Hungry for Ghosts, Hops and Wrath

The Eric Carter series is one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series, and is up there among my favorite books of all time. Today I am talking about book 3. HUNGRY GHOSTS. If you aren't caught up in this UF/Noir series, you should know that while I try to keep my reviews as spoiler-free as possible, if you're reading a review for book 3, chances are you'll get some spoilers for previous books.

I've blogged about book 1, DEAD THINGS, did a joint review of BROKEN SOULS, and reviewed CITY OF THE LOST (not a Carter book, but is set in the same world with some cross-over characters). I loved every one, and I am so happy to say that HUNGRY GHOSTS did not disappoint. I also found a good beer to chase down that ol' necromancer magic.

First the blurb: "Necromancer Eric Carter's problems keep getting bigger. Bad enough he's the unwilling husband to the patron saint of death, Santa Muerte, but now her ex, the Aztec King of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli, has come back -- and it turns out that Carter and he are swapping places. As Mictlantecuhtli breaks loose of his prison of jade, Carter is slowly turning to stone.

To make matters worse, both gods are trying to get Carter to assassinate the other. But only one of them can be telling him the truth and he can't trust either one. Carter's solution? Kill them both.

If he wants to get out of this situation with his soul intact, he'll have to go to Mictlan, the Aztec land of the dead, and take down a couple of death gods while facing down the worst trials the place has to offer him: his own sins."

Short and sweet review: Fantastic book 3 that keeps the action flowing, the magic always interesting, and the stakes rising. We see some familiar faces, get some questions answered, some unanswered, can't wait for book 4.

Eric has already lost his sister, his best friend, everyone he ever cared about. He has seriously pissed off his allies, and he is turning to jade because of a deal he struck with Santa Muerte way back in book 1. Dude has nothing left to lose, so how do we start book 3? By heading to Mexico and taking on cartel members, of course. Action, action, action and then we find ourselves in the land of the dead for Santa Muerte's followers. All the while, Eric is on a race against time - to figure out who to trust and who to kill before he turns to jade permanently.

I must say, I love figuring things out just before Eric does.

The end was very satisfying, like a cold beer on a too-hot day. Speaking of beer (see what I did there), this brings me to the beer pairing portion of today's review. The first time I tried Dust Bowl's HOPS OF WRATH, I found it to be smooth, refreshing, and at the bottom of the 22, it knocked me on my ass. Not one to try on an empty stomach, or you should find a friend to share the burden. Much like how Eric, in his wrathful state, made a deal with a certain death goddess without fully understanding all of the ramifications. Sure, that extra power was nice to have at first, until he started turning unnatural shades of green.

I also like that it says "Cursed" right there on the bottle. Steinbeck's Dust Bowl clan aren't the only ones to journey to California and go through Hell.

HUNGRY GHOSTS
Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | Powell's | BAM | Kobo

A New Start

Back in 2011, I started blogging with The Book Pile. Reviewing books interviewing authors, it was a blast.

Then, I got a chance to write with the ladies at Stellar Four, a wonderfully fun experience that gave me three of my best friends.

I still kept up with the Book Pile, mostly, but as time went on, life happened, family members died, kids had health issues, it all just got harder to come up with the energy to do extra things.

I've missed it though. I love talking about books. I still do, over on twitter, but it's not the same. I need more than 140 characters.

So, I thought about starting up the Book Pile again, but, meh. I've been kicking around this idea of talking about tea and books, and my favorite alcoholic drinks for awhile now. I could have added it to the old blog, but it felt right to just start fresh.

What do I want to do? More freaking reviews, to start. Hoping to have some tea or booze and book pairings too. One of my favorite posts was my Characters and Cocktails, where I asked authors what their characters would like to drink. Oh yeah, I'm bringing that back.

So, here I am, starting over. Hope you find some excellent new reads and some fantastic drinks along the way.