[COVER ART] Kelley Armstrong’s FROSTBITTEN (US)

US paperback cover for Kelley Armstrong’s Frostbitten.

Frostbitten Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[COVER ART] Jennifer Armintrout’s THE TURNING (UK), Kelley Armstrong’s FROSTBITTEN (UK), P. N. Elrod’s DARK AND STORMY KNIGHTS, Laurell K. Hamilton’s FLIRT (UK) & Kit Whitfield’s IN GREAT WATERS (UK)

New Covers (behind the cut)
Jennifer Armintrout: The Turning (UK Re-Release) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
Kelley Armstrong: Frostbitten (UK Paperback) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
P. N. Elrod (ed.): Dark and Stormy Knights Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
Laurell K. Hamilton: Flirt (UK) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Kit Whitfield: In Great Waters (UK Paperback) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[REVIEW] Frostbitten – Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong
Frostbitten (Otherworld, Book 10)
Random House (US & CA: 29th September 2009); Hachette Orbit (UK: 1st October 2009; AU: November 2009)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Elena Michaels and the American Pack know that recent emigrant Reese Williams is being framed by his allies. Running from Elena makes it hard to tell him, so she follows the Antipodean to Alaska, a state no stranger to wolves…and perhaps not to werewolves and other beasties, either. Soon Elena discovers traces of new scents – other breeds of animal. But tracking down who’s responsible for the missing girls, the dead Pack member, and who knows what else requires more than one wolfy investigator. It’s time to call in the Pack.

Elena and Clay Danvers are on this mission without their three-year-old twins, who are with their grandfather and his lady friend. And these are no ordinary kids – they jump out of a second-storey window and escape with nary a scratch. This examplifies why I generally don’t connect with mothers as lead characters – because the kids are always precocious. No child is average; they’re super-smart and physically gifted, too. Is there wish fulfillment going on? Of course no parent wants to admit that their kid is kind of stupid, but in fiction stupid children don’t exist…well, they don’t if their parents are the protags.

Also, no one in this series really seems to have a full-time paying career. Elena sometimes writes for Canadian Press. Clay sometimes gives anthropology lectures. Jeremy sometimes does art. Jaime sometimes tours. Really, Hope Adams seems to be the only person with an everyday job that she actually does. How the others can afford to keep a roof over their heads, bills paid and food on the table is beyond my tiny comprehension. Supernaturals are loaded? Well, bugger me.

Danya Podrova is minor, but his surname confuses me. If the Ukrainian naming system is anything like its Russian counterpart, his surname should be Podrov – without the A. If he had a sister, she’d be Podrova, but not a man. I may be wrong, but if I’m right, this mistake has passed over quite a few heads on the way to publication. Who’s the right person to contact to see about getting this changed in a future edition?

Frostbitten is definitely the best of the latter Otherworld novels released. The witches/sorcerors/demons books have never really grabbed me the way the werewolf ones have. And considering that the last Otherworld book I read was the disappointing Men of the Otherworld anthology, Frostbitten is the perfect book to re-engage readers who may have fallen off the wagon. Not only that, but the new species of animal featured here are bloody fascinating, and there are some fantastic new characters, too. Reese is Australian, and is keeping his past a secret. He’s a buff, blond, twenty-year-old who looks like a surfie and has a name to match. (Generally, his name should be spelled Rhys, the Welsh way, but you know what surfers and bogans and whatnot are like with their spelling…) And we meet another Canadian – Morgan Walsh is a Newfie. Also cool is news of a Russian Pack, and expect to see Noah Albright return.

And protag Elena is awesome. Okay, so I question her taste in men, because Clay’s always pissed me off, but other than that, she’s pretty darn cool. She’s Canadian, and so provides a refreshing viewpoint, though she spends most of her time in the US. However, sometimes it seems as if Canadians are looked down upon by their more popular neighbours: One advantage to being a Canadian journalist is that Americans don’t expect you to know the rules. Nah, I think journalism’s pretty the same internationally, except in some censored countries. Also, you know this is the US when Elena purchases a weapon, and… the leftist humanitarian in me was appalled, while the warrior in me, heading into battle, was happy that she didn’t need to fill out paperwork and wait six weeks for a license. Turns out she didn’t need the weapon after all, but like that’s ever stopped anybody purchasing one…

The 1st 13 Books on My To-Be-Read Pile – Thursday 22nd October 2009

Subject to change, if my other library reservation comes in, or if I get more ARCs or review copies.

