The Friday 56: Graveyard Child by M.L.N. Hanover

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

I'm reading an urban fantasy, "Graveyard Child", by M.L.N. Hanover. The quote is from page 56  in the paperback.

"You know," Ex said, "we should really put together some kind of contingency plan where someone feeds the dog if we all get killed."
'"Would be kind of rude to just leave her locked in the hotel room," I said. "I'll see what I can do."

Review of Killing Rites by M.L.N. Hanover

Publisher: Pocket Books Urban Fantasy
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Series: #4 in The Black Sun's Daughter series
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads): 

*Contains spoilers for the previous books*

Jayné Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers; something else is living inside her body. She's possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse Jayné before the parasite in her becomes too powerful. 

 Ex's history and a new enemy combine to leave Jayné alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they're putting her in. Jayné must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin. 

Teaser:

"So you want to finish the latte and we can get this over with?"

 "Get what over with?"

 "I know why you're here. We don't have to dance around it. You came to kill me, and I'm not up for dying just yet. So-"

"I didn't come to kill you. I came for dinner. I didn't even know you were here," I said. "Besides, I wouldn't do that. You're my friend."......

"Damn. You have it got bad. I figured we were doing that moment of camaraderie for old times' sake thing before we went all Bushido on each other," he said.

My Thoughts:

*Contains spoilers for previous books*

This series just gets better and better. My friend Sophie introduced me to the series a couple years ago; I read the first book and enjoyed it, but didn't get around to reading the other books until recently. I read books two, three and four back to back, which gave me quite an appreciation for the series. You definitely need to read this series in order, without skipping. Each book has major plot developments and action. Jayne (pronounced Zha.nay) at times seems TSTL and inclined on the one hand to just coast along, living day to day, and on the other hand to jump into a situation without thinking, but gradually she grows, matures, and learns to think ahead and to take responsibility. In this book, we see and feel her disillusionment, her weariness, and her growing realization, which started in book two, that sometimes it's okay to leave a rider inside a human being, that they can work together peacefully.

This story focuses primarily on Jayne and Ex; Chogyi Jake is still recovering from wounds sustained in book three and Aubrey and Kim are in Chicago, trying to rebuild their lives. We learn more about Ex in this book, and get to know him better, including why he quit being a Catholic priest. Jayne also learns a lot about herself, and not all of it is pleasant. There are answers to some loose ends from prior books, including the origin of the series' name, and the end sets up an intriguing new direction for the series.

Hanover does an excellent job with "Killing Rites" - it held my attention from the beginning and I read it in two sittings. It has action, a well thought out plot, deft characterization, strong world building and characters that are easy to like even when you disagree with their actions. If you haven't read this series, you really need to. Hanover has taken the stock creatures of horror and urban fantasy - demons, vampires, etc. - and given them an all new spin, mixed with a bit of religion and philosophy.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

The Black Sun's Daughter Giveaway! Win Books 1-4

Thanks to the kind folks at Pocket Books, I have the first 4 books in the Black Sun's Daughter series by M.L.N. Hanover to giveaway, in print. The fourth book, Killing Rites, is due to release on Nov. 29th. US residents only, sorry. The giveaway will end on Wednesday, Nov. 23rd and I'll announce the winner on Friday, Nov. 25th. 

In a world where magic walks and demons ride, you can't always play by the rules.

Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College. 

Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life. 


Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....

 

In the battle between good and evil, there's no such thing as a fair fight.

When Jayné Heller's uncle Eric died, she inherited a fortune beyond all her expectations -- and a dangerous mission in a world she never knew existed. Reining in demons and supernatural foes is a formidable task, but thankfully Jayné has vast resources and loyal allies to rely on. She'll need both to tackle a bodyswitching serial killer who's taken up residence in New Orleans, a city rich in voodoo lore and dark magic.

Working alongside Karen Black, a highly confident and enigmatic ex-FBI agent, Jayné races to track down the demon's next intended host. But the closer she gets, the more convinced she becomes that nothing in this beautiful, wounded city is exactly as it seems. When shocking secrets come to light, and jealousy and betrayal turn trusted friends into adversaries, Jayné will soon come face-to-face with an enemy that knows her all too well, and won't rest until it has destroyed everything she loves most....

When you’re staring evil in the eye, don’t forget to watch your back . . . 
 
For the first time in forever, Jayné Heller’s life is making sense. Even if she routinely risks her life to destroy demonic parasites that prey on mortals, she now has friends, colleagues, a trusted lover, and newfound confidence in the mission she inherited from her wealthy, mysterious uncle. Her next job might just rob her of all of them. At Grace Memorial Hospital in Chicago, something is stirring. Patients are going AWOL and research subjects share the same sinister dreams. Half a century ago, something was buried under Grace in a terrible ritual, and it’s straining to be free. Jayné is primed to take on whatever’s about to be let loose. Yet the greatest danger now may not be the huge, unseen force lurking below, but the evil that has been hiding in plain sight all along—taking her ever closer to losing her body, her mind, and her soul. . . .

JaynÉ Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers: something else is living inside her body. She's possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse JaynÉ before the parasite in her becomes too powerful. 

Ex’s history and a new enemy combine to leave JaynÉ alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they’re putting her in. JaynÉ must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin.

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