*Rating* 4.0*Genre* Urban Fantasy*Review*The Renfield Syndrome picks up immediately after the stunning conclusion of Dead, Undead, and Somewhere in-Between. Bartender and necromancer Rhiannon Murphy has been transported to the year 2112 by the demon Zagan. I won't rehash the events that made her make the deal with Zagan in the first place. Please, by all means, read the first book in the series. I guarantee you won’t be sorry.“Rhiannon’s Law # 22 – You can’t lie to yourself, so don’t bother trying. Doing so only multiplies your douchebag level to the umpteenth power and confirms what others have been saying about you for years – that you are an idiot.” As Rhiannon is reading a copy of the Blood Times, she is understandably peeved that she was played the fool by Zagan. In this realty, Vampires are the dominate race, and humans are offering themselves up as blood slaves, immortality, money, and survival. Rhiannon knows that if she delivers a message to Gabriel, she is unburdened from her arrangement with Zagan and hopefully will be taken back to her own time. Ah, but what would be the point if all Rhiannon had to do is walk up to him and give him a message and then return home where things would be hunky dory? With her necromancy powers coming in more and more, Rhiannon appears to have the ability to tell when a vampire is within 30 feet of her. Upon being “rescued” by a group the vampires call Animators, Rhiannon does everything possible to escape them. At this point, Saare introduces us to the man, or rather shape-shifter, named Carter that I loathed from Rhiannon’s first meeting with him, until the last event he ends up in. Everything about him sang out piece of garbage to me as well as his pack. It doesn’t get any better when he decides to claim her as his mate in order to keep her away from the vampires. Yeah, not happening slug-o! What is really interesting is the sudden appearance of Marigold Vesta’s amulet that gives Rhiannon awesome new abilities, and power. It also appears to allow her to heal faster, which is good, since she ends up a bloody mess more times than not. It is really hard not to spoil what happens over the course of this story for those who may want to read it in the near future. Rhiannon makes choices out of desperation not only to save herself, but, also out of being in the moment. I don’t blame her for one of those choices. But, I felt as though she had more reservations afterwards, than being honest that she had feelings for this person from the start. Personally, I would be happy to see Rhiannon end up with HIM, rather than Gabriel. But I’m most likely in the minority.Saare truly puts Rhiannon through a personal hell at the hands of the person she supposedly loves after she returns home after being gone for two weeks. Sorry, I can’t take rape in any form be it in body, or in the mind and thus Gabriel has lost all credibility he may earned during the first book. Again, it’s hard not to spoil why this happened, without giving away the reason behind it and what happens later. Rhiannon ends up having to face her nightmares that she thought she had forever put away in her subconscious mind thanks to this move by Gabriel.Rhiannon’s journey will continue in The Ripple Effect (Rhiannon’s Law # 3) which releases sometime in 2012. The date is yet to be determined.
GizmosReviews
*Rating* 4.0*Genre* Urban Fantasy*Review*The Renfield Syndrome picks up immediately after the stunning conclusion of Dead, Undead, and Somewhere in-Between. Bartender and necromancer Rhiannon Murphy has been transported to the year 2112 by the demon Zagan. I won't rehash the events that made her make the deal with Zagan in the first place. Please, by all means, read the first book in the series. I guarantee you won’t be sorry.“Rhiannon’s Law # 22 – You can’t lie to yourself, so don’t bother trying. Doing so only multiplies your douchebag level to the umpteenth power and confirms what others have been saying about you for years – that you are an idiot.” As Rhiannon is reading a copy of the Blood Times, she is understandably peeved that she was played the fool by Zagan. In this realty, Vampires are the dominate race, and humans are offering themselves up as blood slaves, immortality, money, and survival. Rhiannon knows that if she delivers a message to Gabriel, she is unburdened from her arrangement with Zagan and hopefully will be taken back to her own time. Ah, but what would be the point if all Rhiannon had to do is walk up to him and give him a message and then return home where things would be hunky dory? With her necromancy powers coming in more and more, Rhiannon appears to have the ability to tell when a vampire is within 30 feet of her. Upon being “rescued” by a group the vampires call Animators, Rhiannon does everything possible to escape them. At this point, Saare introduces us to the man, or rather shape-shifter, named Carter that I loathed from Rhiannon’s first meeting with him, until the last event he ends up in. Everything about him sang out piece of garbage to me as well as his pack. It doesn’t get any better when he decides to claim her as his mate in order to keep her away from the vampires. Yeah, not happening slug-o! What is really interesting is the sudden appearance of Marigold Vesta’s amulet that gives Rhiannon awesome new abilities, and power. It also appears to allow her to heal faster, which is good, since she ends up a bloody mess more times than not. It is really hard not to spoil what happens over the course of this story for those who may want to read it in the near future. Rhiannon makes choices out of desperation not only to save herself, but, also out of being in the moment. I don’t blame her for one of those choices. But, I felt as though she had more reservations afterwards, than being honest that she had feelings for this person from the start. Personally, I would be happy to see Rhiannon end up with HIM, rather than Gabriel. But I’m most likely in the minority.Saare truly puts Rhiannon through a personal hell at the hands of the person she supposedly loves after she returns home after being gone for two weeks. Sorry, I can’t take rape in any form be it in body, or in the mind and thus Gabriel has lost all credibility he may earned during the first book. Again, it’s hard not to spoil why this happened, without giving away the reason behind it and what happens later. Rhiannon ends up having to face her nightmares that she thought she had forever put away in her subconscious mind thanks to this move by Gabriel.Rhiannon’s journey will continue in The Ripple Effect (Rhiannon’s Law # 3) which releases sometime in 2012. The date is yet to be determined.