1. Kelley Armstrong’s Frostbitten (library) [currently reading]
2. Kelly Meding’s Three Days to Dead (ARC)
3. Laurell K. Hamilton’s The Laughing Corpse (review copy)
4. Kim Harrison’s Every Which Way But Dead
5. Kim Harrison’s A Fistful of Charms
6. Trisha Telep’s The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance
7. Karin Slaughter’s Fractured
8. Karin Slaughter’s Genesis
9. Tess Gerritsen’s The Bone Garden
10. Tess Gerritsen’s Keeping the Dead
11. Kim Harrison’s For a Few Demons More
12. Kim Harrison’s Where Demons Dare
13. Mo Hayder’s Ritual

November 2009 Releases

Done with October 2009 Releases? Time for November 2009 Releases. And to see further into the future, check the freshly updated Reading Wishlist.

The following US/UK/CA/AU books will be released in November 2009. Release dates are subject to change, so it’s not my fault if I’m wrong 😉 Also, not EVERY November book is listed – just the ones I’ve both heard of AND are interested in. Enjoy! 🙂

October 2009 Releases

Done buying September 2009 Releases? Now time for October’s list, with books from the US, Canada, UK and Australia. As always, I don’t include anything – just the ones I’ve heard of and am interested in. Covers and release dates are subject to change, so if I’m wrong, blame my sources 😉

September 2009 Releases

Done buying August 2009 Releases? Now time for September 2009 Releases. As always, I got my info from Amazon, publishers’ websites and authors’ websites, so if I’m wrong…blame them, not me 😉 If you know of more September releases that aren’t here, it’s either because I don’t know of their existence, or I’m not interested. I play favourites, and there’s no shame in that 😉

If you’re reading this in a feed, behind the cut you shall find my monthly summary. If you’re looking for stuff further into the future, check my Reading Wishlist.

[COVER ART] Jennifer Armintrout’s QUEENE OF LIGHT; CHILD OF DARKNESS; & VEIL OF SHADOWS; & Kelley Armstrong’s FROSTBITTEN (UK)

This UK Frostbitten cover is small enough to place here, but for Jennifer Armintrout’s gorgeous and large Lightworld/Darkworld covers, they’re behind the cut (because I’m thoughtful, y’all).

Kelley Armstrong
Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld, Book 10)
Hachette Orbit (UK: 29th October 2009)
Cover
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
The Alaskan wilderness is a harsh landscape in the best of conditions, but with a pack of rogue werewolves on the loose, it’s downright deadly. Elena Michaels, the American Werewolf Pack’s chief enforcer, knows all too well the havoc “mutts” can wreak. When the Pack learns of a series of gruesome maulings and murders outside of Anchorage, Elena and her partner Clay travel to Alaska in the dead of winter, expecting to hunt down a pack of dangerous werewolves. But, trapped in a savage, frozen realm, it is their own untamed nature – and their werewolf heritage – they have to confront…

[COVER ART] Frostbitten (CA) – Kelley Armstrong

New Canadian cover art for Kelley Armstrong’s Frostbitten, as found here. I like that the Canadians aren’t just going with the American art – hopefully this gives work to another artist. I know the Otherworld series will be switching to Penguin in the US soon, but perhaps Random House will retain Canadian rights? After all, they keep the Darkest Powers rights, which went to HarperCollins in the US. Luckily for us in the UK and Australia – all the author’s books are being published by Hachette. We just have to wait longer for them. Still awaiting Made to Be Broken…

Frostbitten: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

New Pre-Order Links

Reading Wishlist has been updated with new dates. And Most Wanted has these new links. Please note that Kim Harrison’s White Witch Black Curse is now a mass market paperback to pre-order. And Mari Mancusi’s Girls that Growl has been reduced to less than $3, I think.

US LINKS
Jocelynn Drake: Dawnbreaker
Charlotte Featherstone: Addicted
Kim Harrison: White Witch Black Curse
Mari Mancusi: Girls that Growl
Tracey O’hara: Night’s Cold Kiss
Laurie Faria Stolarz: Black is for Beginnings
Anthology: Unbound

UK LINKS
Charlotte Featherstone: Addicted
Stacia Kane: Unholy Ghosts
Kelly Meding: Three Days to Dead
Lilith Saintcrow: Redemption Alley

CA LINKS
Kelley Armstrong: Frostbitten
Suzanne Collins: Catching Fire
Charlotte Featherstone: Addicted
Eric Garcia: The Repossession Mambo
Stacia Kane: Unholy Ghosts
Kelly Meding: Three Days to Dead
Tracey O’hara: Night’s Cold Kiss
Lilith Saintcrow: Redemption Alley
Neal Shusterman: Unwind
Laurie Faria Stolarz: Black is for Beginnings
Kit Whitfield: In Great Waters
Anthology: The Eternal Kiss