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Monday, March 12, 2012

41) Black Howl by Christina Henry

The Blurb :

Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black's exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems, too. Original.

My Thoughts :

Christina Henry's Madeline Black series was one of the most refreshing new Urban Paranormals to be released in the last few years. At some point the new releases are just a hash-up of the usual plots, clichés and supernatural elements and it is wonderful when an author gets an original idea and goes with it. This series is one of those little gems and I was eager to see where this third book would take the story.

I needed a little time to get myself back into the world of Madeline Black. This is where Lucifer is a frequent visitor and big yucky spiders spring up to leave their goo all over the place. Once I had got my bearings I found myself engrossed in what was another unique plot and fantastic story. While some of the ideas seemed a little 'out there' it made for great reading and I loved following the events that led to Madeline once again saving the day.

Madeline is however on the verge of turning into one of those leading ladies who keeps acquiring magical abilities with each book. I hope this isn't a look at things to come. Especially with that amazing cliffhanger ending that could see Madeline getting more powers. However one could argue that being related to Lucifer comes with all the powers available. A nice idea but I hope it doesn't go to Madeline's head.

The gang of misfits that Madeline hangs out with are actually pretty cool. I love the little hungry gargoyle Beezle who usually wants some kind of sweet treat for his valuable information. Samiel would be more enjoyable if anyone really paid attention to him. Yes he can't speak but he only seems to be noticed when they need an extra person to fight off all the badies that keep coming out of the woodwork.

This third book is quite an emotional roller coaster ride for Madeline and all things considered she holds up very well. As mentioned, the ending was pretty cool, but I was expecting it. I really am looking forward to seeing how that plays out. I have to say I appreciated the author not going into explicit details when Madeline finally made it to bed with someone. I am seriously fed up of the long and extravagant sex scenes and it was nice to not have pages wasted in this book. We know how the birds and bees work and don't really need more info than that. Thank you Christina for sparing us.

All in all this was a super third book in the series and a lot happened. However it wasn't my favourite in the series so far. Lots of action, depth and humour but it was maybe just too much. I do expect that the fourth book will be my favourite. I seriously can't wait for that one and really hope that the author delivers us a nice new aspect to the series.

Worth checking out if you love Jeaniene Frost, Jaye Wells or Jenna Black. Definitely give this cool new series a go. You won't be disappointed.

2 comments:

Aurian said...

Nice review Amber, I still have to start reading it. But those spiders, please tell me not too many or too scary! I loathe spiders!

Mardel said...

Thank you! for being on the same page I am regarding sex in urban fantasies. Sometimes I feel like I picked up a romance novel that happens to be about paranormal people rather than picking up an urban fantasy that might have a relationship brewing. I also get tired of the endless sex details. Once in a while is okay, but it gets overdone. If I want to read a lot of sex, I'll look for some romance novels or even some straight up porn! :) I appreciate when an author uses a light touch with the sex (pun intended)