Review: This Case is Gonna Kill Me by Phillipa Bornikova

This Case is Gonna Kill Me
Author:Phillipa Bornikova
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Publisher: Tor
Linnet Ellery Book #1
ISBN:   0765326825
ISBN13: 9780765326829
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

 

What happens when The Firm meets Anita Blake? You get the Halls of Power—our modern world, but twisted. Law, finance, the military, and politics are under the sway of long-lived vampires, werewolves, and the elven Alfar. Humans make the best of rule by “the Spooks,” and contend among themselves to affiliate with the powers-that-be, in order to avoid becoming their prey. Very loyal humans are rewarded with power over other women and men. Very lucky humans are selected to join the vampires, werewolves, and elves—or, on occasion, to live at the Seelie Court.

Linnet Ellery is the offspring of an affluent Connecticut family dating back to Colonial times. Fresh out of law school, she’s beginning her career in a powerful New York “white fang” law firm. She has high hopes of eventually making partner.

But strange things keep happening to her. In a workplace where some humans will eventually achieve immense power and centuries of extra lifespan, office politics can be vicious beyond belief. After some initial missteps, she finds herself sidelined and assigned to unpromising cases. Then, for no reason she can see, she becomes the target of repeated, apparently random violent attacks, escaping injury each time through increasingly improbable circumstances. However, there’s apparently more to Linnet Ellery than a little old-money human privilege. More than even she knows. And as she comes to understand this, she’s going to shake up the system like you wouldn’t believe….

THIS CASE IS GONNA KILL ME was a book full of Vampires, Lawyers, and a sexy PI. When Linnet Ellery joins the white fang law group of a "family" friend she is treated like crap. The others think she got the job only because of her connection and because of that she is flung to the lower rung of cases. Her boring life takes a turn when a werewolf shows up late at night and kills her coworker right in front of her leaving her to solve not only his murder but the cases that may have lead to that murder.

The vampires are at the top of everything in Phillipa Bornikova's world. Children of powerful humans are fostered out to vampires and brought up as power players under their watch. I didn't really find Linnet Anita Blake like. She started off a bit boring but once she got rolling on her cases she became daring and a bit more fun to follow. Anita is more gun blazing take no prisoners where Linnet played a lot of things safe but was smart with her choices as well. The sexy PI John O’Shea joins Linnet in her search for justice and answers and they connect pretty quickly. The plot moved at a nice pace with plenty of danger and action. I enjoyed the alternate world that was thrown in on top of the fantastic world that was created. The ending leaves most of the storyline solved but Linnet in a position for another crazy rescue mission. 

The world is what definitely took the cake for me in the first book for the Linnet Ellery series. I found myself more connected to that than anything else that was thrown in. I do want to get to know Linnet a little better and I also want to see her up against the Alfar queen. It should definitely make for some interesting situations. 

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

New Releases: 10/14-10/20

Tue Oct 16

Angel's Ink (The Asylum Tales, #1)by Jocelyn Drake
Crewel (Crewel World, #1) by Gennifer Albin
Kissed by a Vampire by Caridad Pineiro
Second Chance(The Slayer Chronicles, #2)by Heather Brewer
The Shadow Society (Society of Feathers, #1)by Emma Michaels

 

Happy Reading!!

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Beyond the Cell by Sara Tribble

UFI welcomes Sara Tribble Author of Beyond the Cell. Thanks for Joining us!!

The Banshee and its Song

My first YA novel, Beyond the Cell, has a banshee as a main character. Weird? Maybe a little, but not so much anymore since vamps and werewolves are running wild in literary. I thought it’d be fun to explore the idea that helped me shape my young banshee, Sonata Wilde, in today’s world.

When I was a kid, I lived in the country. Our old farmhouse was surrounded by corn fields and woods. I loved it. One summer night, I kept my window open, which was unusual because I was always a little scared to do this since there would be bats, June bugs, etc. hitting my window screen, but eventually I fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and it took me forever to get comfortable, but when I did, something unusual hit my ears.

It sounded like a woman, really far away, singing. It scared the hell out of me. I didn’t want to know what it was, but the curiosity was killing me and I wanted to hear it better. I managed enough courage to climb out of my bed and go toward my window, listening intently. The singing continued, but it was so far away, I couldn’t hear the words only someone holding notes. I knew two things for certain: it was a woman and it sounded like it was coming from inside the woods.

I never actually considered it to a banshee, but stumbling across these characters in movies and other books really opened my eyes and I knew if I ever created a banshee, her singing would he hauntingly eerie and it would pull you in, regardless of your fear. My character actually expresses a memory in the book where she lures in humans and that is loosely based on my own experience and what could have been.

But if you want to hear it, you just might have to read the book.

 

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Sara Tribble was born in New York, raised in Michigan, lived in Texas then returned to Michigan. She has served as a Publishing Editor, published several short stories and is a freelancer when time allows it. Beyond The Cell will be her first published novel. Currently, she still resides in Michigan with her husband, Jessie.

She really hopes this will not be her one and only novel, which is probably why she stays busy writing short stories and manuscripts.

Find Sara and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Beyond the Cell

 Hidden deep in the mountains lies a place that humans refuse to acknowledge exists.

