out with the family of one of the current sons, who has stayed away from his birth family, trying to be inconspicious, or to follow his beliefs in his own way. It seems he might have done his children and wife a disservice though, because in denying his own family (with good reasons, as you'll find out reading the novel) he has left his family with no knowledge of their potential, or possible dangers. In fact, his wife Leigh doesn't even know about the "witch" powers.

Craig and Leigh are traveling to Montvue to attend his brother and father's funeral. They have one son and one daughter. The two recently deceased died in a crash that the local televangelist was in - only Cody (the preacher) interprets the actions and the crash in his own special way - thinking he has been spared to carry the word about the evil of witch craft.

Now it would seem that in this day and age, most of us wouldn't even blink twice when told about how evil witches are...but change the word witches to almost anything else, and we've all seen the smear campaigns of people trying to incite mass hysteria and hate about a group - gays, Muslims, people crossing the border, even insurance reform....and even in this "enlightened" year of 2010 I'm still surprised at how easy it is to fool people into hating a specific group of people. And the hate goes along with a type of fear that is dangerous to have around. The type of fear that will drive otherwise simple people into doing horrific things in the name of religion or government. People as a group are not that smart, sometimes.

Witch Hunt brings a scenario to your mind. What if it were possible to go beyond the common sense of people, incite fear and loathing about a group - how would people react? How would the persecuted react? What would be the consequences? This "what if" is played out, from the very beginnings with Preacher Cody almost being laughed at, to him actually getting a few people to listen, to the mass hysteria and mass persecution, 21st century style, of people accused of being witches and anyone associated with them.

Not only is this a story of the current Hawthornes, though, but there are glimpses of past Hawthornes throughout history. It would have very easy to show the Hawthornes as completely sympathetic here, totally persecuted, but the author didn't go that route. She tells a story of a family that has good people, good intentions but like all families has their share of family members that aren't the best - in fact, some are a little twisted. Only these few family members aren't just twisted, but they're twisted with powers....and it goes to their heads.

Witch Hunt is a good read, with characters both good and evil on both sides of the coin - and gives us a view of the bad that comes with judging people, not just judging but going out of your way to persecute. And if you're squeamish in any way, be aware that there are a few spots that can get to you - nothing is over the top graphic, but there are some things that happens in the book that is pretty horrific, however, everything described is in fact, situations that real people have been in througout history. Ms O'Branagan has researched this subject before she wrote the book. The situations I'm speaking of were also written about matter-of-factly, which helped. O'Branagan did not go over-the-top in her descriptions, she didn't get all dramatic and go on and on with her descriptions of the scenes. That helped, because I think if it were handled any differently, I wouldn't have been able to read those sections.

I also enjoyed the various character's points of view. Some of them were people you would really want to know. Some were people you don't want to notice you. Some had wicked senses of humor and some were they type that I would get very frustrated with if I knew them. There was quite a variety of personalities.

Remember to look for the updated version of Witch Hunt. It was originally written 20 years ago, but Devin O'Branagan re-worked it for the 21st century and the cover you want is the one I've inserted at the beginning of this post. If you see the other cover, which has a dark background, then you're seeing the original book. The newer version is suited more to 2010. To confusion, it is possible to buy directly from Devin O'Branagan's site, and that way you can request an autographed copy.

Ms O'Branagan is also the author of Glory, a young adult book about a pandemic and vampires and witches. I like that book also - and I believe she is writing a sequel to it.

She is the author of a series of books (Red Hot) about a real estate agent. I think this series is more humorous (I love to read funny books) and has quite a cast of characters. Red Hot Property is now in my TBR pile. :)

Devin O'Branagan has a FaceBook page is quite accessible to those interested in her writing and her artwork. Also, to those who simply like to discuss dogs and other subjects dear to her.

Glory

I just finished reading Glory (by Devin O'Branagan) the other day.



It's a YA book dealing with a pandemic and a conspiracy by a group that is intent on culling the human population.

