In my review of Embers I remarked that part of why Anya liked Brian was because of his 'ordinariness'. Brain and tech-geek he may be, but he was rather simple at heart. So of course it couldn't stay that way. Like Anya I'm unsure how I feel about the revelation about Brian's character. I mean considering what they do, it seemed odd that he'd mess with things like that.

Hope Solomon, motivational speaker philanthropist extraordinaire, gave me the creeps. Even before Anya found the dirt on her she made my skin crawl. I understand that there are honest to goodness helpful folks out there. I also understand that for everyone of them there's fifty of the Hope Solomons in the world. Unlike Drake, who truly believed that what he was doing would help (somehow), Hope was purely in it for the greed. Money, power, fame...this lady cared only about herself. So she was the perfect foil to Anya's growing uneasiness about her powers and herself.

Sparky had baby newts! Mind you technically speaking Sparky isn't a he or a she, Anya just labeled him thus, but it gave us a chance to have whacky fun times in a Baby Store and see Anya act like a mother hen. Also fun, all the nifty gadgetry Brian came up with to help Anya out. The whacky fun times in the store though seemed out of place--like this one moment of cheerfulness in an otherwise dark, dark novel. It was kind of jarring, so even though I enjoyed the scene it didn't 'feel' right.

Charon pops up again and has a larger role than just cryptic messenger. I really liked him and sincerely hope he appears in the series again. He didn't beat around the bush, though he omitted certain details to keep things moving along. The ghosts in the museum? They were fun and interesting. Kind of like "Night at the Museum" but with more mayhem.

I wonder at the consequences of this fight on Anya. Not just supernaturally, but personally. She learned things about Brian that were unsettling, the team itself is headed for self-destruct and the news about her father, and the truth of what happened when her mom died? Yeah, let's talk about trauma issues... ( )

This book was a vast improvement on the one that came before it. The main character was more involved, more active, and actually had an impact on the world around her. She actively questioned her own morals and those of others as she tried to reconcile her duty as an executioner of spirits (of sorts) with her respect for them as sentient beings.

There was still heavy-handed involvement from an outside source who insisted that no matter what Anya did, she could not solve the problem her way... While that outside source basically forced her on a truncated version of the hero's journey, she did step up to the plate and do what she needed to do. While I would have preferred the main character to initiate her own journey, I appreciate that she faced her demons when it came down to the wire.

One thing that felt missing was how the villain was creating the spirit vortex. If I read it right, we are left wondering if this was some innate ability, some spell, or an artifact. Also, we never discover just how the reliquaries were being made.

Definitely an improvement over the last, and I now have even more love for Michigan Central Station. ( )

4.45 stars.

This was the second book I read today (well, finished the other and read this one) that had a theme of Spontaneous Human Combustion. I really hope this subject doesn't come in threes and manifest itself by me bursting into flame. That would just be my luck. Nah, that's too interesting a death. I'm fine.

I liked this much better than the first book in the series, so much so that I'm tempted to lower my rating on that one. This had what I felt was lacking in the first one: a greater connection to and presence of her love interest Brian; a big battle that had sides clearly drawn (i.e., I didn't think that I was supposed to empathize with the truly evil person, unlike in the first book where we were supposed to take pity on the really evil villain because he was helping battle someone even more evil, even though it was for selfish purposes--I like shades of gray but this guy was way darker than charcoal to me and I did not like having him be at all sympathetic); help in her epic battle from someone really likable; a really dangerous epic battle where she almost doesn't survive (yes, I know it's formulaic but I like that formula); people, especially her boyfriend, showing great concern for her peril; near death; no sex with evil characters; and so forth.

The story was interesting, the pacing was excellent (I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down), and there was a nice balance of drama, action, detective work and humor. I really like Bickle's characterizations, each person in the story very clearly defined in my head. I love a new character, Charon, and hope he appears in future installments.

I liked the evil villain who is a better/preferable foe than the one in the first book. That guy was evil but supposed to be mildly sympathetic as I mentioned and he just wasn't at all for me. This woman is truly evil, truly powerful, and legitimately scary.

Anna still has a lot of baggage but some of it was aired out a bit and we gain new perspective on parts of her past. I really don't like that horrible Ishtar painting that the villain in the last book painted for her, the one she slept with after she already knew he was the perpetrator, the guy who she still in this book refers to as a past lover. It's creepy that the woman in the painting looks like her and she still calls it Ishtar and she has it hanging in her bedroom where she refers to it as looking at her. CREEpy.

There were a few procedural issues that bothered me like the coroner does things in the lab that would completely compromise evidence; a whole lot of evidence gets destroyed because it's exposed but I'm pretty sure that in real life, only one thing is out of its carefully marked and sealed protected container at a time so it is, um, protected, not contaminated by other evidence; and doesn't the coroner have to confirm death on the scene?

I have to mention one minor irritation that probably won't bother most people at all and that is that at one point the underworld of Greek/Roman mythology is referred to as Hell. IT WAS NOT HELL. Not the same thing at all. Please, people, if you're going to include mythology, fact check.

