Bloodhound ARC

Bloodhound is a great continuation to Beka Cooper’s story and an excellent read. Bloodhound starts off sometime after the end of Terrier, with Beka no longer being a Puppy, but a Dog. And boy does this Dog have problems keeping partners. One after another she losses her partners, due to death or simply because she is is a hard partner to have. After losing yet another partner, (he could not stand her and ask for a new assignment) Beka goes back to her old Dog partners.

And soon after that the plot starts to thicken. With rumors of a bad crop year and rising prices on everything, the lower class people start to get worked up. And not only are prices on the rise but someone or a group of people have started circulating false silver coins that are worthless in comparison to the silver coins they are made to look like. A riot ensues after a bakery increases the price of their day old bread by one copper.

Beka with the help of Goodwin must find and stop these people before word gets out to the public, which would cause mass panic and chaos for the government.

What starts as a simple hunt in Corus, turns into an all out hunt in Port Caynn. Beka and Goodwin are sent to find out the who, what, when, where, and how, all the while acting the part of simple Dogs that have been sent to see how other Dogs get the job done. Can Beka and Goodwin find the culprits in time? In this new city where some of the Dogs seem to be as crooked as the Rats that they are suppose to catch? And will Beka be able to find a love of sorts while trying to save the economy of Tortall?

Fans of Tamora Pierce will feel right at home in this book. Those who have read her Song of Lioness quartet will recognize some of the places mentioned in this book and will feel a sense of knowing when it comes to the future of those places. Tamora Pierce offers up yet another strong female warrior whose story will keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to know more when you come to the end.

Evermore By Alyson Noel

The first book in The Immortals, with the second to come out in August of 2009.

Alyson Noel presents us a new world in which to get lost. Taking place in modern day California, you have your share of blonds and all the drama that comes from a High School. Plus did I fail to mention that the main character, Evermore, can read peoples minds and see their auras? Plus with a single touch she knows your entire life story. Yikes!

She gains this ability after a horrible car accident that claims the lives of her Parents, sister and dog. She goes from Oregon to California to live with her Aunt. Her life before the accident is quite normal. Popular, cheerleader, in style, the works. Nothing is wrong in her life until she has a NDE in the car accident. (Near Death Experience)

Due to her strange "powers" or abilities, she moves to the fringe of High School society, doing a complete 180 from her previous school. She avoids contact at all times and tunes into her Ipod whenever possible to help drown out the voices of her classmates, which are not so kind.

Her experience in the hospital when she told a nurse that she had a color around her has taught her not to tell anyone about her abilities. She believes that she will forever be forced to live her life like an outsider until she meets Damen.

With a single touch, all of the noise and voices in her head, are gone. It only last as long as they touch, but for Evermore, it shows what she is missing. Oh and did I fail to mention that Damen is also Smoking Hot and Rich too? Every girl at school wants him. Unfortunately he seems to hold a secret that just draws Evermore closer and closer into his world.

As she is drawn in, she is left with even more questions then she had at the begining and so do you. The only thing that she can tell for certain is that she is falling for him, hard and fast.

A fast action, turn pager. I could not put the book down and finished it in a day. It left me wanting more and thinking about the stroy for hours after I finished the book. Now all I can do is look forward for Blue Moon, and see where it takes the story from here.

Need by Carrie Jones

Those who have read other works by Carrie Jones will find themselves immersed in a new and different world unlike her other works. This book falls under the fantasy category in my book.

The main character, Zara, has a thing for collecting phobias, much like one who would collect stamps, or stickers. If you had no idea about phobias before you will be shocked at how many you learn from this book. Did you know that there is a phobia of phobias? Phobophobia is the first phobia you see in this book as it is the chapter heading.

Zara is sent to live with her Grandmother in Maine from the warm comfort of her mom in Charleston, after her step dads sudden death of a heart attack. Zara's grandmother is not her real grandmother but her step dads mom. Her mom sends her away in hopes of helping her with the grief. Or that is what we are lead to believe. On the way home from the airport, Zara sees a man on the side of the road, and she has seen him before, many times. She thought that she was the only one who could see him until her grandmother tells her otherwise. She is far from happy to see him again, since the last time she saw him was in Charleston, on the runway when she was on the plane. They get home with out any other incident and Zara finds that she has her own car!!! And she has to go to school the next day, which she does not want to do.

She starts to get into the swing of school again, is asked to be on the cross country team. She makes a few friends and everything is going ok for the first day until at lunch the strange guy suddenly appears outside and points at her. She runs after him and he disappears into the woods along with a dog who was running straight at him.

After that the books starts to get very interesting, and this is also when the fantasy gets pulled in. I do not want to tell you to much more because it will ruin the surprise for you who decide to read it. All I can say is that I hope Carrie Jones rights more books like this and even a sequel or a prequel would be very good.