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Staying Dead (Retrievers #1)

by Laura Anne Gilman (Goodreads Author)

3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 · rating details · 1,774 ratings · 130 reviews

Wren Valere specializes in finding things gone missing and then bringing them back, no questions asked...only this time there is a magical complication and what is required to get things done is enough to give even Wren nightmares.

Paperback, 344 pages

Published August 1st 2004 by Luna Books

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Sep 28, 2012 Ithlilian marked it as did-not-finish · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I wanted to read this for a long time, it sounded interesting, and it's a series that has been around for a bit. In my quest to read any urban fantasy I can get my hands on, this was a must try. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. This novel is agonizingly slow. The mystery solving was ridiculous, and there was nothing else to take it's place. The characters are unlikable and uninteresting, the world isn't special, the romance is not enjoyable, the writing style is choppy, and the plot isn't exci...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Kerry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2004, 6, fantasy

In a New York where magic is real - although no-one with true talent would use such a crass word as magic - Wren Valere and her partner Sergei work together to "retrieve" stolen objects. Sergei is the deal-maker, finding clients, arranging terms and deals and contracts. Wren is the one who does the actual fieldwork; able to manipulate energy, she can infiltrate, locate and retrieve the objects they have undertaken to return.

Businessman Oliver Frants wants the cornerstone of his office building...more In a New York where magic is real - although no-one with true talent would use such a crass word as magic - Wren Valere and her partner Sergei work together to "retrieve" stolen objects. Sergei is the deal-maker, finding clients, arranging terms and deals and contracts. Wren is the one who does the actual fieldwork; able to manipulate energy, she can infiltrate, locate and retrieve the objects they have undertaken to return.

Businessman Oliver Frants wants the cornerstone of his office building back. It's not so much that the building might fall down - after all, they don't make them that way any more - but that the stone contains a spell that grants protection to the building and everyone who works within in. The cornerstone has been stolen, clearly by magic as it was pulled right out of the middle of the foundation without affecting any of the stonework around it. Wren and Sergei have been hired to find it, retrieve it and return it to its rightful place in the building.

As they set out to undertake their commission, Wren and Sergei soon discover that things are not as simple as it might appear. The superior and generally insular Mage's Council (which looks down on free lancers like Wren with disdain) may or may not be involved now, but it soon becomes clear that one of their members cast the original spell on the cornerstone and they would rather that fact doesn't get around. At the same time, strangers are watching Wren, Sergei's past is beginning to catch up with him, human vigilantes are after the not-so-human creatures that live in the shadows and magic places and Wren and Sergei are both beginning to realise that their partnership isn't quite as all-business as they had previously thought.

Finding and returning the cornerstone turns out to be only the beginning of the adventure.

I felt a little bit mean only giving this book a six out of ten. I tossed around the idea of upgrading to a seven for a while, but decided to stick to my original gut response. It is from the still-new Luna line and so far they have been rather hit and miss. I keep saying I won't buy any more new in case I know I just have to have it (say, the next Asaro one) and then I keep getting tempted. I feel that Staying Dead contains both hits and misses.

I believe this book is Gilman's novel and it does seem to suffer from some classic bits of "first-novel-itis". I have two main complaints. She has way too many plot threads running at once. It makes it difficult to keep up with them all and stay in touch with the story. The whole sub-plot about the Silence seemed hardly necessary, only becoming relevant in the last couple of pages and I think it could have been dropped altogether. As for the vigilantes after the fatae, that had no bearing on anything else in the book. If Gilman is planning to use this is a sequel, she should have saved it completely for that next book. Secondly, she tried too hard to drop hints about what was coming up, that I had all this information in my head without anything to pin it too and I'm trying to remember it all so that when the revelation comes I can put the pieces together. I found some of those revelations particularly anti-climatic after the work I'd done to keep everything in mind while waiting. For example, there is plenty of build-up to who stole the cornerstone, but once it is revealed, that fact, and the character as well, soon become unimportant.

However, don't let my negativity put you off completely. I found Staying Dead to be quite compelling; I thought of abandoning it a couple of times, but always kept going. Wren and Sergei are well drawn and interesting characters and I'd like to know what happens to them next. The plot was very clever - it just needed a little trimming of the extraneous elements. I rather suspect I'll be reading the sequel when it comes out.

