Not your Average Bear...

OK, you guys know that I love me some Linda Howard. I think she is, hands down, the BEST romantic suspense writer going.  Her plots are interesting, her heroines are take charge, intelligent woman, her men are supremely ALPHA and her sex scenes are HOT!  I have read everything LH has ever written and although I love some more than others, there is nothing I would hesitate to suggest to a reader looking for consistently good stuff. I was crazy excited to hear, that after quite a wait, she had a new book coming out. The synopsis made it sound a lot like a vintage Howard, something along the lines of Up Close and Dangerous.  After her last few books, a few of which had sort of a southern chick-lit feel, I was looking forward to a return to the Howard I crave.  So did Prey deliver?  Um, sort of...

The premise of the books is pretty simple. Our heroine Angie Powell runs a hunting guide service out of her small Montana hometown. Angie is doing OK until ex Army stud, Dare Callahan sets up his guide service and steals away all of her business. Angie hates everything about Dare, even though she barely knows him and was very attracted to him upon their initial meeting.  Dare likes everything about Angie, especially her "world-class" ass. Yes, Dare is not the most sophisticated of Howard's men, but he is very cool and competent and super sexy. Just before she closes up shop, Angie signs on to take a couple of guys out on a bear hunt. Angie doesn't much like bears, but she needs the cash and isn't all that sure they will even find one, so off she goes. A mutual friend who is worried about Angie being up on the mountain with a couple of strange men asks Dare to keep an eye on her.  He agrees and heads up to his own camp, just to make sure all is well.  All is not well, as the two men Angie is working for turn out to be very dangerous. In fact one of them is a psycho killer.  As if that wasn't bad enough they do encounter a bear. A bear who, as it turns out, is also a psycho killer.  On top of dealing with psychos of both the human and ursine variety, Angie and Dare are caught up in a major storm and have to figure out a way to survive in really terrible physical conditions.  Interesting.  Right?  Great potential.  Absolutely. So why am I not raving about this book?  Because it just did not come together like a typical LH book.

My first problem was with the heroine. Angie is not a terrible person, but she seemed less intelligent and much more emotionally stunted than most Howard heroines. Her life was made up of a pattern of crappy decisions and her social awkwardness made her potential as a partner for the super cool Dare, seem unlikely. I usually love LH's heroines and Angie was so blah, I couldn't really get into her at all.  My second issue with the book involved the fact that the romance was way overshadowed by the man vs. nature stuff. It took over half the book for our heroes to hook up and start spending time together and then they faced terrible hardship, so the romance didn't feel as satisfying as the norm in a Linda Howard book. Ms. Howard spent so much time telling us what the villains were thinking and doing, that we didn't get to know the Hero/heroine as well as one might hope. Chapter after chapter we heard what the killer thought and felt.  Ditto the bear.  Yes, I said the bear.  For some reason, LH decided to try to get inside the head of the bear and provide readers with his thoughts and motivations. Yeah.  I know.  It just didn't work for me.  In fact, there was an episode with the bear toward the end of the book that I found downright off-putting.  I am no wuss when it comes to gruesome stuff, but the violence seemed really gratuitous. While I admire LH for not trying to turn the bear into some anthropomorphized cuddly stuffed animal sort, I just felt like she took the bear attack descriptions a bit too far. In a word, yuck!

So, here I sit, sort of bummed out. I had very high hopes for this book and it just did not work for me.  That said, have no doubt that I will be grabbing the next Linda Howard book as soon as it is published. This writer has provided some of the most enjoyable genre reading ever and I am not about to let one so-so book drive me away. I think that Howard is a victim of her own excellence.  She has written so many outstanding titles, I, and others, expect way more from her.  As I told a friend when talking about this book, if it was a Sandra Brown, I'd probably be raving about it.  I just expect more from Linda Howard.

Odi et amo...

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?

Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

I hate and I love. Why do I do this, perhaps you ask?

I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.