Glory is a 17 year old girl, who has recently taken up photography. There has been a pandemic plague that has interrupted her life, and killed thousands of people. Neighbors have black items of clothing on their front doors that signify death in the family. Near the beginning of the book, there is a family tragedy that is alluded to, it's not til much later that you find out what happened - and that it happened when Glory was 6 or 7 and yet she feels bad, because she couldn't stop the tragedy.


Her father is a painter, and Glory's mother is a scientist who has been working on a cure for this mysterious "plague" which has been killing thousands of people. The book starts out with Glory taking care of her father, who has been taken ill and she falls ill with fever also. In a haze, she sees her mother come home and give her some medicine, which cures her pretty fast. It's good that it's fast, because almost immediately people arrive to take her mother. Glory goes into hiding with her dog, Hallelujiah (Hallie for short).



Glory has been gifted with a quest by her mother. Find the rest of her mom's research team (they've had to go into hiding) and give them a sample of her blood - as she is now the only one in the world with immunity to the pandemic plague.



Glory ends up traveling with a few other "kids" who turn out to be a vampire, an angel and a witch - as well as her dog who seems to have extra-superb instincts (well, the dog IS an Australian Sheppard).



Glory and her newfound friends have many, many obstacles to get through in order to find the missing research team. This quest takes them to a witch community, to a horse ranch, danger from crazy vampires and through all this they have to avoid this mysterious group that wants them to fail, and seems to have a lot of supernatural power.



I really enjoyed the plot and the side characters of Glory. A couple of them were a bit sullen in a teen-ager angsty way, but this book is about teen agers after all - supernatural teens, (except for Glory) but teens nonetheless. There are lots of emotions being bandied about - love, jealousy, a feeling of deja-vu, deep friendships and disappointments. Glory and each of her guardian friends have to learn some type of lesson.



The one thing that kind of stuck out for me, was the almost too formal language of Glory herself. She didn't sound like a 17 year old girl - either in her speech with others or her internal dialogue (the book is in first person). Glory sounded like an older romance author (not the newer romances either, the older ones, with the flowery language.) I would have enjoyed certain parts of this book much more if Glory had sounded like a teen. I've noticed this with a few of the YA writers that I've read - their characters do not read or sound like teens, they almost sound like formal professors or even almost-poets. Other than that, I liked the twists and turns this story took.



The "love Connections" between Glory and her interests, as well as a few other characters were a bit heavy on the mushy-gushy - but I imagine that some teens would enjoy that. I'm a bit old and jaded for this type of gush feelings (unless I'm thinking about my grand-children - LOL) so I don't think I can really judge too much of the lovey-dovey stuff.



All in all - this story was pretty good. There were little bits and pieces of geographical interest, and legends that were fun to read about. I never noticed any grand info-dumps, which is good - some books almost seem like a lecture in disguise. Glory's character went through a lot, and didn't seem to resist admitting any mistakes or even childish feelings. The underlying message that I got out of the story was that no matter the age, anyone could push themselves beyond their limits to help others. That's a pretty good message for teens (and some of us older jaded folks).

Glory is just the beginning - there will be other books chronicling Glory and her friends fighting "the good fight".

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Teaser Tuesday

Tuesday Teaser AKA Teaser Tuesday - is hosted by Miz B at should be reading. All the guidelines are posted there, but basically you grab the book you're reading, turn to a page and post two sentences to tease other readers...but no spoilers! Post, then link at Miz B's site. It's fun to see all the other teasers out there.

Tonight, I'm only posting one teaser, even though I'm reading more than one book (in true B.A.D.D. fashion)

I'm currently focusing on Glory (The legend begins...) written by Devin O'Branagan
a YA urban fantasy

from page 23:

'I looked at the three with alarm. Except for the cowboy, none looked like they would make great bodyguards. I needed Batman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman. "You've got to be kidding." '

I'm enjoying this book so far! :)