[Copied across from Library Thing; 25 September 2012](less)

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Feb 01, 2012 Bridgette Redman rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can think of few things more frustrating than to see interesting characters, promising plotlines, and a singular setting squandered by a writer who ignores her craft and buries all those alluring aspects in poor writing and turgid style. It’s especially surprising when the author spent 15 years as an editor and has no excuse for the elementary errors that spoiled what could have been a fascinating read.

No reader should be forced to excavate characters, setting, and story from writing that is...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action, detective-bounty-hunter, fantasy-other-world, wizard-witch

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book sets up a world where Nulls (regular humans) are unaware of those not... humans who can do magic, who can draw on natural and man-made current, and on Cosa - demon like, nature gone wild - like P.B. - a 4 foot BigFoot - white, furry, sharp teeth, likes dead meat... The Council of Mage's want to control all magic people, but there are many Lone________, who stay away from the Council and work independently; and the Silence - a privately funded think tank - righter of wrongs, trying to p...more This book sets up a world where Nulls (regular humans) are unaware of those not... humans who can do magic, who can draw on natural and man-made current, and on Cosa - demon like, nature gone wild - like P.B. - a 4 foot BigFoot - white, furry, sharp teeth, likes dead meat... The Council of Mage's want to control all magic people, but there are many Lone________, who stay away from the Council and work independently; and the Silence - a privately funded think tank - righter of wrongs, trying to prevent wrong... Sergei worked for them, as a handler - but they'sucked' the life & motivation from him... and the day he met Wren (who saved his life from a mage), is the day he resigned from them... though he still fed them information... And they way Wren uses the current, pulls in the current, understands the current is interesting - sometimes we hear her mentor in her mind walking her through what she needs to do... sometimes it's just the description of what she is doing... nd she fears becoming wizzard - a mage who looses themselves to the current and the feelings it engenders.

Wren has advanced powers - ability to use current; and for the last 10 years (since she was 18) she has partnered with Sergei... Sergei runs an art gallery, and he is the one who brokers their deals, and handles the money... and Wren is a retriever - she returns lost, stolen, or wanted items... and the two of them trust each other emphatically... and it doesnt' seem too many others... P.B., of the Cosa, seems to be her friend - he gives her information, even when others are backing off because of fear of the council, and he comes to her when he is injured... and saves her life when shot at...

The case, a commercial building built 50+ years ago, is under a protection spell in it's cornerstone block - a protection spell implemented by one of the council (though they disavow it) with the spilling of blood - the killing of the architect of the building, binding his soul into the cornerstone & for the protection and good feeling of those who enter the building... the company president (grandson of he who arranged the spell) is paranoid, tries not to leave the building, and....

the cornerstone was stolen - by a rich man who likes to collect things of magic - and has been manipuled by one of the council to know of the cornerstone... the council wants to 'take it back', and the collector hires one of the council to steal it... Wren and Sergei locate it, and
Wren steals it -though it had been damaged, and when she translocated it back to its place she released the spirit of the architect. They won't get their final payment until the spirit is returned... as they are figuring out the ghost angle, the ghost has located the company president and wants his death... Wren gets ther, knows it isn't good for the spirit to take a life - talks it into going back into the cornerstone with the agreement of the companypresident that he will take his place at his own death... the council is thwarted by this - Wren is more their perceived 'enemy'...

and The Silence wants Wren - but Wren doesn't know of them or Sergei's past and presnt association with them... he continues to try and protect her from them... he tries to barter himself to keep her out of their hands... but ultimately, he (with her agreement) offers her services for them with restrictions and for their future protection if she needs it to protect her form the council.(less)

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Dec 01, 2010 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Edité en français sous le nom "la magie de l'orage"dans la collection Luna, cette petite lecture est plutôt agréable.
"Wren Valère est une enquêtrice d'un genre très particulier. Pour mener à bien ses missions - récupérer des objets volés ou perdus - elle se sert de ses dons exceptionnels de magicienne, captant la formidable énergie née des orages sur Manhattan. Elle appartient en effet à l'élite des magiciens, les Talents. Mais ce que Wren va découvrir, au cours d'une mission périlleuse, c'est q...more

