RISING MOON

Author: Lori Handeland ISBN: 0312938500 1/2007 PARANORMAL Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

Denizens of The Big Easy know its steamy nights can hide any number of sins and secrets. Private-eye Anne Lockhart is counting on it. Her life has been in a holding pattern ever since her sister Katie disappeared without a trace…but when a clue leads Anne to a jazz club in the French Quarter, everything changes. Rising Moon’s proprietor, John Rodolfo, is mysterious in his own right, a gifted musician who reaches deep into Anne’s soul and whose mere presence taps into desires she can’t afford to indulge... By going undercover at the Rising Moon, Anne can get close to people who know what goes on after dark—people like John, whose nocturnal disappearances are more than a little suspicious. But unlocking John’s secrets is harder than Anne had anticipated. What’s far too easy is surrendering to him. And now someone—or something—is stalking the innocent and the guilty, and waiting for Anne’s next move...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

As I started to read the latest installment in Handeland's Moon series, I was slightly disappointed. Disappointed because I thought I was going to be meeting all new characters going in different directions from what I know and love about these werewolf stories. These books are some of my favorite all time reads, and to start thinking that the amazing ride was over was actually heartbreaking for me!

But, it turns out (Thank God) that I LOVE RISING MOON. Yes, Lori Handeland is that good, so good that, boy, did she fool me! There are so many emotions, twists and turns, revelations, surprises, and crazy scary scenes, that I read the book twice in one day!!! (Then, I dreamt about it, and if I didn't have such a headache from so little sleep, I seriously would consider reading it again today.) There are some new characters, but some truly favorite—and not so favorite—old ones that come back to make it all better. Well, sort of.

I did not see this book coming, and that fact thrills me to no end. I still cannot believe what I consider to be the biggest revelation of all, but I don't know if that is because I just didn't get all the clues, or if I just didn't want to believe it. Since I have read all the books in this series, I am still on the fence about that shocking reveal because I know the past. It's crazy! There is no other way to put it!

Any author that can amaze me and leave me in so such turmoil, and that can keep me from sleep when I have been so sick this past week, is phenomenal in my book. The story, characters and dialogue, and descriptive setting is perfect, as usual. But, I haven't been this excited about a book since I read J. R. Ward's LOVE ETERNAL this past spring.

Shannon Johnson