chez_jae | Entries tagged with series: soulwood

Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I stayed up past my bedtime last night to finish Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter. It's the 6th book in her "Soulwood" urban fantasy series, starring Nell Ingram, a paranormal of indeterminate origin and a member of the paranormal investigative unit, PsyLED.

When the local MOC vampire, Ming Zhane, contacts PsyLED to report a dead body on her property, Nell responds to the call along with her boss, Rick, and her boss-boss, FireWind. Nell notes that Ming and the other vamps are acting strangely, and the discovery of the dead body is only the beginning of a puzzle that involves ancient, powerful vampires, a deck of cards known as the Blood Tarot, and the interdimensional creatures called arcenciels. Nell later realizes she's been used as bait and that she is now a target of the vamps who seek the Blood Tarot. When they trespass on her property, Soulwood, Nell uses her connection to the land to defend herself and her sisters. This time, however, her sisters step up to help her. It will take their combined plant magic to defend their home, thwart their enemies, and save their friends. Oh, and Nell is in the midst of planning her wedding, too.

Captivating and difficult to set aside. Hunter is a deft writer who manages to combine top-notch world building with fast paced plots and violent battles, and she also injects both romance and humor into her stories to balance them out. I enjoy Nell's relationship with Occam, and her determination to do what needs to be done, even at her own peril.

Favorite lines:
♦ "Well, that's good they got souls. Now when they die they can go to hell like proper evil beings."
♦ "Don't get your throat torn out or your head ripped off." // "Not on my list of ways to die." // "You have a list of ways to die?" // "You don't?"

Loved it! Five stars

Current Mood: cold

Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can't believe it took me an entire week to read Spells for the Dead, by Faith Hunter. I blame Shark Week. Hah! This is the fifth book in Hunter's "Soulwood" urban fantasy series, featuring main character Nell Ingram. Nell is not quite human, but she's not entirely sure what she is, either, other than a former churchwoman and a rookie agent with PsyLED.

Nell's team is summoned to the ostentatious home and horse ranch of a country music star, Stella Mae Ragel. What they find when they arrive are bodies decaying far more rapidly than normal. The witch on their team says it's akin to death magic, and she enlists a local coven to help put a ward around the vile magics to contain the scourge.

As Unit 18 digs into Stella Mae's life, in search of a motive, they uncover the star's secret, sordid past...which may not be completely in the past after all. When more people become affected by the death and decay, the race is on to find a way to stop it and stop the person who set the death magic into motion. Nell will need to pull on her ties to her own land in an effort to halt the spread of poison from Stella Mae's land.

Thoroughly engrossing, even though it took me a full week to read it. Nell continues to gain in confidence, both as an agent and in a more personal manner towards her family and the polygamous church that she broke free of. Her relationship with fellow PsyLED member, Occam, is gaining strength, and I like how Occam allows Nell to set the pace. The plot was intricate, as was the unweaving of the web that allowed Nell's team to find the perpetrator, characters are wonderfully realized, and Nell's point of view was interesting to follow.

Favorite lines:
♦ Fear of women created a need to control them, especially among weak men who didn't know their place in the world and feared anything that might take their little bit of power from them.
♦ "Well, I'll be a dinosaur on Noah's ark."
♦ Grief was like living inside a weighted net, pulling you down. You could see out but not get away, not breathe freely, not...not live the life you once lived.

Excellent book, five stars.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Paranormal Caught on Camera

Circle of the Moon by Faith Hunter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I stayed up into the wee hours this morning, because I was so engrossed by my book that I had to finish it. The book was Circle of the Moon, and it's the fourth in the "Soulwood" series by Faith Hunter, that features Nell Ingram. Nell is Special Agent with PsyLED, the organization that polices paranormals. She is also a paranormal of indeterminate species. Nell draws power from the land around her, especially her own property, Soulwood.

When Nell's boss, Rick Lafleur, calls her for help, she and her co-worker, Occam, locate Rick on a riverbank. He had shifted into his black wereleopard form and woke next to a witch circle with an animal sacrifice at the center. As more circles and sacrificed animals are found, the team concludes that a blood-witch is using black magic for a major working. Worse, the workings seem to be calling to Rick. That makes him a liability and puts the entire unit on edge.

On top of this perplexing and dangerous case, Nell also finds herself drawn back into the drama of the cult-like church she turned her back on. She is trying to get custody of her young sister, Mindy, who may be the same sort of paranormal non-human that Nell is. In addition, Nell is still confused by her attraction to Occam, even though he has promised not to pressure her.

The story was fast-paced and exciting. I was pleased to finally learn the mystery surrounding Rick's tattoos, and we learned more about Jane Yellowrock's brother, FireWind, as he put in an appearance. It was also fun to see Nell interacting, putting not only her training to work, but also her experience as a churchwoman to get others to let down their guard around her.

Favorite lines:
♦ "Families can suck all the red offa life's lollipop."
♦ "Keep measuring and film this on your cell. If I explode, see that my family never learns I was stupid enough to do this."
♦ "Demons suck dill pickles."

Amazing book, excellent characterizations and interactions, gritty fight scenes, with some tenderness and humor thrown in to balance it all out. Automatic five stars!