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May 27, 2010 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Staying Dead, by Laura Anne Gilman, is an urban fantasy that has a good combination of expected and unexpected to it. The story was comfortable without being horribly predictable. Gilman started with a typical lineup, then put her particular flavor and seasoning on it. In this world, there are not one but two All-Powerful Councils (at least, they think so) who are trying to take care of the world. There are the Talents (magic users) of various flavors, the non-magic using humans, and then everyo...more Staying Dead, by Laura Anne Gilman, is an urban fantasy that has a good combination of expected and unexpected to it. The story was comfortable without being horribly predictable. Gilman started with a typical lineup, then put her particular flavor and seasoning on it. In this world, there are not one but two All-Powerful Councils (at least, they think so) who are trying to take care of the world. There are the Talents (magic users) of various flavors, the non-magic using humans, and then everyone else (demons, angels, hellhound crosses, etc.). There is a spunky heroine with the sarcastic sense of humor and odd mix of talents whose mother loves her, whose mentor eventually lost it all, whose partner has secrets of his own, etc. etc.

The good in the story is how Gilman has picked a theme - a brand of magic (as it were) - and makes it robust enough to encompass all of the kinds of magic use that she wants to describe. Her version of magic relies on electricity to function, and so everything is in terms of current and power. This is not the Harry Dresden “electro-mechanical things don’t work around me” kind of current, but more of the “put your protection spell into the house wiring” version. Gilman also divides up the magic users into the toe-the-line/join-the-club, the lone rangers (for whatever reasons), and those who have become addicted to the raw source of current and have lost control (rather like drug addicts).

The book’s biggest flaw is Gilman’s addiction to avoiding names. She likes to describe scenes that are outside of the heroine’s view without names, as though this will make them stay a secret longer, or puzzle the reader as though we were the heroine. It only served to frustrate me, as I wasn’t really sure where I was in the story. At one point Gilman deigned to drop a name, and I had to backtrack halfway back to figure out if I had met that character previously (I had). It was a tad frustrating, and quite unnecessary.

The heroine’s humor, and her emotional angst, are well done but not overdone. Gilman gives her the character depth of anxieties and deep thought as well as temper tantrums and sarcasm. Part of humor is timing, and despite being an anecdote inside of the story, the method of how one of the character’s names is introduced as a snap-crack at a passerby hit my funny bone straight on. The thought of polar bears in New York just made me giggle. It was almost a classic Anita Blake line, or a Diana Tregarde one, if she were to swear like that.

Deep? No. Fun? Yes. I’ll recommend this one for beach bag reading. It’s long (411 pages in paperback) but a fast reading with big print.(less)

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Sep 22, 2009 Stephanie Griffin rated it 3 of 5 stars

STAYING DEAD, by Laura Anne Gilman, is a fantasy book about a thief named Wren. Wren has the Talent to harness electrical power from her surroundings, and use that energy to fight bad guys while she works as a Retriever of stolen property.
Someone has stolen the cornerstone of a very large business building. Wren has been hired to bring it back, but there is a soul locked in the cornerstone, and when that soul gets out, it opens a big can of worms for Wren to peck away at. Who wants her dead? Who...more

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Mar 11, 2011 Princessjay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

Competently written, albeit completely generic, urban fantasy.

Spunky feisty female protagonist: check.
Calm and collect male partner with mysterious past: check.
Potential romance between the two: check.
Magic powered by electrical current: pretty cool.
A Council of mages: check.
Secret organization that manipulate behind-the-scenes: check.
A variety of magic creature blending into the urban landscape: check.
Dark hints of things to come: check.

Word by word, scene by scene, it is all generic. Plot, cha...more

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May 06, 2012 Estara rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Estara by: I liked the PI series by the author and this is the same worldbuilding

Shelves: ebook, read-in-2012

It is interesting to see how much better plot development and consistency are in the Bonnita Torres books compared to the first Cosa Nostradamus books.

The hints of fun characters are still there, but they're awkwardly paced, for my money and while the Torres books have still some problems with tell not show, here it is much worse for my taste. Wren is set up as such an uberelite Retriever in the eyes of her partner and everyone else (they say she is and everyone agrees) but you never see her be...more

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Sep 27, 2009 Vickie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My buddy, Amy on Shelfari's Paranormal Mysteries, suggested I read this one ASAP when she heard I had it on Mt Git'r'Read. So...I did! I'd been looking for a quick reading story and this did the trick. I also wanted a title for What's in a Name Challenge 2 for the Medical Condition section. Ta-Da! I'd think 'staying dead' is the ultimate medical condition...anyway...
I really enjoyed reading this one, even if I had some difficulties keeping up with dialogue or changes in scenery and characters fr...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Megan Schiffour rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some days I wish there was a way to give half stars.

