I had never read anything by Hannu Rajaniemi before I read this collection and I was a bit doubtful in the beginning because the two first stories didn't really rock my boat. Actually I found myself a bit confused. It felt a bit like I had missed something and I had a bit of trouble understand what was going on. But by the third story it started to get better. 

I will not list all the stories in this collection instead I thought I would mention some of them that was really memorable.

The Haunting of Apollo A7LB -  A tragic love story that includes a haunted space suite.

Elegy for a Young Elk - Kind of hard to explain this story, but I loved the ending. It showed that despite everything a father would do anything for his child despite that the child has evolved into something new.

Fisher of Man - One of my favorite story in this book. Nothing to do with AI or technology, but instead it's a story about the daughter of the Sea that catches men in her net. I was intrigued with the story and with the Finnish mythology, a subject that I'm not at all are familiar with.

Ghost dogs - What happen with dogs that die? If they don't go to heaven, are they still in the house? A very good story and the one with the saddest ending. 

Paris, in Love  - A very unusual love story between a Finnish man and Paris.

Topsight - The death of a friend is the topic here and was it really an accident or was it murder? I wish this story had been longer, it was such an interesting story. 

The Oldest Game - A man against a god in a drinking contest. More Finnish mythology. I really need to read more about the old Finnish Gods. 

Shibuya no Love - Another interesting take on love. Heartbreaking ending. 

Satan's Typist - A very short story, but honestly it didn't need more to tell its story. Being a typist is really not a fun job when your boss is Satan himself. 

In the end, I just want to say that despite the fact that I was a bit doubtful in the beginning of this book did it turn out to be a really good collection. There were some stories I didn't that much and some were a bit confusing, but most of the stories was good. I really loved the mix of stories about technology and Finnish mythology. It gave a good balance to the collection. 

Thanks to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

About The Raven Room

• Paperback: 250 pages

• Publisher: Diversion

Publishing (November 3, 2015)

A searing erotic thriller perfect for those tantalized by A.R. Torre's Deanna Madden series...

Anything you can imagine. Everything you crave. For the members of The Raven Room, it’s every fantasy fulfilled. But for some, that desire is a matter of life and death. Drawn by needs he cannot control, Julian ventures to The Raven Room, a secret and exclusive sex club in the underbelly of Chicago. It goes beyond sex. It goes beyond kink.

The Raven Room is the only place where Julian finds release from the dangerous urges that threaten to destroy the successful life he’s worked so hard to build. When the police link the Raven Room to the death of a young woman, it threatens to expose a number of powerful people—people who would kill to stay anonymous...

Meredith’s body can’t get enough of Julian. He has opened her sexual horizons to tempting new possibilities. But out of bed she’s an aspiring journalist, and The Raven Room is the story she’s been looking for. By writing an exposé on the club and its elite clientele, she plans to launch her career. As Meredith embarks on a sexual journey into the forbidden world that Julian inhabits, questions emerge, and dark appetites threaten to swallow her whole.  How much can she trust the man who has laid bare her erotic nature and how much will she sacrifice in order to protect him?

Praise "If you’re looking for an exciting novel that can balance erotic sections with a thrilling who-done-it, look no further; The Raven Room will have everything you could possibly want and more." - San Francisco Book Review "Readers who enjoy complex stories with strong characterization and psychological depth will find The Raven Room a satisfyingly story of emotional turbulence…” - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

REVIEW

I've read a lot of NA and it just doesn't work for me. So I was a bit worried about this book since it was Erotica and BDSM and it's just not what I'm used to reading. So this is a review from someone that usually don't read this genre. 

I was surprised and pleased how good this book is. As I stated above, this is not my genre of books. But after months of trying to read NA and being frustrated with the lack of a good story and plenty of one dimension character and boring sex scenes have I read a book that worked. So apparently a well-written erotica works for me. And, I think that this book works so good is that is has a very interesting story. We have a sex club with important members, a murder mystery, the mysterious Alana and Julian who has a dark past and together they make this story worth reading. I do admit that I after a while found that the sex scenes took too much place in the story. I don't mind the kinkiness, the three-way or anything, well the sex scene in the bookstore was a bit too much, I mean those poor books could have been hurt, but anyway no matter how well written they were I just wanted to know more about the case, about Alana etc. It felt sometimes that two (or three) people couldn't meet in this book without sex. So that felt like a draw back. 

But despite that was the book good. I was surprised when I learned why Julian doesn't want to spend time with his best friends twins. I didn't expect that. Also, the ending, I was expecting something like that in a way. Hard to explain without giving it away. Let's ay it ended in a way that makes me really wanting to read the next book in this series. 

