Books!!!!! specifically, The Shifting Price of Prey

I have not been the best of bloggers lately - not even close.  a year ago, two years ago, I would have been on top of new book releases - especially from my favorite writers - and this time, I'm completely surprised when I find the book I've been waiting for already out on the shelves...

On of my favorite writers - Suzanne McLeod has recently released her fourth Genny Taylor novel - The Shifting Price of Prey.

From the first time I read her very first book (The Sweet Scent of Blood), long before it came out in the States, I was excited about this series, and the characters within.  My interest hasn't changed - just my energy.

I've always tried to announce her novels BEFORE they are released in the United States, but this time.... it snuck up on me.  I have to admit here, that I have already read this one - I was lucky enough to get an e-copy a while ago, and I can safely say, this one is just as interesting as the first three novels.  I've enjoyed all of the series.  

When The Sweet Scent of Blood first came out in the UK, there weren't many books that combined the fae with vampires and witches, but McLeod did an amazing job of pulling a new blend out of the morass of urban fantasy novels. Her main character is also a blend - vampire and fae (you find this out in the first novel, so it's not really a spoiler unless you haven't read ANY of her novels)

  

If you haven't read any of them yet....  why the hell not?

they've been out for a while, 

get crackin'!

Fun series, with just the right amount of heat, snark, mystery and suspense.

Happy Book Birthday! The Shifting Price of Prey

It is pimping out a book day!

Today, one of my favorite writers is having a book birthday.

Suzanne McLeod's very latest novel from the Spellcrackers.com series is releasing in the United Kingdom 

today

August 30, 2012

Happy

Book 

Birthday!

to 

The Shifting Price of Prey

# 4 in the Spellcrackers.com series

{click on cover to read excerpt}

I highly recommend this novel - not only this novel, but the entire series.

Good Great Reading

Good Wonderful Dialogue

Great Suspense

Twisty Plots

Heart Thumping Moments

Fun Characters - both evil and heroic, angsty and humorous

Everything you could possibly ask for in a fun novel is in this novel

Seriously - The Shifting Price of Prey is among those books where you know the author works very hard, for months writing, tweaking, editing; the whole process can take up to a year, and then we get our greedy little hands on it and DEVOUR it within hours.

That's the sign of a very readable, fun novel.

I had the privilege of reading an advance copy, and I can truthfully say that I enjoyed every minute of it.  McLeod has done it again - delivered an exciting fun read with just the right touch of horror, lust and suspense - with the quirky humor to balance everything out.

Congratulations, Miz Suzanne - another wonderful read!

Stay tuned for a book contest coming up. :)

The first three novels - click on covers for excerpt links

          

The first three novels are available now in the U.S. 

If you (like me) don't like to wait for the United States release for the newest book      

then don't forget about The Book Depository - free shipping, which is always a bonus.

Tuesday - Time for Teaser Tuesday; oh yeah!

Teaser Tuesdays - a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of ShouldBeReading is one of the funnest book memes I participate in.  Only thing is, I'm not very regular at it...  :(  .  Better sometimes than no times!

One of my favorite writers is having a book b-day this week, so I want to put out a teaser from her newest novel

The Shifting Price of Prey

by Suzanne McLeod

  ‘Och, doll,’ he said, giving me his shark’s grin, serrated teeth white against the green-black of his skin. ‘The fancy dress shop dinna have a Cat-Man costume, so what else should I be wearing to be all sneaky and stealthy?’

click on title above for a full excerpt of chapter one. Then go buy the series... (you really should)

The Shifting Price of Prey by Suzanne McLeod - review and memories, :)