I am torn on my feelings about this book, for one it took me entirely too long to read and at no point did I really have that moment where I couldn't stop. On the other hand, I didn't want to not finish it and I think it became after a while that I had dedicated so much time to it that I just needed to finish on principle's sake. The details of this book did not really stick with me from page to page and I found myself forget "important" event...more Some days I wish there was a way to give half stars.

I am torn on my feelings about this book, for one it took me entirely too long to read and at no point did I really have that moment where I couldn't stop. On the other hand, I didn't want to not finish it and I think it became after a while that I had dedicated so much time to it that I just needed to finish on principle's sake. The details of this book did not really stick with me from page to page and I found myself forget "important" events.

Wren :: goes by about 7 different names (small exaggeration) in this book and it truly took me a minute to understand that all of the references were about her.
Wren is a Talent - someone who uses "magic" or current as power. She can draw on current from anything but it can have adverse affects.

Sergi :: Wren's partner. Non-Talent; has no magic to speak of, but is versed in the lingo and understands the world. Chalked full of secrets, some of which come to light. Also, runs an art gallery and is very wealthy (and apparently good looking)

P.B. :: Demonic messenger that provides Wren with information on occasion and appears to be a friend of sorts.

The Council :: Group of Mages working as the governing body for all Talent. Those not with them are rouges or lonejacks and tend to not be considered worth their while. As with all groups of power there are some nasty skeleton's in their closet.

The book follows Wren on her newest job to assist a client with a situation in which a cornerstone of a building is taken. The cornerstone has been embedded with magic that grants protection to the building in which it was set. We are set on a winding path to find all the players involved and to track down how they all figure into the theft of the cornerstone. Rules are broken and the "good" guys inevitably become somewhat of "bad" guys as their darkest secrets make their way to light. The dynamics between the characters is great and I did enjoy their dialogue and their self realizations, if I did believe them to be both obvious and expected.

Enjoy :)(less)

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Feb 28, 2013 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a bit harder to get into than some of the urban fantasy I've read recently, but it had a pretty solid plot and character development (to me). I even purchased the second book from Second and Charles not long ago.

My one complaint was I got a little lost as to the focus of the story about halfway through but picked it right back up after about 20ish pages. It might have been because I read it over the span of about 4 weeks...I don't know......Now, really, this portion was probably the auth...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Kribu rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, ghosts, magic

Staying Dead had plenty of good ingredients - an interesting system of magic and a reasonable plot for starters - but somehow I never really warmed to this book, neither the characters nor the writing.

Maybe because the pace seemed a bit too... plodding. Slow. Which is fine as such, but not what I'm currently looking for. Add to that the characters I never really felt like I got to know well enough, a lot of telling and less showing, some plot inconsistencies and some of the protagonist's habits...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Mel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While in the end I enjoyed this story, as I was reading it, I couldn't always make up my mind. I really enjoy the Sergei storyline and the mystery behind him, and his and Wren's interactions, but something about the story seemed to drag. In some places there is long, drawn out world building that didn't seem entirely relevant (though it may be relevant in future books, I couldn't say), and other story lines were wrapped up really hastily and clumsily. In the end, I'm glad I powered through it an...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Claudia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

the beginning of this book was quite difficult for me for different reasons: first of all, this book is written from different point of views and there is no first person approacht. which is ok, but the last books I read were all written in first person, so I needed a little bit of time. second is the - especially at the beginning - quite frequent hopping of persons and time. it is hard to focus on the story.

