Book Review: The Secret of Ka by Christopher Pike

The Secret of Ka by Christopher Pike

What if genies really existed? And what if you happened to stumble upon a magical flying carpet that could take you to them?

Sara is visiting her father in Istanbul and is totally bored out of her mind. Visiting him one day at work she finds an unusual antique carpet. The next thing she knows she flying across the ocean to an enchanted island of the djinn.

But when Sara and her new friend, Amesh, decide to use the djinn without understanding their ways...disaster strikes. Amesh betrays Sara and leaves her stranded on the island alone. Sara must find a way to escape and return home, and the only way she can do this is to learn the mysterious ways of the djinn and the Carpet of Ka.

This is a great, fast paced book. Some of the dialog seemed a little forced, but the book is aimed at a young teen audience. There were plenty of twists and turns and all the characters end up someplace and someone different than when they started.

3/5

Book Review: Wings in the Night Park 1 by Maggie Shayne

A collection of novels and short stories about vampires falling in love (see Msg 107 for review of first in series). Overall pretty good stories, but I wouldn't recommend reading them all together like I did. They start to get a little predictable. I'm going to wait a little bit before diving into the rest she wrote.

3/5

Book Review: Salome at Surise by Inez Kelley

Salome at Sunrise by Inez Kelley

Bryton Haruk has a sworn duty to protect his king and his country, but his duty has been difficult ever since the day he wife was killed by invaders. And now he finds the invaders returning and threatening all that remains dear to him. He swears vengence and justice, to be the lawful executioner of the invader's leader.


The King watches as Bryton is eaten up from within and summons a powerful spirit to help ease his pain and teach him to love life again. Salome, a bird-shifter, answers his summons and swears to find a way to bring Bryton peace before he dies.

Salome is an absolutely amazing character. Watching her learn the ways of the human world she has been summoned to brings a lightness to the story that keeps it from becoming too dark. Bryton can't stand Salome and her gentle ways at first, but as they come to know each other he sees a different part of him unlocking. As they come closer and closer to Bryton's goal, both are forced to re-evaluate the reasons behind their actions and learn to look to the future instead of the past.

3/5

Book Review: Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

Son of a Witch [SON OF A WITCH] [Mass Market Paperback] by Gregory Maguire

The continuing story of Oz through the eyes of Gregory Maguire. We meet the boy Liir, often seen at the side of Elphaba in the first book of the Oz series. Liir is found beaten, battered, and barely alive by a secluded order of Maunts. As they nurse him back to health he relived in his dreams his past and what has happened in his life since the wicked witch, Elphaba, was killed by Dorothy.


As much as I enjoy Maguire's books, this one had me a bit confused at times (which may have been his intent) about why Liir was acting the way he did. At times it just didn't seem like a logical or an emotional choice was made, he just did something completely random.

I fell in love with the Emerald City all over again - not because it was beautiful, but because it was so real all over again. We run across a few people and places from Wicked, and it was wonderful to visit and see how they turned out.

4/5

Book Review: Dark and Disorderly by Bernita Harris

Dark and Disorderly by Bernita Harris

First of all, this cover looks amazing, I want to hang it up on my wall.


Lillie St Claire works for the city dispatching ghosts and other various things that go bump in the night, day, or during recess. She is caught between being respected and feared by almost everyone, but never thought anyone would stoop to trying to kill her.

Enter John Thresher, a psi-crime detective that has his eye on Lillie for multiple reasons. John is the kind of guy that always seems to show up at just the right time to save the day. Saving Lillie is going to involve a little more than one heroic moment when some particularly undead begin showing up at her doorstep and are linked to her recently deceased husband. Lillie and John have quite an interesting bond grow between them and sparks start to fly (in a good way).

I enjoyed reading a book where the ghosts, goblins, zombies, and leprechauns are part of the modern world, some even in a good way. A fast paced quick read.

3.5/5