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "Heart & Soul" ~ T'Pau

Just polished off Flame in the Dark, which is the third installment in Faith Hunter's "Soulwood" series, featuring non-human, special agent Nell Ingram.

PsyLED, the agency that polices paranormals, has sent Nell's unit to the scene of a mass shooting, because one of the guests was a vampire, which puts the case in their jurisdiction. Another guest was a Senator, and it's assumed he was the target of an assassination attempt. Nell uses her ability to read the land, enabling her to discover that the path the shooter took has left dead vegetation in its wake. Before anything can be resolved, further assassination attempts take place, with the only common denominator being fire at each site. Unit 18 knows that a non-human is responsible, but they can't figure out the species.

In the meantime, Nell is being carefully courted by her teammate, Occam, and her family is pushing a man from the church at her. Nell's young sister is now attracting the attention of the men in the church, and Nell knows that Mindy is just like her, a non-human of indeterminate origin. She wants to protect her sister, nurture her land, Soulwood, deal with the odd vampire-like tree she unwittingly created on the church compound, and remove the blight on her own land.

As the case becomes ever more dire, it becomes apparent that this is no simple assassination attempt, but a family situation that goes back generations.

Again, a fabulous story. I like Nell's pluck, as well as her reluctant attraction to Occam. It's heartening to watch her progress from a cowed, abused churchwoman into a self-assured agent. My only regret about this book is that I should have been caught up on the Jane Yellowrock series before reading it, as it included spoilers for one of those books. My bad.

Favorite line: But I was tired of making allowances for cats.
Story of my life!

Excellent, five stars:

*****

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "Scars to Your Beautiful" ~ Alessia Cara

Since I don't have to work today, I stayed up until after 2am to finish reading Curse on the Land by Faith Hunter. It's the second book in the urban fantasy "Soulwood" series.

Former churchwoman Nell Ingram has completed her training to join Unit 18 of PsyLED, the organization that polices paranormals. Her first case with the team was meant to be simple and straight-forward, as the unit is sent to investigate a flock of geese behaving strangely at a local pond. However, when Nell uses her unique talent to "read" the earth, she discovers energies there that do not belong, one of which seems sentient. Now it's up to the team to uncover whether this was a natural event or a witch-working. Nell is suddenly playing a far more important role than she had anticipated.

In addition to working her first case, Nell must also contend with the blight on her own land, Soulwood. It's a blight she is responsible for, but she has no idea how to fix it. Complicating matters is that a tree on church property has been attacking people, and Nell returns home to see what can be done. She still feels odd to be among her family and members of the polygamous cult again, and now one of her co-workers seems to have taken an interest in her. As a young widow, Nell is unsure how to handle Occam's attention. Complicating things is the fact that Occam and the other were-leopards of Unit 18 are experiencing the call of the full moon, including unit leader, Rick.

What a fascinating story! Nell is pulled in so many different directions, and she's running on so little sleep, that it made me exhausted to read her adventure. Ha ha! She is still bashful around non-church people, and she is easily flustered, but Nell is able to pull on her training to get her part of the job done. It was fun to see her step up like that.

Favorite line: "As in any magical tricks, trinkets, and a magic wand. Take a frigging Quidditch broom if you got one."

Excellent! Five stars:

*****

Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: "A Woman in Love" ~ Frankie Laine

I stayed up until 2:00am last night/this morning to finish reading Blood of the Earth, by Faith Hunter. It's the first book in the author's "Soulwood" series, and it's set in the same verse as the "Jane Yellowrock" series.

Nell Ingram is a young widow, living on the land her older husband left to her when he died. It borders land owned by the cult-like church that Nell broke free from when she was just a girl. Now that she has no man to protect her, male members of the church have been harassing her, trying to strong-arm her into returning to the flock and taking a husband, who will then take over Nell's land. Nell, however, isn't without protection. Not only is she armed, but the land itself seems to aid her when needed.

After helping Jane Yellowrock in her quest to rescue a vampire held by the church (which happened "off-screen"), Nell was promised assistance. It comes in the form of Agent Rick LaFleur of PsyLED, and his team of paranormal investigators. Not long after they arrive, a series of kidnappings of local girls has Nell hired on as a consultant to the team as they try to find out if the church is involved. Nell is willing to help, but she and the team need to learn to trust one another, because the kidnappings are just the tip of the iceberg...

This story was as engrossing as any in the author's other series, but it lacked the humor. Nell has lived a hard life of fear and abuse, making her a sober, solemn, suspicious young woman. It makes her willingness to help even more remarkable. Nell doesn't know what she is, only that she's not a witch, but she uses her power to commune with the woods to both protect herself and the others, provide early warning if someone trespasses on her property, and learn information. It was interesting to read more about Rick, from the perspective of a woman other than Jane, and I enjoyed "meeting" the other characters. Nell may have a romantic interest in wereleopard Occam, which would be the cat's pajamas!

Favorite line: "Men. Sometimes they got nothing between their ears and too much between their legs."

:D

Five stars!

*****

Current Mood: good
Current Music: "Rock Your Body" ~ Justin Timberlake