For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor’s ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess’s Mountain.
Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing.
Except one: Ganymedes Piscero – class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment.
When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people without a Blessing to protect him, odds of survival are slim.
But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia?
Series: Rivers of London (#9.5) Characters: Kimberley Reynolds Format: 211 pages, Hardcover Published: June 8, 2023 by Orion ISBN: 9781473224377 (ISBN10: 1473224373)
Description
When retired FBI Agent Patrick Henderson calls in an ‘X-Ray Sierra India’ incident, the operator doesn’t understand. He tells them to pass it up the chain till someone does.
That person is FBI Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds. Leaving Quantico for snowbound Northern Wisconsin, she finds that a tornado has flattened half the town – and there’s no sign of Henderson.
Things soon go from weird to worse, as neighbours report unsettling sightings, key evidence goes missing, and the snow keeps rising – cutting off the town, with no way in or out…
Something terrible is awakening. As the clues lead to the coldest of cold cases – a cursed expedition into the frozen wilderness – Reynolds follows a trail from the start of the American nightmare, to the horror that still lives on today…
My Review
A novella from last year that’s been sat on my TBR pile for a while! I’ve been prompted to read it by the arrival of the latest Rivers of London novella. I thought I’d better get up to date.
Kimberley Reynolds is sent to the Great Lakes in the middle of winter to deal with an incident with unusual characteristics, and is snowed in almost immediately. Stuck without back-up, and her contact missing, she must discover what’s going on, what it has to do with an exhibition by the Virginia Gentlemen in 1848 and where Henderson in. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one looking into things, and it gets complicated when the local meteorologist takes her out to the site of the 1848 winter camp. Malevolent forces are at work, a teenage genius loci comes to the rescue, and Kimberly falls in love.
Kimberley Reynolds is a character that pops up in some of the novels but to be honest, she never struck me as a interesting character, or one I’d taken much note of. However, this novella gives the reader more information about her background and develops her character. I enjoy these novellas because they allow Aaronovitch to explore characters and locations without a full novel focused on Peter. He does make an appearance, over the phone and in her head, but it’s mainly about Kimberley and her slowly blossoming romance with William, while investigating both modern and historical crimes.
From the award nominated author of Bluebird comes a tale of seduction, sadism, and survival featuring malevolent vampires and a locked-room escape adventure…
Locked in a castle with a clan of devious vampires, one woman is caught in a literal fight for her life.
Vampires have always fascinated Kazan Korvic, so much so that she’s made it her life’s work to craft weapons designed solely to kill them. But when she is attacked and captured by an entire clan, Kazan’s fascination turns ferocious.
In their Citadel, Kazan is forced to attend the Vampire Court where she must act as their Queen. She is told that she will be waited-and-doted upon, until the end of her reign in three days’ time. Then, an extravagant and lavish feast will be held… where the vampires will consume their newly crowned Queen.
Desperate and afraid, Kazan finds no allies in the castle except for a pair of distractingly alluring vampires who seem sympathetic to her plight. But as she devises her escape plan, she comes to realise that she is not the only one who is trapped, and no one is prepared for how far she’s willing to go to survive…
It’s the middle of the month and yet I haven’t posted a single book review. To make up for it I’m going to review four today. Continue reading “June reviews: part one”
Like Alice’s rabbit, a strange “mechanical-like man” leads 1869 New York Detective Pat O’Malley down into the world of steam power. A group from the future calling itself the World Scientific Advancement Society for Progress is living secretly beneath Central Park. These pirates are inventors whose only goal is to keep the Earth in the Steam Age in order to save it from a future nuclear holocaust. Five alien assassins from other universes are ordered to kill O’Malley and his group, and each alien has a unique ability to do the job. As the Steam City Pirates build a steam-powered amusement park on Coney Island, O’Malley and his group are hunted down in the streets of New York City. The future of the world is at stake in this mystery and adventure featuring a twisting plot, steampunk time travel, steam men duels, crafty inventions, and monsters from other planets.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 