Winter of the Wolf Moon (Alex McKnight #1) – Book Review

Published Date: First published in 2000

Publishing Co.: Minotaur Books

Pages: 321

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Alex McKnight is an ex-Detroit cop, retired to the woods of the Upper Peninsula. Last year, he was a private investigator on the side, and renting cabins full time. His first case was so out of control that he put private investigating behind him.

Trouble comes looking for him once again in the form of a Native American woman, looking to get away from her abusive boyfriend. What Alex doesn’t realize is that the problem is much deeper than domestic violence. She’s stolen drugs from a Russian drug lord from out of state. So, when she disappears under Alex’s watch, from one of his own cabins, he feels so guilty that he can’t let it go, even though he doesn’t know about the drugs at the beginning. He won’t rest until he finds her or gets himself killed.

Not only does he have to survive attacks from various bad guys, he also has to survive mother nature after those attacks. Winter in the Upper Peninsula is not to be trifled with.

This is a mediocre detective novel with a grumpy, old guy main character. The grumpiness is endearing but the nostalgia is what keeps me coming back. I’ve lived and adventured in the Northern parts of Michigan my whole life. My grandfather (now deceased) is the one who introduced me to this series and gave me several books in it, so I’m sure I’ll continue it.

Mark of the Demon – Book Review

5 out of 5 stars

Ever read a novel, thoroughly enjoy it and then not know how to review it? That’s me tonight. It may make you think that it couldn’t possibly be all that good if I’m having a hard time reviewing it. But it’s me, not the book, I assure you. I’m just in a weird mood. When I finished this though, I had to restrain myself from running to the book store and picking up the next book in the series. I’m trying to get my book buying under control, but self-restraint isn’t one of my strong points. I happened to win this time.

Kara Gillian just made Homicide Investigations. Just in time for a serial killer to emerge from his slumber to play. This serial killer has a little something up his sleeve. Something most humans can’t see and know nothing about. Kara isn’t one of those humans. She’s a summoner. A practitioner of the arcane. She can call forth demons from another plane of existence. And she can see the arcane trails left all over the corpses of victims.

As if this didn’t make her life difficult/interesting enough, a Demonic Lord (read demon badass) has ruined one of her summonings by appearing uninvited. Worse yet, he keeps visiting her dreams. It’s killing her confidence of summoning demons and sometimes those guys are the only ones with useful answers.

Meanwhile, the serial killer is upping his game, preparing for something big. The corpses are piling up and Kara can’t explain to the other officers why she knows so much about the killer. Add a FBI agent to the task force who knows more than she is comfortable with about summoners, and a girl is up to her eyebrows in a complicated shit storm.

This was a wonderful blend of detective novel and the paranormal. I was equally interested in the police work aspect as I was with the arcane element. The main character was perfectly flawed. I’ve said it more than once, but I’ll say it again, I can’t stand uber badass heroines that make no mistakes.

This was fresh, exciting, fun and interesting. I will definitely be coming back for more.