Thursday, January 27, 2011

Book of Shadows by Alexandra Sokoloff


I'll admit--I haven't read a mystery in ages--and as I was gazing at my bookshelf Tuesday night desperately trying to find something quick to read--I stumbled across this book that I received as an ARC many moons ago at a public library convention. I read the back cover and thought...Witches? Grimoires? Murder?...that isn't my usual fare, but I wanted to try something different, so I grabbed it off the shelf and took it to the gym with me where I devoured the first 100 pages in an hour on the treadmill. I figure if I have to slave away at burning calories, I might as well enjoy myself. But I digress....
Book of Shadows puts detective Adam Garrett against the forces of evil, conjured up by a novice witch who unknowingly releases a power much greater than himself known as Choronzon. Garrett and his partner, Landauer, are investigating the murder of an upper class college student, Erin Carmody, when they discover satanic carvings and evidence of ritualistic crime associated with Satanism and Witchcraft. Although the two quickly have a suspect in custody, a local witch and psychic who is convinced the police have the wrong character enters the picture. Tanith is mysterious, sexy, and holds a number of answers to the information the detectives are seeking. The plot moves along quickly as another young woman goes missing and the detectives race against the clock (and Chorozon) to save her....or find her remains.
I found this book entertaining and fun to read. It was like biting into a great piece of cake that you want to savour for a long time and enjoy its sweetness. But it is cake--and that's ultimately what I took from it. A fun way to spend an afternoon and a bit of a guilty pleasure.
The sex scenes played out like a steamy (and raunchy) novel and were quite full of cliche's...and the ending was a bit cheesy for my taste as well and somewhat hard to believe. But all in all, I had fun with this one, and that's what it's ultimately about, right???

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