Cover Revealed - Elysian Fields by Suzanne Johnson

I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS BOOK!!!

This is on my top 10 list of books I'm looking forward to in 2013.

Coming August 13

Elysian Fields

Book 3 in the Sentinels of New Orleans series 

 DJ's flashing the cleavage and hanging out in creepy old New Orleans Six Flags, which has been standing abandoned after sitting under eight or ten feet of floodwater after Katrina seven years ago. It's a major setting for Elysian Fields, book three in the Sentinels of New Orleans series, and a totally creepy setting deserves a somewhat creepy cover. At least artist Cliff Nielsen went for carousel horses instead of big scary clown heads! As always, I love the detail in the artwork--click on it to see it larger and check out all the eerie detail in the background. And Charlie is literally smokin'! So....what do you think?


The official blurb:

An undead serial killer comes for DJ in this thrilling third installment of Suzanne Johnson’s Sentinels of New Orleans series The mer feud has been settled, but life in South Louisiana still has more twists and turns than the muddy Mississippi. New Orleanians are under attack from a copycat killer mimicking the crimes of a 1918 serial murderer known as the Axeman of New Orleans. Thanks to a tip from the undead pirate Jean Lafitte, DJ Jaco knows the attacks aren’t random—an unknown necromancer has resurrected the original Axeman of New Orleans, and his ultimate target is a certain blonde wizard. Namely, DJ. Combatting an undead serial killer as troubles pile up around her isn’t easy. Jake Warin’s loup-garou nature is spiraling downward, enigmatic neighbor Quince Randolph is acting weirder than ever, the Elders are insisting on lessons in elven magic from the world’s most annoying wizard, and former partner Alex Warin just turned up on DJ’s to-do list. Not to mention big maneuvers are afoot in the halls of preternatural power. Suddenly, moving to the Beyond as Jean Lafitte’s pirate wench could be DJ’s best option.

Check out my reviews of the other books in the series.

    

  

Review: River Road by Suzanne Johnson

River Road  

by Suzanne Johnson

(Sentinels of New Orleans #2)

Hurricane Katrina is long gone, but the preternatural storm rages on in New Orleans. New species from the Beyond moved into Louisiana after the hurricane destroyed the borders between worlds, and it falls to wizard sentinel Drusilla Jaco and her partner, Alex Warin, to keep the preternaturals peaceful and the humans unaware. But a war is brewing between two clans of Cajun merpeople in Plaquemines Parish, and down in the swamp, DJ learns, there’s more stirring than angry mermen and the threat of a were-gator.

Wizards are dying, and something—or someone—from the Beyond is poisoning the waters of the mighty Mississippi, threatening the humans who live and work along the river. DJ and Alex must figure out what unearthly source is contaminating the water and who—or what—is killing the wizards. Is it a malcontented merman, the naughty nymph, or some other critter altogether? After all, DJ’s undead suitor, the pirate Jean Lafitte, knows his way around a body or two.

It’s anything but smooth sailing on the bayou as the Sentinels of New Orleans series continues.


REVIEW:

I was a little surprised when I started reading River Road that it takes place 3 years after Royal Street. A bold move by Johnson in my opinion.

DJ still has her training wheels on when it comes to being the sentinel of New Orleans; the sexy and heavily armed shifter, Alex is still in the picture as DJ's partner and best friend.

After becoming stronger but magically and physically, DJ in true Urban Fantasy kick ass chick form, gets down and dirty in River Road showing that she can hold her own against the bad guys.

But DJ is far from being alone; along with Alex, the sexy and some what smarmy undead pirate, Jean Lafitte is still around. And after DJ and Jake become friendly again after a long break from their budding, friendship/romance they begin working together.

Any like many UF series there is a slow build up to a romantic relationship between the heroine and a hero. But in DJ's case she has three guys wanting to be her honey bunny. Two of which are pretty out in open about wanting to make kissy face with her while the third, Alex has been holding back because of their working relationship. DJ is can't decide which one she wants more. They all have good and bad points.

So River Road has it all; a kick ass heroine that only gets better with each book, a slue of paranormal creatures from shifters to nymphs and mermen and a promise of a romance but like with DJ we don't know who yet.

Suzanne Johnson knows how to write Urban Fantasy at its finest and I can't wait for the 3rd book!!!

Other books in the series:

Review: Royal Street by Suzanne Johnson

Royal Street

by Suzanne Johnson

(Sentinels of New Orleans #1)

Published April 10th 2012 by Tor Books

As the junior wizard sentinel for New Orleans, Drusilla Jaco’s job involves a lot more potion-mixing and pixie-retrieval than sniffing out supernatural bad guys like rogue vampires and lethal were-creatures. DJ's boss and mentor, Gerald St. Simon, is the wizard tasked with protecting the city from anyone or anything that might slip over from the preternatural beyond.

Then Hurricane Katrina hammers New Orleans’ fragile levees, unleashing more than just dangerous flood waters.

While winds howled and Lake Pontchartrain surged, the borders between the modern city and the Otherworld crumbled. Now, the undead and the restless are roaming the Big Easy, and a serial killer with ties to voodoo is murdering the soldiers sent to help the city recover.

To make it worse, Gerry has gone missing, the wizards’ Elders have assigned a grenade-toting assassin as DJ’s new partner, and undead pirate Jean Lafitte wants to make her walk his plank. The search for Gerry and for the serial killer turns personal when DJ learns the hard way that loyalty requires sacrifice, allies come from the unlikeliest places, and duty mixed with love creates one bitter gumbo.

REVIEW:

I’ve had Royal Street on my TBR list after seeing it around on Goodreads and after hearing Suzanne Johnson do a reading from the book and hearing her talk about it at AADNOLA back in August I grabbed a copy at the signing. BOY, AM I GLAD I DID.

I loved how Johnson mixed the real life events of Hurricane Katrina with the urban fantasy world she built. She takes New Orleans history and myths and makes them her own with great world building and characters.

While reading Royal Street I felt like I was reading about a real person’s account of the time in New Orleans during Katrina. It brought me back to all the news reports but it was entertaining to read about it from a fictional aspect.

New Orleans has such a rich history that it’s totally believable that if the supernatural world was real, New Orleans would be a hot spot for paranormal activity. Johnson’s writing had me envisioning DJ driving through the streets looking for bad guys like Jean Lafitte, a sexy ghost pirate. And while I’m on the subject of sexy, DJ’s new partner Alex is the total alpha package. And there’s also his fun living cousin, Jake. DJ can’t swing her fae stick without hitting a sexy male; wither he’s, human, a ghost or something else all together different.

In true UF form, DJ is a snarky heroine with the problems of saving the world from paranormal creatures and the hard luck of having two sexy guys wanting to keep her warm at night. What a problem to have.

So if you enough UF books featuring a heroine that can weld magic while throwing smart one liners at people then you should try Suzanne Johnson’s Royal Street.

I’m off to start the second book, River Road.

If you liked Royal Street then you should try Dead on the Delta.