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound

About Ana Medeiros

Born in the Azores islands, Portugal, Ana Medeiros has a background in Photography, Sociology and Psychology. For the last seven years she has worked in the magazine industry. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada, with her boyfriend and two cats. The Raven Room, book one of a trilogy, is Ana’s first novel and is published by Diversion Books. Visit Ana at her website and connect with her on Facebook. The Raven Room is a sex club and Meredith is planning to write an expose about the club and through Julian has she gained access to the club. Through her step-mum, she learns that a woman have been found dead and her death is linked to the club. Julian, on the other hand, has met Alana through the club and he is drawn to her. But she won't tell him so much about herself or her past. And, amidst all this is there a killer loose someone that kills women connected to the club...is Alana and Meredith in danger?

Splinter the Silence is the ninth book in the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series and after last books trials are Tony and Carol slowly mending their relationship and it looks like Carol is getting a second chance by getting an offer that is hard to refuse. All she has to do is not screw anything up. Tony meanwhile is troubled with a lot of women committing suicide. They have all been targeted by internet trolls. But Tony thinks that there is more to the suicides than that...

It seems that finally Tony and Carol is back as friends after everything that happened with her brothers murder. I quite enjoy having them back to speaking with each other again and it seems that Tony is finally getting to Carol that she has a drinking problem. Of course, it had to go so far for Carol that she has to be arrested for drunk driving before Tony frankly told her that she had to quit. But by then the arrest had already damaged her reputation, which was really bad because the powers that be in the police wants her back, but not with a driving drunk sentence. But everything can be fixed. Besides that is Tony discovering that there is something wrong with the suicides of a couple of women and soon he, Carol and Paula are investigating the suicides.

I found this book story especially good because it finally brought the old team together. I have missed reading about them working together under Carol. The case in itself took some time to get somewhere.  And it felt like most of the time the book concentrated on other things than finding a killer. Carol and her drunk driving and the consequences of that took up a lot of the book and I did enjoy reading about  Tony finally confronting Carol about her drinking problem and moving into the barn to help her the first couple of days and of course, getting rid of all the alcohol at her her place which didn't make her happy. I do wish that case had taken a bit more priorities it was first towards the very end that books story really started to get intensive. Not that the book was bad, I just got a bit impatient with all the personal stuff. I did enjoy that part when the new team was finally started to put all the pieces together and the manhunt started. 

The ending was fitting, I don't want to give it away, but there had to be some consequences to Carols drunk driving and what happened after that. It will be interesting to read the next book to see how it will be dealt with. 

Thanks to Witness Impulse and Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I had no idea that this book contained two novellas when I requested it from NetGalley. All I saw was The Realm of the Dead and thought that this book seemed interesting enough to request. 

Crossfades introduce the reader to Chuck Grainger, a Recon and Enforcement Technician that works The Institute. His job is to guide lost souls into the next life. What Chuck needs to do is project his spirit into Crossfades, the realm of the souls of the dead so that he can help them move on. The problem is that sometimes souls doesn't want to leave and they realize that they are dead and learn to control and manipulate the Crossfades. And, that is exactly what happens when Chuck is trying to help a little girl named Abigail to cross over suddenly her world is disappearing and a malevolent spirit is taking over. Now Chuck must fight the very dangerous spirit...

In the sequel Bleedovers must Chuck, who have survived the ordeal in Crossfades, stop a spirit that has managed to cross over to the real world. Some spirits know that they are dead, but doesn't want to move on instead they are trying to return home and sometimes every few century some manage to do that. And, now someone has crossed and is looking for revenge towards Chuck.

I did prefer Crossfades to Bleedovers, I found the story more intensive and more interesting. I did enjoy Bleedovers, it was just that I was pretty sure throughout the book that the spirit they thought they were trying to catch was not the one they thought it would be and I was right. It would have been too easy if it would have been and I suspected from the start that the spirit would be not the one Chuck thought it would be.

All and all, quite good. I liked the idea of a secret place where people worked to help bring souls over to the next would and I'm curious to how it all started. 

Thanks to Hydra and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I've put off reviewing this graphic novel because I honestly didn't know how to sum up this almost 500 pages volume of pure Alien extravaganza. For any Alien fan is this a must to read! 

In this tome you get: Prometheus: Fire and Stone #1-#4, Aliens: Fire and Stone #1-#4, Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone #1-#4, Predator: Fire and Stone #1-#4, Prometheus: Fire and Stone–Omega one shot. 

The stories are great and adventurers. I came to enjoy the art in all the different stories though it took some time to get used to the new art when one storyline was finished and the next started.

There was a drawback with the volume; there were a lot of people in the beginning and it was hard to keep track of who was who, it got much easier when people started to die. Which sounds crazy I know, but that's just the way it was for me when I read it. Also, because there were so many people in the beginning was it hard to feel sorry for them getting killed because you didn't get to know them that well. 

I enjoyed reading it, it wasn't scary in any way, but I didn't expect it to be scary. The Aliens are just not as scary when they are drawn as they are on the telly when you are watching the movies alone in a dark apartment with only your cat as company...

Thanks to Dark Horse Books and Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!