A few years ago, I was exploring websites, looking for books to read, for different exciting work.  I had  been reading a lot of fantasy and urban fantasy,  and there wasn't the sheer numbers of UF out there to read like there is now. I came across a review of The Sweet Scent of Blood on a website called Love Vampires, the review caught my interest and I followed the link to Suzanne McLeod's website.   I was very happy to see that there was an excerpt (extract for British readers, *g* check out my translation skills!) so of course, I read it.   I read it and thought - "Oh WOW, this is going to be GOOD - I hope to hell it come out in the US".  Then I saw that she had a SECOND book coming out - The Cold Kiss of Death.  I was already hooked, and I hadn't even read an entire book yet.  So there I was, feining a bit about a book, books really, that hadn't even come out in my region of the world.   I wrote her an e-mail (which I rarely did, and I still only occasionally will write an e-mail to an author I don't know, based on a book I've heard about or was very impressed with - I'm pretty shy about that, and blogging - I force myself to blog sometimes) and she wrote me back.  This was way back in 2009, I found out that her books would be coming out in the United States in 2010.  I tried very hard to be patient and wait, but finally - I couldn't take it anymore, I found out about the Book Depository and I went ahead and ordered both books as a birthday present to myself.  By this time both the first and second books had been published in the UK.  I read them, loved them and ever since I've been a fan of Suzanne McLeod's writings.  Woman can write a hell of a book! that's for sure.  I've been reading the Spellcrackers.com series ever since. Everytime I read a favorite author, I always feel a little  guilty.  They work so very hard on writing these books, taking months to a year from beginning to end product - and then we DEVOUR them within hours, at the most a couple days.  It doesn't seem fair, but then, it's also a great compliment when you just can't put a book down and you have to force yourself to savour it rather than rush through to the end.

                                  

Review from e-arc 

The Shifting Price of Prey

Suzanne McLeod
Spellcrackers.com #4
August 30, 2012 UK release
urban fantasy

**********  (10 out of 6 stars, can you tell I kind of like lol - really, I LOVE this book?)

cover - The sword, the buildings in the background, the EYES....if you go to Amazon, click on the Kindle picture, you can zoom in on the cover and get a very good look at the eyes, amazing.   The art department always does an amazing job on McLeod's covers with the main character's image and background images of scenes in London, England.  And who doesn't like a wickedly bright, shiny sword?

Reading The Shifting Price of Prey, like other books by Suzanne McLeod, reminds me of the many layers of petals on a rose - or the layers of an onion (but every one uses the Onion Layer thing).  The first layer of petals is the beginning of the novel - Genny is checking out a Gnome's business, and his use of naturally dying garden fairies.  Something strikes her weird about this...and on top of that, this creepy Gnome keeps offering her refreshments that a fairy would eat - insects, slugs, etc., though she reminds him that she's Sidhe, NOT a fairy.  

In another layer of petals there's Tavish, who is affecting her more strongly than ever.  In fact, a few people seem to be affecting her in a lustful, wanting to jump bones kind of way. Finn, her sometimes boss and possible love interest is out of town, 'In Between' taking care of his daughter and she hasn't heard from him.   Even though in the last novel/adventure Genny had managed to (if you haven't read any of the novels, this could be a spoiler...) grab the fertility spell, something's not quite right about it, only one of the fae has become pregnant,  and Genny is finding herself obsessed with the shape and majestic breasts of Sylvia - the pregnant fae.   Tavish brings her some information help that actually causes more questions than answers, and Genny decides she needs to talk with Malik, and then in another layer of this rose being peeled, plucked away, also finds herself in a situation with him.....oooh, boy.

Meanwhile, the Carnival Fantastique is being hosted by London,bringing its own set of potential problems of the magical variety so there is a lot going on there, the pixies are showing up everywhere causing pixie mischeif, there are prank spells appearing here and there and a visiting abassador's family disappears - is it a kidnapping? 

I'm wary of writing any spoilers,  I think I might have mentioned some minor spoilers already.  But The Shifting Price of Prey is such a multilayered story - Those rose petals keep being peeled away, each time revealing another twist or turn in the plot - just enough information to drive Genny forward, until the center of that rose is completely opened and the final event is brought to a close....and then there is this chilling set up for the next book...that would be those thorns of the rose...(*g*).  Thorns aren't always bad - you just have to use care, and I loved every minute of reading this novel. In this metaphor, the thorn is the wait for the next novel to come out, and it's promising to be a hell of a story.  But those thorns just make roses that much sweeter for the risk.  (is that too much metaphor?  time to get off the metaphor train?  nah, I might have more) Hey - I'm not a writer, and it shows with this metaphor attempt, doesn't it? *g*

