CHEAT THE GRAVE by Vicki Pettersson

The Fifth Sign of the Zodiac Series

EOS

May 25^th, 2010

978-0-06-145677-0

Urban Fantasy/Paranormal

Mass Market Paperback

Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)

Obtained by Publisher

 

For Joanna Archer, giving up her powers to save a child and a city was a no brainer. It altered her destiny and now her former friends are now her enemies and the bad guys are not afraid of her anymore. But Joanna’s part in a prophecy is still in play and something deadly is stalking her in the plane where nightmares exist, where the line of good and evil blur. For if Joanna doesn’t get her former friends and allies behind her, she will lose much more than her life this time around.

In the Signs of the Zodiac series, we met Joanna Archer, a socialite by day and an agent of the light by night. With special powers, she battles the evil darkness along side her other fellow agents. In the beginning of the series, she was a bitter, tough, cynical woman but through the course of the series, we have seen Joanna grow as a character, soften her hard edges and let people come close to her. But in this fifth installment, we find Joanna beaten down, vulnerable and afraid. This is a story of more than good vs. evil, light vs. the dark but of a woman who finds herself at a crossroads. When the fourth book ended, I was shocked and dismayed. The author’s surprising twist had me reeling and in this fifth book, we find Joanna still dealing with everything that has happened to her, to her city, Las Vegas. The author does a wonderful job in creating flawed characters and Joanna is a perfect example of it. She is unsure of her place in the world and as she tries to figure things out, the author delivers a few twists and turns that leave you speechless until the very end. The part where Joanna wallows in self-pity, doing the whole ‘poor me’ routine made me wish the storyline went a little faster as it dragged on at times. But once the author got past that, the story rocked. It was fast paced, kept me glued to the edge of my seat and I was eager to see what would happen next.

This is an author who is a master at world building and storytelling. The world building alone for this series rocked and the storylines were delightful as each book capitalized on the last one and the characters grew with each book. Ms. Pettersson delivers another hit in her fifth book of the zodiac series and I look forward to seeing where Joanna goes from here. If you are looking for enjoyable characters and great world building along with the grittiness of an urban fantasy, then try the Signs of the Zodiac series and be prepared to fall in love with this series and with the author.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

 

THE TOUCH OF TWILIGHT: SIGN OF THE ZODIAC, BOOK 3 by Vicki Pettersson

Publisher Avon Books
Date published May 2008
ISBN 978-0-06-089893-9
Urban Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Lil




Joanna Archer is the only mix between Light and Shadow. With a mother who was a veritable legend of an agent for good and fathered by the pinnacle on the side of evil, she has the power to tip the scales of the battle between good and very, very bad in either direction.

Though she is firmly the Sagittarius member of the Light Zodiac Troop 175, Las Vegas, there is a prophecy which may indicate her inevitable turning towards the Shadow side. If this is not worry enough, the love of her life is being seduced by the Cancer Shadow agent, Regan and a destructive entity which can destroy the world has targeted Joanna. Not only does the latter want to kill the Archer of Light, it wants to take over her identity completely.

This is the third installment of the series and there are new revelations regarding the characters and the world in which they inhabit. While we continue to be fascinated with new details, one must note that the world-building and mythos sometimes feels unwieldy. It is as if a patch is hastily slapped on to make sense of the hole that we find in explanation of a situation and then the entirety is glossed over.

Joanna can be frustrating since she has a tendency to let her choices be based on emotion and impulse. It weakens her position and that of her teammates. Funnily enough, one doesn’t ever get to the point of really giving up on her. The roiling emotion with a sometimes abrasive, sometimes vulnerable heroine keeps readers ready to give her the benefit of the doubt.

This book appears to be one in which the young woman ends up gaining a measure of the maturity that she has heretofore lacked. Decisions made are hard fought and the pain of them is heartbreakingly clear.

Ms Pettersson has a beautiful command of language and one regularly comes across unexpectedly eloquent phrasing. This keeps THE TOUCH OF TWILIGHT lingering like a shadow after one reaches the end of the story and readers will be caught up in the threads that tease us about what comes next.