It’s known as The Cell, a guarded and armored cage that imprisons all that remains of mythical beings and their families. This is where a sixteen-year-old banshee, Sonata Wilde, is bound forever.

But forever is too long for Sonata and her desire to escape grows stronger, forcing her to sacrifice and risk everything to try and be free once again

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Week in Review: 10/7-10/13

Books Ive Bought/received

*River Road by Suzanne Johnson- eARC- Bewitching Book Tours

* Alternity by Mari Mancusi- eARC- Netgalley

Books I Read

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones
Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones
Out for Blood by Kristen Painter
Conjure by Lea Nolan

Reviews Posted

Scarred by Amber Lynn Natusch
Covet by Melissa Darnell
Edge of Oblivion by J.T Geissinger

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

*  Monday an Interview with Daniel Marks was posted for his Velveteen Book Tour

* Thursday a giveaway for Edge of Oblivion by J.T. Geissinger was posted with my review.

* Friday Zoe Archer was on UFI promoting her newest book in her Ether Chronicles series Skies of Steel with a guest post and Giveaway.

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 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Skies of Steel by Zoe Archer

UFI welcomes Author Zoe Archer. Thanks for Joining us!!

Urban Fantasy Investigations Guest Blog

by Zoë Archer

I’ve always loved adventure stories.  Loved the far-flung locations and almost non-stop action—with time here are there for romance, of course. 

One of my favorite parts of adventure stories came from the inevitable puzzle solving our hero and heroine had to do.  They needed to figure out the ancient code to unlock the vault.  Or figure out what stones they could step on across the huge bridge to make it safely across.  I loved the combination of using brains and daring to solve a problem.  And at the end, they reached the treasure.  Of course, once they got the treasure, getting back to safety was rarely an easy prospect—plus the bad guys were getting closer, so time was of the essence. 

Remember that awesome sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indiana Jones carefully switches out the golden idol for a weighted bag of stones?  Unfortunately for Indy, his calculations are off, so all the ancient security devices wind up getting triggered, including poisoned spears and that famous giant boulder.  Fortunately, Indy gets out safely.  Unfortunately, his nemesis Belloq is there to steal the idol from him.  But then Indy uses his problem-solving later when it comes to locating the Ark.

I wanted to capture that adventure/puzzle fun when writing SKIES OF STEEL.  In addition to all the other adventures they have over the course of the story, the hero, Captain Mikhail Mikhailovich Denisov, and heroine, Professor Daphne Carlisle, are required to break into an Arabian vault to steal a valuable object.  Since SKIES OF STEEL is a steampunk romance, it was extremely fun to come up with different obstacles and puzzles for Daphne and Mikhail to encounter and solve.  I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but suffice it to say that it takes both brains and brawn to get through the vault and back to safety.  Plus, I have to give a lot of credit to my Ether Chronicles co-creator, my husband Nico Rosso, for creating the amazing steampunk security devices in the vault. 

The trick became how both Mikhail and Daphne could work together to solve the puzzles and get through in one piece, because if there’s one thing I hate, it’s when the hero figures everything out and the heroine is just useless or terrified.  So both Daphne and Mikhail lend their different expertise to reaching that valuable object.  And so they do, which helps show that the jaded mercenary and the academic lady are not as dissimilar as they first think.

So, my question for you is this: what are some of your favorite books, movies, or television programs that feature puzzles and problem solving?  Leave a comment and you could win a digital copy of SKIES OF STEEL!

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Zoë Archer is an award-winning romance author who thinks there's nothing sexier than a man in tall boots and a waistcoat. As a child, she never dreamed about being the rescued princess, but wanted to kick butt right beside the hero. She now applies her master's degrees in Literature and Fiction to creating butt-kicking heroines and heroes in tall boots. She is the author of the acclaimed BLADES OF THE ROSE series and the paranormal historical romance series, THE HELLRAISERS. She and her husband, fellow romance author Nico Rosso, created the steampunk world of THE ETHER CHRONICLES together.  Her steampunk romance, SKIES OF STEEL, is now available from Avon Impulse, and Nico’s steampunk Western, NIGHT OF FIRE, is also available now. Zoë and Nico live in Los Angeles. 

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Find Zoe and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Skies of Steel 
The Ether Chronicles #3

Excerpt

  

In the world of The Ether Chronicles, the Mechanical War rages on, and appearances are almost always deceiving . . .

The Prim Professor

Daphne Carlisle may be a scholar, but she's far more comfortable out in the field than lost in a stack of books. Still, when her parents are kidnapped by a notorious warlord, she knows she'll need more than quick thinking if she is to reach them in time. Daphne's only hope for getting across enemy territory is an airship powered and navigated by Mikhail Denisov, a rogue Man O' War who is as seductive as he is untrustworthy.

The Jaded Mercenary

Mikhail will do anything for the right price, and he's certain he has this mission—and Daphne—figured out: a simple job and a beautiful but sheltered Englishwoman. But as they traverse the skies above the Mediterranean and Arabia, Mikhail learns the fight ahead is anything but simple, and his lovely passenger is not entirely what she seems. The only thing Mikhail is certain of is their shared desire—both unexpected and dangerous.

Links to buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Books A Million

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