Friday, April 23, 2010

Review: City of Souls


City of Souls is the 4th book in Vicki Pettersson's Sign of the Zodiac series - an EOS Fiction.

Book Blurb:

In Sin City, a little girl suffers from a strange and terrible malady. If she dies, the Light will die along with her.

Warrior, avenger, Joanna Archer has survived countless otherworldly terrors - and has found her rightful place among the agents battling the all-pervasive evil of Shadow . . . even as she struggles against the darkness within herself.

A war is raging for Las Vegas - a city without a heart - one that catapults Joanna into a new world hidden from mortal sight. In this lethally seductive alternate dimension the lines blur between good and evil, love and hate, and here lies the last hope for the Light. But Joanna's price of admission is a piece of her own soul - and the odds of her escaping are slim . . . to none.

City of Souls was a good read. :)

Joanna Archer has had it rough - her sister is killed and then Joanna is transformed into the exact image of her dead sister - taking over Olivia's identity in order to protect her own Light identity. Talk about horrible - looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing your murdered sister staring back at you - literally.

And if that is not bad enough - Joanna finds out that the man she thought was her father - is not. Her father is the Tulpa - a being created out of the mind of a mortal and given 'life'. I still have not figured out how this being was able to procreate - but roll with it. :) The Tulpa is the ultimate in evil and he wants Joanna to join him on the Shadow side. So far, he is unaware of Joanna's other identity as Olivia.

Now Joanna has accidentally unbalanced the 'chi' of a changeling - and because of that imbalance the Light is losing ground to the Shadow. Joanna has to set things to right before it is too late.

Warren's answer is for Joanna to visit 'Midheaven' - but nothing in 'Midheaven' is given for free - and Jo is ill prepared to pay the cost.

A couple of situations were resolved in City of Souls - I am glad to say. But a few more cropped up. I have no idea how Joanna is going to get out of the mess she is in right now - or for that matter, if she even wants to.

But I will say this - I have never trusted Warren. I don't doubt that he is for Light - but I think it is on his own terms - and I wonder if he has an ulterior motive.

I give City of Souls 4 out of 5 stars and I'm looking forward to Cheat the Grave out in June of 2010.

M

The Scent of ShadowsThe Taste of NightThe Touch of TwilightCity of Souls
Cheat the Grave


10 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

You do read the coolest UF books and this one sounds rather nice too :)

Unknown said...

Hi Michelle!

I really enjoyed City of Souls. I loved how it was told, how another Las Vegas existing inside itself only to be seen by the agents of the Light and the Dark, each a point of the Zodiac. Tulpa was definitely a scare dude and Warren didn't turn out like I thought he would. Thanks for the excellent review! I'll be picking up the next too.

Dottie :)

Michelle Greathouse said...

B,

Thank you ma'am. :) Have a wonderful weekend.

Dottie,

I really enjoy this series. I'm not sure if I like the cover for City of Souls as much as the others..but the story was great. I am glad we had some resolution on certain issues and I can't believe how it ended. :)

Have a wonderful weekend.

M

Tricia said...

I've picked this series up at the store only to put it down again I'm going to have to pick it up again! lol Nice Review!

VampFanGirl said...

Great review Michelle!

Unfortunately, I'm really not interested in this series. It sounds complicated and...I don't know its just never been able to snag me. Glad you're enjoying it though and it looks like others have from the comments.

Have a great weekend!

:) VFG

Candace said...

Okay, I read the first one in this series like 2 years ago and I really really liked it. But for some reason I never kept with the series. But I'm really going to have to! I can't wait to read more. Great review!

Kelly said...

Love your site.
Kelly Bookend Diaries
http://bookenddiaries.blogspot.com

Michelle Greathouse said...

Tricia,

Thanks for stopping by. :) I enjoy this series - some books are better than others - but all together it's a pretty good series. I really liked that this installment resolved several issues.

VFG,

I can understand that. I do like some of the books in the series better than others. And I have had to go back a time or two just to clarify a point. LOL

Candace,

Thanks for stopping by. I have so many books and series that I want to try I can't keep them straight. I have a binder on my desk and whenever I see a book or author that grabs my attention - I write it down in that binder. :) The hard part is remember to check the binder before I go to the book store. LOL

Kelly,

Thank you. And thanks for stopping by. :)

Have a wonderful weekend.

M

SusiSunshine said...

I so agree! I totally adore this series! Love it!

And OMG Cheat the Grave was awesome, too. That one really surprised me. Great review hon!

Aggie said...

Same Here. ;)

You Will Post A Review On LM, Right? I'm Can't Wait To Get My Hands On That Book. :/ :D

Aggie.