by Terrance Mc Arthur

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Flame in the Dark. We also have a link to order it from Amazon, and an indie bookstore where a portion of the sale goes to help support KRL.

And it came to pass that Faith Hunter did create Jane Yellowrock, a vampire hunter who works for vampires, and the series of books was good.

And in those days, out of the Yellowrock series, did Faith Hunter bring forth Nell Ingram, who can communicate with the land, and—oddly enough—the series was good, too. And the third of Nell’s Soulwood books was Flame in the Dark, and it was really good.

Hunter breeds strong female characters like they were thoroughbreds, but Jane and Nell are from different bloodlines. Jane is a Native American shapeshifter who slices and dices her opponents. Nell is more cerebral, collecting clues and thinking her way to a solution, a Jane Austen heroine with paranormal powers. She reaches into the earth to track where creatures trod, gains strength from plants and soil, can feed enemies to the earth, and she can cook, too.

Raised in a religious community that marries their females young and isolates them from society, Nell fights to be her own person, and struggles to fit in with the outside world: slang, fast food, pop culture references, relationships, and the paranormal branch of Homeland Security where she now works. The team is called in to an assassination attempt on a US Senator, or was he the target? How did the shooter vanish? Why did the house catch fire? The clues are there, but it takes time and thought to link them into an answer and a culprit.

Just because this is a mystery-based urban fantasy, don’t expect a lack of action. Shootouts, confrontations with a blood-lusting tree and a malignant remnant of a scoundrel Nell put under the ground, and a fiery conclusion raise the adrenaline level rather well. Do you need a touch of romance? After Nell’s upbringing, it will take Nell a long time to be ready for anything resembling love, but Occam, a feline shape-changer, is patient enough to let her go at her own speed, and those first steps are funny to watch.

Faith Hunter has constructed a thinking-person’s urban fantasy, a modern Sherlock Holmes in long skirts and hands in the dirt.

You can find more fantasy reviews in out Fantasy and Fangs section.

To enter to win a copy of Flame in the Dark, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “flame,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 20, 2018. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Flame in the Dark

You can use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a Librarian for the Fresno County Public Library.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.