Riders by Veronica Rossi

“Can you outrun destiny?”

Eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake cannot wait to finish high school and head to Fort Benning, Georgia. After finishing Basic Training, Advanced Infantry Training and Airborne School, Gideon ended up in RASP;  the gate way to becoming a US Army Ranger. He is determined to follow in his father's footsteps, even if it kills him. Turns out, it did.

Halfway through RASP, the class is taken for a parachute jump to keep their Airborne training fresh in their minds. Excited for his sixth jump and first without being weighed down by gear, Gideon experiences every jumpers worst nightmare. Neither his main or reserve chutes open, instead becoming tangled. Using his training, Gideon attempts to get his reserve chute to open. When he is finally successful, it is too late. His fall cannot be slowed down enough for a safe landing. Gideon’s mind flashes to the thought that he would die on the first anniversary of his father's death. Preparing to make his landing, the last thing Gideon hears is the bones in his left arm and leg breaking.

Gideon thinks he is dead but can hear the commotion going on around him as his friends try to save his life. He feels something clasp around his left wrist and life flows back into him. He wakes up a few days later in Walter Reed Medical Center and is discharged after only one week. Gideon is transferred home to Half Moon Bay, California to heal some more before the doctors decide what to do about his injuries. While at home things, begin to get weird for Gideon. Waking up one morning, Gideon is aware of how quiet the house is. After life in the noisy barracks, it is a little unsettling. He looks at his injuries and knows that beneath the clothes and air-casts, his body looks like a black and blue patchwork quilt. Gideon is angry that his recovery is expected to take up to a year. On strict orders to only move when necessary, his rage gets the best of him. Sitting up in bed, he waits for the pain to hit but it never does. Ditching his pain medication, he grabs a crutch to use with his unbroken arm. Gideon drags his injured body out of the house.

Once outside, Gideon sees his next door neighbor in her yard. Having treated him and his twin sister Anna like grandchildren, he knows the polite thing to do is speak. Calling him by name, Mrs. Collins drops the garden shears that she was holding. Attempting to apologize for scaring her, she begins to berate Gideon, calling him a liar and tells him to go on his way. Confused, he drags himself to the beach trail head. Gideon stops when he realizes there is no pain in neither his arm or leg. Thinking the doctors were way off on his recovery time, he sets himself a new target of six months to return to Benning. On the beach, Gideon spots the neighbor's dog, Jackson, who used to be his running partner. He calls the dog over but he stops ten feet from Gideon. With hackles raised and a low growl, it is as if the dog doesn’t recognize him. Jackson charges Gideon, who quickly loses his footing. Once he is back on the asphalt, Jackson stops and runs away when his owner calls.

Having had enough for one day, Gideon heads home. His mother reprimands him as soon as he comes through the door. Gideon finally gets her to quiet down when he agrees to go back to bed. He is puzzled over how much venom his mother’s words had. Laying in bed, Gideon realizes that he isn’t dragging his leg nor is he in any pain. He can wiggle his toes and realizes that he feels fine. His mom knocks on the door and apologizes. Seeing him up and moving around scared her. He is able to send her away before she can open the door. Gideon decides to look at his leg and takes his air-cast off. He is shocked to see only a few pale scars; no bruising or swelling. Gideon panics and unstraps the cast on his arm. It is completely healed, just like his leg. The only thing different is a two inch metal band around his wrist. Not recognizing the metal, it gives off a crimson glow when light hits it. Gideon doesn’t know what it is, how it got on him, or how he was even going to get it off. It is fastened tight.

Gideon wakes up the next morning to his  mother yelling on the phone. She comes to his room to tell him that she has been unexpectedly called into work. Anna will be there that evening to stay with him and Mrs. C can come over in the meantime. Gideon tries to refuse but is only successful in stopping Mrs. C from coming over. Anna has already made her plans. After his mother leaves, Gideon packs a bag and heads out to his Jeep. He drives to Cal Poly to stop his sister from coming home. When she doesn’t answer the door buzzer, he goes around back to see if he can climb into her dorm. Joy, Anna’s downstairs neighbor is on her balcony. Introducing themselves to each other, Joy immediately knows all about Anna’s Army brother. She invites him to a party at her place later that night and watches as Gideon climbs up to his sister’s room.

