The Dark Winter by David Mark

Review by Vicky T. (VickyJo)

Finding a new author is such a treat for me.  If I took a minute and thought about it, I would realize that I “know” too many authors and have far too many books on the mountain of books I want to read (Mt. To Be Read), but still—it’s an addiction.  I love new authors.

David Mark is both new-to-me and just plain new.  His first novel “The Dark Winter” was just published, and based on some early rave reviews, I bought a copy for my library (I’m the director of a public library system) and decided to read it first.

It’s a mystery set in England.  If you categorize your mysteries, it’s a police procedural.  Our hero, Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy is a Scotsman, a big man who can use his size to intimidate when he thinks about it, who loves his wife and young son beyond all reason, and who is a believer in ‘right.’  Justice is supposed to prevail, and he’s not comfortable with any other solution.

A series of seemingly unconnected murders has the department jumping.  A young girl is knifed down by someone with a machete during a church service; a man is severely burned in a house fire and taken to the burn unit, where he is set alight again and dies in his hospital bed.  McAvoy (and the reader) begins to see a pattern where no one else does, especially when he adds in an alleged suicide of a retired trawlerman.  Can he tie these various threads together in time to prevent further deaths?  For this is surely the work of a serial killer, someone who is targeting survivors; and as we know, serial killers always strike again.  The true mystery here is not the pattern to the killings, but the motivation and the identity of the killer.

The author doesn’t always tell us things; he shows us.  He creates a complete character in Aector, someone with a bit of a mysterious background, but with a strong moral compass and the need to see justice served. The secondary characters are also well drawn, and the cold, brutal town of Hull is made real by excellent writing.  The reader is enticed into this story, led along various paths, until the tension is humming and it becomes almost impossible to put the book down.

This is supposed to be the first novel in a series, and I hope that’s true.  I would love to get to know Aector McAvoy better!

Gates of Hell by Susan Sizemore

Review by Cynthia F. (frazerc)

This is a great book with a lousy title.  Well, not lousy precisely but it does give the wrong impression of the book.  This is an action based science fiction romance written by one of my favorite authors.  It’s got space pirates [both good and bad], psychics with varied gifts, a death cult with the fast track on destroying the universe, and an outstanding cast of characters [again, both good and bad.]

The hero is Pyr, captain of the spaceship Raptor, widely known as a ruthless pirate, and as he [and we] find out in the first chapter, dying. A suitably alpha male he has things to accomplish before that happens, specifically he needs to track down a missing crew member. He doesn’t have time to look for a Healer but rushes to capture one when he stumbles across her.

The heroine is Roxanne, a uniquely gifted Physician and Healer.  She trained hard to become a Physician with all the medical knowledge of the United Systems at her fingertips but she was born a Healer – a gift from her Koltiri mother.  Healers use their own psychic powers to heal – but those powers are limited by the personal stamina of the Healer. As both Physician and Healer, Roxanne is called away from her ship to help fight the Sagouran plague which seems incurable and is burning its way through whole planetary populations .

He’s determined to find the missing crew member, she’s determined to find a cure for the Sagouran plague. The hero and heroine come together while fighting their backgrounds, the bond and each other.

Is there sex?  Sure – but not detailed and a lot of it is mental maneuvering before sealing what the author calls a ‘shalsae’ bond which ties the bonded together soul to soul. Even more there is love in many forms between Roxanne and Pyr and their crewmates and kin.

Is there action?  Lots!  There’s the destroying the pirate base and rescuing the missing crew member; closely followed by the whole ‘save the universe’ gig.

I’d say if you like Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Liaden books, or Linnea Sinclair’s books – you’ll find this a satisfying read.

Sadly this a stand-alone novel.  However she has written another futuristic SF novel called Dark Stranger in the Vampire Primes series [or the Vampire Book Club series, depends where you look].  There is also a short story related to Dark Stranger called By Sun and Candlelight [currently only available as an ebook].