There’s a tour-wide giveaway for 2 complete sets of the Jane Yellowrock
series (all 12 books)!!
Open to US residents only; visit the blogs listed below to enter.
by
Faith Hunter
About the book:
Jane Yellowrock used to hunt vampires, but now she must fight--and win--beside them.
As
Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane
Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory
safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the
European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions.
If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the
people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can't let that
happen.
Preparing
for the duel requires all of Jane's focus, but with so much
supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to
rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand
and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no
one is safe.
Excerpt #4:
I Killed the Only U’tlun’ta in NOLA
I gripped Eli’s right arm, pulling him into the time bubble. He stumbled and I caught him, shoving his weapon up and away. “Jane?” he said, almost startled at the time change. Almost but not quite. It was hard to startle one of Uncle Sam’s best, especially as he had been in the Gray Between with me before. He looked at the unwelcome visitor. “Who?”
“Don’t know. Wearing a PsyLED badge.” I held up the badge as proof. “Using the new Glock issued to PsyLED. He speaks some of the language of The People. He called me by my Cherokee name. And then called me u’tlun’ta.”
“He smell like you?”
“No. Floral.” My own scent was a challenge to most vampires, until the team leader accepted me. Then that one’s underlings fell into line and accepted me too. But oral history, things people had told me about a skinwalker who had lived in New Orleans a century and more ago, hinted that at least one other skinwalker had smelled like flowers. At some point soon, I had to track down the vamp who had owned her and ask questions. In my copious free time. Right.
Eli frowned. He checked the altered trajectory of his round, patted my hand, telling me to not let go, which would drop him into normal time. He lifted a thigh rig from the floor and strapped it on to his shower-damp body and seated his weapon in its Kydex holster. He looked me over, seeing too much. “Your head?”
“Bearable.”
Eli grunted. With one free hand, he gripped my arm, making sure we didn’t separate. Together, we pattered down the steps, back to the killer. “We still don’t know if all skinwalkers can bubble time or if it’s unique,” he said, “part of you and Beast. We need to make sure he doesn’t learn that you have that skill.”
“It’s on video footage at HQ,” I said.
“Yeah. But that’s in a time and place where witch magic could be playing tricks. Discussing that with cops is a battle for tomorrow. We play it by ear, wronged, in danger, and innocent.” Eli looked the visitor over as if he was a piece of terrain to be taken from the enemy, staring into the yellow eyes, as if looking for contacts. Eli frowned. “Too bad I can’t get his weapon away without pulling him into time with us. Let me get to the left side of the doorframe, weapon drawn, ready to fire. You get into your previous position, and let me go. Then you take the guy out. I’ll take care that the weapon doesn’t fire again.”
“Okay. Modified kata guruma?” Kata guruma was a dramatic, vicious martial takedown.
“Okay by me. Use his hair. Grab his dumplings and give ’em a twist as you slam him down, but toss him inside. We got gawkers.” He meant the tourists on the sidewalk across the street. “I’ll have his weapon long before he hits.”
I shrugged and put the vamp-killer and the PsyLED badge on the floor, out of the way, then stepped into position, my foot touching Eli’s to keep him in my time bubble, my body and hands almost touching the stranger. Eli positioned his hands just above and beneath the killer’s gun hand. “Now,” I said to my partner.
Purchase at:
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About the author:
Faith Hunter is a New York Times and USAToday bestselling author. She writes dark urban fantasy and
paranormal urban thrillers.
Her long-running, bestselling, Skinwalker series features Jane Yellowrock, a hunter of rogue-vampires.
The Soulwood series features Nell Nicholson Ingram in paranormal crime solving novels.
Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series, features Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a
post-apocalyptic, alternate reality. Two of her fantasy series have been nominated for Audie Awards.
Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she has written action adventure, mysteries, thrillers,
women’s fiction, a medical thriller series, and even historical religious fiction.
As Gwen, she is a winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for Fresh Talent in 1995 in the UK,
and won a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award in 2008.
Under all her pen names, she has over 40 books in print in 30 countries.
In real life, Faith once broke a stove by refusing to turn it on for so long that its parts froze and
the unused stove had to be replaced. Her recent hankering for homemade bread and soup resulted in
fresh loaves each week and she claims that the newish stove feels loved and well used—because
Faith talks to her appliances as well as to her plants and dog.
She collects orchids and animal skulls, loves to sit on the back porch in lightning storms, and is a
workaholic with a passion for jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and RV travel.
She likes the shooting range, prefers Class III whitewater rivers with no gorge to climb out of, edits the
occasional anthology, and drinks a lot of tea. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain't.
Occasionally, she remembers to sleep.
The jewelry she makes and wears is often given as promo items and is used as prizes in contests.
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GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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My review:
5 out of 5 stars
“Dark Queen” by Faith Hunter is the twelfth book in the
‘Jane Yellowrock’ series and continues to explore Jane’s ever-changing position
in the hierarchy of power in New Orleans. Juggling her responsibilities as
Enforcer, as partner, and as lover, plus the unexpected additions of new titles
and therefore new burdens and obligations, Jane tries to help prepare for the
world-shaking duel that will determine who rules the American vampire faction.
Bloodshed and death are inevitable, but the goal is to make sure most, if not
all, is conferred upon the enemies rather than the allies and beloved members
of her growing clan.
This urban fantasy tale is part of a series that never fails
to enthrall and entertain, even when I don’t like what is taking place, given
the complicated personalities and allegiances involved in these stories. What
is most amazing to me is how vividly the characters are depicted, so I have no
trouble becoming immersed in the complex and well-built world that houses these
intriguing folks. The blend of political and personal maneuverings and power
plays keep the action moving constantly and the unexpected family drama in this
particular book deepens the reader’s emotional investment in one particular
character, even as it adds yet another dimension to the struggles going on. Unfortunately,
I haven’t been able to keep up with the series, so I was a little slow to
figure out some of the relationships between various folks, but I still cheered
and mourned as various conflicts played out.
I think that what I enjoy most about these books is their
ability to take me away from my own problems while making the machinations of
these amazing folks so mesmerizing that I am held captive for hours—chuckling
at Beast’s pithy observations, hissing at the villains, and cheering for the
“good” guys (yes, that term is used advisedly sometimes, especially with
bloodsuckers, lol).
Those who are not familiar with the series are advised to
start at the beginning for maximum enjoyment, but I think you probably could
get sucked into Jane’s orbit even if you didn’t have much of the back story. As
usual, the story ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, but amazingly (for me) it
wasn’t as painful as it could be, despite the fact that I still am VERY curious
about how certain things are going to turn out. Like Beast, there are some
things that have played out to my satisfaction, so I am temporarily content,
although I do confess that there are some very emotional sequences in addition
to the heart-pounding and violent fight scenes and other dramatic encounters.
The creativity, complex world-building, and imagination that are hallmarks of
this author continue to keep each story fresh and make her one of my go-to urban
fantasy authors. I hope that there are many, many more stories still to come about
Jane Yellowrock and her friends.
A copy of this title was provided to me for review
