Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #466: Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: 

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.

These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?” Featuring stories by:

Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller

Never Whistle at Night - an Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr is expected to be released September 19th, 2023 from Penguin Random House Vintage.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like the concept of the book. I enjoy learning what different people find unsettling or scary. I like that Stephen Graham Jones is involved in the book. And I look forward to reading the variety that this anthology promises.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Vera can’t remember the last time she had so much fun. People always say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but honestly, people should try solving murders more often. (p. 113)

Vera Wong''s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto was released March 14th, 2023 from Berkley.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #465: Wolfsong by TJ Klune

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: The Bennett family has a secret:

They're not just a family, they're a pack.
Wolfsong is Ox Matheson's story.

Oxnard Matheson was twelve when his father taught him a lesson: Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then his father left.

Ox was sixteen when the energetic Bennett family moved in next door, harboring a secret that would change him forever. The Bennetts are shapeshifters. They can transform into wolves at will. Drawn to their magic, loyalty, and enduring friendships, Ox feels a gulf between this extraordinary new world and the quiet life he’s known, but he finds an ally in Joe, the youngest Bennett boy.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his heart. Violence flared, tragedy split the pack, and Joe left town, leaving Ox behind. Three years later, the boy is back. Except now he’s a man – charming, handsome, but haunted – and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

The beloved fantasy romance sensation by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, about love, loyalty, betrayal, and family.

The Green Creek Series is for adult readers.

Wolfsong by TJ Klune is expected out July 4th, 2023 from Tor Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I've enjoyed the other books I've read by TJ Klune. I enjoy stories about shapeshifters. I expect this book to be well-written like Under the Whispering Door. Plus there's not long to wait for this one.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

 

From the publisher: 

Reality and the supernatural collide when an expert puzzle maker is thrust into an ancient mystery—one with explosive consequences for the fate of humanity—in this suspenseful thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Angelology.

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can’t. But it also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people.

Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn’t spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is the God Puzzle, a cryptic ancient prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are powerful forces at work that he cannot escape. 

Ranging from an upstate New York women’s prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni was released June 13th, 2023 by Random House.

My Thoughts: 

There's a lot going on in this book. From puzzles of different kinds, historical happenings, haunted dolls and golems, and quantum computers and cryptocurrency, there is so much covered in this book. But, the author manages to pull it off. I have to admit, my eyes glazed over a little at some points because of the amount of detail. At those points I skimmed a little to get the gist of what was happening. There weren't many parts like that though.

I also skimmed ahead a little reading some of the parts with the dog. I was worried for the dog and needed to know what would happen to it before I could go back and read what all was going on with the people. The inclusion of the dog seemed to do two things. It helped to humanize Mike Brink. And it ratcheted up tension a little. Frankly, I could have done without the inclusion of the dog, no matter how cute the name Conundrum is for a puzzle master's dog. Honestly, I had to look ahead because I was on the verge of DNF'ing the book because of the inclusion of the dog. But, because of the way things worked out, I was able to go on and finish and enjoy the book.

My favorite characters in the book were the lead character Mike Brink and the Kabbalah expert. The rest of the characters were ok. Cam Putney and Jameson Sedge played good villains.

Generally, the book moved along at a decent pace. Things were explained along the way as part of what was going on. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to people who enjoy thrillers with both a supernatural and technical aspect. The supernatural aspect appealed more to me than the technical parts.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. 

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #464: The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic.

Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.

With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together.

As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall is expected out September 19, 2023 from Alcove Press.

Why am I waiting on this book? I enjoyed the Practical Magic series by Alice Hoffman. The publisher suggests that if you liked that series, you might like this book as well. I'm willing to give it a shot for that reason. Plus, I'm curious as to how magic will work in this book. Obviously it has a price, but how else does it work? And I'm wondering if there will be some version of a happily ever after or not.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #463: Big Demon Energy by Deborah Wilde

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: Enjoy this urban fantasy by best-selling author Deborah Wilde. Featuring a smart, snarky heroine, this second chance vampire romance will keep you reading way past bedtime.

Aviva Fleischer has a secret life. In her world, vampires are celebrated like rock stars, but demons, their kissing cousins, are reviled and hunted. Talk about a double standard.

To all appearances she’s a paragon of the magic community. She’s from a respected family and has become a top supernatural operative policing crimes committed by magic humans. In fact, Aviva is about to be promoted to head up her own unit, all by the age of thirty. Exactly as planned.

But should anyone ever learn that she’s a half-demon—an infernal—her entire life will go scorched earth.

Then a rash of bizarre murders break out and the Powers That Be opt to make her co-leader of a special new squad. One that mixes humans with their vampire counterparts—investigators who hunt down rogue vamps and demons.

Co-leader? Seriously? That major wrench in her leadership plans is bad enough, but even worse? She’s being partnered with Ezra Cardoso, jet set vamp and playboy extraordinaire. Aviva should know—he broke her heart six years ago.

Ezra is also the only one other than her mom who she's trusted with her secret. Will he betray her to get ahead? Try it: she’s got a wooden stake with his name on it.

Big Demon Energy by Deborah Wilde is expected out August 21st, 2023 from Te Da Media Inc.

Why am I waiting on this book? I enjoy the urban fantasy genre. This sounds like an interesting twist on it. It's the first in the Bedeviled AF series. I look forward to the snark in the heroine and seeing how she manages her relationship with her co-leader.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!