There Be Demons by M.K. Theodoratus

I received an advance copy for review of There Be Demons by M.K. Theodoratus from Net Galley via Wooden Pants Publishing. I’ve often stated in the past that my favorite fantasy characters are dragons. I might have to revise that statement to include Gargoyles. Gillen and the Gargoyle Guardians were almost the stars of There Be Demons. Only the four young humans who have been drafted to assist the gargoyles in their fight to contain the demons and their imps outshine Gillen’s team.

The young folks are interesting and spunky, mature way beyond their years while retaining the recklessness of the young who fail to recognize how much danger they’re in. As they work hard to learn the art of using Grace as a weapon and containment tool, they stumble more than once.

I recommend There Be Demons for lovers of urban fantasy and those who already know and appreciate the stories of M.K. Theodoratus. The ebook is now available for purchase.

Observations About Net Galley

The first time I tried to read an advance copy of a novel via Net Galley, I used my Kindle. I had a lot of trouble keeping my focus on the story because the formatting was a mess, words/paragraphs/pages were run together in places, and it was a pain in the neck to decipher.

I’ve adjusted.

I do plan to read and review more books via the Net Galley offers. I suspect the more I read, the easier it will be. The main thing is to not let formatting issues and uncorrected errors interfere with the evaluation and review of the story. The next one I’m going to tackle is The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover, a cozy mystery from one of my all-time favorites, Susan Wittig Albert. This book is available for pre-order.

The Book I’m Reading Now

I’ve been fortunate in winning at least three Goodreads Giveaways. The most recent is an advance review copy of The Third Victim by Phillip Margolin. I’ll be reviewing that soon and will then start the novel I need to read for the newly formed Sisters-in-Crime-Colorado book club Northern Colorado group. That will be  Trafficked by Peg Brantley.

I’ve never belonged to a book club before, so this will be a new and fun experience. In January, I’ll be the featured author for my group with my December release from Five Star Frontier Fiction, Wishing Caswell Dead. By the way, have you seen the news that this book is now available for pre-order as an ebook as well as a hardcover? The official release date is December 20, 2017.

The Random Stuff

We had our first snow of the fall along the Front Range and other parts of Colorado. Only 1.5 inches in my neighborhood, followed by a clear night with a hard freeze. Then the sun came back and the temperatures are heading in the right direction for some beautiful fall days. This is my favorite time of the year, and sometimes in Colorado winter has a way of asserting itself a bit too soon. At least we do get the gorgeous sun back so we can hang up our heavy jackets for a few more days.

I have four 4×4 raised garden boxes that produced nice tomatoes and summer squash this year. The squirrels sometimes beat me to the harvest though. I must find things to plant next year that those pesky critters don’t like. And I’ll cage my tomatoes and wrap them in netting…or something. Two of the boxes were ready for fall cleanup and because of my creaky lower back issues, I decided to have Urban Farm Colorado come out and prep the boxes for the winter. They will be ready to plant spinach and lettuce first thing in the spring. The other two boxes will have to wait. I transplanted iris and day lilies in them to establish new  strong plants so I can’t mess with them until spring. That’s okay. My butterflies and bees will appreciate the flowers.

I’ve had several new visitors to my back yard and feeders this year. The Painted Lady butterflies are still floating through. In addition to all the chickadees, I now have pygmy nuthatches. And I have both a downy woodpecker and a red-headed woodpecker as regulars. I love setting my lawn chair outside in the sun just to watch the critters…except the spiders…I almost walked into a huge web the other day and the spider lurking in the middle was downright scary. I used my cane to move her abode/trap away from the sidewalk.

What About You?

What are you reading? Have you ever read and reviewed via Net Galley? Won any books on Goodreads? Do you belong to a book club? Have you clicked “Want to Read” on my Goodreads “Wishing Caswell Dead” page (if you do, you’ll get notified when I give away a couple of hardcovers later this year)? What critters are visiting your back yard this year?