Review: Paranoia (The Night Walkers #2) by J.R. Johansson

Thanks to Flux Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I thought it had never downloaded, but then I had an update on my Nook and it showed up again!  So I was very glad to get a chance to read the sequel to Insomnia, a book that I really enjoyed.  Now I am really big on following authors on Facebook and Twitter.  And so I saw that the author was going to be at BEA the last day.  Unfortunately, if you saw my post about that last day, I was unable to find her and meet her.  One day though I hope to!  So, if you haven't read the first one, you might not want to read much further.

We're back in Parker's life.  And he seems to be able to control his dream watching, or maybe at least able to deal with it better.  When his friends that usually help him go out of town, he hopes to just go into his mom's dreams every night, to save himself from anything else.  One night he decides he needs something different, and he ends up at the movie theater, planning to look in the eyes of a girl who he thinks will have pretty tame dreams.  Outside he gets attacked by one of Jeff's friends.  Jeff is the guy that was actually doing the stalking in the first book, that died in the fire.  And at first his last eye match is Thor, the friend.  But a guy pulls Thor off of Parker, and then his eyes are the last ones Parker looks into.  At first it seems to be okay.  But then Parker goes into a black space.  When he wakes up he is in jail.  He is bailed out by Jack.  The mysterious guy in the last book who seemed to know what Parker was going through.  And now who seems to know Parker's dad.  He teams up with Jack to try to figure out not only how to control this evil or bad side of himself that is taking over, but also to help find and save his dad from people called Takers.  These Takers are not only going after Watchers like Parker, but they seem to be behind other mysterious disappearances and strange happenings in the town.

This was a very good sequel.  We learn some things about Parker's dad, and we also learn that there are so many things Parker should have been able to do the whole time, that would have made his life so much easier.  There is another kind of person, one that can't go into others dreams, but is good for Watchers, they can help them get the sleep and rest that they need to live and be healthy.  And the one in Parker's life isn't who you would expect.  I liked all the background, I kind of guessed the little secret about Jack a bit before it was revealed.  I like when I can do that.  We also learn that things that happened in the first book weren't all as they seemed.  And maybe some of the guilty parties may not have been working on their own in the way that it was thought. 

Renegade (Ripper #2) by Amy Carol Reeves

I will start by thanking Netgalley and Flux Books for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  I also got to read the first in the series, Ripper, as an e-galley.  I was very into the first book because it was supposedly about Jack the Ripper which is a subject that has always fascinated me.  And yes, the first book was, but not quite the way we've always thought of him.
In this sequel, it is after Abbie has taken care of all of The Conclave, except for Max, who got away.  She and William are trying to enjoy their new romance, while continuing to work at the White Chapel Clinic.  Abbie has another vision, but is worried about telling William.  She does feel able to tell Simon about it though.  Although no one seems to believe her when she ends up in the cemetery that was in her vision and she sees what seem to be either zombies, or cannibals.  She also gets the chance to go work with the one woman doctor that she really looks up to.  But, as they know, Max is still there, and he soon visits Abbie and asks her, no ends up basically blackmailing her to help him out.  Throughout the whole story we have flashes over to a Lamia.  A part woman, part sea creature, not like a mermaid, more like almost a dragon.  She is the caretaker for the Conclave, taking care on a remote island of their menagerie.  All their creatures, including the dodo that Abbie had gotten the chance to see in the first book.  Inspector Abbiline is still in this story, now investigating the murders that are occurring in the graveyards.  We do end up basically settling the story point from this, with the Lamia, but we don't ever get the part of the story with the deaths in the graveyards solved.  I'm guessing that will be in the next book.  And I'm very interested and excited to read on!  Another fun take on a secret society and a strong female character of the time.

Redemption (Hearts of Stone #1) by Veronique Launier

First, of course, thanks to Netgalley and Flux books for letting me read an egalley of this book.
I have to say as soon as I figured out from the cover, as well as the description of the book that this was about gargoyles, I was hooked!  I have always been fascinated by gargoyles, from the time my dad used to play the scary gargoyle sounds record to wake me up when I was younger, to even buying books about them and looking for them on buildings when I traveled with my mom.  And, let's face it, a whole new type of paranormal character to write about!  But, of course, there has to be magic, and that comes into the story through witches, who made gargoyles to protect them.  And also, there is magic in this story from the Native Americans of the area it takes place in.  It is in Canada, Montreal to be exact, so that is a little bit of an unfamiliar area to me.  But it works.
The main characters are Guillaume, and Aude.  Guillaume is the gargoyle, who is somehow freed from his stone self even though the witch family who brought him about is long gone.  Aude is the girl who Guillaume and his fellow gargoyles/family are watching be attacked when this all happens.  As it happens, they hear this strange chanting, and drumming.  They are of course intrigued and wonder how this happened, and so Guillaume begins to follow Aude, trying to get to know her and find out how she did this.  Aude, who goes by Odd, lives with her mom, who is a bit of a strange woman, but knows she is, and so her daughter has always dealt with her strange ways.  Aude is a musician, and it turns out, so was Guillaume in the past.  But it wasn't a one time attack on Aude, she continues to get attacked and have strange things happen around her.  Without completely trusting Guillaume, she works with him to try to figure out exactly why these things are happening to her.  She also learns about her past and things about her family she never knew.
I really liked this book.  I like that even though there may be a "connection" almost right away between the 2, they don't just all of a sudden fall in love, and all that.  They work through it.  Aude is attracted, but doesn't know whether to trust this strange guy who appeared out of nowhere when this weird stuff starts happening.  Guillaume is the one who doesn't seem to have feelings, according to his "family" anyway.  So he is sure he is just interested in her to find out what he needs to, in order to stay alive, so he doesn't have to go back to being a stone creature who just watches the world around him go on.  I liked the use of both witches as an ancient power, as well as the Native American "magic" as story lines.  The stone creatures are really good too.  Makes me think of golems.  I'm glad to see this is going to be a series, because while it did end pretty well, it doesn't HAVE to go on, I am eager to follow the story on and see what happens next as Aude learns about her powers and her lineage.
I will be adding this to my A-Z Reading Challenge as well, on the V for the author's first name.