Embers by Laura Bickle
March 2010 by Juno-Pocket Books
Paperback- 359 pages
Purchased/ Blog with Bite Selection
Book Synopsis
Truth burns. Unemployment, despair, anger—visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. Homes and businesses are increasingly invaded by phantoms and now, with the annual destruction of Devil’s Night approaching, a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient power that will leave the city in ashes. Anya ( an arson investigator and psychic) must capture the arsonist before Devil’s Night. (Goodreads)
Review
Beginning Laura Bickle’s debut novel came with some hesitation for me, and only because this area of the PNR world is much darker than the ~emo~ Vamps or the in touch with their feeling’s werewolves or even the sparkly dancing faeries I love so much. Bickle’s words are for sure attention grabbing- immediately the reader is pulled into a situation of gloom and darkness, with a very weary and tired protagonist, from the first page you can sense that Anya is stressed and tired. Also within the first few pages we meet the gang of ghost hunters Anya works with and Sparky a torque necklace that comes to life as a salamander spirit and helps Anya defeat an evil spirit living in an old soda machine.
After reading through a few more chapters I honestly felt it was time to put the book down. Those of you who follow the Blog with Bite should know I’m defiantly the more cautious reader when it comes to demons. I can handle fantasy and magic and pretty much anything on the scary side when it comes to mythical creatures……but when we start getting into demon possession and taking spirits into yourself, that’s where my red flags come up. As a person who enjoys the paranormal and fantasy realm my lines have many gray areas. The one area for me that’s completely black and white is handling subjects like witches, mediums, demons and occult like activity teetering on the edge of Satanism.
Familiar Spirit: The word familiar is from the Latin familiaris, meaning a "household servant," and is intended to express the idea that sorcerers had spirits as their servants ready to obey their commands. Those attempting to contact the dead, even to this day, usually have some sort of spirit guide who communicates with them. These are familiar spirits. ( Source)
In other words Sparky represents a demon and no offense to Ms. Bickle’s novel -but Sparky and I were not going to get on a familiar basis. Nor were me and Anya going to be pals for a few hours while she sucked demons into her body.
So to be fair- because I did not finish this book, I cannot give it a rating or opinion on the writing technique.
What I can tell you is I don’t recommend this for anyone who is cautious of demonic novels.
DNF- PNR, Demons, Arson, Ghosts
BWB Discussion Questions
1.So if you had the chance would you have a pet elemental, even with the inconvenience of broken microwaves? NO---I will live demon free thanks.
2.What did you think about the relationship between, Brian, Anya and Drake?
N/A --I didn't read enough to answer this question
3.Did the book make you want to visit Detroit or steer clear?
I don't have to read this book to stay clear of Detroit......have you ever driven through a rough part of that city.....scary.......
4.A big part of Embers surrounds paranormal activity and the whole Scooby style system....What do you think of shows like Ghost Hunter, Paranormal State and the such? I think they are a crock...frankly it all just seems fake, if you've ever been a witness to real "paranormal activity" it doesn't look anything like those shows.
5.Do you believe in the paranormal world around us or chalk it up to complete fantasy and make believe? I believe demons and angels are real, as well as believing that God is real. I think vampires, werewolves, faeries, goblins, ghosts, greek gods and what not are all myths.
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