Shadows

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!..a must for all who love vampires story.
Review: A crisis of faith becomes a minor worry for wiccan high priestess Selene Weiss when she finds herself tracking -- and avoiding -- a killer. Aldo Striescu, pyromaniac, asphyxomaniac, and hired gun is working for a filthy rich client who wants Striescu to utterly destroy all traces of wealthy, worldly, charming James Whistler (no, not THAT one) -- including Whistler's friends, like Selene.

Besides being predator and prey, Striescu and Whistler share an unusual connection. They are both vampires: not the walking dead, but humans who acquire enhanced senses, speed, and strength by drinking blood. Whistler prefers consenting sources; Striescu usually kills hitchhikers for his "drug." Seeking Striescu and protecting herself, Selene travels to the Virgin Islands, England, and coast to coast in the U.S.A., in the process calling on help from old friends and all the witchly resources she can summon.

Although it is a sequel to THE WORLD ON BLOOD, SHADOWS stands well as an independent work, thick with double-crossing, kidnapping, arson, poison, and -- like THE WORLD ON BLOOD -- sex. An awful lot of sex. Unfortunately, wiccan practice is portrayed with stress on sexual activity and anti-Christian touches that reflect medieval anti-witch propaganda more than modern wiccan practice. SHADOWS is also marred by a protracted, almost dragging denouement that goes on for some fifty pages past what FEELS like the ending. The book's true end nonetheless has a satisfying rightness. Although lacking the freshness of THE WORLD ON BLOOD, SHADOWS is a gripping read, full of engaging characters and fast-paced adventure.

Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFUL STORY!
Review: An amazing, kind of sequel to The World On Blood. I didn't really think of it as a sequel though. But I still found it thrillingly sexy, seductive and captivaing. It kept me awake until 5am because I couldn't dare tear my eyes away from the horrifingly spledid story! Completely wonderful, I loved it almost as much as I loved The World On Blood.

Rating:
Summary: Striga and Strigoa
Review: An interesting novel that held my interest until the very end. As someone relatively new to the Wiccan witch culture, and Drinkers vampire empire, I relished the information and knowledge gained in this pleasure-reading novel.

Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFUL STORY!
Review: I enjoyed this novel from beginning to end! The story (to me) is beautiful and mesmerizing!

I give this novel only 4 stars because it is a bit of a let down at the end. I was hoping for the two main characters (Selene and Whistler) to stay together, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be!

After reading the book, I would love to see it made into a film, but it would be deserving of a rating beyond "R" because it is very sexually explicit and there is far too much violence, nudity and vulgar language involved!

Overall, I highly recommend this novel! It is a great read for those who like the surpernatural, which involves witches, and a lighter version of vampires.

If you're into SUSPENSE, HORROR, and MYSTERY, then this book is for you!

Rating:
Summary: Book of Shadows
Review: I've always been facinated with novels that have deep dark plots; ones that include witches and vampires and all that supernatural lore. So, it was no surprise to me that I found this book to be a true "novel of erotic suspense" just like the cover promised. I praise the idea of mixing witches with the new idealy twisted vampire. I liked the idea of vampirism being like a drug addiction. It's possible to drop like a bad habit, but why drop it when it really isn't bad? After all, in this book blood drinking makes you stronger, faster, better. . . and from what the book hints at, it makes sex a whole lot better. Vampirism is the perfect drug in this book, it makes you a better person (literally & physically) without hardly any of the drawbacks. After all, what's a little sun sensitivity here and there. Needless to say, I liked the new twist. Though it disappointed me that Jamie and Selene didn't remain happily ever after, the course of their lifes events was none other than symbolic and meaningful. After all, they ended their romantic relationship the same way that it began. And though it made me sad to see it end, the conclusion was none other than profound. The book was complete with challenging obsticles to overcome and full of people bound emotionally to the main character. It had plenty of self discovery on Selene's part, and events that made her come face to face with decisions about the people she loves. It bothered me that this book is not one to have a happlily ever after in its ending, but then I came to realize that even with its preternatural twist, life is often like that. Life isn't judged by its beginnig and end, its the middle that counts,good and bad, its all the significant and profound events in-between.

Rating:
Summary: Book of Shadows
Review: I've always been facinated with novels that have deep dark plots; ones that include witches and vampires and all that supernatural lore. So, it was no surprise to me that I found this book to be a true "novel of erotic suspense" just like the cover promised. I praise the idea of mixing witches with the new idealy twisted vampire. I liked the idea of vampirism being like a drug addiction. It's possible to drop like a bad habit, but why drop it when it really isn't bad? After all, in this book blood drinking makes you stronger, faster, better. . . and from what the book hints at, it makes sex a whole lot better. Vampirism is the perfect drug in this book, it makes you a better person (literally & physically) without hardly any of the drawbacks. After all, what's a little sun sensitivity here and there. Needless to say, I liked the new twist. Though it disappointed me that Jamie and Selene didn't remain happily ever after, the course of their lifes events was none other than symbolic and meaningful. After all, they ended their romantic relationship the same way that it began. And though it made me sad to see it end, the conclusion was none other than profound. The book was complete with challenging obsticles to overcome and full of people bound emotionally to the main character. It had plenty of self discovery on Selene's part, and events that made her come face to face with decisions about the people she loves. It bothered me that this book is not one to have a happlily ever after in its ending, but then I came to realize that even with its preternatural twist, life is often like that. Life isn't judged by its beginnig and end, its the middle that counts,good and bad, its all the significant and profound events in-between.

Rating:
Summary: Will the real Wiccans please stand up?
Review: There is a reviewer below who feels grateful to this book for giving him useful information about the Wiccan culture, and so I feel obligated to write this review.

Jonathan Nasaw's treatment of Wicca in this novel is nothing short of slander. He either did no research into what real Wiccans do and believe, or else he shoved his research aside in favor of sensationalism. Nasaw's Wiccans recite the Catholic Mass backward in their rites; they include an orgy in every ritual; and they perpetrate nasty revenge when they feel wronged. And to add to the inaccuracy, these are supposed to be Dianic Wiccans. Dianism is a subsect of Wicca that focuses on the female aspect of divinity and holds women-only rituals. No way would Dianic Wiccans have a ritual orgy with a bunch of men. Nasaw's view of Wicca is straight out of the Malleus Maleficarum. It would have been OK if he'd just called the women "witches"; it's a vague word that means different things to different people. But he is using the name of a specific religion, and so he has a responsibility to learn something about it before he writes about it. Why? Because people, like the reviewer below, will think he speaks the truth.

If you want to read fiction about Wiccans--real Wiccans, not Nasaw's personal fantasy--try Yvonne Jocks's _Words of the Witches_ or Rosemary Edghill's _Bast Mysteries_. The people in these books are much closer to the reality.

Oh, and by the way, this book is also a violent gore-fest, with scene after scene of gross-out substituted for the plot.