Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

It is only fitting that my last blog entry for this blog, hosted by the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library, be about a book that astounded me with it's lyrical beauty.   A friend of mine loaned me Gargoyle,  by Andrew Davidson, a few months ago and while I initially was interested in the story, I was distracted by other books and put it down.  I recently took a trip and discovered that the library has Gargoyle on CD, so I jumped at the chance to check it out and

finish it!  The story is simply stunning.  The book opens with the story of the narrator, who is visually beautiful by morally blank, as he is driving along a dark road and becomes distracted by what appears to be a group of arrows.  He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over most of his body.  He wakes in a hospital and suffers treatments until a somewhat unhinged gargoyle sculptress, Marianne Engel, appears at his bedside and insists they were lovers in medieval Germany.  She then spins the tale of their past life-intertwined with other tales of lovers--in a beautiful, twisting, tale of love and life.  He is eventually released into her care and they attempt to have a life together. The writing is beautiful and the story is intense as is the descriptions of burn victim treatments.  I believe you'll be as entranced as I was with this bookl, whether you check out the library's hardback copy or listen to the audio version.

Join Us on an Iron Hunt

Iron Hunt by Margaret Liu is one of the best supernatural stories I have read in a long time. The basis of the story is that Maxine Kiss, by day, is a fearless woman covered neck to toe in tattoos. At night, however, the tattoos peel off and become her loyal protectors. The five tattoos Maxine carries on her body are demons and her friends as well as an extinction of herself--they make her impossible to kill during the day and become her shadowy guardians at night. Each demon has a distinct personality, and they have been Maxine's friends (and her mother and grandmother's friends) for many years. Maxine hunts demons, and is known as the "Hunter" --in a world of zombies and other supernatural beings, she is kept very busy! The story is set in Seattle and the writing is beautiful. Maxine is a strong, flawed character and the reader grows to love her tough exterior covering up her vulnerable insides. In this story, Maxine is trying to corral the demons that have escaped the prison veil that exists in the dimension between Earth and other worlds, as well as figure out some crucial details about her past. If you enjoy reading Iron Hunt, try also reading Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn, another supernatural suspense story.