--Catallus

The very short and poignant poem found above is by the Roman poet Catallus.  It sort of sums up the subject of this Tuesday's Top 5 which is angst. I'm not just talking run of the mill, oh I'm so upset cause you broke my heart, kind of angst.  I'm talking larger than life, earth-shattering, no one is right, no one is wrong, cannot move for the sobbing sort of angst. We romance readers tend to think of this as angst with a capitol A.  I like to call them Angst monsters.  

Finding romance novels that feature this level of angst used to be a pretty easy thing.  Romances tended toward big, overblown scenarios and epic lengths that really leant themselves to putting the featured couple through the proverbial wringer. These days it is way more difficult to find a truly angsty book. The genre has swung toward lighter, less intense novels and very few writers seem to want to let their protagonists be difficult or complex. Currently, I find that most of the angst in the romance world comes from paranormals. Since I am not a huge fan of that subgenre, I am bemoaning the loss of the truly angsty romance or at least one that doesn't involve a shapeshifter or a vamp. I'm looking for humans and all of their nasty habits and faults that, when combined with the right amount of chemistry, desire and passion, create really amazing stories. Stories where maybe there is no easy answer.  Stories where there may not be a right or wrong.   This sort of angst, when done well, provides a backdrop for more emotion and passion than most of us will ever see in our everyday life.  For that matter, we wouldn't want to truly experience these things.  But experiencing it through a well told story, with an interesting hero and heroine from the safety of your couch is one of the angst lovers truest pleasures.  So, be warned.  The list below features books that are not sweet.  They are, for the most part, dark.  They are dealing with gut-wrenching situations or emotions.  They are not for the faint of heart...

To Have and To Hold - Patricia Gaffney

One of my favorite books of all time! This story destroys many of the conventions that one usually finds in a romance novel. The heroine is a criminal, she is downtrodden to the point of almost being a shadow. The hero is a vain, cruel and superficial man. Their relationship is as disturbing and tortured as I have ever experienced. This book is very dark and very deep and many people hate it with a passion, however, if you crave angst, if you're looking for a complex and multilayered story about an almost impossible love, then go and find this book.  Gaffney is a master and this is her best!

The Lily Brand - Sandra Schwab

The premise of this book was unusual to say the least. A young girl's sadistic step mother makes her the gift of a man. A British soldier is pulled from a French prison and made the love slave to the beautiful and chaste young woman.  She is not strong enough to fight her stepmother, but is completely appalled.  The twist here is that the hero is the one who is enslaved and victimized. That a relationship could bloom between these two is unbelievable, but somehow Schwab makes it work. She carefully examines and exposes everyone's motivations.  And that includes those of the wicked and over the top villain. If you're looking for a romance that is truly different, then this might be for you.  

The Coming Home Place - Mary Spencer

This book had several strikes against it before I even opened it.  It is set in America, in the West and I hated the cover. Once I opened it, I found the over the top language very off-putting and the characters almost absurd, but I could not look away.  Spencer is a master of the Angsty romance. She is definitely more storyteller than writer though.  At times while reading this book, I found myself hating pretty much everyone in it but I kept reading. Look for a full review of this book in the near future because I really want to try and break it down and figure out why I read it and why I have since re-read it several times. It is a crazy manipulative, hyper-emotional, passion-filled mess of a book, but if you want Angst, it delivers in a big way!

Tangled - Mary Balogh

Ok, you guys know that I love me some Balogh. Let me say, up front, that this is not one of my favorites.  It is, however,  an Angst monster of the first order. Our heroine finds herself widowed and alone. She makes a decision to marry an old friend who, by the way, she sort of blames for hubby's death. She is bitter and resentful until new hubby begins to make her feel all sorts of good things. Just as she finally comes to accept her feelings for new hubby, guess what happens?  I am pretty darned sure that only Mary Balogh could have written this book.  

