Holidays Are Hell by Kim HarrisonThis holiday, spend quality time with family and loved ones;living and dead . . .
There's no place like home for the horrordays;unless you'd prefer a romantic midnight walk through a ghost-infested graveyard . . . or a haunted house candlelight dinner with the sexy vampire of your dreams. The (black) magical season is here;and whether it's a solstice séance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have written up a little review of each story. I did not realize it when I started the book, but I have books and/or series of books by each of these authors on my TBR shelf. But have not yet read any of them, with the exception of one Kim Harrison's 'Hollows' book that I don't remember being terribly impressed with. So here goes--
Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel by Kim Harrison--
I have read the first book about the Hollows by Harrison and while it was okay I was not blown away and have not read any of the others yet. But I have to say that I loved this story about a teenage Rachel. I have to go back and check my journal entry for the book that I have read, but I don't recall anything in it that relates to this story. In this story we have a young, sickly Rachel, who is fighting to overcome the remnants of a battle with an illness that no before her has ever survived. She wants to join the I.S. but her older brother wants her to move with him and study witchcraft. He makes a deal with her -- If she can perform a spell and bring back the ghost of their father to ask him what he thinks Rachel should do, and her father's ghost agrees that she should join the I.S., then he will sign the papers for her. Rachel performs the spell with success but the ghost that comes back is not her father. This leads to a race to find a young girl, who has been kidnapped by a vampire that the ghost Rachel brought back has battled before. All in all a very detailed and exciting story that makes me want to go dig out my Rachel Morgan books and read them now.
Run, Run Rudolph by Lynsay Sands --
This was a fun, romantic read. When Jill is zapped by an experimental ray from a molecular destabilizer that her brother has created, she suddenly becomes a shape shifter, able to instantly change into anyone (or anything) that she sees. This leads to a bit of chaos when a crazy lab assistant tries to kidnap her to experiment on. With the help of a guy she has been 'friends' with for the past 6 months, she has to escape the madman and try to keep her secret from her potential new guy, all of this while play Mrs. Claus in the annual Christmas parade. lol A wonderful, fun story that was quite enjoyable to read.
Six by Marjorie Liu --
This is a much darker urban fantasy than the first 2 stories in the book. The story takes place in Shanghai where we meet Six -- a young woman who has been raised by the government and trained to be a killer. She works for an elite team of female anti terrorists who are deadlier than any other weapon that the government has. While investigating a possible terrorist threat she encounters a man who is nothing like anyone she has ever met before. When he saves her from a vampire she decides to learn what she can from him about this new threat to her nation, even though it may mean she has to commit treason. Good read, good urban fantasy.
The Harvest by Vicki Pettersson --
I really enjoyed this story of The Zodiac. I have not read any of her Zodiac series of books yet, but I really enjoyed this one and look forward to starting them soon. I can't wait to see how the stories tie into this one. I was amazed at how much the author managed to include in a short story. It was great!! Zoe is an agent of the Light, a member of the Zodiac team. She has given up her powers in order to protect her daughter, who is supposed to be a the fulfillment of a prophesy. When her granddaughter, who is also a supernatural, but being hidden in the mortal world for her own safety, is kidnapped by the Shadows, she must contact her old love and convince him and the other members of the Zodiac to help her rescue the child. I am very eager to read more of her books and learn more about the Zodiac. Great Read!!
View all my reviews.
