I have no idea if I've opined about the following two novels before. Maybe. But I'm too lazy at the moment of this writing to go back and see. Anyways, one of these books is by a debut author and the other from a long-time favorite.
Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy. On a flight back to Seattle from her estranged mother's funeral in Ireland, Joanne Walker spots a woman getting attacked on the streets. Once on the ground, she hails a cab in order to track down and save the woman and ends up getting stuck in the midst of a mythical Celtic Hunt. Joanne is one of those sarcastic kick-ass heroines who somehow brazens things through. The only quibble I have with Murphy's first effort is the pacing. It's brutal how so many events are squished into a few days and it was a wonder that the heroine is still standing at the end (even if she did manage to heal herself after getting stabbed by a sword in the first few chapters). However, the premise--a mixture of Native American and Celtic mythology--is an interesting one and I look forward to seeing how the author fleshes it out in the rest of the trilogy.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley. McKinley is one of the few authors who I automatically pick up, no questions asked due to the writing style rather than the story. Sunshine, however, is a completely different endeavor than her previous fairy tale-oriented works. This urban fantasy work is edgier and influenced, as other reviewers may point out, by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The fictional work is populated by humans, vampires, shape-shifters, and other things that go bump in the night, but that is mere background for Rae Seddon (Sunshine) Cinnamon Roll Queen. At the core, it's the struggle between the comfortable and familiar, and the scary, mystical unknown. Non-stop action this is not, but if you don't mind a bit of meandering and digression with your blood-suckers and pastries, McKinley's latest work makes for some delightfully chilly reading.
