Doomsday Can Wait (The Phoenix Chronicles, Book 2)

Doomsday Can Wait by Lori Handeland St. Martin's Paperbacks (April 28, 2009) Handeland's Doomsday series is one of the best of the burgeoning paranormal fantasies based on biblical allusions to fallen angels, children of the fallen and human women, plus a clash of darkness and light. Liz Phoenix is the resilient, sometimes frightened leader of Light. She says "I found myself the leader of a band of seers and demon killers at the dawn of the Apocalypse. Turns out a lot of that biblical prophecy crap is true". Jimmy, whom she has loved for so many years, may be lost to the darkness that seeks to claim his vampiric strength, but if he can be saved he will be one of Liz's best assets in the coming apocalyptic battle. Throughout this book and the last, Liz has gained immense power. She is fortunate in that her paranormal abilities increase through hot sex, usually provided by Sawyer the enigmatic, Navajo skinwalker and witch. Doomsday Can Wait continues the nail-biting adventure, along with sizzling sex found in Any Given Doomsday. Book 3 in the series Apocalypse Happens came out in November.

Great book! Of course anything that is written by Lori Handeland is worth reading. One you would enjoy reading over and over again. Enjoy every one. Lin

There can be no great success without sacrifice. Armageddon's gonna cost. Lori Handeland has a deft touch with plotting and characters. I love it!

Elizabeth Phoenix used use her psychic skills with the Milwaukee police, but soon learns what her horrific visions mean when monsters murder her foster mother Ruthie and left her unconscious; now she can see the monsters (see ANY GIVEN DOOMSDAY). Because of her skills, she has become a federation leader fighting the dark. She actually wins her first battle though many of her soldiers die in the confrontation as she learns the difficult responsibility of a general as she deploys people she knows she is sending to die even though success delays Doomsday for now. Liz has numerous enemies now including the Navaho witch woman of smoke Naye'I, mother of her skinwalking ally Sawyer. She is unsure she can trust her former lover Jimmy Sanducci; as she and he recently learned he is a dhampire who feels he is losing his restrain to not turn to his sire's enticing malice. To defeat Naye'i, Liz knows she needs two allies, Sawyer and Jimmy, but one is the son of her adversary and the other has walked the dark side next to his purebred malevolent father. The second Phoenix Chronicles urban fantasy has the world even darker and grittier in spite of insuring DOOMSDAY CAN WAIT for a future engagement. Liz is terrific as the story line focuses on her inner doubts re sending people to certain death and trusting Sawyer and Jimmy while trying to understand the enormous visions that shake her core as all she sees is bleakness. The apocalypse is here as Lori Handeland provides a powerful gloomy world with little hope for humanity's survival as the sinister minions of wickedness march forward seeking a second battle. The constant war of attrition is on the side of evil. Harriet Klausner

This is the second book in the Phoenix Chronicles series, following the fight between the light and the dark, and the role of leader that Liz never wanted, but has come to accept. Unlike her Moon series, this one is told in the first person POV with a continuing story. It's also loaded with creatures from mythology outside of the normal shifters and vampires we've come to expect from Urban Fantasies. Most of her army was killed in the first book and Liz needs Jimmy's help to locate the others that went into hiding. Only Jimmy is trying to hide from her because his father brought out his vampire beast and now he feels he's too dangerous to be around others; especially Liz. While this is going on, a woman who turns into smoke, Sawyer's mother, is trying to kill her. How do you kill an evil spirit who plans on releasing the Grigori, causing total chaos on the planet? Sawyer has been trying for years. Along the way, two more people get picked up and added to her arsenal. I like the fact that while Liz is in many ways a kick-butt heroine, she's definitely vulnerable. She doesn't know the limits of what she can do, but thinks outside of the box to solve problems. And yes, she does make some mistakes. The story contains elements of humor and there is a romantic interest in two men that may or may not go anywhere. The mythology isn't just thrown at us; we get a short history lesson on various creatures, entities and objects. I found it difficult to put the book down, but do not recommend that anyone start it before reading Any Given Doomsday. You'd be missing too much.