The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith

If you live long enough, everything happens.
And then some of it happens again. [pg xii]

The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith
Harper Collins, September 2008 (ARE)
Fiction; 209 pgs

Mark is an 11 year old boy whose life is out of balance. His mother has remarried and they have moved from London to the seaside community of Brighton. Mark was forced to leave behind his friends and the life he knew. His mother is deathly ill and Mark wants nothing more than to have things return to the way they once were. He directs most of his anger towards his new stepfather, David, who seems to control every facet of their life. It is his house that the family moved into and him that controls how much diet coke comes into the house.

Mark feels alone and unsure of his place in the new life he finds himself leading. He befriends an elderly woman who lives in an apartment in the basement of the family’s house. She has lived there for many years on her own. She opens her door to the young angry boy and lets him in on a little known secret about the centuries old house they live in. Behind a locked door lies the old servants’ quarters where once servants ran the house, cooking and cleaning, keeping things in order and maintaining the balance of life up above.

The Servants is a heartfelt story about a boy coming to terms with his mother’s illness and finding his way in life. Author Michael Marshall Smith’s writing is simple and genuine, allowing the reader into the mind of that 11 year old boy as he struggles to understand everything going on around him. It was impossible not to grow attached to Mark, to feel his pain and also to want to steer him in the right direction when he seemed to be off course. He just needs to find his own way and look beyond the surface of what is going on around him.

In addition to Mark’s character, I was drawn to David, the stepfather. Mark focused so much of his anger and energy on disliking his stepfather that one had to wonder what was going on in David’s mind. Mark’s own father and mother could do no wrong in Mark’s eyes. He put them on pedestals, making it difficult at first to get to know them. And yet, it proved an effective move on the author’s part in telling Mark’s story. The reader only experiences what Mark wants us to. It is his story, after all. Although this is Mark’s tale, I would like to have gotten to know the elderly woman in the basement more. Her own story must be a remarkable one.

There does not seem to be much to this story, at least not at first. Michael Marshall Smith’s The Servants is on one level a ghost story. On another, it is a story about love and family. And it is about finding one’s place in this mad crazy world we live in. I found The Servants to be a refreshing and charming story.

Rating: (Good +)

Check out the Michael Marshall Smith's website for more information about his books.

Review book provided by Harper Collins First Look Program.

Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake

Something in my soul had been hurt by what surrounded me, but I was not physically hurt. [excerpt from Nightwalker]


Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake
Harper, August 2008 (ARE)
Fantasy; 370 pgs

It has been too long since last read a fantasy novel about vampires. I was thrilled when I learned that I was selected to receive a copy of Jocelynn Drake’s Nightwalker through Harper Collins First Look Program. It sounded like a promising start to a new series. A series reader can never have enough series to read, right? And what could be more fun than a tale of magic, vampires, lycanthropes, great battles, and a little flicker of romance?

Nightwalker introduces readers to Mira, a vampire with a special talent of being able to start fires. She is greatly feared and admired by those in the magic realm. Mira is content with her life in Savannah, Georgia, watching over her domain and protecting the secret of her people, keeping the knowledge of the dark forces hidden from the humans. When a powerful vampire hunter comes to town bearing an unexpected gift, Mira finds herself face to face with an enemy she long believed to be dead.

Danaus, the mysterious hunter, is not out to kill her just yet. He needs her help. The naturi were one of biggest threats to both nightwalkers and humanity centuries ago, and there are signs that they are returning to the world. Mira still has nightmares of her time in captivity when she was kidnapped and held prisoner by the naturi. She must decide whether to join forces with the hunter in fighting their common foe. One thing she knows for sure, however. She must seek out the triad that created the seal that had blocked the naturi from returning. Only they will be able to stop the naturi from growing in strength and ushering their queen across the barrier. If that were to happen, humans and nightwalkers would face certain death and destruction.

