#96 The Taste of Night by Vicki Pettersson
The cut is due to BIG SPOILERS for the first Zodiac book, The Scent of Shadows. There are no spoilers for The Taste of Night. 
Joanna Archer's life changed forever the night her sister died and she found out about the Zodiac. That in Las Vegas, an underground battle was being fought between the forces of the Light and Shadow, and she had the most important part to play. As the mythical Kairos, Joanna is both Shadow and Light. Her estranged mother was once the Archer of Light, and her father is the Tulpa, an evil creature that runs the Shadow side. Now, the Archer of Light herself, Joanna struggles to adjust to her new lifestyle and the fellow Zodiac members. When she is approached by a Shadow initiate who offers to give her information on the man that destroyed her adolescence, Joannna jumps at the chance, thinking little of the consequences. But when the innocents of Las Vegas are stricken with a supernatural plague, Joanna must chose between the revenge she has desired for so long, and her responsibility to her troop and her city.
I picked up The Scent of Shadows, the first book in the Zodiac series, with little expectations. I saw it was up on paperbackswap, figured it wasn't going to cost me anything, and picked it up on a whim. What I got was a surprisingly solid story that completely defies normal urban fantasy trends. You won't find any vampires, werewolves, or spell casters here. Instead, Pettersson decides to write about superheroes, complete with masks, secret identities, and utility belts. The cast of characters is surprisingly complex, most of all our protagonist. Joanna is really not a nice person. Although she desires and strives to do good, she can at times be selfish, petty and downright mean. This doesn't always make her the most likable of characters, but it sure makes her interesting.
The Scent of Shadows was a solid start to a paranormal series, but The Taste of Night brings things to a new an exciting level. Now that the characters and mythology has been established, we can delve right into the action, which The Taste of Night does right in the first chapter. There are a lot of really interesting issues brought up in this volume. There is the constant question of if Joanna's Shadow side can be used for good, and if one should discard a personal quest for revenge for the greater good. I like that the answers to these questions were not cut and dry. I also found the confrontation at the end to be particularly gripping.
The Taste of Night was an exciting page turner that takes the already solid Zodiac series to the next level. I plan on reading more of Vicki Pettersson's work.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 440 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Similar Books: For similar works of urban fantasy, check out Kim Harrison's Hollow Series, and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.
Other books I've read by this author: The Scent of Shadows
xposted tobookish and temporaryworlds
Joanna Archer's life changed forever the night her sister died and she found out about the Zodiac. That in Las Vegas, an underground battle was being fought between the forces of the Light and Shadow, and she had the most important part to play. As the mythical Kairos, Joanna is both Shadow and Light. Her estranged mother was once the Archer of Light, and her father is the Tulpa, an evil creature that runs the Shadow side. Now, the Archer of Light herself, Joanna struggles to adjust to her new lifestyle and the fellow Zodiac members. When she is approached by a Shadow initiate who offers to give her information on the man that destroyed her adolescence, Joannna jumps at the chance, thinking little of the consequences. But when the innocents of Las Vegas are stricken with a supernatural plague, Joanna must chose between the revenge she has desired for so long, and her responsibility to her troop and her city.
I picked up The Scent of Shadows, the first book in the Zodiac series, with little expectations. I saw it was up on paperbackswap, figured it wasn't going to cost me anything, and picked it up on a whim. What I got was a surprisingly solid story that completely defies normal urban fantasy trends. You won't find any vampires, werewolves, or spell casters here. Instead, Pettersson decides to write about superheroes, complete with masks, secret identities, and utility belts. The cast of characters is surprisingly complex, most of all our protagonist. Joanna is really not a nice person. Although she desires and strives to do good, she can at times be selfish, petty and downright mean. This doesn't always make her the most likable of characters, but it sure makes her interesting.
The Scent of Shadows was a solid start to a paranormal series, but The Taste of Night brings things to a new an exciting level. Now that the characters and mythology has been established, we can delve right into the action, which The Taste of Night does right in the first chapter. There are a lot of really interesting issues brought up in this volume. There is the constant question of if Joanna's Shadow side can be used for good, and if one should discard a personal quest for revenge for the greater good. I like that the answers to these questions were not cut and dry. I also found the confrontation at the end to be particularly gripping.
The Taste of Night was an exciting page turner that takes the already solid Zodiac series to the next level. I plan on reading more of Vicki Pettersson's work.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 440 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Similar Books: For similar works of urban fantasy, check out Kim Harrison's Hollow Series, and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.
Other books I've read by this author: The Scent of Shadows
xposted tobookish and temporaryworlds