David Gillon

Burn Rate, K B Spangler

K B Spangler's Rachel Peng technothrillers became pretty much my favourite series a few years back, a charismatic lead, likeable secondary characters and plots that actually dug into the ethics of serious issues (including the issues of being a cyborg cop with a gun while hiding the fact that you're technically blind). And then she wrote herself into a corner. The Rachel Peng books tie into her A Girl And Her Fed webcomic, and a throwaway line in that decreed that two of those secondary characters had to die. And apparently she really struggled to write the deaths. But six years and multiple drafts later, Penguin is back.

I'm not entirely convinced by the way Spangler got around the deaths, Rachel is dealing with traumatic amnesia, secondary to a serious concussion and smoke inhalation plus hyperthermia, and the guilt and grief of being rescued from a fire when Jason and Phil, people she was closer to than brothers, weren't. So she has to re-investigate, in the hope that that and her notes (which no one else can read for legitimate reasons - personal braille shorthand) will jog her memory as to what really happened. The forced structure means the first few chapters feel rather clunky, but it settles down fairly quickly.

On top of all that, Rachel's home situation has gotten really complicated. Her girlfriend has moved in, but so has Rachel's partner Santino and his wife (because their house next-door is being remodelled), and they've just had twins, one of whom just won't stop crying. In addition to which Jason and Phil's widow, Bell, was installed in the spare bedroom while Rachel was unconscious, because she's potentially a target, and Bell's being guarded by Rachel's pet psychopath Wyatt, because the last order she gave him was to guard Bell. (Which was three days ago and by now Bell's thoroughly creeped out).

The plot is clever, and sneaky, on the surface they're hunting an arsonist, but there are multiple layers beyond that. And Spangler does eventually write the death scene, and it's heartrending enough I think it would have caused legitimate pacing problems in a conventional narrative. One aspect I particularly liked was Rachel's anger at people forgetting she's blind looping around to confront her with her own forgetting that Bell's grief is greater than her own.

Not the strongest entry in the series, and definitely not the place to start (that's The Digital Divide), but ultimately  worth reading, and for a book six years in the stalling, it's surprisingly topical

The Hound And Hob Pub, Seana Kelly

Werewolf/witch*/necromancer Sam and her new husband Clive, the vampire master of San Francisco (just think Clive Owen in a particularly sharp suit) have honeymooned in Paris, but now they're in England, and hunting the vampire who has been targeting Clive since the series started, a rivalry which goes back centuries, to when both were human. And then the elves get involved, and then the dragons.

It's a reasonable entry in the series, but does suffer a little from American Author In England syndrome, though Kelly does make a belated effort to try to write off Sam's belief that there are wolves on the North Yorks Moors as Sam's, not hers - which doesn't entirely ring true given Sam is 1) a booknerd, 2) a bookshop owner, and 3) a werewolf.

All I Want For Christmas is a Dragon, Seana Kelly

While Sam is off doing honeymoon-y things with Clive, someone has to keep her bar/bookshop open, and that someone is barkeep/witch* Owen Wong, who is run off his feet, but mostly he's worried that he wants to move in with his boyfriend, and dragon-shifter, George, but he doesn't know if George wants to move in with him, on top of which it's Christmas and Owen loves Christmas (even if he's technically Buddhist) and George hates it, for unrevealed reasons, plus there's George's scary grandmother to convince his intentions are honourable.  It's a novella and close tie-in with the events of the first half of The Hound and Hob Pub, and ultimately fairly slight, but entertaining for an hour or so.



Samples Sampled

Bewicched: The Seawicche Chronicles, Seana Kelly

This is a spin-off from the Sam/Clive series, with new protagonist Arwyn, who got an offstage-intro in The Hound and Hob Pub (she made the Maguffin). She's an artist and a witch with an affinity for the sea, but also a psychic, to the point that just touching someone floods her with insights - so gloves with everything. She just wants to spend her time on converting an old cannery into a gallery, but her mother wants her as part of a witch-y triumvirate with her grandmother and there's a very annoying werewolf measuring up for the new deck.

Seems entertaining enough, so I'll probably follow through and read it at some point - ideally if it's on sale.

The War at Sea 1939--45: Volume 1 The Defensive, Captain S W Roskill, RN

Oh, oh, the Official War History of the Royal Navy, and Volume 1 is 800 pages in its own right. It's probably about time I read it, given my interests, but oof, that's big! 

* I absolutely refuse to use the series spelling of wicche if I can avoid it!