Sarah's Child - Linda Howard

I'm going to mix things up a bit and throw in a contemporary angst monster, Howard's very early work, Sarah's Child.  This book evokes the strongest of emotions from readers, but most seem to dislike it intensely. I am fairly new to Linda Howard and this was the first book of hers that I read and I found it pretty darned amazing. The premise is simple, heroine is in love with her dead friend's hubby, who she has worshipped from afar forever.  Hero finally notices heroine and their chemistry is strong, but he is still living with a world of pain resulting from the death of his family. Hero offers marriage of convenience and though they will have sex, they will not have children. Anybody who has ever read a romance can guess what happens.  The beauty of this book is in the way that Howard builds her heroine.  At first glance, Sarah is seen as weak and obsessed, but you finally begin to understand that she loves Rome.  Really loves him. Not just when it is easy and convenient and fun.  But even when she hates what he is doing, she loves him.  There was a real subtle complexity to this book that I haven't seen in any other Howard romance.  I enjoy her work, but she seems to have abandoned this sort of story and I think that is a shame.  This is another one that we may look at more closely.  I think it deserves a closer more thorough look.  

Is there an Angst monster that you love?  That you love to hate?  Either way, I'd love to hear about it...

Building a Mystery...

Since last week's top 5 Tuesday list included my favorite historical mystery series, I thought this week we would give equal time to my favorite contemporary series.  I think that I look for very different things from contemporary series, for example, a good plot matters much more when I don't have all that delicious historical detail distracting me.  Setting is important.  I like to read about places that are interesting and that add to the story in some way.  That said, it still comes down to authors who create memorable characters. Every series on this list features at least one, if not several truly amazing characters and I'm grateful to have had a chance to meet them.

Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries - Julia Spencer- Fleming
If someone had told me that one of my favorites would involve the exploits of a female, ex-chopper pilot, episcopal priest and an ex MP, current police chief in a small upstate NY town, I'd have been doubtful to say the least. Thanks to Ms. Spencer-Fleming's talent, I fell in love with these characters. The series is a strange mix of cozy elements with much more bleak and hard-boiled plotlines. The chemistry between the two main characters is off the charts and I cannot wait to find out where the author takes them next.

Pendergast Series - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
It took two very fine mystery writers to come up with a character as intriguing as the complex and mysterious FBI Agent Pendergast. He is a suave southern gentleman, who seems to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of everything from fine dining to eastern religion. He is urbane and witty and fabulous and I hope that Preston and Childs never get bored with him. I know I won't. The first book in this series, Relic, remains one of my favorites.

Travis McGee Series - John D. MacDonald
In my opinion, one of the very best series detectives ever. Travis McGee was a knight errant, beach bum who lived on his yacht, The Busted Flush in Bahia Mar in Ft. Lauderdale. He was the prototype for many who would follow, but nobody has ever done this sort of mystery better. MacDonald's astute observations on the environment, development and culture, continue to be as meaningful as when he wrote them in the late 60s and 70s.  I re-read this series annually just to remind myself how good a series mystery can be.

Charlie Parker Mysteries - John Connolly

Perhaps the darkest of all of the series I've listed, the protagonist of this series has lost everything and had to fight to hang on to both his sanity and his humanity. This series deals with some very disturbing themes, but Connolly always manages to allow Charlie some shred of hope and decency. The supporting characters are memorable and the setting in Maine fits the mood of the series well. Even the occasional dip into the paranormal world doesn't bother me, because Connolly's writing is so strong and poetic. If you don't mind occasionally visiting the dark side, this is one of the best series going.

Adam Dalgliesh Series - PD James
You all didn't really think I was going to make it through an entire list without including a Brit did you?  PD James is a master and Adam Dalgliesh is one of the best characters in contemporary mystery writing.  Dalgliesh is an intellectual and honorable man and his methodic approach to solving complex crimes is as enjoyable today as is was in 1962 when the first Dalgliesh, Cover Her Face was published.

My letter to Virginia Coffman...

I wasted a couple of hours this weekend reading what may be the worst gothic romance ever.  I am sure you are thinking that I am exaggerating, but I'm telling you that not only was this a failed gothic, it was a boring and uninspired story, no matter the genre.  When I started this blog, I decided to avoid reviews of bad books.  Enjoying a book is a very subjective thing and I didn't want to get caught up in all the negativity, so I planned to feature books on the blog that I thought were, at the very least, solid examples of their genre.  That said, I feel it is my civic duty as a humanitarian and a librarian to warn people away from this book.

