Quick Thoughts: Canyons of Night

Canyons of Night

by Jayne Castle
Book 8 of Harmony
-- Book 12 of Arcane Society
-- Book 3 (final) of Looking Glass Trilogy
-- Book 0 of Rainshadow

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

Charlotte Enright, owner of a small antiques shop called Looking Glass Antiques on Rainshadow Island, and Slade Attridge, the community's new chief of police, both have something in common: they possess strong paranormal talents.

They met several years ago when they were in their teens spending the summer on the island.  Slade saved Charlotte from a gang of drunken toughs, but then at the end of the summer Slade and Charlotte went their separate ways and started their adult lives.

Now, fifteen years later, they have both been drawn back to Rainshadow Island.  They will discover the adult passion they have for each other and start to explore some of the mysteries of the forbidden section of the island known only as the Preserve.

Canyons of Night rounds out the Looking Glass sub-trilogy of the long-running Arcane Society series.  I assume this is also the last book in the Arcane series, though it's usually hard to tell with long-running series like this.  Nonetheless, it is also an introductory story into a new chapter of the Harmony series, called Rainshadow--we already get to see a little bit of what Rainshadow is all about, starting with the island and the Preserve situated on the island.

I look forward to the rest of the Rainshadow installments, if only because it seems like it'll be an intriguing new development to the futuristic series.

As a JAK novel, of course, this book is highly enjoyable during the reading.  The characters are great, and the community mirrors that of a small town in the U.S., with everyone knowing everyone's business, and all the people on Rainshadow Island kind of policing themselves.

Our main male and female MCs are good people, although they don't really stand out all that much, and I really hate to admit that even Slade's dust bunny companion, Rex, seems a bit flat as well.  I liked that we've kind of returned back to a semi-murder mystery type of story, and have sort of veered off from the ongoing "band of rogue psychics" conspiracy that has been happening in the Arcane parts of the connecting series.

Harmony is a series separate from Arcane after all, even if there are some intersecting story lines, with references from historical, to contemporary, to futuristic.  I always find the references to 21st century Earth as a "point in history" kind of amusing.

Meanwhile, aside from some more references to glass light energy, the words 'looking glass', and Mrs. Bridewell's clockwork curiosities being used as psi-weapons, I'm honestly not sure that these past three books really needed to be connected as a trilogy.

If there were one (or two) things I'd like to see more of in this series, it would be more insight into the alien civilization that has vanished, maybe some introductions to more alien beasts than just the dust bunnies.  It seems hard to reconcile that all alien live save for dust bunnies have somehow gone extinct.

I would have also have liked to see and learn more about the Bridewell clockwork curiosities, and feel as if the Quicksilver mirror, or glass light energy is more significant than it's kind of being made out to be.  The previous sub-trilogy was all about the dreamlight, but glass light is only barely touched upon in the contemporary and now the futuristic novels of this trilogy--really, only the historical part of the trilogy gave glass light more than just a passing thought.

Otherwise, like I've said before, JAK novels are always entertaining and easy to breeze right through.


***

Halloween Bingo 2017

Very Brief Thoughts: Quicksilver

Quicksilver

by Amanda Quick
Book 11 of Arcane Society
-- Book 2 of Looking Glass Trilogy

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

Virginia Dean wakes at midnight beside a dead body, with a bloody knife in her hand and no memory of the evening's events.  Dark energy, emanating from the mirrors lining the room, overpowers her senses.  With no apparent way in or out, she is rescued by a man she has met only once before, but won't soon forget.

Owen Sweetwater inherited his family's talent for hunting the psychical monsters who prey on London's women and children, and his investigation into the deaths of two glass-readers has led him here.  The high-society types of the exclusive Arcane Society would consider Virginia an illusionist, a charlatan, even a criminal, but Owen knows better.  Virginia's powers are real-and they just might be the key to solving this challenging case.

Quicksilver was a very quick read, with the same Amanda Quick formula that I love to love.  Owen Sweetwater and Virginia Dean are good people with a penchant for hunting monsters.  Side characters are great and readily likable.  The action and suspense is exciting.  And the romance is sweet and steamy in all the right places.

I'm always intrigued by the new psychic spectrum energies that get introduced with each next book of the Arcane Society, and the truth is, I DO prefer this Looking Glass sub-trilogy more than I do the Dreamlight sub-trilogy--for one thing, this one doesn't require employing the same story line in three different time periods, unlike Dreamlight.  The contemporary time period introduced some important players and names to recognize when we jump to the Victorian era, but then we are also given even more information, and a more in depth look at how glass light is employed.

I think it's and interesting concept.