Anyway, I did enjoy this book a lot and it made me eager to read the next one in the series but whoa, there isn't one. Both the first and the second books were published in 2010 as was the first book in another series she has, Dark Oracle (which incidentally I didn't really like). The second book in that series was published in 2011. Now she's started a new series, The Hallowed Ones, young adult of course since that's all the rage, which was published this year and the second book is coming out in 2013. Nothing on her site says anything about additional books in the other series even though she has a Twitter account for the salamander in this series I'm reviewing here. (My logic is that if she thinks that salamander is popular enough for that why isn't she working on the next book?) I have discovered a new pet peeve: two book series that haven't been finished that get set aside to start yet another series. Argh.

I broke my rule of never reading the last book in a series. I always want there to be one more to look forward to in case it takes the author forever to write another. It's easier for me to hold off after reading a cliffhanger if I know I can always pick up the next book if I want to. It's kind of like quitting chocolate but leaving one bar hidden that you can have any time. Anyway, now I'm regretful because unlike some authors who publish a book in their series every year, this writer doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry.

Oh well, I have other stuff to keep my occupied until then.

[My apologies: this was not a well written review, too stream of consciousness, but frankly, I am too lazy to rewrite it.] ( )

4.45 stars.

This was the second book I read today (well, finished the other and read this one) that had a theme of Spontaneous Human Combustion. I really hope this subject doesn't come in threes and manifest itself by me bursting into flame. That would just be my luck. Nah, that's too interesting a death. I'm fine.

I liked this much better than the first book in the series, so much so that I'm tempted to lower my rating on that one. This had what I felt was lacking in the first one: a greater connection to and presence of her love interest Brian; a big battle that had sides clearly drawn (i.e., I didn't think that I was supposed to empathize with the truly evil person, unlike in the first book where we were supposed to take pity on the really evil villain because he was helping battle someone even more evil, even though it was for selfish purposes--I like shades of gray but this guy was way darker than charcoal to me and I did not like having him be at all sympathetic); help in her epic battle from someone really likable; a really dangerous epic battle where she almost doesn't survive (yes, I know it's formulaic but I like that formula); people, especially her boyfriend, showing great concern for her peril; near death; no sex with evil characters; and so forth.

The story was interesting, the pacing was excellent (I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down), and there was a nice balance of drama, action, detective work and humor. I really like Bickle's characterizations, each person in the story very clearly defined in my head. I love a new character, Charon, and hope he appears in future installments.

I liked the evil villain who is a better/preferable foe than the one in the first book. That guy was evil but supposed to be mildly sympathetic as I mentioned and he just wasn't at all for me. This woman is truly evil, truly powerful, and legitimately scary.

Anna still has a lot of baggage but some of it was aired out a bit and we gain new perspective on parts of her past. I really don't like that horrible Ishtar painting that the villain in the last book painted for her, the one she slept with after she already knew he was the perpetrator, the guy who she still in this book refers to as a past lover. It's creepy that the woman in the painting looks like her and she still calls it Ishtar and she has it hanging in her bedroom where she refers to it as looking at her. CREEpy.

There were a few procedural issues that bothered me like the coroner does things in the lab that would completely compromise evidence; a whole lot of evidence gets destroyed because it's exposed but I'm pretty sure that in real life, only one thing is out of its carefully marked and sealed protected container at a time so it is, um, protected, not contaminated by other evidence; and doesn't the coroner have to confirm death on the scene?

I have to mention one minor irritation that probably won't bother most people at all and that is that at one point the underworld of Greek/Roman mythology is referred to as Hell. IT WAS NOT HELL. Not the same thing at all. Please, people, if you're going to include mythology, fact check.

Anyway, I did enjoy this book a lot and it made me eager to read the next one in the series but whoa, there isn't one. Both the first and the second books were published in 2010 as was the first book in another series she has, Dark Oracle (which incidentally I didn't really like). The second book in that series was published in 2011. Now she's started a new series, The Hallowed Ones, young adult of course since that's all the rage, which was published this year and the second book is coming out in 2013. Nothing on her site says anything about additional books in the other series even though she has a Twitter account for the salamander in this series I'm reviewing here. (My logic is that if she thinks that salamander is popular enough for that why isn't she working on the next book?) I have discovered a new pet peeve: two book series that haven't been finished that get set aside to start yet another series. Argh.

I broke my rule of never reading the last book in a series. I always want there to be one more to look forward to in case it takes the author forever to write another. It's easier for me to hold off after reading a cliffhanger if I know I can always pick up the next book if I want to. It's kind of like quitting chocolate but leaving one bar hidden that you can have any time. Anyway, now I'm regretful because unlike some authors who publish a book in their series every year, this writer doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry.

Oh well, I have other stuff to keep my occupied until then.

[My apologies: this was not a well written review, too stream of consciousness, but frankly, I am too lazy to rewrite it.] ( )

"...Sparks has every bit as much page-turning intrigue as its predecessor; it's gritty and gripping. There's still a romantic element between Anya and Brian, but things get a little complicated on that front (without being melodramatic or plot-dominating). And just as with the end of Embers, there is another sweet boss fight at the end of this one.

If you're looking for something other than the usual vampire/werewolf fare in the genre, you need to check this out. Bickle has something special and original in Anya Kalinczyk."

For full review, please visit me at Here Be Bookwyrms on Blogger:

http://herebebookwyrms.blogspot.com/2012/06/sparks.html ( )