SOUL SONG

Author: Marjorie M. Liu ISBN: 0843957662 7/2007 PARANORMAL Publisher: DORCHESTER

A Deadly Harmony... Against her will, Kitala Bell foresees the future. But only deaths, and only violent. Kitala's own future is in peril. From the ocean's depths rises an impossible blend of fantasy and danger, a creature whose voice is seduction incarnate, whose song can manipulate lives the way that Kitala herself manipulates the strings of her violin... even to the point of breaking. He is a prince of the sea, an enigma—a captive stretched to the limit of his endurance by a woman intent on using him for the purest evil. And when survival requires he and Kitala form a closer partnership than either has ever known, the price of their bond will threaten not just their lives, but the essence of their very souls.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

As much as I love the Dirk and Steele novels, as well as Marjorie M. Liu's writing and flare for the crazy stuff I normally love, SOUL SONG does not really do it for me. I am truly disappointed because I don't think I have ever given Liu a bad review. Probably because she has never given me a bad story.

First of all, SOUL SONG does not really feature the Dirk & Steele investigators, in my opinion. They have a few guest appearances, but mainly need rescued themselves. Neither does this book have that awesome, strange feel that the previous D & S romance books had. Honestly, SOUL SONG could have left them out of its story completely.

Second, I love the heroine, her abilities, and her willingness to change. But the hero is too introverted and distant to me. His life obviously intersects with the heroine's, but I don't feel the connection I want to between them. Perhaps it is because he is a Merman—and yes, they do have relations while he is in Merman form, which I didn't care for, by the way. But I think it is more because he is so concerned with facing his own demons. He has a lot of familial dysfunction going on, not to mention the whole enslavement-by-a-witch thing that makes him steal souls with his voice. His life is interesting, but he is not.

Well, I am going to chalk this one up to a cool concept, a few really cool characters (Ivan is SCARY), but lacking that special something I have found in other books by this author. But hey, even great authors cannot be perfect all the time.

Shannon Johnson