HOLIDAYS ARE HELL

Author: Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M. Liu, Vicki Pettersson ISBN: 0061239097 11/2007 ANTHOLOGY Publisher: HARPER

In Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel, KIM HARRISON introduces us to a younger Rachel Morgan—an undergraduate witch-in-training—who naively resurrects a spirit and sparks a terrifying showdown with a deadly undead adversary. LYNSAY SANDS' Run, Run, Rudolph serves up a scrumptious stew of Yuletide suspense when, in order to escape from a determined stalker, a beautiful, reluctant shape-shifter must assume different forms. MARGARET M. LI U keeps a petite-but-powerful government agent's hands full when she must join forces with a hunky necromancer to prevent an unholy brotherhood of terrorists and vampires from ringing in the New Year with blood in Six. And VICKI PETTERSSON's The Harvest brings a former superhero—an elite Zodiac warrior—back to the mortal world for a Thanksgiving reunion with her equally hated and beloved enemy to do battle for the lives of her imperiled children.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

HOLIDAYS ARE HELL is an absolutely thrilling anthology with two of my favorite authors!

The first story by Kim Harrison is Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel. In this story, Rachel Morgan is a undergraduate witch apprentice. Rachel, being a novice, resurrects a spirit and then faces a scary showdown with the undead.

The second story, by Lynsay Sands, is titled Run, Run, Rudolph. This story is full of suspense where a shape-shifter must assume different forms in order to escape a stalker.

The third story, by Margaret M. Liu, is a tale about a government agent who joins forces with a necromancer to keep terrorists and vampires from causing terror and chaos in the New Year.

The last story, The Harvest, is by Vicki Pettersson. A former superhero comes back to the mortal world to battle a hated, yet beloved enemy. She must face her enemy to save the lives of her children and keep her heart in the process.

I am not usually a fan of novellas because the stories are so short and usually leave me wanting more. This was not the case with HOLIDAYS ARE HELL. I thoroughly enjoyed each story and have reread the book twice. This is an excellent book for someone wanting to escape reality for a while. It is action-packed with paranormal elements of intrigue, romance and suspense. You do not have to love paranormal novels to enjoy this book. It's a great collection of stories from some very talented, best selling authors.

Kym Oetting