Jax and Steph Review Flame in the Dark by Faith Hunter, with Special Bonus Short Story and Giveaway

Series:  FLAME IN THE DARK (Soulwood #3)

Publisher: Ace/Roc

Source: pr firm in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: December 5, 2017

Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble

* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Nell Ingram has always known she was different. Since she was a child, she’s been able to feel and channel ancient powers from deep within the earth. When she met Jane Yellowrock, her entire life changed, and she was recruited into PsyLED—the Homeland Security division that polices paranormals. But now her newly formed unit is about to take on its toughest case yet.

A powerful senator barely survives an assassination attempt that leaves many others dead—and the house he was visiting burns to the ground. Invisible to security cameras, the assassin literally disappears, and Nell’s team is called in. As they track a killer they know is more—or less—than human, they unravel a web of dark intrigue and malevolent motives that tests them to their limits and beyond.

Laura's Thoughts:

Don't tell Jane, but I think I like Nell better. Or maybe it's just nice to watch Nell come into her own, versus Jane's established confidence. I love Jane's confident but there is something about Nell's journey that I can relate to: discovering the world outside her comfort zone, finding her feet, and how seeing how capable she is in that wider world. With each book, Nell finds a little more balance between her upbringing and her new reality. She's not running from her past, or throwing it all out. She's just finding what works for her. Those kind of details are part of what makes Faith Hunter's work so wonderful. The various accents come through beautifully and help build an amazingly complex world with compelling characters.

Within that frame work, Hunter tells wonderfully inventive stories. There are some really good twists in this one. It kept me guessing. And a stellar romance - Nell being courted is sweet and hilarious, and incredibly hot. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did, and check out the first part of a special short story Faith wrote for this blog tour. It's below Steph's review, and you can find the rest of the story at the other stops on the tour. Just follow this link to find the next stop.

Steph's Thoughts:

I am really enjoying this new series by Faith Hunter so I am always excited when one is offered up for review. 

As always, I like the paranormal mystery that occurs in all these novels and this one was no different. It has the perfect mix of mystery and paranormal to keep me happy. The story builds at a good pace until the end. 

 What I really love about Nell is her magic. It is such a different take on earth magic than I have read about in the past. Her magic keeps me reading trying to figure it all out. The explanation we get at the end of the book made sense or as much sense as we (and she) can make of it at this time and it worked for me. 

Nell’s interaction with other paranormals is much different than Jane who can be a little bit confrontational and suspicious. Whereas,  Nell can be a bit timid when dealing with the others. She isn’t a weak heroine, she is just new to unit and trying to figure out where she fits in. I loved the evolution of her friendship with Occam. The initial flirting is cute and fun. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Nell is a great character that I enjoy very much. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

How Occam Got His Name

serial short story

By Faith Hunter

Part One

“ ’Ems the biggest bobcat prints I ever seen,” Wayman said.

Trace knelt, his 30.06 pointing at the sky, and angled the flashlight to see better. He held his hand, fingers spread, over the paw print, “They’re bigger ’an my hand.”

“I hope we see it. Wayman knelt beside him, his blue jeans appearing in the circle of light. “Maybe we should come back with a raccoon trap and catch him.”

“I think this bobcat would eat us for dinner and still be hungry.”

“Nah. We’ll jist wave our arms and jump up and down and yell a lot. My daddy says my voice is so high that it’d scare off the Devil hisself.”

Trace had to agree with that. At the Halloween carnival last year, when a zombie clown popped up in front of them, Wayman screamed so high the guy in the clown suit ran. It hurt everybody’s ears but it was so funny nobody cared. “I don’t know Wayman. Something about the prints bothers me. They’re too big.”

“Maybe one a your daddy’s demon sermons is scaring you. Trust me, Trace.” Wayman shined his flashlight into Trace’s face and backed away. “Demons ain’t got paws and claws.”

Trace threw up the hand holding the shotgun. “Stop that. I can’t see jack, now.”

“Can’t see Jill neither.” Wayman laughed and ran into the night, yelling, “Come on. The meteor shower starting around midnight.”

“Idiot! Wayman, wait! I can’t see!”

Wayman’s laughter trailed away into the dark.

“Idiot. Idiot!” Trace shouted into the night. “Where are you?” And he said a worse word but too soft for Wayman to hear. His daddy’d beat his butt if he ever heard about it. And Wayman had a big mouth.

 ******************************

You can find the next part of the short story at the next stop. Head here to find it. 

New York Times and USAToday bestselling fantasy author Faith Hunter was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. Altogether she has 40+ books in print under the names Gary Hunter, Gwen Hunter, and Faith Hunter. As Faith, she writes two contemporary Urban Fantasy series: the Jane Yellowrock series, featuring a Cherokee skinwalker who hunts rogue vampires, and the Soulwood series, featuring earth magic user Nell Ingram. Her Rogue Mage novels are a dark, post-apocalyptic, fantasy series featuring Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage. The role playing game based on the series, is ROGUE MAGE, RPG.

Website: www.faithhunter.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.faith.hunter

Twitter: @hunterfaith

Yellowrock Securities: http://www.yellowrocksecurities.com  

Gwen Hunter: www.gwenhunter.com

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