by Shanna Lauffey

This episode really kicks the series into gear. Marcus gets a lot of character development and both he and Kallie broaden their travels to places that the author has obviously been to and knows well.

There's a lot of excitement and firepower in this one. I don't want to give spoilers but we get to travel through multiple states and move right into the enemy's den. There's more demonstration of the potential of short term time travel and ways it can be used to get away with all sorts of things.

An amazing adventure in a series that just keeps getting better with every installment!

by Marie Benedict

This is Historical Fiction, but based on a real person who was the first wife of Albert Einstein and one of the few women of her time to have an education in Physics. Her name was Mileva Marić.

The story is told in first person and for me seemed very realistic, showing Mileva's background, interaction with parents and thoughts about achieving her educational ambitions, as well as her cultural influences in dealing with expectations for women, the interest of Albert Einstein, and her treatment at the Polytecnic in Switzerland where she studied as well as her belief that a foot deformity made her 'unmarriageable'.

I found the author's voice very engaging and soon got caught up in her tale, even looking up a few mentions of Mileva's life on Wikipedia. The story is mostly fiction based on bare bones scaffolding of known facts, yet it felt very plausible all the way through. Albert's personality came across as witty and charming in the beginning and I half fell in love with him myself, but later in the story he becomes an unsympathetic character which might be less than fair to him. Still, looking up what facts are known, why didn't he ever meet his daughter? Why did the relationship go awry in a time when divorce held almost as much stigma as unwed motherhood?

Anyone who has been in a relationship that went wrong will recognise the pattern of how these things often happen. Whether Albert used his wife's ideas and took full credit is something history and science will probably never be able to answer, but in the time and place where it is set, it is easy to imagine that any contribution from an intelligent female would likely be subsumed by a husband with the proper qualifications.

Mileva's life is not a happy one and history doesn't give us a happy ending for her, but I very much enjoyed reading this story. Factual or not, the writing was very engaging and 'm glad to know of the existence of this woman whom I had never heard of before. Whatever contributions she might or might not have contributed to Einstein's theories, she stands out as a strong woman in history who dared to step into the male preserve of higher education, helping to forge the way for many women in generations to come. I will definitely be interested in anything else this author writes.

by Glen Duncan

This started out with a different tone than I usually see in werewolf novels. More of a crime drama or conspiracy story tone as it's established that with the murder of a werewolf in Berlin, the protagonist is the last of his kind and an organisation that hunts down and kills werewolves will now be focused on him.

This was a very literary read. Despite a few descriptions of violence, the use of language made it a joy to read and the first person pov of the werewolf throughout felt very intimate and personal. I found myself wanting him to survive. It had a few very sexual references. Apparently being a werewolf sends the libido into animal rut. But both the sex and violence stopped short of becoming gratuitous, even if it nudged that parameter on occasion.

There was a lot of suspense well done and a few twists to keep things interesting. The last few chapters had me breathless!

The writing was so good that I went to see what else the author had written and found that this is actually a trilogy! I'll look forward to reading the next books. This was one of those stories that when it ended, I just had to sit a few moments, staring into space while processing the feels. It really had a strong emotional impact on me.

by Shanna Lauffey

This is the final episode of a ten volume series. I should say serial because it's continuous and the books are best read in order.

I seldom read a series all the way through, but this one kept my interest and left me feeling very satisfied. Probably the most climactic drama was in episode nine and the series could have stopped there, but having read this one now I have to say, yeah it was needed.

There are some new elements in Kallie's life as well as connections to old ones. Her character development is nicely evolved in this one and all the loose ends of the series are tied up neatly. I was happy to see Marcus back in the picture and I finally understand Connor, who has been a bit of an enigma in recent episodes.

I do wonder about back story on some of the peripheral characters, but that just shows how invested I got into this world. If the author ever writes more stories about these characters like Anne Rice did with some of her vampires, I'll definitely want to read them!

by Guy Ogilvy

I have to admit I was expecting this to be more biographical about the known magicians in history, but it actually turned out to be even more interesting.

The first part covers the prehistoric culture of the Lion Man and tribal magic, then it moves on to the Orphic and Dionysian cults and the great figures of myth, which I found very interesting. A lot of history and basically anthropology comes into it, then it moves forward in history eventually coming to mathematicians and alchemists, some of whom are better known like Paracelsus, though I have to admit a little disappointment that John Dee and Nicholas Flamel got left out as these are two of the most relevant personages in the history of magic. But then another reviewer said there was a series, so maybe we'll eventually see even relatively modern magicians like Crowley, Austin Spare, Jaq D. Hawkins and Peter J. Carroll!

The writing style might seem dry to some, but those of us who enjoy mythology don't mind that. The personal experiences of the author also lent interest. Altogether a fascinating and well researched piece of work.