In the end I liked the book and I could not decide to give it 3 or 4 stars - so 3,5 Star...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Sherie Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read other stuff by this author so decided to check this series out as well. Not sure how I feel about it. I think Sergei is an awful lot like Ben from the PUPI series. I don't know the pacing was a bit off, it really dragged until like the last third of the book. Also, and someone else mentioned this in their review but all the research..... lame. Why were so many scenes like that included? There were a lot of inconsistencies too which yet another reviewer pointed out. I guess for me while...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Beth Cato rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in, 2009, urban, fantasy

Wren is a Retriever, using her magic electrical-current talent to find missing objects. She's good at her job, and has the reputation to prove it. Sergei, her partner, sets her up with a new gig: find the missing cornerstone of a fifty-year-old building. The case ends up more complicated than expected, involving an insane wizard, a few secret organizations with a bit too much interest in the matter, a demon, and a not-so-business-like interest in Sergei.[return][return]I read through this book o...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Mara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

A UF set in the same world of the PUPI. I loved the first half, but got disappointed by the second one. I'm not able to pinpoint the reasons why. Two possible explanations are it dragged for me and I could not buy Wren's reaction to her partner's past. It's not exactly light or easy to forget.

It's weird, because this is action packed UF, but I still managed to find it dragging when the story lines merged. Also, there aren't many secondary characters, and those few do not light up on their own....more

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Jan 30, 2010 Bethany C added it · review of another edition

I didn't completely hate this book, but I frequently found myself zoning out, uninterested. The story was okay, I just couldn't get into it at all. This book/author probably does have a lot of fans, but for some reason it just didn't do it for me. It seemed like it took me forever to finish, especially since I had to keep rereading paragraphs that I realized I wasn't really paying attention to. I actually genuinely liked the characters; like I said, there was just something about the way it was...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Krissy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dildnt-finish

I never finished this book, although I kept trying since I actually paid for it. I picked it up because there is a legitimately interesting premise here. Unfortunately, the entire book seems to consist of explanation of the world, mostly through flashbacks. The initial mystery (Oh no somebody stole a piece of a building!) seemed boring, and by the time I found out what made it interesting, I was turned off by the heroine's lack of empathy. Wren's crush on her partner, Sergei, piqued my interest...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Smith rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The two star ok doesn't fit and the one star I didn't like it doesn't fit. So what to do... I gave it a two because the story idea I liked. But the writing was painful. Sentences stopped in the wrong places. I assume the writer was trying to show emphasis in places. At least I HOPE the author was trying to do that. I shudder to think if she wasn't.

Her style and construction was jarring. It uninterrupted the flow of the story and distracted me. I kept thinking she should have hired an editor and...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

While I was reading this book, I got interrupted by a book I had reserved from the library coming in (because they never come in until you are in the middle of another book). I set this one down to read the library book, which should have been my first sign. Then another book I had reserved came in, so I put off picking this book back up to read the second library book. Sign number two. By the time I finally picked Staying Dead back up, I found it hard to make myself finish. For some reason, I j...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summary: In a world in which most people believe that magic doesn’t exist, there remains a sub-culture of Talent thriving. These folks use their powers in a way that keeps them hidden from the unbelievers. Wren Valere is a Retriever, a talent who locates things that have been missing for people who do not want the police involved. She returns the missing object to its owner for a fee negotiated by her partner and agent Sergei Didier. Both Sergei and Wren are loners who make a very good team prof...more

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Aug 23, 2008 Janice (Janicu) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book starts with Wren beginning a job. The client is missing the cornerstone of their building and Wren has been tasked to find it. The book goes straight into the story as if the reader has had some background from some prequel story. While I liked being considered smart enough to figure it out, and I did figure it out, I still wish that I knew their backstory earlier on in the book. I'm afraid that not knowing for as long as I was made the book boring at first. I thought the first couple o...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Katharine Kimbriel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fantasy, book-view-cafe

Our heroine is Wren Valere, a mercurial young woman in her late 20s who is a lonejack, a solo magic user raised up in a soloist tradition. She works as a “retriever” – essentially a thief with considerable magical talents. Someone stole something from you – something magical, dangerous, powerful? You pay Valere and her “manager” Sergei Didier, and she’ll steal it right back.

New York City is a vibrant place at any time, but in LAG’s world talents (those who feel and manipulate current) and nulls...more Our heroine is Wren Valere, a mercurial young woman in her late 20s who is a lonejack, a solo magic user raised up in a soloist tradition. She works as a “retriever” – essentially a thief with considerable magical talents. Someone stole something from you – something magical, dangerous, powerful? You pay Valere and her “manager” Sergei Didier, and she’ll steal it right back.

