The dangerous sound of silence....

Suddenly, there is silence. The Mutter-Mutter-Mutter of cat monologue has abruptly ended.

You're busy, so you don't really notice that the cat muttering has ceased. After all, he does occasionally take naps. Then you hear a bit of rustling, like crumbled paper shoved across carpet. A thud follows, the sound of a dense Burmese hitting the top of the staircase railing.

He's a little hyperthyroid, so you glance over and then ignore him.

Which is just what he wants. So you don't look up at the soft rustling and thuds that follow, figuring he's still chasing that wad of tin foil you made for him. But the tin foil fell long ago, and the King of the jungle is about to let loose with his hunting cry.

AAAARRRRGGGHGHGH! The shriek of triumph!

Crash! TING! The bright sound of molded aluminum hitting the massage table leg, as the crochet hook goes flying! Does he want the crocheted piece you carelessly set down for a moment and did not return to last night? No! He's a cat!

HE WANTS YOUR STRING.

Yarn! Four skeins of yarn! And it's his, all his!

Actually, no, Merlyn, it's not yours, it's mine. (Remove yarn, hook and box from cat paws.)

Mutter-Mutter-Mutter....

Bumpersticker of the day

I'm so busy, I don't know if I found a rope, or lost my horse.

Book Review: ON THE EDGE by Ilona Andrews

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Welcome to The Edge, a weird strip of land circling our globe and protecting us, if you will, from The Weird, where magic rules. Think Louisiana swamps with magic, and you’d be right at home. Our world is known as The Broken, because magic doesn’t work here, and people with magic literally feel it run out of their body like blood when they cross the border between Edge and Broken.

Not everyone can cross, which is where the Edgers often make their living. They can move between the Edge and the Broken, working, living the lives of illegal immigrants, with just as many problems and injustices.

Rose Drayton is a “sport,” a genetic throwback almost never seen in the Edge, capable of producing a white flash of magic that is a formidable weapon. She had hoped this skill would be her ticket out of poverty and heavy family responsibility, but it’s not to be – her mother is dead, her father a fortune-hunter more absent than present, and her little brothers have strong, rare magic – one a shape shifter, the other a necromancer. She won’t abandon them as she was abandoned, and she’s learned that men either want her magic or her body. They aren’t looking for a life partner.

Enter Declan Camarine, a blueblooded noble out of the Weird who clearly has extensive training in magic and war. When she tries to run him off their property, figuring him to be just like all the others who appeared once her Flashing abilities were known, she finds him a determined man – a man who says he is willing to win her through challenges.

Then a strange new animal in the Edge turns out to be literally deadly, and challenges or any other plans are tossed aside as Rose and Declan must join forces to deal with a horrifying force hungry for magic. In still another twist of her life, everything Rose thinks she knows is upended, when it turns out the evil magic has a master, and Declan has tracked him from the Weird.

The team of Ilona Andrews has done a great job creating a gritty new pocket of magic that feels very real. We recognize these private, uneducated, fearful people, getting by as best they can. The tough young woman who stars in this story quickly takes shape in our minds. Her brothers are unique, and crucial to the story on more than one level, making this modern fantasy with a sheen of romance, not a paranormal romance. We believe in Rose’s strengths and her knowledge of her world, and want her to win through. We also learn more of Edge magic through her Grandma, a talented “curser” who has watched time and three worlds destroy her family.

Rose doesn’t intend to let Declan win her, but he turns out to be more than the working soldier he appears, able to take interesting challenges and make them work. He’s also capable of stirring up some interest in Rose, although she mostly keeps him at arm’s length. She’s used to Weird men lying to her to get what they want – her – and she’s not interested (or rather not going to let him know she has any interest.)

Declan is not what he appears, and the danger that has come upon the Edge is horrifying – indeed, may be what destroyed the magical equivalent of the Aztec empire. The Edgers must help him find a solution to the problem, or the Edge and everyone in it will either fall to the invaders – or be destroyed by the Weird dealing with the invaders.

I can see this one as a re-read. Recommended!




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In case you are wondering -- yes, I have reviewed books lower than four stars. I just don't write extensively about them and post them over here. Why not share the best? And since I'm broke, don't assume I have a problem with something new if I don't mention it. I may have it on the list from the library. Or may have missed its release. And so on....