One of the things I'm always impressed about with McLeod's writing is the world building.  Her London is amazing.  The varied species of fae, faelings, vampires and other supernaturals is very fun, and she describes them so well.  All different types are peppered through out the story, some as secondary characters, main characters, and peripheral characters.  There are spells, magical items, myths and legends with her spin on them.  Genny Taylor herself is a mix of Sidhe and Vampire.  Her pupils are shaped like a cat, and even though she has this heritage of magic, Genny herself can't create magic, unless magic decides to use her.  However, she does have this talent - cracking spells, SEEing spells and absorbing spells.  There's this other talent she's picked up lately, you'll see it used in the novel.

One of the great things about a Suzanne McLeod UF - there will be female friends for the main character.  Genny is not the typical (though some writers are getting better about avoiding this particular pitfall) tough girl that has virtually NO female friends yet many men panting after her.  Sure there are some men that want Genny, but then it fits the story, the fae/vampires aren't saddled with old fashioned morals that humans have.  This is represented very well, with the way McLeod writes Genny's appreciation of the handsome dryads, the Satyr in his natural form, the Kelpie in his forms, and so on.  There are Gay and Lesbian characters within without it being a big deal, it's just part of the life within the novel (like it should be in real life - natural) and Genny herself has a few run-ins with feeling a bit of desire for a female here and there without getting all freaked out about it.  I find this refreshing.

Within her world building are mentions of historical events - like an alternate history of the world and London that she briefly salts throughout the novel - kind of like on a need to know basis.  I always enjoy when authors handle information giving like this.  As well, there are landmarks of London that she involves in her stories, and it's fun to try to picture all the places she uses in her books - the Gardens, the fountains, the London streets, and The Eye - which I try to pick out when I'm watching a movie or Dr. Who show set in London.  I'm pretty sure I can match at least a few of the visuals with her descriptions.

Then there is the narration and dialogue.  The narration is first person, and just flows - you find yourself reading along and finding it hard to put down for things like real life, eating, talking to people (lol, this can be fun - using a great book to avoid people, 'sorry, didn't hear you, reading this enthralling novel' lol).  Add to that her skillful use of language, speech styles and dialects and the characters feel like they could be any mix of people you might hear on the streets of a major city.  And then there is Malik's formal way of speaking, along with Tavish's oh so interesting brogue.  Love it.  I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention something, but it boils down to this;  The Shifting Price of Prey is as fresh and exciting novel as the first, second and third in her series, and I thoroughly enjoyed every novel I've read by Suzanne McLeod.  She has done a brilliant job of keeping the Spellcrackers series alive, fresh, interesting, and heart thumping.  There's a little bit for everyone's taste in good proportions - adventure, danger, lust, relationship issues (not over done, thank god) and all around exciting reading.  Can't wait to get to the next one, might even start re-reading the series if I feel like I'm going to go into McLeod withdrawal.  *g* 

See?  A rose, this story is, a multi layered rose with many petals to pluck as the story unfolds.....

For a small taste of an in between story - take a look at Full Scale Demolition in the Home Improvement anthology (edited by Charlaine Harris). 

waiting on wednesday

I haven't taken part in this meme in way too long, but I felt like posting about these two books. Hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine, Waiting on Wednesday is the meme where we post about books we're eagerly waiting to be published - and these two I've listed are two books I'm REALLY looking forward to reading...

Suzanne McLeod writes this great series about a half fae half vampire woman just trying to make a living in London - except the witches, vampires and other fae are always in her business, trying to claim her, murder her, or just impregnate her. LOL it's way more complex than that, I've simplified it quite a bit. The fourth book in the Spellcrackers.com series is titled The Shifting Price of Prey and will be released in the UK June 2012 {U.S. release date....oops, not sure} I live in the States, but I use The Book Depository.... :)

The other book I've looking forward to does not have a cover yet - or at least, there isn't one online yet. So we are going to pretend that this lolcat pic is the cover for...... Endgame by Ann Aguirre. Endgame is the final (sob) novel in the Sirantha Jax SciFi series. Endgame will be out in August of 2012. Can't wait - looking forward to not only reading the book, but seeing what the real cover will look like.