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Summary: Blessings light and dark
Review: Flying By Night is a gripping story of romance, magick and adventure. Lorna Tedder is a great storyteller and the characters are interesting and compelling. You can't wait to find out what happens next.
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Summary: A Wonderful Mystical Witchy Read
Review: FLYING BY NIGHT is a wonderful mystical witchy read that will thrill Goddess-worshippers everywhere. Part romantic suspense, part spiritual coming-of-age story, this tale paints in sweeping brushstrokes of glittering brights and terrifying darkness the interlocking stories of Kestrel Firehawk, modern-day Wiccan, whose flight from the persecution that has claimed the lives of her two lovers draws burnt-out homicide detective Dylan MacCool into her life and onto the road to his own spiritual awakening. If FLYING BY NIGHT doesn't quite depict the world of Wicca as it is, then it certainly shows the joy and wonder of Wicca as it ought to be. A recommended read.
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Summary: Unbelievable! I am still shaking....
Review: FLYING BY NIGHT moved me in ways no novel has ever done. It plunged me into the depths of darkness, then lifted me up and made my heart soar. I wept, I trembled, and I triumphed. This novel sizzles with power, pulses with heart, and glows with the unmistakable light of pure spirit. It is nothing less than a gift from the Goddess! This is one beautiful piece of work, and I am still shaking from the power of it.
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Summary: WOW! Fascinating and Enlightening
Review: From its first line, Flying By Night--the new pagan thriller by Lorna Tedder--draws us into a world where things aren't quite what we expect and yet never falters in its plausibility. Kestrel Firehawk, its Wiccan narrator, is truly happy in a plural marriage to two cherished husbands who themselves love each other like brothers. Even she admits that the situation is less than usual, even among pagans. But her presentation lets us accept it so wholly that we share Kestrel's anguish when both men are brutally, ritually murdered on a holy night--and she is framed for it. At the same time, we are introduced to a homicide detective who knows nothing of Wicca, Dylan "Finn" MacCool. The hard-won dispassion of his point of view gives us needed balance after Kestrel's trauma, even as he struggles to understand what the Firehawks were invovled with, who had cause to so viciously murder them...and why he feels drawn to both the victims and his missing, number-one suspect. But dispassion can bring its own disasters, and even a protector like Dylan is not immune to loss once hatred and religious bigotry enter the picture. Herein lies the greatest strength of this first book in the promised "Coven of the Jeweled Dragon" series. By setting her suspense novel in the variegated world of neo-paganism and real magic, not hocus-pocus fantasy, Tedder draws the reader into worlds and lives that resonate with truth, largely because the author does not shy away from the characters' weakness or pain. The horror of this killing, despite Kestrel's firm belief in reincarnation, is no mere plot device to be glossed over; it is blasphemy the way killing should be seen, an abomination for which we, right along with the characters, cannot help but crave justice. Thus the continued threat to Kestrel, and to future innocents, stays realistically frightening--and the justice that any good thriller delivers, while hard-won, seems doubly sweet. With more twists and turns than Celtic knot work--and just as carefully crafted--Lorna Tedder's thriller Flying By Night illuminates the shadows surrounding modern Witchcraft; chills you with its realistic portrayl of hate; alternately breaks your heart, then heals it; and, most important, keeps you reading until the very end. This is one of those rare books that does more, and more deeply, than I've read in a long time. I'm now anxiously awaiting the next book in Lorna's "Coven of the Jeweled Dragon" series!