With her sliding door unlocked, Gideon enters her dorm and hears Anna crying behind as door. She is shocked to see her brother standing there. Anna questions him about his injuries and he tells her that they aren’t as bad as she has been led to believe. He wants to know why she is crying and is furious to learn that her ex boyfriend wants to get back together. Anna and Wyatt dated in high school but decided to take a mutual break once college started. Anna warns him that Wyatt is on his way over and there is a knock on the door. Anna lets Wyatt in. He isn’t happy to see Gideon and vice versa. Soon , Anna begins to get angry with Wyatt, slaps him across the  face and tells him to not come back. Afterwards, Anna cannot believe what she just did and locks herself in her room. Gideon cannot get her to open the door. He hears the front door open and doesn’t want to  have another bizarre social situation and leaves by the balcony for a head clearing run.

Running clears Gideon’s head and he tries to figure out what is going on. He healed super fast, he has a strange bracelet and it seems that his ability to make people angry just got better. Cooling down, he notices that the bracelet has a buzzing sensation on his wrist. He takes a rock and strikes it only to fall over. There is a high pitched screaming in his ears and the sound of hoofbeats. Out for what seems a few minutes, Gideon heads back to Anna’s place. He works on getting his temper in check before seeing his sister again. Noticing her brother’s physique, she questions him if something else is going on and the accident is just a cover. He denies it. She heads off to Joy’s party and will see him there. By the way, mom went ballistic when she heard Gideon was at her place. Alone, he pulls out his discharge papers and calls his doctor back at Walter Reed. She asks how he is doing and then Gideon gets to the point of his call. He asks her if anyone put a bracelet on his arm and she tells him that he doesn’t need a medical alert id. No, he asks, a healing bracelet. It’s not in his papers but a magnetic bracelet won’t help him with the extent of his injuries. She will see him next week for a follow up. Finding no information on mysterious bracelets on the Internet except in reference to super heroes, Gideon heads down to the party.

At the party, the guys there flash hostile looks and mutter about “G.I. Joe” under their breaths. Hanging out with Anna and her roommate Taylor, it isn’t long before Anna goes over to talk with Wyatt and Taylor sees someone else. Joy comes over and the two begin chatting. Gideon looks out to the balcony and sees a girl staring back at him with a determined look on her face. Joy asks him if he knows that girl. Gideon replies that he might and excuses himself. The girl comes up to him, looking super confident and Gideon tries to put on an air of confidence himself. Her gaze flickers to the band on his wrist. She tells him that he needs to come with her, right now. Gideon thinks that it is a pick up line but she tells him that she isn’t joking. They need to leave before he gets hurt. Looking confused, she realizes that he doesn’t know what’s going on or found the others. Joking, he stops when she places her hand on his arm and calls him by name. She introduces herself as Daryn and turns him towards the door. He is questioning her behavior when he runs into her back. She has stopped suddenly and the front door open to two guys and a girl. Gideon realizes that something bad is about to happen. Daryn tells him to run but Gideon is ready for some action.

Two guys and a girl are at the door and all breaks loose. The girl takes after Daryn and Gideon takes on the bigger guy. Strange things occur and Gideon is left wondering what is going on. Bloody and weakened from the fight, Anna is able to get the guy off of her brother. When the girl comes back saying that she lost Daryn, the guy looks at Gideon and tells him that he won’t be able to do anything. They leave. Gideon’s right hand is bloody and probably broken. He grabs the bat and takes off after the monster of a guy. Outside, Gideon doesn’t find them but does find Daryn. She is standing in his Jeep. he gets in and watches as Daryn hot wires it and races down the road.

Stopping at a deserted beach, Daryn asks for something to drink but Gideon is ready for answers. When he puts his hand on her, Daryn demands that he takes it off. He does and she gets out of the Jeep. She has her hand to her hand like she has a migraine and Gideon wants to know why she kidnapped him. He came willingly and she is not scared of him the way he thinks. Gideon is just looking for answers and she seems to know them. Daryn wasn’t prepared for him not to know. She blurts out that he is War. Gideon responds by saying he has been to war yet. Daryn tells him that he is War, the second rider from the book of Revelations. He has been given some of the abilities to carry out a specific task along with Conquest, Famine and Death.Gideon asks if she is Peace. No and he refers to her as crazy. Daryn shouts that she isn’t crazy and runs off.

What happened to Gideon when his parachute didn’t open? Why has his body healed at an incredible rate? What is the bracelet on his wrist and what does it do? Who is Daryn? Who was the guy that Gideon fought at the party? Is Gideon really the embodiment of War? What specific task is he suppose to carry out? Who are the remaining three riders?

