3.5 stars - From the cover, I was expecting Viper Moon to be an urban fantasy read, and the first person narrative by a kick-butty heroine along with cursed Barrows region of her southern city setting - which gives a whole new life to urban blight - certainly starts the story off in that camp. However, when all was said and done, Viper Moon ended up being one of those new hybrids that straddle the line between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Viper Moon has more romance than your standard UF including what looks to be a complete wrap-up of the heroine's story at the end, but is more focused on story than rather than deep relationship development than your typical paranormal romance - I guess that makes it UFR:) So, the bottom line is that romance readers who like urban fantasy too are probably going to enjoy Viper Moon more than straight urban fantasy fans will. For me, I enjoyed Viper Moon. I liked the heroine Cassandra Archer who is a servant to the Earth Mother, dedicated to finding lost children, especially those who fall prey to the darker elements of the supernaturally blighted area of the Barrows - a place where monsters, both human and 'not', reside - a place that the typical resident of Duviel Misssouri can't even perceive. I also really liked police detective Flynn who is forced to turn to Cass for help in finding his lost sister when his conventional investigation techniques fail to turn up any clues, and I was really intrigued by the angelic Michael, who may be something more than human, and who has both feet planted firmly in the Barrows. As a romance reader I found both of the men appealing, but I was rooting more for Flynn, because I thought that the inherent conflict between Flynn and Cass was more interesting - he's a black and white cop grounded in the 'real' world and Cass lives her life in shades of gray and is willing to venture into the black occasionally to get the job done, so it's more of a challenge to imagine how that's going to work long term. I also liked pretty much all of the characters around Cass, her healer/seer mentor Abby, a crime boss who also needs help finding his lost son, and Cass' furred and scaled animal companions. On the whole this was a decent series starter and the world - and the characters whose story lines are still in play - have a lot of potential. Viper Moon didn't end up being quite what I expected, since there is apparently another of the Earth Mother's chosen ones in the lead in the next book and not Cass, but it was still a promising start to Roland's not-so-witchy Earth Witch series. When Cass turned 18 years old, she became a Huntress for Earth Mother. Her job for the last ten years has been to locate abducted children who are taken to the Burrows (a world of Darkness), a district of Duivel, Missouri. Along the way, Cass has made a few acquaintances, friends and enemies. She’s also been fighting demons and monsters that nightmares are made of. Cass has no supernatural powers except for phenomenal speed and strength that Earth Mother has given her. Her weapons of choice are a bronze sheath and gun with bronze bullets - bronze being what kills demons and monsters. A few days after her latest rescue, Cass is visited by Detective Flynn who is trying to locate his 12 year-old sister, Selena, who’s been missing for three weeks. He and the police have been searching with no luck. Wherever he goes and whoever he meets while trying to find his sister, the response he’s given is to go see Cass as she’s the only one who can find her. She decides to help Flynn as she can’t stand the thought of any child suffering either by evil humans for their own selfish pleasures or by demons. The very same day, Cass is approached by Dacardi, the organized crime boss of Duivel. He recruits Cass because his 12 year-old son, Richard, has been missing for days and he’s run into the same hurdles as Flynn. Cass realizes that something strange and bigger, not of this world, is going on deep in the Burrows.Overall this book was pretty good. I was expecting it to be the first in a continuing series involving the same characters throughout. However, when I got to the end (which I read twice to double-check), I realized that the author ended Cass’s story and the second book in the series will pick up with a whole new character, which I hope includes Michael as I found him to be my favourite. I love Cass’s character as she will do anything, whether it’s killing a vile human or demon or beating the crap out of someone to get the answers she needs. She basically goes through hell to find the kids and looks it when she returns. My big issue is with respect to Cass and Flynn’s relationship. For a girl who is so focused on her work, on being alone and doesn’t want to be owned by anyone, in a matter of days she’s head-over-heels in love with Flynn and can’t see her life without him in it. Excuse me? What happened to her independence? Then there’s sexy, gorgeous Michael, the owner of Archangel in the Burrows, who is revered by all men and women. Since they met five years ago, Cass has been fighting her attraction to him all the while knowing he’s been in love with her. Even though Cass doesn’t know all there is to know about Michael, and who is better suited to her since they’re both aware of the supernatural world; I don’t understand why she falls for Flynn after just a couple of days in bed with him knowing it’s hard for him to comprehend who she is, what she does and how she does it - illegally of course. It felt very improbable and forced. I thought this book was supposed to be more urban fantasy; instead, it read more like a paranormal romance novel.I do wish to mention that when I learned more about Flynn and saw how his relationship with Cass was progressing, I immediately thought of Gin and Detective Caine from Jennifer Estep’s “Elemental Assassin” series as they’re both very similar. I have to say I found this a bit odd, especially after reading other reviews and coming across those who thought the exact same thing. I found Cass’s relationship with Earth Mother somewhat confusing. I didn’t think it made sense at the beginning nor did I think it was explained well with respect to how and why Cass became the Huntress. Anything to do with Earth Mother didn’t flow well; felt choppy and all over the place. For example, one time Earth Mother speaks to Cass through Abby; other times she just appears; another time Cass hears her in her head. Why the inconsistencies? Regardless, I did enjoy the book and most of the characters. I especially liked Cass’s pets that are very lovable (in her world, not ours): Horus, her cat; Nirah and Nefertiti, her pet snakes.
What do You think about Schattenpakt (2012)?
Liked Roland's twist on her villains. She turned the cliche just enough to make them seem fresh.
—channa888
Une histoire très sympa qui n'est pas sans rappeler Kate Daniels; avis complet à venir
—Katkay183
Very good book, liked the flow of action and the thread of romance.
—nightheart
Loved it! Highly original with fantastic world building!
—Zaqzaq
