Review of Rogue Oracle by Alayna Williams

Five Fangs for
Rogue Oracle
by Alayna Williams




Book Description:

THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE, THE MORE THERE MAY BE TO FEAR.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around—and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards—and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams—suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationship with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen. . . .

My Review:

Alayna outdid herself on this one. I was completely sucked into the story from the first page. From the prologue with the strange man hiding out waiting for his next victim to a possible terrorist in chapter 1 and wondering how it all tied into the story with Tara and Harry.

What would the cards tell Tara, where would they lead her this time?

They lead her all over the place from Washington to Chernobyl and through a dreamscape where Tara's powers grow and transform giving her new ways to read the cards, new ways to be an oracle.

I love the rich detail Alayna used when describing the cards and her dreams- also the detail of Chernobyl, the scary fact that some of the story is quite real. Chernobyl, the nightmare so far away yet closer than we think, it's real and the threat is still there. Alayna gives us a great "what if" to think about. What if all that radiation and toxic threat could create monsters, monsters like the chimera, monsters that we can not, have not even imagined yet.

Scary.

This is what urban fantasy is all about- taking the real world we live in, saying "what if" and making it so in the books we read. Alayna has done a fabulous job with the what ifs and making them so real and readable.

Rogue Oracle surpasses the first book of the series, Dark Oracle, and adds richness and detail to the characters and the story making this series one to watch... and to add to your must read list.

It's a fresh take, something completely different in the urban fantasy genre.

And if you love the Tarot or have ever been interested in Tarot cards the descriptive detail and the way the cards become characters in the story is completely fascinating.

I love how Alayna mixes urban fantasy and crime fighting, then tosses in a bit of mystery, blends with paranormal elements, adds a pinch of hard science and finishes it off with a dash of romance- making this series a fabulous mix of must read fiction.

If you are interested in winning a copy of Rogue Oracle check out Alayna's tour and visit her at her virtual stops for chances to win a signed copy.