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David McK (3587 KP) rated Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, #9) in Books

Jan 30, 2019

Back in the late-to-mid 80s, the band R.E.M. sang

'That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes ... It's the end of the world as we know it'

They might as well have been talking about this, the final book in Rachel Caine's <I>Weather Warden</I> series.

Again, picking up directly from the end of the last book, this has Joanne and David still on board the liner sailing home from their showdown with 'bad Bob', and with the 2 lead characters stripped of their powers. Not long before making landfall, however, the Earth starts to wake up and is not best pleased, instigating what basically amounts to Armageddon. The majority of the book deals with the Wardens attempts to placate the Earth and cancel this from happening, with Joanne and David regaining their powers in the process.

I was, I must admit, quite surprised at one point when one of the key characters of the series was called off (just over the 1/2 way mark): I hadn't really seen that coming. However, when they do (finally) make contact with Mother Earth, I found that portion of the plot to be resolved almost too easily, after what had went before.

The series, as a whole, had both it's peaks and troughs: while this entry may not (IMO) live up to some of the previous entries, nor was it the worst of them all.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2387 KP) rated Scone Cold Dead in Books

Jul 23, 2019

Can Natalie Find a Scone Cold Killer?

It’s late spring on Cranberry Island, but the beautiful weather is doing nothing for the tensions building. Something is going on with the lobstermen on the island. There are rumors of illegal activity, but no one seems to have any proof. Natalie Barnes is concerned about that, but she is also concerned that her bed and breakfast doesn’t have reservations like in years past. Fortunately, she does have some guests thanks to the new artists commune her niece, Gwen, has opened. But when the tension on the island leads to murder, will Natalie figure out what happened?

It’s always a pleasure to visit Cranberry Island, and this book is no exception. The characters are old friends by this point, and there are a couple of sub-plots that focus on them that helped pull me into the book early. Not that the mystery itself wasn’t compelling, and the sub-plots and mystery weave in and out of each other expertly. There are several good fully developed suspects we meet and plenty of turns before we hit the suspenseful climax. Natalie is working on recipes for a scone competition, so it is no surprise that three of the recipes at the end of the book are scones. Fans of the series will be happy with our latest visit to the island, and this book is fun enough to hook new fans as well.