PrincessReviews

I first became aware of the Detective Dee or Judge Dee (Judge Di) stories when I saw the movie Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon. It was a movie in subtitles but I enjoyed the mystery and fantasy so I watched the next movie Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame. It reminded me a lot of the Sherlock Holmes stories in that Detective Dee used clues and deduction to solve the mystery, mixed with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon type stunts. However, Dee doesn't use science as his basis for discovery as Holmes did. I found this book at the library on audio cassette. The books were actually based on old works found by Robert van Gulik in the 1940s at a Chinese second-hand bookstore. The stories involved cases of a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie, magistrate and statesman of the Tang court which dated back to 7th century China. Van Gulik translated the works and then began writing his own stories. This book contains stories van Gu...

Beginning's End Book One of the Shattered Skies series by Heather Linn begins with an alien invasion. But it's not the kind we think of: little men with big heads. No, it's something far worse, and humans ignored the warnings. The aliens of Catalina's world are vampires who have come to enslave, feed upon and breed with the human race. The product of vampires and humans are Dominus, who are virtually invincible because of the vampires' careful planning. But will their over-planning be their downfall? The first chapter caught my attention right away. Who is Catalina? What is her weapon against these creatures that are twice as fast, twice as strong and can survive in the daylight? And how did she just kill one? The author's world of the Shattered Skies series has pretty cool concept of vampires and what would happen if they invaded Earth. The main character Catalina is brash and tough. She is not satisfied with her lot in life and is out to fight f...

Unlucky Dip by Kate Tenbeth is nothing like the Burly and Grim series she also writes. It is more for the young adult audience that begins with attempted murder. Holly is celebrating her 15 th birthday on a riverboat during a cold December night when her stepmother Sylvia chucks her over the railing into the Thames. After an intensive search, it’s feared that Holly may be dead. Some feign sadness (Sylvia) while others are devastated like Holly’s best girl friend, Georgie. As Detective Inspector Drummond takes on the case, Sylvia’s plan of an “accidental” death scheme may not be so brilliant after all. Unbeknown to her stepmother, the detective, or the city, a young man named Jon has fished Holly out of the river and is nursing her back to health. They also don’t know that Holly has chosen to stay hidden as she pieces things together to take Sylvia down. This may not be the first time Sylvia has killed. I enjoyed this quick read. The reader already knows the who, what, a...

Creatus by Carmen DeSousa is the first book in the Creatus series. Have you ever wondered where all the stories and legends of super humans came from? The Creatus are a race of people with abilities and strengths that exceed human capability. For the most part, they do what they can to help humanity while keeping to the shadows. But sometimes there is a rogue. Kristina finds out all too well about these beings when she falls in love with one Creatus named Derrick and becomes the target of murder of another mysterious rogue Creatus. Caught in the middle of these super beings, will she survive? Creatus is a wonderful premise for the origins of the stories of such characters as Superman and Wonder Woman. The character backgrounds are well developed and consistent throughout. The setting is in Boston, both the upper crust and the not so. It has a wonderful first chapter that draws the reader in immediately. It's exciting, heartbreaking and mysterious. The story kind of sl...