GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Dark Urban Fantasy Rollercoaster Ride | I Smell Sheep

Monday, August 29, 2011

Dark Urban Fantasy Rollercoaster Ride

The Renfield Syndrome by J.A. Saare

How do I know a book deserves a 5 Sheep rating from me? I start writing my review before I am done with the book. So here I am about 60% done (reading on a kindle) and I feel the need to write some stuff down. So I have, now I will go back and finish the book, then bask in its afterglow and come back to finish what I have started :)

Vampires, and werewolves, and demons, oh my.

Rhiannon thought facing off against a deranged child vampire was the most dangerous task she would ever have to undertake, but she's about to discover making a deal with a demon is far, far worse. Sent forward into another reality, one in which vampires are now dominating nearly extinct humans, she realizes the sooner she returns to her vampire lover, Disco, the better.

Unfortunately, time changes a lot of things, including those most trusted around her. When she's faced with a loss and betrayal unlike any she has ever known, her focus shifts from severing the debt between the demon that wants to kill her, to exacting a revenge that will bring forth consequences she never could have fathomed. By reaching out to the darkness lingering within her, she'll find the strength to push forward despite the circumstances that would see her dead and buried.

After all, when it's all said and done, all that she has left to lose is her soul
.

See? I’m back! This is the second book in the Rhiannon’s Law series and it did not disappoint. The first book Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between was a kick-ass Urban Fantasy where we meet Rhiannon and her f***ed up life (her words). Her tragic childhood has left her angry and mistrustful and her sister heavily medicated in a psychiatric ward. On top of all this she is a necromancer and can see ghosts.

Rhiannon is my kind of UF heroine. She is emotionally damaged, but her ass can cash the checks her mouth writes. She reminds me of Joanna Archer from Vicki Pettersson’s Signs of the Zodiac series. One of the elements of a dark UF is there is no long lasting happiness for the heroine. The author might throw her a bone occasionally, but only so they can take it away later on.

The Renfield Syndrome picks up right where the first book left off, with Rhiannon sent 101 years in to the future, and things are very wrong there. I can’t talk about any of the plot because so many things have changed for Rhiannon, her friends and the world as she knows it. I will say that the existence of Vampires, Lycans and Demons is no longer a secret and humans are now an endangered species.

This story takes Rhiannon and the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions. I cried, laughed and cussed right along with Rhiannon. It is just as action-packed as the first book, but where the first one was about Rhiannon learning to trust others, this one is about betrayal of that fragile trust. But no matter what crap the author throws at her she doesn’t break. She has vulnerabilities, but unlike most heroines, she doesn’t soften throughout the series, and if you try to poke her soft spot…she will still f*** your s*** up (her words!).

What all fans of this series are probably most happy about is Saare didn’t leave us hanging from that damn cliff again . She included an excerpt from the next book The Ripple Effect. A big thank you Jamie!! It will make the wait for the next one not as torturous as the last one.

You really need to read the first book Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between before reading this one. If you love dark UF like I do, you will not be sorry.


You can buy The Renfield Syndrome here right now for only $3.89

You can buy Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between here


Some of my favorite lines, and I apologize for Rhiannon’s language ahead of time ;)

“Stay in a big a** bus full of scary ass men from the future? Thanks for the offer, but I had to f***ing pass.”

“Holy f***ing God. The New York of the future was not a New York of which I approved.”

“Here’s the deal, Lucille. My ass is grass regardless. I owe a debt to a demon. I have less than forty-eight hours to end it. Right now, the odds of doing that are pretty slim. I’m doomed no matter what happens. If I’m going to go, I’m going to do what the f*** I want in the time I have left.”

“That was a fully loaded statement, complete with sour cream and bacon bits”

“Do or die. Life or death. I’d been there before, and I wasn’t afraid.”

5 foul mouthed Sheep!





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3 comments:

  1. Thank you for the wonderful review today. I wants these booksis very baaaaaad :) J.A. Saare has an awesome writing style and I think she can just draw you in with the telling of a tale. These are certainly on my wishlist.

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  2. :) Wonderful review. :) And soooo glad you enjoyed this book. I have to say Saares really stepped up her game in this book. It really was amazing. :)

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  3. I agree and I can't wait for the next one. I was so glad she gave us that chapter from The Ripple Effect!

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