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Saturday, November 16, 2013

151) Circle of Death by Keri Arthur

The Blurb :

In one vicious night, Kirby Brown’s world is torn apart. Her best friend is dead, killed by a madman who is now after Kirby, and she has no idea why. When the police prove incapable of protecting Kirby, she has no choice but to trust a mysterious stranger. And while she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, she fears the strange abilities he wields.

An investigator for the Damask Circle, Doyle Fitzgerald, has come to Melbourne, Australia, to hunt down a killer. What he doesn’t expect to find is a cadre of witches capable of controlling the elements, a sorceress determined to take that power for herself, and a broken woman who is more than she seems. Doyle is certain that the reason behind the bloodshed lies in Kirby’s past—a past she has no wish to remember. Because Doyle isn’t the only one with magic in his soul: Kirby’s special gifts have the strength to destroy the world.

My Thoughts :

A couple of weeks ago I read the first part in this series, Circle of Fire.  I really enjoyed it and when I saw this second part up for review I couldn't resist it.  I loved Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson series and I have been dying to read more of her work.  This re-release has been on my watch list for a while but I was worried that this ten year old story may not live up to my expectations.  I was wrong.

Circle of Fire didn't give much away about the Circle of Damask but in Circle of Death the reader gets more of an insight into the work they do and who is involved.  It is still all very secretive but I felt that I was at least getting a little bit more information that I did in the first book.  This sequel was completely different to the first in that it was a whole new cast of characters and a different set of supernatural skills.  Only the Damask connection keeps the books linked and I wonder if this will ever be expanded on.

I liked Kirby but found her to be very naive at times.  Even I saw through things and knew straight away how she was connected to her friend.  Doyle was an interesting character and I wish we would have had more about his abilities explained and shown. As with most of these types of books (where romance is included) it was obvious what was going to happen between the main characters.  The story bringing them together was a simple one and somehow a little too easy.  It made for nice reading though.

The main focus was of course finding a killer.  This plot was quite interesting and sometimes confusing but it was a good way of weaving the characters into things.  At times I felt like I was missing something as some moments in the book were fast and furious taking me by surprise.  These action packed paragraphs were always over too quickly and left me a little dizzy.  Flipping back pages to check what I may have missed is annoying and after a while I just didn't bother anymore.

A super Paranormal Urban Fantasy that shows how things used to be done.  Circle of Death shows its age and therefore has a maturity that you don't always find these days.  I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first installment but it was still a great read.  I look forward to reading the next book in the Damask series and hope that the Circle aspect of the series will be revealed.






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1 comment:

Aurian said...

Now I really want to read this series. I have two of the three. Let's hope book 1 is one of them...