Although the book got off to a slow start, it wasn’t long before I was drawn into the story. I especially found myself curious about Danaus. He is human and yet holds his own special powers. He has a strong sense of justice and is not sure what to think of Mira and her kind. He was taught all his life that vampires were evil and that they killed out of blood lust. Mira has her own code. She does not kill indiscriminately and cares about the humans as well as her own people. She will do what she must to protect the secrets that she keeps just the same, and if that means spilling blood, then so be it.

It took me a little while to warm up to Mira. She seemed cold and calculating at first, using her wiles to get what she wanted. She was not above using force to prove her point and could just as quickly use her sensuality to get what she wanted. Jocelynn Drake did a good job, however, of bringing out the more human side of Mira as the story unfolded. And as her character often reminded the vampire hunter, humans are themselves a violent race—even more so in some ways than the nightwalkers.

The novel takes readers from the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia to Africa and on to England where the isle is rich in magic. I felt like I was wandering the streets right alongside Mira and Danaus as they went about their business. I wouldn’t have minded lingering a bit longer.

The biggest disadvantage to reading this book is that it ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. It is obvious there is much more to Mira’s story, and, of course, now I have to wait before I will be able to see where Jocelynn Drake will take me next. Jocelynn Drake has created an intriguing and magical world that I cannot wait to visit again.

Rating: (Good +)

Be sure and check out the author’s blog and website for more information about the author and her book.

No One Heard Her Scream by Jordan Dane

First Sentence: Somewhere in her heart, Danielle Montgomery knew this was wrong, and her guilt had a face.

No One Heard Her Scream by Jordan Dane
Avon, 2008 (ARE)
Crime Fiction (S/T); 354 pgs

Detective Rebecca Montgomery is hanging by a thread emotionally and career wise. Her sister’s disappearance and the lack of progress in the investigation have the grieving San Antonio detective on edge. Her coworkers are tired of her butting in and jeopardizing the investigation, one that involves more than just Becca’s sister. Other girls have gone missing across the country with possible ties to the San Antonio area.

In order to divert her attention and keep her busy, Becca’s superior assigns her to a case involving the discovery of skeletal remains in the old Imperial Theatre, which had just recently burned down in an arson fire. When Becca’s investigation takes her to the doorstep of a shady wealthy businessman, she is suddenly pulled off that case as well, and the FBI takes over. Not ready to give over the reins completely, Becca decides to continue with the investigation on her own. Becca must decide if she wants to try to enlist the help of an insider, Diego Galvan, whose own motives are questionable.

Billed as a romantic suspense, it is easy to see why. Sparks fly the moment Becca and Diego first lay eyes on each other. She is not sure which side he is on, but it’s clear he has a dangerous streak that she must not underestimate. While at first I questioned the believability of her falling so fast for Diego despite common sense and the walls she had built around her, I came to recognize that her toughness was only a façade. She wanted—needed—a connection with someone and her mysterious stranger was able to get under her defenses from the very first moment. In addition to the physical attraction, he showed an interest in her and listened to her, filling a void in her heart. She had been living a relatively lonely existence since her sister’s disappearance and apparent murder.

I tend to shy away from books with heavy romance overtones as a matter of preference, and I had been hearing here and there that this particular novel might be too much in that direction for my tastes. While the sex scenes were certainly sizzling in content, they did not overwhelm the overall story, one that exposes a very dark and ugly criminal underworld that unfortunately is very much a part of our world today.

The players in the novel become obvious fairly quickly as I am sure the author intended, but where all the pieces of the puzzle will fall remain unknown for most of the book. No One Heard Her Scream is predictable in some respects, but not in all. Jordan Dane is off to a great start with her first novel. It is suspenseful and fast paced, always a good combination for a book like this. Jordan Dane’s No One Heard Her Scream came to me through the Harper Collins First Look Program.

Rating: (Good)


Be sure and stop by Jordan Dane's website website for more information about her recent books.

Read what Bookgal and April had to say about this book:
Books, Memes and Musings (Bookgal)
Cafe of Dreams (April)