The Gorgon Agenda by Lisa Shearin
A planet-killing weapon, sinister sisters, and immortal monsters. All in a day’s work for the agents of SPI.
Title: The Gorgon Agenda
Author: Lisa Shearin
Series: SPI Files #8
Release date: January 24, 2023
Source: purchased by reviewer
Description: I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for SPI (Supernatural Protection & Investigations). I knew SPI protected some of the world’s most dangerous relics, but I didn’t know our draconic founder, Vivienne Sagadraco, kept them in a vault deep below Manhattan.
Until the most lethal relic of all was stolen.
The Aegis is the shield once wielded by Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. The center of the Aegis contains the head of Medusa, making it the ultimate weapon. All who look on it or its reflection are instantly turned to stone.
Old enemies and new adversaries have descended on New York—and one of them now has the Aegis:
Tiamat—Babylonian goddess of chaos, and Vivienne Sagadraco’s sister
Stheno and Euryale—Eight-foot-tall, snake-haired gorgons, granddaughters of the Titans, and Medusa’s sisters
The Sisterhood of Medusa—An ancient gorgon military order
The Cabal—A supernatural terrorist organization
Those behind the theft have declared war on humanity, with a hatred that was millennia in the making, and a heist that was centuries in the planning.
Our mission is simple yet impossible: Retrieve the Aegis and save the world. But we can’t do it alone. We’ll need our friends, family, and some unexpected new allies if we’re to stop this ancient evil once and for all.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
This is a really GREAT story. It’s well thought out and in the case of me being confused easily – not confusing at all. The author tells the reader what they need to know and moves on with the story.
MaKenna and Rafe aren’t center stage in this book. It’s Vivienne Sagadraco’s story continuing where her sister Tiamat leaves off in the first two books. She still wants her revenge and is still the manipulative crank of the two sisters. Robbery starts off this story and the dragons are back at it again. Don’t touch their hoard!
This time, Tiamat has found a very devious way to get what she wants. Like I said, this is a very well thought out story and while I learned things I did not know about Medusa and her sisters, I was very riveted to the pages. This one was a one sitter and I enjoyed it.
Our reviews in this series…
- The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin
- The Dragon Conspiracy by Lisa Shearin
- The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin
- The Ghoul Vendetta by Lisa Shearin
- The Myth Manifestation by Lisa Shearin
- The Phoenix Illusion by Lisa Shearin
- The Entity Game by Lisa Shearin
- The Solstice Countdown by Lisa Shearin
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Shadow Duel by Brad Magnarella
Beware the shadow of many faces, but fear the master of many places…
Title: Shadow Duel
Author: Brad Magnarella
Series: Prof Croft #9
Publish Date: April 15 2021
Source: purchased by reviewer
Publisher’s Description: Beware the shadow of many faces, but fear the master of many places…
It’s Monday morning, and I’ve recovered a strange glyph-covered chest from a landfill. By Monday afternoon, someone’s stolen it from my warded loft.
Before I can suss out who, why, and most importantly, how, I’m neck-deep with the NYPD on a murder case. A bigshot CEO is dead in his penthouse, his kidneys harvested in a way that screams black magic. Only there’s no magic in evidence.
The two crimes connect somehow, and the key may be an old explorer’s club in the heart of Manhattan. But this mage needs to get moving. More victims are turning up sans organs, and twice now I’ve found myself in a shadow realm—a darker, more dangerous version of the city, where a mysterious entity wants me dead.
And here I thought the summer’s biggest chore would be persuading my succubus cat to play nice with my wife.
Spoiler alert: she’s still Tabitha.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
I really love this series. It’s kind of a police procedural but not. That’s pretty wishy washy, huh? Well, you have your intense magic user, you have nasty mythological creatures that terrorize people and murder. If you have never tried this series and think that sounds boring, let me clue you in. These books, this one included, are often edge of your seat adventure, murder in mysterious magical circumstances in a world that does know about magic. I feel the comparison to Indiana Jones would lead to an idea of the content of these books…except Indy never had a consultant gig with the NYPD.