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Summary: One of the best mysteries I've ever read
Review: I bought this book as an ebook when it first came out but did not get around to reading it until my summer vacation. The reviewers here are right when they talk about twists and turns. The first time I read it, I thought it was great. One of the best if not THE best mystery I have ever read. I learned a lot about religion, too, and about what pagans believe. The villain kept me guessing right up until the end and I love it when a book does that. Ironically the villain was my first choice early in the story but the author did a great job of throwing me off. I read the book a second time and it was even better. I didn't catch all the nuances the first time, so I slowed down and enjoyed it the second time. I like the way the story uses the four elements to represent different characters. I didn't see that the first time. I did go back and scan it on my palmtop after reading the review from the reader who obviously wants to be the book's editor, and I must disagree on the implication that the book is lacking in editing. Though you might not can tell from the way I write my on-line posts, I teach college English and hope to have my Ph.D. next spring, but I do understand that it is very hard to stop being an English teacher and simply enjoy the read. To that end, I did find 2 errors when I read the book the first time and that's far less than I find in most bestsellers I've read in the past two or three years. One was wretched used as a verb in one scene and the other was a single use of sites referring to a gun. Both are common mistakes and really did not keep me from enjoying the book. Lay is used incorrectly a total of 3 times out of 28 (yes, I counted in the ebook after I read the reviews) but all 3 times are in Kestral's first-person point of view and they are part of her speech pattern. All other instances of lay are as the past tense of lie and taking no object (LIE, LAY, LAIN). That's part of what I adore about this author. She uses such specific speech patterns for each character that you know who is speaking, even if you take a sentence out of context. Her style is lyrical and suspenseful at the same time. She would nearly sing me to sleep and then scare the wits out of me. Also, I have to say that I didn't think of this book as a romance at all. There are romantic elements and evidence that all was not well in polyamoury-land but the book does not cleanly fit into any genre although it's closest to mystery or suspense. Maybe it is most accurate to call it mainstream. I hope the author makes the next book in the series this exciting and brings back Kestrel and Finn for an encore. Tell her to lay it on me!
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Summary: Excellent story telling
Review: I was intrigued by the opening lines and immediately drawn into the story. Until now I was not aware of what earth based religions are all about. I bought the book for the suspense. Not for the paranormal moments. I learned more about Wiccans than I ever would have through any other medium. The mystery was enjoyable too.
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Summary: One of the best mysteries I've ever read
Review: I've only read the first 3 chapters and I can't put the book down. So far a 5 star (pentacles please) read. The author captures ceremony beautifully in the first few pages.
I highly recommend this book for those who want to dissappear into a great story.
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Summary: WOW! Fascinating and Enlightening
Review: Ms. Tedder kept me up until 2 A.M. reading this gripping tale. The suspense is taut, the plot has more twists than a pretzel, the characters are so real I'm not convinced they aren't living in a house down the street, and I learned more about the Wiccan spirituality than I did in a college course study on the topic. I loved this book! Can't wait for the next installment!!
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping but uneven
Review: The book draws you in right from the beginning, with an exotic situation, likeable characters, and an exciting story. It's one of those books you can't put down. Although I liked the book immensely, it does have some flaws. It tries to be a mystery, a romance, and inspirational all in one, and the first doesn't work as well as it could have. There's too much left hanging and unexplained. Why did Cedric feel it necessary to die in the first place? Why didn't Robyn, of all people, get Kestrel to talk to the police? She could have known something that could help catch the killer and make her safer than she would be just by hiding. Why didn't the killer go after the Coven of the Jeweled Dragon? Its existence didn't seem to be a secret in the town. It was almost as if he had something against Kestrel's family in particular, otherwise why would he be inactive for ten years and then suddenly return for Kestrel? The killer's identity was also a little too unexpected, I thought. There weren't enough early clues to make it seem obvious once you knew. It would have been nice to see more of the ordinary interaction among the polyandrous group. It's such an unusual situation, but we hardly see it before the men are murdered, so it doesn't really do much for the plot. One murdered husband could have filled the same function. The book could also have used better proofreading/editing. There were numerous instances of "lay" for "laid," "wretched" for "retched," and "sites" for "sights," for instance. There are things in the book that work well, though. Different characters have different narrative voices, most notably the twins. You can really feel Saadia's age. And there are nice touches, like Finn feeling carsick driving along winding roads - very realistic. All in all, this is a good book that could have been even better. I'll be interested in seeing how the next in the series is.
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Summary: Witchy Fiction
Review: This book was a lot of fun. My only problem (which is not a big one) is that it kept jumping time frames, before I had the answers I wanted.
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