Masks (The Lord Jester's Legacy Book 1) by E.M. Prazeman

I first ran across this book when I was working the NIWA table in the dealers' room at NorWesCon 2015, and fell in love with the gorgeous, intriguing cover. I had to run home and buy a Kindle download, and was I ever glad I did. Masks, book 1 in the Lord Jester's Legacy series by E.M. Prazeman is my kind of book--full of compelling characters and vivid settings.

But First, THE BLURB:

When Mark Seaton's father disappears and his mother is murdered, he becomes a pawn in a deadly world of nobles, masked courtiers, and mysterious beings that whisper in his mind.
The only way a pawn can survive is to gain position and power.
The only way Mark Seaton can be free, is to become a player.


MY REVIEW:

Mark Seton is a terrific character.  Abused, and unsure of himself, Mark does something he knows is dangerous and fool-hardy, embarking a journey that is fraught with peril, some clear and some hidden.

As his alter-ego, Lark, Mark has courage and strength. But in order to bring Lark's true powers to fruition, Mark must decide who he is, and grasp that chance, despite the fact that it will both make and destroy him.

The other characters are well conceived--Lord Jester Gutter is intriguing and sinister. Obsidian is also a mystery--Colonel Rohn Evan is confusing, hard to know, yet compelling. You like and dislike him. The motives of the players are never what they appear.

The setting is rich, opulent and slightly degenerate. The underlying themes of this book bode well for the rest of the series, as do the characters that were introduced. 

If this book has a flaw it is in the proof-reading. It is clearly an indie production, editorially. But the characters and the story drew me back in every time I was knocked out of my reading reverie by a glaring cut & paste error, or some other thing that could have been caught before publication. 

I am definitely buying the next installment on this series, Confidante. I must say, Prazeman's covers are good representations of what lies within.

A Killing Tide, by P.J. Alderman

Today I am not reviewing a fantasy or a scifi book--instead I am reviewing a contemporary thriller, located on the Columbia River, in a town I am most familiar with--Astoria. You may remember the town from the 1985 movie "Goonies." 

A Killing Tide, was a RITA finalist and climbed the charts to stay on the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists for eight weeks. I can tell you why – this book grips you from the first page.


The BLURB:

Where there's smoke...

Kaz Jorgensen is used to fear--the anxiety of negotiating treacherous currents as she captains her family's fishing trawlers, the terrifying nightmares of the day she almost lost her life on the river. But now a man is dead, an arsonist has set the Anna Marie ablaze, and her brother is missing.

There's fire...

Michael Chapman knows how to take the heat--as the new fire chief of Astoria, Oregon, he's dealt with more than his share. No way can he afford to get involved with the sister of a suspect. But the scorching attraction between him and Kaz burns out of control, and when someone takes a shot at her, his protective instincts kick in. Whatever happens, he can't allow another woman to die because of him.

My REVIEW:

A Killing Tide by indie author P. J. Alderman takes place in the small Oregon city of Astoria. With simple strokes, she evokes the atmosphere of the coastal town, the eternal grayness and eternal rain. Based in Astoria, Oregon, Columbia River Bar Pilots were established in 1846 to ensure the safety of ships, crews and cargoes crossing the treacherous Columbia River Bar, which is recognized as one of the most dangerous and challenging navigated stretches of water in the world. The men and women who fish those waters are also a rare breed.

(Kasmira) Kaz Jorgensen was once a well-known local fisher-woman, and has recently returned to Astoria and fishing after a long absence from fishing as financial a consultant in San Francisco. Her best friend had called her, telling her there was trouble with her brother Gary, but not what the trouble was. She has not been able to talk much to him, due to having to be out on her own boat, the Kasmira B, and things are somewhat distant between them.

She has not been welcomed back with open arms by her brother or the community at large.  Having just lost half her pots and most of her catch to a vandal at sea, she brings her boat in late. She arrives at The Redemption, a tavern frequented by the local fishers, and meets up with her best friend, Detective Lucy McGuire who is also her brother’s girlfriend. Also eating dinner in the Redemption is the new fire chief, Michael Chapman. Just hired from Boston, Chapman is a man with a history, which comes out as the story progresses.

That evening in the Redemption, Michael witnesses Kaz trying to break up a violent disagreement between Kaz’s brother Gary and his friend, Chuck. Because she is no longer considered a member of the community for reasons which gradually emerge. Everyone warns Kaz to stay out of ‘it’; indicating to her that whatever is going on between Chuck and Gary is big and it involves the whole fishing community. Michael Chapman intervenes, to Kaz’s irritated chagrin.

Following that, a friend is murdered; a family man who is also a crewman on her brother’s boat, the Anna Marie. Gary, a vet suffering from post-traumatic-stress syndrome, is immediately suspected of murdering him and committing arson to burn his boat to cover it up. Making things worse, Gary has vanished. Police Chief Jim Sykes, a man with political ambitions, is hot on Gary’s trail, sure he is the culprit.  Michael, as fire-marshal, is leaping to no conclusions, and is handling the investigation his own way.

This is an intense tale of greed and small-town lust for power and easy money.  Each and every character is fully fleshed out and you immediately like or dislike them with one exception.  Jim Sykes remains somewhat of an enigma right up to the end.

The attraction between Kaz and Michael Chapman is part of what makes this tale so engrossing.  The possibility of their romance is a thread which weaves in and out of the tapestry that is this mystery.  Right up to the end, I was unsure as to whom the culprit was and the ending is a thrilling as any you could ask for.

First published in 2006, A Killing Tide was my introduction to P.J. Alderman’s work. She has become one of my go-to mystery writers, and I have enjoyed everything she has written.