Now those of you who know me (and if you're reading this blog, it is safe to say that you know me since I'm pretty sure that my readership is still a very limited group), know that there is nothing I love more than a gothic romance.  I love everything about them.  I cut my teeth on DuMaurier and Holt.  I love the ancient, crumbling houses, the angst ridden, but heartstoppingly gorgeous heroes, I love the rainy/foggy/snowy weather that traps the innocent yet plucky heroine in said house with said hero. I even love the book covers that almost always feature a young woman in a gown running from a dark house.  I love all of the cliches.  I embrace them.  I celebrate them.  I will read a gothic no matter how bad the reviews are and I can almost always find something to appreciate about them.  This was not the case with A House at Sandalwood by Virginia Coffman.

Coffman is a respected writer of gothics. Her career spanned decades and she turned out what some consider to be a classic with her Moura series.  I haven't read many works by Coffman.  I decided that I needed to remedy that when I stumbled on the above title.  I almost decided it wasn't for me when I realized that it was set in Hawaii.  Hawaii is not the Yorkshire Moors or even foggy San Francisco and it seemed an unlikely place to set a gothic.  Still, this one apparently took place on a private island.  An isolated spot controlled by a powerful man.  So far, so good.  So what if it sunny and beautiful, Hawaii gets the occasional storm, so I plowed on.  The next element that almost caused me to set it aside was that it was a contemporary.  Now I have always preferred historical gothics, but I have read a few decent contemporaries and since the book was published in 1974, I felt sure that I wouldn't be dealing with computers and cell phones and modern devices that might pull me out of the sense of isolation that is so often the key to a good gothic.  After having dealt with my initial quibbles, I settled in with hopes of losing myself  in the plight of our naive but plucky heroine.  The heroine was a not so naive, 33 year old Judith Cameron.  Convicted of the murder of her sister-in-law, Judith has been released and summoned to this lush Hawaiian island to care for her childlike niece, Deirdre.  Deirdre has recently married the handsome, successful Stephen Giles, but finds she is unable to handle the rigors of being a wife and the mistress of a home like Sandalwood.

At this point, any gothic reader worth their salt has already figured a few things out.  Stephen will be regretting his marriage to the incredibly annoying and emotionally stunted Deirdre.  He and Judith will be instantly attracted to each other.  Deirdre may very well have a screw loose.  At some point Deirdre will tragically lose her life, probably while trying to push Judith or Stephen off of one of the many cliffs on this island, and our hero and heroine will be left to console each other and to live out their days in this tropical paradise.  At least that is how Victoria Holt or I would have written it.  In fact, Coffman tells a far different tale.  Stephen is regretting his marriage, Judith and he are attracted to each other, Deirdre does seem to have a major screw loose, but instead of mining this set up for gothic gold, Coffman pulls a minor character murderer out of her hat, leaves poor, decent Stephen stuck with a wife who stopped maturing at around 12 years old and sends Judith off to pursue a new life back on the mainland, while wishing crazy niece and her hubby the best of luck in fixing their mess of a marriage!

WTF?  What kind of self-respecting gothic writer would do that to a reader.  I wasted two hours of my life waiting for some sort of romantic pay off and this is what I get???  Foul on the play, Virginia Coffman.  I was so incensed I briefly considered writing Ms. Coffman a letter outlining my outrage, however since she has been dead for some time, that seemed a somewhat futile gesture.  Nothing makes me see red like a genre writer who doesn't respect the genre.  You can change things up, throw in a curve ball every now and then, but to change all the rules midstream is truly unfair to genre readers.  So, in lieu of  the aforementioned letter, I decided that I would use my newly created blog to warn gothic romance fans to run, don't walk, run as fast as you can away from A House at Sandalwood. Gothic romance my foot!