Book two, Seeker, will be out in 2017 and wraps up the story.

Visit Veronica Rossi’s website.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke and Bone book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the trilogy, Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight, Stop! I don’t want to ruin this series for you.

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil pressed their hands to their hearts and started the apocalypse.”

The ninth day of August marked the Arrival of one thousand angels on Earth. Time would forever be marked as “before” and “after”. Communication links around the world failed as news of the arrival went viral. In Morocco, Zuzana and Mik saw the news footage and raced back to the Kasbah to warn Karou. The rest of the world freaked out over what the arrival of angels would mean.

Jael’s ruthless Dominion is on Earth to get weapons of mass destruction to take back to Eretz. Deception is Karou’s only hope to lead the chimera army. Ziri has been resurrected into the White Wolf’s body and is on board with her plans. The chimeras are not pleased that Thiago is keeping Akiva and his sister Liraz safe on Earth. But the trouble on Earth isn’t as bad as the trouble that is brewing in Eretz. With stormhunters gathering and the sky changing to the color of a bruise, something isn’t right.

Knowing that they must get their sides to work together to fight Jael, Karou still hasn’t forgiven Akiva for killing the only family she had ever known. With an undeniable attraction still brewing between them, can the dreams of peace between an angel and a devil come true?

Do the bastard brethren of angels led by Akiva join forces with the chimera army? Can Thiago/Ziri keep his true identity a secret? What is happening in Eretz? Will Jael and the Dominion be defeated? Why are the stormhunters gathering? Can Karou and Akiva find their way back to each other?

Visit Laini Taylor's website.

Night of Cake and Puppets – book 2.5 

An enovella about how Zuzana and Mik worked up the nerve to finally talk to one another. A sweet night in Prague.

The Angelfire Trilogy by Courtney Allison Moulton

Book One - Angelfire

Ellie Monroe is a senior at a high school in the suburbs of Detroit. The days leading up to her seventeen birthday are chaotic at best. She suffers from terrifying, reoccurring nightmares that drugs and therapy do not help. Her parents are constantly fighting when her father is at home. Only her best friend Kate understands and lends a sympathetic ear. After school one day, she spots a boy that she hasn’t seen before standing under a tree. He is cute but looks too old for high school. Ellie gets the feeling as if she knows him from somewhere but shakes it off. Then she notices him staring back at her. Ellie blushes and heads to her mother’s car. The next morning, she gets a call from Kate to turn on the morning news. Mr. Meyer, her economics teacher has been found dead that morning behind a bar. His body has been severely mutilated and a long hunting knife with a gut hook was left behind.

School is cancelled for the day and Kate comes over to Ellie’s house. After a nap that ends in another nightmare for Ellie and a movie marathon, the girls decide to meet up with some friends mat the ice cream shop. Not wanting to talk about Mr. Meyer’s murder, Ellie tunes out her friends and scans the people in the shop. She sees the boy from outside the school from the day before. Noticing his appearance, Ellie once again gets the feeling that she that she knows him from somewhere. He notices her staring and he looks back at her. She turns her attention back to her friends. Ellie goes to throw away her trash. When she turns around, the boy is right behind her. He asks her if she remembers him. Disappointment is on his face when she answers only from the day before. He introduces himself as Will. Her friend Landon comes over and tells Will to stop talking to Ellie. She tells Will goodbye and Landon to chill out as they walk away.

At dinner that night, Ellie’s father is home for once. Tuning out the conversation, it isn’t long before Ellie realizes that her parents are arguing over her nightmares and bring up Mr. Meyer’s death. Ellie gets up to head to her room. She spends the evening watching movies. Her parents continue to argue. At midnight, the happy birthday texts begin. She decides to spend her first moments as a seventeen year old by sneaking out of the house and sitting on the front porch. Soon, she decides to go for a walk around the block. She hasn’t gone too far when she hears a low rumble in front of her. There isn’t a sign of a car and thoughts of Mr. Meyer cause her to think that maybe she should have stayed home. Suddenly, Will appears in front of her and she becomes nervous. Only four houses from home, she turns to go but Will stops her. Ellie sees nothing but comments on the smell. Will tells her that she isn’t able to see into the Grim yet. He is talking to someone but Ellie still doesn’t see anything.