Everson now has a family. I never thought that Ricki Vega would ever succumb to Everson’s charms, let alone his dangerous and most often very closely lethal magic dealings. The baby they are expecting is growing and Vega is on desk duty. She doesn’t like it, but she does manage to get inside this case due to her ability to liaison with the wizard. She doesn’t really have an active part in this story, but she does have her moments in the spotlight. It is a complicated relationship that plays out between Detective Hoffmen and Prof Croft. They HAVE to get along and solve the case. Ricki can only do so much since she’s not working directly on the case. It’s a tough partnership between the two men.
So, the case. Weirdest dang thing – people are getting killed and having certain organs removed without a trace of incision or cause of death. No why or how. Just is. That’s where Everson is brought in. He has a huge task of solving this riddle that just becomes more dangerous and mysterious as the book weaves it’s story. It’s surprising Everson doesn’t develop a concussion for as many times as he hits a brick wall leading him to no answers, but he perseveres. I have got to tell you that I’d never have guessed where leads took him and the places he ended up. The dangers he put himself into were not just to solve the case, but to stop the destruction to humans of the earth. This feels like an over-several-books story that doesn’t end at the end of this book. It’s not a cliffhanger to the murders, so don’t worry about that part. There is, however, a revelation at the very end that was of particular interest. It’s not a bad revelation – a very “OMG” moment and I cannot wait to see where this leads.
Our reviews in this series…
- Demon Moon by Brad Magnarella
- Blood Deal
- Purge City by Brad Magnarella
- Death Mage
- Black Luck
- Power Game
- Druid Bond
- Night Rune
- Shadow Duel
- Shadow Deep
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Smoke Show by D.N. Erikson
Emmy Davis, the world’s most famous fox shifter, went missing two years ago. And I’ve just been hired to find her.
Title: Smoke Show
Author: D.N. Erikson
Series: Tess Skye #2
Publish Date: August 17, 2021
Source: purchased by reviewer
Publisher’s Description: Emmy Davis, the world’s most famous fox shifter, went missing two years ago.
And I’ve just been hired to find her.
If only things were that simple. The cops have no leads. Other PIs haven’t fared any better. The trail is colder than an arctic winter. And to make matters worse, a mysterious creature from Javy Diaz’s past has taken an alarming interest in the case.
But all that might be the least of my problems. Because you know everything you’ve heard about the pitfalls of social media?
Yeah. Turns out it’s worse than that.
Way worse.
And having 113 million crazed fans breathing down my neck as I search for their lost idol might prove more dangerous than crossing paths with whoever actually took her in the first place…
Smoke Show is the breakneck, action-packed second novel in the new Tess Skye urban fantasy series. It must be read after the first book, Drop Dead.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
You know how the next book in a series loses some of it’s shine? Not in this series! I am so happy I found this author because they are amazing. Another book-in-one-day kind of story.
This story does not stray from the urban fantasy genre. No sex, no romance. There is an over arcing story that follows the agreement Tess and Javy made in the first book. To help people.
You’d think this would be a fairly straight forward plot line. 1. missing person 2. search for person 3. found person story done. Yeah, not so much in this story. There are a lot of twists and turns in this story and the action? It was a page turner. I was glued to the book from the first page. There are 3 friends that are social media influencers and they came up with a fantastic idea to boost their ratings, except the plan did not go according to script. I would love to tell you what happened, but I feel like one slip and it’d ruin the anticipation getting to the end of the story. It all ends well, so no fears there. When I got to the end, it was like a lightbulb moment when all was revealed. It was so simple, but yet complicated. I enjoyed the ride greatly.
Other reviews in this series:
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Drop Dead by
I just woke up in a motel. I have no idea who I am or how I got here.
Title: Drop Dead
Author: D.N. Erikson
Series: Tess Skye #1
Publish Date: January 20, 2021
Source: purchased by reviewer
Publisher’s Description: I just woke up in a motel.
I have no idea who I am or how I got here.
But I do know three things.
There’s a body on the floor…and one in the bathtub.
There’s a bullet in my shoulder. And it hurts. Bad.
