June 2013 books to look forward to

I don't have too many books I'm thinking of buying this month, but the following books sound good! And I know as the month goes on I will find plenty of other books to buy!

June 4

Trail of Dead
by Melissa F. Olson
Series: Scarlett Bernard, book 2
Published by: 47North
Genre: Urban Fantasy
310 pages
Synopsis: As a null, Scarlett Bernard possesses a rare ability to counteract the supernatural by instantly neutralizing spells and magical forces. For years she has used her gift to scrub crime scenes of any magical traces, helping the powerful paranormal communities of Los Angeles stay hidden. But after LAPD detective Jesse Cruz discovered Scarlett’s secret, he made a bargain with her: solve a particularly grisly murder case, and he would stay silent about the city’s unearthly underworld.

Now two dead witches are found a few days before Christmas, and Scarlett is once again strong-armed into assisting the investigation. She soon finds a connection between the murders and her own former mentor, Olivia, a null who mysteriously turned into a vampire and who harbors her own sinister agenda. Now Scarlett must revisit her painful past to find Olivia—unless the blood-drenched present claims her life first.
My Thoughts: I've already preordered this book. I liked the first book (Dead Spots) and reviewed it in May.

Eight Million Gods
by Wen Spencer
Series: Unknown
Published by Baen Books
Genre: Fantasy
368 pages

Synopsis: A contemporary fantasy of mystery and death as American expats battle Japanese gods and monsters to retrieve an ancient artifact that can destroy the world.

On Saturday afternoon, Nikki Delany thought, "George Wilson, in the kitchen, with a blender." By dinner, she had killed George and posted his gory murder to her blog. The next day, she put on her mourning clothes and went out to meet her best friend for lunch to discuss finding a replacement for her love interest.

Nikki is a horror novelist. Her choice of career is dictated by an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that forces her to write stories of death and destruction. She can't control it, doesn't understand it, but can use it to make money anywhere in the world. Currently "anywhere" is in Japan, hiding from her mother who sees Nikki's OCD as proof she's mentally unstable. Nikki's fragile peace starts to fall apart when the police arrest her for the murder of an American expatriate. Someone killed him with a blender.

Reality starts to unravel around Nikki. She's attacked by a raccoon in a business suit. After a series of blackouts, she’s accompanied by a boy that no one else can see, a boy who claims to be a god. Is she really being pursued by Japanese myths—or is she simply going insane?

What Nikki does know for sure is that the bodies are piling up, her mother has arrived in Japan to lock her up for the rest of her life—and her novels always end with everyone dead.  
My thoughts: I like Wen Spencer's writing and have enjoyed so many of her books, but I think I will wait to see reviews of this book since it's expensive. The synopsis sounds good though!

Gameboard of the Gods
by Richelle Mead
Series: Age of X, book 1
Published by: Dutton Adult
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
462 pages
Synopsis: A brilliant but bitter exile, plagued with an addictive personality and a troubled past.  A beautiful super soldier whose true nature holds more danger than anyone realizes.  In a futuristic country that's turned its back on religion, these two unlikely partners find that a series of ritualistic murders are just the beginning of supernatural forces slowly attempting to reclaim the world...
My thoughts: This is another book which sounds good, but is expensive so I'm going to wait to hear what other reviews say.

Shapeshifted
by Cassie Alexander
Series: Edie Spencer series, book 3
Published by: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Genre: Urban Fantasy
321 pages
Synopsis: Nurse Edie Spence is once again called upon to save a life…and this time, it’s personal. Can her new community of zombies, vampires, and shapeshifters come to her rescue when she needs them most?

When Edie was fired from her paranormal nursing job at County Hospital, her whole world came crashing down. Now she’s is once again shaken to her core. Her mother is deathly ill and there’s only one thing that will save her: vampire blood. But with the paranormal community shunning Edie, where can she obtain it…without losing her own life in the process?  
My thoughts: I've preordered this book. I've read the previous books in this series and it has quickly become one of my favorite series.

What new June books are on your list for this month?

Review: Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson

Melissa F. Olson is another new author to me. This book is listed at the Literary Escapism blog's New Author Challenge 2013.

Dead Spots
by Melissa F. Olson
Series: Scarlett Bernard, Book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: 49North, 2012
E-book, Purchased
293 pages
Grade: B

Synopsis: Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten feet of her, and any supernatural spells or demonic forces are instantly defused—vampires and werewolves become human again, and witches can’t get out so much as a “hocus pocus.” This special skill makes her a null and very valuable to Los Angeles’s three most powerful magical communities, who utilize her ability to scrub crime scenes clean of all traces of the paranormal to keep humanity, and the LAPD, in the dark.

But one night Scarlett’s late arrival to a grisly murder scene reveals her agenda and ends with LAPD’s Jesse Cruz tracking her down to strike a deal: he’ll keep quiet about the undead underworld if she helps solve the case. Their pact doesn’t sit well with Dash, the city’s chief bloodsucker, who fears his whole vampire empire is at stake. And when clues start to point to Scarlett, it’ll take more than her unique powers to catch the real killer and clear her name.

...............

I believe this is the first book published by Ms. Olson. I liked the premise: Scarlett Bernard is a null (magic doesn't work around her) so LA's three most powerful magical communities (vampires, witches and weres) use her to scrub crime scenes clean of any trace of magic to keep "regular" people unaware of magic. However, I did find it odd that when she doesn't get to a crime scene quickly enough to scrub the scene clean that this is the first time this has happened. It seems like there would have to be more times she hadn't made it to the scene before the police. All urban fantasy needs some suspension of disbelief, but the world that is built needs to make sense and that point didn't make sense.

However, overall I did like the book. The world is an interesting one and the mystery is a good one. There are many characters who could be responsible for the murder Scarlett didn't get cleaned up. It's quickly clear that this crime was supposed to frame Scarlett, but because she showed up late it's harder to frame. Dashiell, the head vampire, doesn't care about that--if Scarlett doesn't produce the killer then he will kill Scarlett. And the policeman who tracks her down and finds out about the supernatural world stays alive during the investigation and helps Scarlett with  the investigation as long as he keeps quite about what he's found out about this world. However, he will also be killed if they don't find the killer.

I liked the fact that some of the supernatural characters in the book like being close to Scarlett (becoming human) and others want to stay far away. Dashiell, the head of the vampires, is one who wants her to stay away from him...he's vulnerable when she's close and he doesn't want to age anymore than he already has! Others such as Scarlett's roommate, Molly, (another vampire) wants to grow older and likes to be able to be awake during the daytime.

Before this book begins Olivia who was Scarlett's mentor has died. Olivia had shown up at her parents' funeral and afterward took her in and trained her. During Olivia's illness Scarlett learned things about her life and about Olivia that were a shock to her. During the course of this book she realizes she's been going through the motions since then:

...I had been going through the motions. Clean up crime scenes. Ignore my brother. Watch TV with Molly. Have slightly drunken sex with Eli. Do laundry. Repeat. I might as well have died with Olivia, or with my parents, for all the living I've been doing.... It's so much easier to just think of your life as a giant checklist that has to be worked through. But like it or not, I couldn't sit on the bench anymore.

I enjoyed this book and it ends on a surprising note which I didn't see coming at all...lol, The second book in this series--Trail of Dead--is scheduled to be published on June 4 and I have preordered it!