Realizing that she knows nothing about him, Ellie heads home. Will tells her to wait. She turns to see Will afraid. He asks her to come to him but Ellie shouts “no!” “Don’t scream. You’ll make him attack.” Panicking, Will grabs Ellie before she can leave/ will is too strong and Ellie can’t escape. He comments that he is ready to quit playing games. He presses his palm to her forehead. There is a blinding white light and her heads feels as if it will explode. A cruel wind batters her but she is supported by Will. The light and wind disappear and Ellie thinks she sees wings. Blinking, there is nothing there. Tired but energized, the haze around her disappears. With clear eyes, she sees Will marvels that she can see through the darkness of the night. Then she sees a large, dog-like monster. Not afraid but calm, Ellie is flooded by strange memories and thoughts that she knows are her own. Will is suddenly familiar and Ellie realizes that she needs to fight but has no weapons. Will kicks the beast back and Ellie holds out her arms to will two khopesh swords out of thin air into her hands. The weapons feel familiar. Beginning to spar with the beast, it grabs the hood of her sweatshirt and yanks her to the ground. Ellie smashes her elbow into its face and it drops her. Will has it by the throat and tells Ellie “now!” before she can think; she has shoved a sword through the beast’s throat, turning it to ash. Ellie passes out.

The next morning, Ellie wakes up exhausted. She is annoyed to have dreamed of Will and her nightmare seemed all too real. She is still in her clothes from the day before except now her sweatshirt is missing. Her mom makes her pancakes for her birthday and promises to take her to buy a car that afternoon. Her father has already left for the day. Ellie asks her mom if she heard anything last night. She apologizes for all of the arguing but Ellie says that she means like a growling dog. Her mother gives Ellie an odd look and asks if she had another nightmare. No, I wasn’t sleeping and her mom tells her to shut her windows. Ellie thinks that she must have been dreaming and that she is now officially crazy.

Later at school, Ellie washes her hands in the bathroom and looks in the mirror. She sees thin black lines spreading from her hair, across her cheek and around her eye. Frantic, she can’t wipe them off. Backing away from the mirror, Ellie closes her eyes. When she opens them, the lines are gone. She composes herself and leaves. In the hallway, she runs into Will. Scaring her, Ellie asks him why he is at school if he doesn’t go there. Then she notices the tattoo covering his arm. It reminds her of the lines on her face just a moment ago. His are beautiful and she can’t stop staring. Will asks her if she is alright. I’m fine, she answers. Will tells her that he needs to talk with her about that night before. She tries to leave but he is adamant that her life depends on it.

Who is Will? Why has he been watching Ellie? Are Ellie’s dreams just nightmares or is she remembering something? What really happened the night of her seventeenth birthday? Does Mr. Meyer’s murder have something to do with Ellie? And just what is happening to Ellie?

Wings of the Wicked – book two

Now that Ellie has discovered the truth about her existence, her world has been turned upside down. More human than in her previous lives, Ellie struggles to maintain a normal teenage life with her duties as the Preliator. Even though both will and Ellie have admitted their feelings for one another, will is keeping his distance and tries to keep their relationship on a business like level. A relationship between the two of them could be seen as improper and even considered dangerous. And Ellie's heart is breaking.

Caden comes to Ellie's school one day to warn her that Bastian has recovered the sarcophagus of Enshi. Caden likes things status quo and doesn't wish for the end of the world. Ellie realizes that Bastian just doesn't want her soul destroyed but for the Second War or the Apocalypse. He is also there to warn her that Bastian is hunting her. He is sending his worse and their order s are to capture Ellie alive. Bastian is looking for the key that will break the Enochian or angelic spell keeping whatever is inside imprisoned.

In a preemptive move, two more angelic reapers, Marcus and Ava, join up with them. Ellie knows Marcus from the past but Ava is a completely new face to her and neither girl gets along with the other. Ellie is a little jealous of Ava because she suspects that there may have been something between her and Will in the past. When  Ava demands that Ellie fight her weapon less to prove her abilities, Ellie lays her hands on Ava's wrists and calls all of her power, Angelfire, forth. Burning her, Ava says that is enough. Why after all of this time is Ellie in possession of a new power? Could it have something to do with the fact it took her forty years to reincarnate? Can Ellie balance both parts of her life; human and Preliator?  Is Ava really demonic instead of angelic as Ellie would like? Has something gone on between her and Will in the past? Why is she still having problems recalling her past? Is Ellie the key to unlock the angelic spell on the sarcophagus? Can she evade Bastion's minions? Why is Caden passing Information along to her and can he be trusted? Can Will get past the restrictions placed on him in regards to his relationship with Ellie or are they doomed to be apart?