New York City is a vibrant place at any time, but in LAG’s world talents (those who feel and manipulate current) and nulls (those who neither feel nor manipulate current/magic) intersect constantly, and it’s not always a pretty sight. We have the Cosa Nostradamus -- the fatae who live their own magic, the nonhuman griffins, piskies, dryads, etc. – and those humans who are either lonejacks of varying power and skills, or members of The Council. The Council prefers to run everything in its own city. They want control of all magic-users – but they’ll settle for intimidation.

And then there are the humans who have no magic of their own, but know it exists and want to know what’s going on in every nook and cranny of the city. They hire lonejacks to work with them, their interface staff called “handlers” who manage the “talent”.

You can look forward to small, fascinating bits of info about the magic system LAG has built (and built it well, better than most fantasies these days.) You’ll enjoy Wren’s interaction with non-human Cosa members and null humans. She’s delightfully race-blind in her associations, and struggles to understand humans of all stripes. You’ll come to love a four-foot demon nick-named P.B. (polar bear) who runs messages – for a price. Wren has been chasing a cursed, stuffed, traveling magic artifact for years, and deals with Chinese take-out where a Seer writes the fortunes.

Check out this world. I found the first book of The Retrievers, STAYING DEAD, an excellent place to start, because there is an arc to the big story, but there are smaller tales inside each volume, allowing them to stand pretty well on their own. Problems? I’ll mention the biggest one: she keeps introducing interesting characters and killing them off too soon.

Laura Anne Gilman’s books are intricate, and she has a trick of dropping you into her characters’ lives so at first you can’t see the story for the trees, shall we say. But her work rewards patience. For intricate urban fantasy, give her books a try.
(less)

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Dec 12, 2007 S.L. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recentlyread

I really, honestly enjoy the Luna line. I know they've made unpopular decisions (and, you know, rejected me thrice ;) ), but I really do enjoy the line, no matter how far behind I am.

As with Staying Dead, Laura Anne Gilman's first book in the Retrievers series.

Wren Valere is a Talent, or more simply put, a mage. She can use and control the energy currents in the world around her, to various ends, for good or ill. She is also a lonejack, someone who works freelance jobs, free of the controlling i...more

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Nov 10, 2007 Seth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modernfantasy, sf-f-h

Fun, light series and a very light intro to it.

It's modern fantasy variant #7: mages/magical animals/etc. are in hiding, have their own politics and so forth. Butcher, Buffy, yadda yadda yadda.

Our heroine is a re-thief: she takes stolen items back to their rightful owners. I can't imagine there is *that* much work in it, but I can suspend disbelief. I can also imagine that her definition of "rightful owners" is pretty flexible.

The story plays out like a heist movie: she has a mission, she finds...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Nina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The reason I gave this book a 3, which I don't like doing, is because I felt like I had missed a lot of information in reading this book. Maybe I'm being harsh, but the author seemed to write her characters as if she had just written 14 pages for the book and only kept 2 for us to read. I felt like so much was being told, but none of the information was there, and I was missing so much. Then at some points in the book, the author was playing catch up to get us up to speed, I was getting too much...more

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Apr 20, 2008 Natlyn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-investigation

Never really gels as a paranormal investigation nor as a romance. (This book is published Harlequin's Luna line.) The concept of magic is refreshing, but the descriptions of magic usage are not very exciting or interesting. The investigation seemed to falter frequently while character backstories and continuing arcs are set up. The romance doesn't really start in this book; supposed unrequited longing occurs for both; and an understanding that they will probably eventually have an understanding...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

like her other books, it took a while for me to get into. i really get into the story once im 100+ pages into the book, but i dont really like the writing. she is way too wordy. it can be a simple scene and it takes pages cuz the author goes over internal dialogue or just rambles on. it makes me want to skim ahead much of the time. but like the other books as well, i was interested in the relationships between the characters and i was rooting for them to hook up. i did think it was interesting t...more

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About Laura Anne Gilman

By the time she was fourteen, Laura Anne Gilman knew she would be an editor, a teacher, or a writer.

By thirty, she was all three. She's a little focused that way.

After fifteen years working in NY publishing, Laura Anne became a full-time writer, with more than twenty novels under her various bylines, including the Nebula Award-nominated Vineart War trilogy, and the 10-book Cosa Nostradamus series....more

More about Laura Anne Gilman...

Books by Laura Anne Gilman

Hard Magic (Paranormal Scene Investigations #1)

Pack of Lies (Paranormal Scene Investigations #2)

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Staying Dead (Retrievers #1)

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