And there’s a vampire warlock right outside the door. And he’s coming to finish the job.
Drop Dead is the first book in the new urban fantasy series starring Tess Skye.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
First of all, I loved this story. It was well written and it was never slow…ever. There is no sex – pure urban fantasy. There is death and some of it is a little gory too.
Tess is a Soulwalker. Someone that can live the last few minutes of someone’s life as well as re-animate them. It’s a dang cool trick and it sounds like it could make a human full on insane. Tess is fighting the odds in a losing game. It’s really quite amazing that she actually finishes the year long fight in good vs. evil. Tess is the last Soulwalker and there are many magical creatures that are out in the public eye because of the Great Reveal. This time, the cops are against the good guy and are corrupt all because of one guy that, again, wants all the power. There are Immortals, Vampires and probably others that haven’t been mentioned yet. I guess the reason I liked this story so much was because it didn’t duplicate something I’d already read. This book popped up after I read Demon Rogue by this same author. If I had to measure in stars, I’d rate this book one more star higher than Demon Rogue. If you like urban fantasy and a fairly fast paced, but not complicated story, this is the book for your next planned escape. I really enjoyed it.
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Demon Rogue by D.N. Erikson
I’m Kalos Aeon. I’ve been around for longer than you could know – and most people don’t want to know me, being half-demon, and all – but right now I’ve got a big f’in problem.
Title: Demon Rogue
Author: D.N. Erikson
Series: The Half-Demon Rogue #1 AND Demons and Bounty Hunters #1
Publish Date: June 18, 2016
Source: purchased by reviewer
Publisher’s Description: I’m Kalos Aeon. I’ve been around for longer than you could know – and most people don’t want to know me, being half-demon, and all – but right now I’ve got a big f’in problem.
A woman just came into my office, and I gotta say, from the photo she slipped me, someone’s got a serious issue with the supernatural.
Life expectancy is looking kinda low if I don’t figure out who’s kidnapping magical creatures, selling their blood and trying to reveal magic’s existence to the mortal world. Last time that happened it didn’t end well. I’m not optimistic about this time, either.
Joke’s on me, anyway, for setting up a magical salvage and retrieval business. 50% of an item’s magical essence and a per diem can’t cover the damages this job is gonna inflict.
Money and magic aren’t of much use to a dead man. And If I didn’t have a code (yes, I’m a demon with a code), then I would jet out of Texas faster than a vamp at a sorority party (you don’t want to know).
But I agreed to the gig, she paid the cash, so I gotta see it through.
Did I mention the super-powerful wiccan – who I used to have, ahem, relations with – just returned from a long hiatus in a place worse than hell? And she’s still obsessed with finding a certain god’s spear that I may or may not have.
Seriously. This situation is code red. I’m almost willing to accept help from wizards. On second thought, no wizards. I hate you guys. I’d rather die.
So um, if I don’t make it through the next three days, anyone want a talking dog that’s read too much for his own good? Because the way things are going, Argos is gonna need a new home after the spells stop flying…*
*His only request is that you suck less than Odysseus. Apparently, the epic poems got that all wrong, and that guy was a major asshole. Or my dog might just be bitter. Tends to rub off when you live with a demon.
Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*
Nervous Nellie says…
This was a good book. I almost read it in one sitting, it was that good. I can describe this story through other books I’ve read. It’s got a pinch of Harry Dresden, except instead of Bob, there is Argos. It’s got your standard villains that want to rule the world. It’s also got trolls, warlocks and other magical creatures.
The plot of the book was just as it’s title suggests. A Rogue Demon is the main character. He’s got a destiny that we just learn about in the first book and appears to be the tip of the iceberg regarding the trouble coming Kal’s way. The editing was good, the story was good and it was entertaining. So much so, like I said, I nearly read it in one sitting. There is no sex – it’s not a romance. It’s a true form urban fantasy. There isn’t any grisly death and dismemberment – it doesn’t fall anywhere near the horror genre. Kal doesn’t use magic unless he has no choice and then it always comes with a serious price tag.
I will pick up the next book. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
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