Living with the Dead

September 1, 2008
Bestseller Armstrong's newest will be greeted with warm enthusiasm by fans awaiting the return of the half-demon Hope Adams and her werewolf boyfriend, Karl Marsten. Hope's friend Robyn is mourning the recent murder of her good Samaritan husband, Damon, and trying to tolerate her job as a PR representative for Portia Kane, a tabloid celebutante. But when Portia is shot and Robyn becomes the prime suspect, she flees, only to find herself inexplicably in the middle of the supernatural world Hope has been trying to shield her from. Stalked by a psychopathic clairvoyant and tracked by the cop, John Findley, who happens to see dead people, Robyn is way out of her league. Armstrong's newest is definitely more accessible as a stand-alone than her previous ones, but still, without having read the rest of the series, it's a bit confusing. The characters are great: Adele is a very disturbing villain and Robyn's grief over the loss of her husband is touching. The conclusion, however, is less than satisfying, clearly setting up the next entry in the series. New readers would do better starting off with earlier books.

September 15, 2008
Armstrong makes a strong return, and fans of "Personal Demon" will be delighted to travel with Karl, the jewel thief werewolf, and Hope, the Expisco half-demon, as they race to help Hope's friend Robyn, a human framed for a murder she didn't commit and on the run from the cops and the villain who fears she'll expose the paranormal races of the Otherworld. As Armstrong readers have come to expect, this book is balanced between likable characters and the creepy evil that they fight, all wrapped together with nonstop, edge-of-your-seat action. There is only a faint touch of romance here; rather, the novel features sexually explicit themes and violence, including the mistreatment of minors and the disabled by the villain. Recommended for public libraries where urban fantasy is popular. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 7/08.]Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2008
Rarely is the ninth book in a series as fresh and entertaining as the first, but this Women of the Otherworld volume defies the odds. Moving to L.A. after her husband is killed trying to do a good deed, PR expert Robyn Peltier tries to keep the press about celebutante Portia Kane positive. Then Portia is gunned down, Robyn becomes the prime suspect, and the paranormal seems to be at fault. Hope, Robyns half-demon society-girl best friend, and her werewolf lover, along with a necromancer cop and a ghost, help Robyn cope with the tabloids, a cultlike commune of clairvoyants hiding horrible secrets, and a pregnant psychopath.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)