Shadows in the Silence– book three

After the cliffhanger in Wings of the Wicked, it all comes down to the final battle. Ellie must find the relics needed to destroy the Enshi and save herself. Who will survive and who will die in the thrilling conclusion of the Angelfire trilogy.

Visit Courtney Allison Moulton's website.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy, book 1 and 2 by Laini Taylor

Book One - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.”

Karou, with her peacock blue hair, is a student at the Art Lyceum of Bohemia in Prague. Her life is a mystery to those who know her as she expertly evades questions and keeps her secrets close. Karou’s hair really does grow blue her sketchbooks have quite the following around school for the stories they portray. Brimstone, a chimera with curling ram’s horns, is the star of her sketches and deals in wishes. He is not a figment of her crazy imagination but a part of her life. Although no one would actually believe her if she told the truth.

An actual monster, Brimstone has raised Karou since she was a baby. If by chance a human would have laid eyes on Brimstone or any of his minions, they would think they were seeing devils. An actual dealer of wishes, Karou runs errands for him. In the beginning, she was an innocent. Now jaded, Karou is ashamed about bringing Brimstone his treasures, teeth. Deep down, Karou knows something about her is missing, but has no idea what.

On an errand in Paris, Karou notices a perfect handprint burned into the door of a shed that doubles as an entry to Brimstone’s network of portals. Within days, more handprints appear on doors around the world. Left by beautiful men and women, all who saw them said they disappeared upward in a wave of heat with feathers falling behind. As soon as the feathers touch the ground, they turn into ash. People begin to believe that angels have visited Earth.

When Brimstone sends Karou on an unexpected errand, she runs into trouble. The grave robber, from whom she has just purchased teeth from, asks her an enormous favor. Pull all of her own teeth to earn a wish powerful enough to remove the heavy, hideous creature of knowledge that hangs from his back. Disgusted, Karou backs away but not before the invisible creature licks her skin. It immediately becomes visible and the crowd surrounding them panics. It calls to a beautiful boy, Akiva, in the crowd. The creature refers to him as an angel, his brother come to take him home. The crowd is running from the scene. Akiva notices Karou and she is calm, staring back at him.

Mesmerized by his beauty, the fight or flight instinct finally sparks in Karou. When the grave robber screams angel at Akiva, he tells her to run and warn Brimstone that the angels are back on Earth. She runs but soon feels Akiva behind her. Reaching the portal back to Brimstone, Karou turns only to be struck by Akiva’s sword. With the portal not opening immediately, the two fight one another. Staring each other down, Karou catches a glimpse of Akiva’s soul when he hesitates. On impulse, she throws up her hands, palms out. (An eye is tattooed on each palm.) Akiva is thrown back. Karou makes it to the portal only to find a handprint seared into the door. Akiva comes towards her but stops to really study her. He asks “Who are you?” Suddenly, the portal opens and Karou disappears through it leaving 

Who or what is Karou? How come she really doesn’t know where she came from? Who is Brimstone? What does he do with the teeth Karou brings him? Is Akiva really an angel and why did he let Karou go? What will happen when Karou and Akiva meet again?

The audiobook version read by Khristine Hvam is incredible to listen to. Listeners/readers will feel like they are in Prague alongside Karou.

Days of Blood and Starlight – book two

SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read any further if you haven’t read Daughter of Smoke and Bone in its entirety. 

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil held a wishbone between them. And its snap split the world in two.”

 Now that Karou knows the truth of her existence, Akiva’s recent actions have driven them apart. With no sign of her anywhere, Akiva is devastated and attempts to make amends with his siblings. Zuzana refuses to give up hope that Karou is still alive. When the seraphim believe that they can finally defeat the chimera, they are truly unprepared for what they run into. When it is reported that teeth are being stolen by an unidentified girl from museums around the world, Zuzana knows that Karou is still alive.

Why is Karou stealing teeth from museums? Is the war between the seraphim and chimera at a stalemate or does one side really have the upper hand? Can Akiva make up for his past transgressions to Karou? And can two tortured souls find forgiveness and their way back to one another?

The thrilling conclusion to the trilogy, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, is due out in 2014. I think the titles of this trilogy really portray what each book is about.

Visit Laini Taylor’s website.