Vicious Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, Book 1)

Boring beyond words

What a delightful new series! Persephone Alcmedi is a witch who is still mostly in the closet in a world where magic is out in the open. She writes a syndicated column under a pen name about the lives of werewolves who are her friends that kennel in her basement each full moon. Life's a bit different now that her hard as nails granny has just moved in with her and when a mysterious phone call leads her on a morally compromising search for a killer she'll need to depend on the friends she's made to protect one of their own. Vampires are lurking and all their good press can't convince her that they are good for her although one of them certainly has plans for her future. But alpha wolf Johnny has waited six months for her trust and he has his own plans for little Persephone to join the Big Bad Wolfe. I can't wait until December for the next book! This reminded me of the very first Anita Blake Book or Mercedes Thompson. It has excellence written all over it!

Linda Robertson's excellent novel, "Vicious Circle," is more than an action-packed urban fantasy. It is a sophisticated story of a young woman learning to deal with her own power, which is far greater than anything she ever imagined or wished for. The author artfully takes the reader into a world with witches, werewolves, and eventually vampires, but always keeps the important fundamentals of life in focus. Family and friends are more important than treasures and power. In the end, the protagonist, Persephone, has not only gained significant power, but the wisdom about how to use it. I say the book is sophisticated because Persephone's "meetings" with her avatar parallel Native American spirituality, and also Eastern philosophy. That's an awful lot for any novel let alone a so-called "paranormal witch" novel.

This was such a great read, I am looking forward to the sequel. It was fast paced, and kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. I stayed up most of the night to finish reading this book.

"Vicious Circle" is the best SciFi I've read in a long time. The setting is modern day, with werewolves, witches, and vampires newly "outed". The main character, P--, is a witch and friend to werewolves. A policial "I'm someone important" witch coerces P--, forcing her to agree to kill an evil vampire. P-- feels conflicted about this. She is uncomfortable with killing someone, even if they "need killing". But the evil vampire killed a werewolf friend of hers, leaving an orphan daughter behind. The legal system ignores werewolf/witch/vampire killings (most everyone feels very threatened by them!), so its up to her. This book contains great characterization, strong sub-characters, excellent sub-plots, and wonderful surprises. P-- is very likeable and friendly (not a bully, like altogether too many female leads in 2009 SciFi). Enjoy!

Persephone "Seph" Alcmedi is a witch, but pays her bills with other paranormal practices like reading tarot cards and writing a newspaper column. Seph also breaks the rules of witch-hood and the city ordinance by running a kennel in her basement to keep werewolves out of trouble during the full moon. Everyone knows the Were and witches are like an oilman and a tree hugger. Seph is outraged when her grandma is kicked to the curb by her nursing home management. She puts that on hold when a vampire kills her were-friend Lorrie Kordell. She is offered a hell of a lot cash to bring the bloody killer to justice. However, the predator Goliath Kline is too dangerous for a mere witch to restrain so she turns to Johnny the lead singer of techno-metal-Goth band Lycanthropia, who has more than a crush on her; a feeling she reciprocates though she hides it from the biker using grandma as her heart guard. This is an amusing lighthearted chick lit urban fantasy that stars a female David witch struggling with her bills, grandma, and Johnny battling Goliath the invincible cruel vampire; Vegas would never allow betting on this one. The story line is breezy from the onset as a frustrated Persephone wishes her kennel guests would keep the Krispy Kreme boxes off her lawn before the neighbors howl about her garbage and never slows down. Fans will appreciate this jocular tale in which the plot is never quite serious as the kennel master witch turns amateur sleuth leading to a showdown with a vampire who will enjoy drinking bewitching blood. Harriet Klausner