Embers - Review

Title:  Embers

Author:  Laura Bickle

Series:  Anya Kalinczyk #1

Synopsis:     “Truth burns.

     “Unemployment, despair, anger – visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease.  A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

     “Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters.  Anya – who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern – suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders.  By Devil’s Night the spell will be complete, unless Anya – with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team – can stop it.

     “Anya’s accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss.  But this time she’s risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is.  Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.”

Review:  After reading Bickle’s The Hallowed Ones series (see the review of The Hallowed Ones here and The Outside here) a few years ago I’ve been wanting to read more by her.  I wish there was more in that series, but since there isn’t I picked up Embers instead.  I was not disappointed.  I enjoyed this novel just as much as the previous ones I had read. 

     I like stories about ghosts and mediums.  Embers puts a new spin on the familiar story by introducing a special, and rare, form of medium called a Lantern.  Anya is a strong female lead with a special gift, but she is definitely not perfect.  She has her faults and weaknesses.  My favorite character was Sparky, Anya’s familiar.  Bickle has done a great job developing her world and her characters; I frequently forgot that this was the first book in the series as it didn’t have any of that debut novel feel.  I recommend this novel, and I’ll be grabbing the next in the series, Sparks, during my next book shopping spree. 

Publisher:   Pocket Books

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Hallowed Ones (The Hallowed Ones #1) by Laura Bickle (read 

BookGirlR’s review here)

Greywalker (Greywalker #1) by Kat Richardson