The Quicksilver Mirror comes into play, and even though we don't get to actually meet or learn more about Mrs. Bridewell, the woman who created some dangerous clockwork curiosities infused with psychic energy, used as weapons, we get to actually meet her as well.  I would have liked for Millicent Bridewell to have had a bigger role in this book, but you take what you can get.

While Amanda Quick books are never entirely memorable, they are certainly always enjoyable.  As I've said, I did love the characters.

So, Quicksilver, was pretty much just another lovely installation to this ongoing series, and I look forward to the futuristic portion of the story arc.

Thoughts: In Too Deep

In Too Deep

by Jayne Ann Krentz
Book 10 of Arcane Society
-- Book 1 of Looking Glass Trilogy

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0  Stars

Scargill Cove is the perfect place for Fallon Jones, confirmed recluse and investigator of the paranormal.  It’s a hot spot, a convergence point for unusually strong currents of energy, which might explain why the town attracts misfits and drifters like moths to a flame.  Now someone else has been drawn to the Cove — Isabella Valdez, on the run from some very dangerous men.

When she starts working as Fallon’s assistant, Isabella impresses him by organizing his pathologically chaotic office—and doesn’t bat an eye at the psychic element of his job.  She’s a kindred spirit, a sanctuary from a world that considers his talents a form of madness.  But after a routine case unearths an antique clock infused with dark energy, Fallon and Isabella are dragged into the secret history of Scargill Cove and forced to fight for their lives, as they unravel a cutthroat conspiracy with roots in the Jones family business…and Isabella’s family tree.

In Too Deep was another highly enjoyable Jayne Ann Krentz contemporary romantic suspense, with paranormal elements.  This is the tenth installment of the Arcane Society series, and the first in the sub-trilogy called Looking Glass, and we very soon get introduced to the so-titled "looking glass" as well as some introductions to the Victorian era events that will probably be brought up once again in the next Arcane book.

In Too Deep is not my favorite of the Arcane series, but like any other JAK contemporary, it is suspenseful with lots of twists, great characters, and fun wit.  Fallon Jones is an interesting character, and while I found his anti-social, stoic personality kind of appealing, especially as he seems to also emit some sort of "fish out of water" behavior when it comes to socializing, or even playing nice, there were things about him that seemed too brusque for my liking.

Isabella Valdez is an interesting character as well, coming from a family that "leaves no paper trail" of their existence.  What it is like to have no legal or official identity, always ready to be on the run... sounds like a tiring life.  Her sunny disposition was a bit over-the-top, but probably good for Fallon, I suppose.

Neither of the two characters' talents are really delved into very well, so I never quite understood Isabella's psychic skill.  Fallon's skill has been rehashed throughout the series, so I didn't have too much of a problem figuring him out, but it was still quite confusing.

Meanwhile, the background conspiracy is still ongoing, even though I'm of the impression that this is the last of the Arcane contemporary books.  I suppose sometimes you can't solve everything.

The true highlight of this book was really the little community of Scargill Cove.  It gave off a stranger than strange small town vibe, where everyone has secrets, but everyone protects each other, and everyone sort of knows who belongs in the Cove and who doesn't.  It's an almost weird creepy vibe, I suppose, when you get a bunch of sensitives together, even if they don't know they have some form of psychic talent.

Then there's the underground bunker with the clockwork curiosities that pretty much starts me thinking in terms of steampunk.  And it sets up a great transition into the next book of this series, Quicksilver.

As per usual, my rambling really just proves that JAK books are extremely enjoyable and entertaining while you read them, but when you try to talk about them, you don't come up with a whole lot.

Brief Thoughts: The Scargill Cove Case Files (short story)

The Scargill Cove Case Files

by Jayne Ann Krentz
Arcane Society #9.5, short story
-- Looking Glass Trilogy #0.5

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

As the director at Jones & Jones, a psychical investigation agency, Fallon Jones solves crimes of a different nature.  Jones’s latest case involves a body found in the basement vault of a local bookstore, and scratchings on the inside of the door that seem to be a coded message.

It wasn't until I skimmed some of the other reviews that I realized this short story was supposedly a collection of Twitter messages, which really makes no sense considering how secretive J&J's case files are supposed to be.  Prior to this realization, I had been trying to figure out if this story was written as a jumbled, scattered, and rough stream of conscience in Fallon Jones's POV, or if it was maybe a case file journal he was keeping.

It certainly didn't strike me as being a collection of Tweets--not that I would know considering I don't even own a Twitter account.

The story itself is a nice promotional piece to introduce Fallon Jones, and maybe insert some more conspiracy theories into the already complicated web that has been building throughout the Arcane Society series.  It was just another murder mystery connected to a bigger plot, so I assume we'll maybe see more, or get some references to this short story in the following Arcane book, In Too Deep.