I want to remind all lovers of lesfic and detective fic to check out Rose Beecham's (aka Jennifer Fulton's) Grave Silence and Sleep of Reason, featuring the aptly named undercover FBI agent Jude Devine, who gets to plumb the depths of human cruelty while on the lookout for provincial home-grown enemies of the US.
This has to be one of the most attractive butch-goddess heroines since J Redmann's irresistible Mickey Knight--physically imposing, vulnerable, fearless, tenderly empathetic, smart, wryly self-deprecating, reflective, and very very hot. The background to her investigations is the harsh majesty of the desert Southwest, an environment particularly suited to Fulton's characteristic touches of the supernatural, though here the very rigor of the elements keeps the action (and Jude's thirst for emotional connection) firmly tied to this-worldly phenomena--including Jude's frustrating on-again-off-again relationship with her prime object of desire.
Fulton is awfully good at bringing the sympathetic characters to life with deliberately oblique touches--both in the physical descriptions and the psychological observations. We glimpse Jude and the other characters--and feel the distinctive rhythm of their emotions--as if in passing, but the cumulative impression they make is complex, indelible.
For those readers like myself who crave a balance between procedural action and romance, but do not particularly require blow-by-blow sex scenes to get turned on by the romance, Fulton is in top form in these two books. I find them tighter and more vivid than her Moon Island series, perhaps because Jude herself is such a compellingly 3-dimensional figure, and the challenges she faces (drawn from the scary headlines of an America that that has been relegated to the periphery of national attention) are so dire. I like it when Fulton keeps a steady focus on one protagonist and one main narrative--it seems to bring out her strengths as a writer.
Mary
Nifty a review from a reader. I like that. Let Mary know what you thought. And Mary, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Now on to your updates, enjoy 'em.
Elisa
p.s. The Academy's Bard Challenge #16: Solstice from A to Xe has ended. Check out the participants' stories and be sure to feed them.
- Birds of Prey
- Anime Real by Erin Griffin (Realm of the Shadow).
- Whatcha' Talkin' 'Bout, Gordon? by Erin Griffin (Realm of the Shadow).
BtVS - Mama Up! by Kristjan Brezovnik (her web site).
- Part 5 of Twice Chosen by DragonWriter17 (her web site).
- Chapter 7a of Waiting for Dani by JustSkipIt (Through the Looking Glass).
- Chapter 4 of Chemistry by TazRaven (Through the Looking Glass).
- Chapter 5 of The Moonlight Densetsu Chronicles by SithLordWiccan (Through the Looking Glass).
- Chapter 2 of Breaking Tradition by Selena Taiki (Through the Looking Glass).
- In Your Honor by DarkWings (Realm of the Shadow).
Deep Space Nine - It's a Good Day To...Get Married by romansilence (Realm of the Shadow).
Fingersmith - Medieval Adventures 1.2 & 1.3 Part A by Cobsmowd (Fingersmith Fever).
Loving Annabelle - Loving Annabelle I by Rain (Realm of the Shadow).
- Living Annabelle II by Rain (Realm of the Shadow).
NCIS - I Don't Know What She Said by Shadower (Realm of the Shadow).
Stargate Atlantis - Fallen by kissthegirl85 (Area 52).
Voyager - Over the Moon by Susan Thompson (Astrometrics).
- It Was Your Blood (Part Spoof) by Odon (Realm of the Shadow).
Xena Warrior Princess - Part 1 of Birdie's Song II: The Little Warrior by Onesockbard (Academy of Bards).
- The Cause of Rage by Crystal Mills (Academy of Bards).
- My Lord: The Medallion by Mayt (Academy of Bards).
- My Lord: The Medallion by Mayt (The Bard's Corner).
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