Feb 20 2013
Daily Deals: The 6 book Zodiac series from Vicki Pettersson and others
The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
Book 1 of the Zodiac series
When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert.
By rights, she should be dead.
Now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset – a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow – seeking answers to whom or what she really is … and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.
But the nightmare is just beginning – for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful Shadows want her for their own…
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The Taste of Night by Vicki Pettersson. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
Book 2 of the Zodiac Series
Being mortal isn’t easy. Being a superhero is even harder.
Even mortal, Joanna Archer was nobody’s idea of a victim. But now, infused with the supernatural power to alter the battle between Shadow and Light forever, what she’s become is a target. And when a toxic virus invades the valley, her allies are targets are well. To find the cure that will save them, Joanna must embrace her Shadow side … even if it leads her into an all-out battle with the demons of her past.
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The Touch of Twilight by Vicki Pettersson. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
3d book in the Zodiac series
Joanna Archer has reluctantly accepted the roles destiny assigned her: Avenger, Savior … Destroyer.
On the surface she’s a sexy, sophisticated socialite, at home among the beautiful people of the Las Vegas upper crust. But Joanna Archer inhabits another world: a place ordinary humans can’t see and could never enter … a dangerous dimension where an eternal battle rages between the agents of Light and Shadow. And Joanna is both.
She never asked for the mantle that’s been thrust upon her, but she will not abandon it now that it’s hers. Stalked by an enigmatic doppleganger from a preternatural realm, Joanna can feel the Light failing – which is propelling her toward a terrifying confrontation with the ultimate master of evil, the dark lord of Shadow: her father.
Vegas is all about winning big – or losing everything. To save her friends, her future, her worlds, Joanna Archer will now have to gamble it all by fully embracing the darkness inside her.
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City of Souls by Vicki Pettersson. $ .99.
From the Jacket Copy:
4th book of the Zodiac series
Joanna Archer, Agent of Light, has survived a violent initiation into the paranormal
world lurking behind the seedy seams of Las Vegas. She’s found a home, friends, and even t
he chance for a new life and love.
But evil never rests, and to save her beloved city, and herself, Joanna must venture into
a new world hidden among the shadows, one where the line between good and evil is barely
visible, every agent is a rogue … and each breath could be her last.
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Cheat the Grave by Vicki Pettersson. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
Book 5 in the Zodiac series
Joanna Archer is working hard to put the painful events of her recent past behind, doing her best to embrace mortality after being superhuman.
But when she is stalked by a madman, she is forced to dive back into Vegas’ underworld to piece together shocking discoveries about the mother who abandoned her, the lover who betrayed her, and the daughter who will follow in her footsteps. But in order to win back all those things, she must face off against a death-dealer who carries his soul in a blade… one that’s screaming her name.
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The Neon Graveyard by Vicki Pettersson. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
Final book in the Zodiac series
Once she was a soldier for the Light, the prophesied savior who would decide the outcome of the eternal conflict raging in the dark corners of her glittering hometown.
Now Joanna Archer is just another mortal – still born of an impossible union of Shadow and Light … still hunted by both – and carrying the unborn child of a lover held captive by a depraved demon goddess. Joining forced with a band of rogue Shadow agents, Joanna’s ready to storm the stronghold of her demonic foe, risking everything to enter this ghastly, godforsaken realm. Because in a world that has stripped her of her power, identity, and fortune, Joanna has nothing left to lose – except her baby, her future, and the epic war poised to consume the city.
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Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes. $ 1.99
From the Jacket Copy:
2011 Carol Award winner for Debut Author from ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers)
Jenny Lucas swore she’d never go home again. But being told you’re dying has a way of changing things. Years after she left, she and her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, must return to her sleepy North Carolina town to face the ghosts she left behind. They welcome her in the form of her oxygen tank–toting grandmother, her stoic and distant father, and David, Isabella’s dad . . . Who doesn’t yet know he has a daughter. As Jenny navigates the rough and unknown waters of her new reality, the unforgettable story that unfolds is a testament to the power of love and its ability to change everything—to heal old hurts, bring new beginnings . . . Even overcome the impossible. A stunning debut about love and loss from a talented new voice.
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Abigail and John by Edith Gelles. $ 1.99.
From the Jacket Copy:
The story of Abigail and John Adams is as much a romance as it is a lively chapter in the early history of this country. The marriage of the second president and first lady is one of the most extraordinary examples of passion and endurance that this country has ever witnessed. And it is a drama peopled with a pantheon of eighteenth-century stars: George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, his daughter Patsy, Ben Franklin, and Mercy Otis Warren.
Abigail and John were a uniquely compatible duo, and in their remarkable union we can see the strength of a people determined to achieve full independence in the face of daunting odds. Yet while much has been written about each as an individual, Abigail and John provides, for the first time, the captivating story of their dedication and sacrifice that helped usher in the founding of our country, a time that fascinates us still.
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Feb 20, 2013 @ 14:17:31
I can usually read anything paranormal (and I do mean anything), but oh boy did I ever struggle with Vicki Pettersson. I got through the first two books but still haven’t read the third one despite having it in my bedside pile for at least 2 years. There must have been something about the first one that made me care enough to pick up the others, but I can’t remember anymore!
Feb 20, 2013 @ 14:43:43
@Samantha: Same. I bought the third, but never read it. I ended up buying the rest of them yesterday anyway so I’ll have the complete series if I do a re-read. It’s a sickness or something. :-)
Feb 20, 2013 @ 14:56:26
Depsite having the first two in paperback, and never having even gotten all the way through the first one (I determined it was my mood at the time and I would get back to it), I bought all that I didn’t already have in ebook yesterday (book 1 was free a long time ago).
@Brian: It IS a sickness! I have it too :)
Feb 20, 2013 @ 15:37:23
“but a friend warned me that the books are full of great ideas poorly executed with a lot of navel gazing.”
That sums up my experience with book #1 to a tee.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 22:20:29
She had me up to the end of #2, struggled and eventually skipped 3, skimmed 4-5 and wall banged the last with a WTF!!! I won’t spoil it, but I wanted the unresolved problem from #2 to be explained to my satisfaction. Argh.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 22:34:10
I liked the first book (or maybe the the first book and a half) in the Pettersson series. The next four books were a hot mess, but I persevered. The last book did tie things up and offer some redemption for the series. For people who have already started them, I might suggest sticking with it just to see how things turn out. But I wouldn’t recommend this to new readers–there are too many better books out there.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 07:30:18
I read books 1-4 and enjoyed them while I read them. There were times I felt like I wasn’t quite sure what was going on or was unable to visualize the world being created. Book 4 was the point when I realized this series might not have an HEA. Without an HEA the no end in site for the story arc I gave up.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 17:11:26
@LisaCharlotte: There’s an HEA. Maybe not everything turned out the way I might have wanted at the outset, but it worked. If you’ve read thru book 4, you might want to finish it out.
I will also say that there was a short story (I think it was Dark Matter from Unbound anthology) that sheds a lot of light on the backstory and motivation of one of the central characters. Reading that short made a difference in how I viewed both that character and the series. (That said, I really HATE it when important information is imparted this way. It’s such a cheap way to get people to buy anthologies. IMO, a series should be self-contained insofar as *key* information is concerned.)