Smoke and Mirrors

by Tanya Huff | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 9780756403485 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 7/20/2021
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Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, July 20, 2021
I found this paperback at a local Savers thrift shop, and nabbed it for another release copy.

While I'd found the first of the Tony Foster books, Smoke and Shadows, to be less entertaining than the "Blood" series (Blood Price et al) in which Tony and 400-year-old vampire Henry had originally appeared, it was amusing enough that I decided to give the second book a try, to see if this one's more of a story and less of a video game {grin}.

Turns out that the video-game aspect is still there, a bit, but there's more back-story and character interaction here, or at least that's how it seemed to me. This one's a haunted-house scenario; the TV show that Tony works for is shooting episodes at a creepy old mansion that's reputed to be haunted, and - of course - with Tony on the scene, the rumors turn out to be true. Eventually nearly all of the cast and crew of the show wind up trapped in the house, with vengeful ghosts vying to kill them - or is something even more sinister going on? And can Tony concentrate on using his budding and not-that-well-practiced wizard skills to get them out? [And can he stop getting distracted by the oddly provocative behavior of the series' charming co-star, Lee?]

Henry has a part to play here too, but it's definitely Tony's story, and while I thought that the cycle of hauntings went on a bit too long, I did enjoy the book. Especially some of the snarky inside jokes: "That had to be some of the loudest subtext Tony'd ever heard, and, given the volume of the subtext over the course of the night, that was saying something." [OK, maybe you had to be there! But I see that the folks at TV Tropes have a very entertaining entry on the "Smoke" books here; do check it out.]

The entire "Smoke" series:

Smoke and Shadows
Smoke and Mirrors
Smoke and Ashes

Note: while it's more entertaining to read the books in order - and more entertaining still if you've read the "Blood" series first! - this book can be enjoyed on its own.

Released 2 yrs ago (7/24/2021 UTC) at Little Free Library #109391 - 1 High St. in Dunstable, Massachusetts USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left this book in the Little Free Library on this warm day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Seeking Septads challenge. ***

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