April 20, 2009
The third Tess Noncoiré adventure (after 2007's Moon in the Mirror
) follows the fantasy author and rogue demon-hunter to Las Vegas. While appearing as the guest of a regional writers conference, Tess and her imp sidekick, Scrap, are appalled to learn that the beautiful dancers performing in the hit show Faery Moon
are supernatural beings kidnapped from Faery.Local vampire crime boss Lady Lucia offers to help Tess free the faeries and get them home, which seems easy enough, but the presence of another rogue Warrior hints that there's more going on. Meanwhile, Tess's old flame Donovan Estevez shows up, raising the possibility of conflict with her new would-be lover, Gollum aka Guilford Van der Hoyden-Smythe. The dark ending is leavened by the usual insider references to filk, as well as plenty of sword swinging and romantic angst.
May 15, 2009
A successful fantasy writer whose novels portray her real-life existence as a Celestial Blade Warrior, bound to protect innocents from supernatural threats, Tess Noncoir finds her principles tested when she discovers a group of captive faeries performing against their will in a Las Vegas casino. This third series outing (after "Hounding the Moon" and "Moon in the Mirror") for Frost's complex and quirky heroine reveals conflicts in her personal life and also in her relationship to the Citadel she has left behind. The author uses Las Vegas and its desert surroundings to good advantage, creating an atmosphere of affluence and decadence amid the stark beauty of ancient places. For urban fantasy fans.
Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.